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February 10th, 2012
The Pharisees were lay leaders, a sect of Judaism that held great influence among Jewish people of Jesus’ day. They were characterized by observance of both the written laws (the Torah or Old Testament teachings) ...
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February 9th, 2012
The Catholic Church's teaching on all aspects of human sexuality is derived from our belief that God created human beings, male and female, out of love, and gave us a special vocation to love and ...
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February 7th, 2012
The word liturgy has developed over many years. In classical greek, leitourgia is a work done on behalf of the people. In ancient times, any work that was done by someone for ...
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February 6th, 2012
There’s zero obligation for Catholics to go to Marian shrines. The decision to visit them is totally voluntary. Many shrines do attract large numbers of pilgrims; the Marian apparition site at Lourdes, ...
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January 20th, 2012
Mary is the English translation of the Hebrew name Miriam. There are different opinions ...
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January 10th, 2012
The best way to become a lector is to either talk to your pastor or talk to the person in charge of the Lector ministry in your parish. I suggest that you go to the ...
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January 5th, 2012
A Call to Worship is the moment at the beginning of prayer or Mass when someone calls us together and centers us as a community. The Call to Worship usually takes the form of ...
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January 4th, 2012
Let me begin by stating who the “magi” were not, at least according to Scripture. There is no evidence in Matthew’s Gospel (2:1-18) -- the only one to mention the magi -- that they were ...
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January 2nd, 2012
We don’t know exactly what Jesus called his mother when he was young. The Gospels don’t include any stories where the child Jesus addresses Mary directly, so we can only guess. It seems ...
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December 30th, 2011
Christmas pageants often show the shepherds leaving the stage to make room for the magi who have come to worship the newborn Jesus. Yet according to Matthew’s Gospel (the only one mentioning the magi) Jesus ...
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December 28th, 2011
As Catholics, we don’t believe that ANYTHING in the Bible is invented. Rather, everything in the Bible is inspired. In other words, God is the author of the Bible and human authors wrote the Scriptures down under ...
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December 27th, 2011
It is Luke’s Gospel that gives us the famous picture of the newborn babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Lk 2:1-20). Luke never specifies that Jesus was born in a stable ...
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December 26th, 2011
Most experts are quick to point out that the Kwanzaa is absolutely NOT a religious or political holiday. In fact, it was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor at California State University 1966. ...
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December 25th, 2011
An exact date was attempted to be calculated for the Nativity of the Lord but it ...
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December 23rd, 2011
Keeping vigil has always been a spiritual practice in Catholicism. This is what we are essentially doing by attending any "Vigil" mass, we wait in joyful hope for the coming of the Savior.
There is also ...
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December 23rd, 2011
Absolutely. Anglican and Lutheran traditions have been celebrating Advent for centuries. Other Christian traditions have picked it up over the years, but the practice varies from congregation to congregation, depending on their ...
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December 22nd, 2011
One beautiful Christmas tradition in the Philippines is the novena known as Simbang Gabi, from Tagalog words meaning “night worship” (sometimes translated as “misa de gallo” or “mass of the rooster” because of the early ...
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December 21st, 2011
The church has never shied away from appropriating signs, symbols and rituals from the culture in which it finds itself and “baptizing” them, so to speak, and giving to them a Christian meaning. Christ ...
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December 20th, 2011
Of course they are! Catholics are free to sing "Jingle Bells" or "Frosty the Snowman" or any of the many songs that reflect the Christmas season.
Perhaps there are song parodies that might be ...
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December 19th, 2011
Many families do wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to put the baby Jesus into the manger scene, for the reason that he has not yet been born, and that an empty manger captures ...
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