Salvationum Christi

The opening prayer for the Mass on Thursday was one asking of God to accept the truth of His saving power for us in our lives. Too often do we not trust in God to be there to catch when we fall, fail, or forget to love. He is there not only for the good times but also the troubled ones as well. And we should always trust in Him to deliver us from evil, as we ask each time we say the Lord's Prayer. How often do we just gloss over that? I'll say it again: deliver us from evil, O merciful and blessed God.

The first reading from Thursday was the familiar story of Daniel and the lions' den. The powerful words of Daniel come to mind after he is spared by his God he had served so constantly—as the king said twice. Those words are so powerful:

“O king, live forever!
My God has sent his angel and closed the lions’ mouths
so that they have not hurt me.
For I have been found innocent before him;
neither to you have I done any harm, O king!” ~ Daniel 6:22-23

Furthermore with the saving power, Christ himself have words on this in how we should act when it is in our midst: "But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand" (Luke 21:28).

"Your redemption is at hand." Do not be afraid of what is to come for God does—and has done more than—just save us from lions or the other natural terrors, but also from the certain death we have apart from Him. Cling to Him. He is waiting and eternal life with Him is awaiting you.

May God bless you.

Thursday's readings:
First: Dn 6:12-28
Responsorial Psalm: Daniel 3:68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74
Gospel: Lk 21:20-28

Parate Viam Domini

Today's message is a clear one: prepare the way of the Lord. The persecutions might not always come from people but also situations that the Devil will try put as a roadblock to keep you from the nearing of the Coming of Christ. Do not be afraid for as Christ Jesus said in the end of today's Gospel passage: "By your perseverance you will secure your lives" (Luke 21:19). We are called to perseverance in the face of all present dangers since Christ himself with give us all the "wisdom in speaking" (Luke 21:15) that we need in facing the evils that want us separated from God.

Today's readings:
First: Dn 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28
Responsorial Psalm: Dn 3:62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67
Gospel: Lk 21:12-19

Nunc incipio: Iesus Christus, lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem

It is good and right to begin all good things in Christ Jesus. The title of this post is Latin for "Now I begin: Jesus Christ, the true light that enlightens everyone." the latter of the title is from a heading within Pope John Paul II's 1993 encyclical Veritatis Splendor.

The beginning of Advent is quickly approaching and so there is no better time than now to begin (or to undertake and commence) this joyous enterprise of bringing God's Word to the whole world.

I shall be the first to admit that I am no scholar, but I hope that through exercising my God-given intellect and through the study of my faith I can bring testimony of God's grace in this world and to become a mirror of His Word, no matter how cracked and imperfect of a mirror I may be.

My hope and intention for this blog is to bring insights from the daily readings and homilies from St. Mary's Catholic Center's Masses so that the gifts bestowed on us the Faithful here in College Station, Texas, can be brought to those elsewhere as well. That being said, I shall try to impart what is most striking to me from the homilies and readings in as much clarity and succinctness as is humanly possible. Hopefully I will be provided correction where needed by those more learned than I.

As a fun little tradition (little ‘t’ tradition), I'll try to rustle up some Latin word or phrase pertaining to the subject to enlighten the discourse here. This first one was an attempt and for all I know I might have butchered the beginning "Nunc incipio." I believe it to be the correct verb conjugation. That being said, I am no Latin scholar, but hopefully this will get all to be more interested in Latin as it is our cultural and religious lingual heritage.

In closing, I wish to note that these posts are meant to be only a guide, a starting point for those seeking more in Christ Jesus, and not an end-all-be-all compendium. Furthermore, I insist you go the Scripture passages and magisterial documents and read them! I implore you: explore your faith!

I shall now leave you with the passage from the beginning of the Gospel of John, which shall serve as the guiding words for this entire blog:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:1-5