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Nov 24 2014
USCCA Online
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Nov 23 2014
Evangelion
An apt quotation for today:
Both Evangelists designate Jesus’ preaching with the Greek term evangelion—but what does that actually mean?
The term has recently been translated as “good news.” That sounds attractive, but it falls far short of the order of magnitude of what is actually meant by the word evangelion. This term figures in the vocabulary of the Roman emperors, who understood themselves as lords, saviors, and redeemers of the world. The messages issued by the emperor were called in Latin evangelium, regardless of whether or not their content was particularly cheerful and pleasant. The idea was that what comes from the emperor is a saving message, that it is not just a piece of news, but a change of the world for the better.
When the Evangelists adopt this word, and it thereby becomes the generic name for their writings, what they mean to tell us is this: What the emperors, who pretend to be gods, illegitimately claim, really occurs here—a message endowed with plenary authority, a message that is not just talk, but reality. In the vocabulary of contemporary linguistic theory, we would say that the evangelium, the Gospel, is not just informative speech, but performative speech—not just the imparting of information, but action, efficacious power that enters into the world to save and transform. Mark speaks of the “Gospel of God,” the point being that it is not the emperors who can save the world, but God. And it is here that God’s word, which is at once word and deed, appears; it is here that what the emperors merely assert, but cannot actually perform, truly takes place. For here it is the real Lord of the world—the living God—who goes into action.
—Benedict XVI in Jesus of Nazareth
(pages 46-47).
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Nov 22 2014
Feast of Christ the King
Tomorrow is the last Sunday of the liturgical year the Feast of Christ the King. Here’s a link to Fr. Baron’s Top 10 Resources for this day. And here is a link to Quas Primas the encyclical of Pope Pius XI which instituted the Feast of Christ the King in 1925.
Here are a couple of quotes from Quas Primas:
While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments, we must all the more loudly proclaim his kingly dignity and power, all the more universally affirm his rights.
And quoting Pope Leo XIII:
His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.
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Nov 22 2014
Memorial of St. Cecilia
Today November 22nd is the Memorial of St. Cecilia in celebration here’s a video for a song I just learned about:
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