On this first installment of a special series that will cover the Christology of each of the five Prefaces of the Eucharistic Prayer in Easter Time, I explain what a Preface is, its history in our Liturgy, how a Preface is structured and its liturgical and catechetical importance. The Eucharistic Prayer prefaces in Easter Time develop a Christology that helps us understand Jesus better, as well as the liturgical time we are celebrating. At the same time, they give us... Read more
Sacred Liturgy, especially after the liturgical reform of Vatican II, helps us to perceive with more clarity the full dimension of Easter time: Christological, pneumatological, ecclesiological, eschatological and mystagogycal. Lex orandi, lex credendi. The norm of our prayer is the norm of our faith. In other words, what we pray is what we believe. Therefore, Sacred Liturgy is always a school of faith and the liturgies of Easter time are no exception. By paying close attention to these liturgies we... Read more
The death of Judas the Iscariot, as Peter recalls it, does not coincide, from a forensic point of view, with the way the traitor ended his life according to Matthew. We tend to assume the infamous apostle took his life by hanging himself from a tree. But, is this truly how he died? In the Acts of the Apostles, before choosing a new apostle to fill in the empty spot left by the Iscariot in the Apostolic College, Peter recounts... Read more
Well into the second decade of the 21st century, Roman Catholics have become used to the way we celebrate Holy Week: Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord on the 6th Sunday of Lent. The Weekdays of Holy Week from Monday to Thursday. The Chrism Mass on Thursday, as the last liturgical act of Lent. The Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, which marks the beginning of the Easter Triduum. The Tenebrae and the celebration of... Read more
Palm Sunday Mass is one of the most intense liturgies the Catholic Church celebrates every year. It makes us relive with Jesus his joy and drama from his glorious entrance to Jerusalem to his death on a cross in Calvary. After having prepared our hearts from the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday and for five weeks with our penance and our works of charity, on Palm Sunday we gather to begin, united with the whole Catholic Church, the annual... Read more
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