Did You Know? The stars that appear nearest the north and south celestial poles vary from one celestial body to another, depending on which way their axes (axis-es) are pointing. Right now Earth has a North Star (Polaris) but no South Star. Our celestial neighbor and twin-planet, the Moon, has no North Star, but its South Star is Delta Octantis. LEARN MORE.
Month: May 2012
One of the Most Important Events in Christian History
This Sunday’s readings deal with one of the most important events in Christian history.
Although the majority of Christians have little or no knowledge of the event, a pivotal moment in the history of the Church is recorded in Acts 10.
This event is the conversion of the household of the Roman centurion Cornelius, and it is important because, when this event occurred, it became clear that one did not have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian. This opened the door to a wave of conversions from people of all nations and kept Christianity from being a purely Jewish phenomenon, ethnically speaking.
But the conversion of Cornelius is controversial. It was in its own day, and it is in ours as well.
Some try to draw lessons from it like everyone should speak in tongues upon their conversion to Christ . . . or that baptism is merely a symbol that does not convey God’s grace.
How can one respond to these claims, and what are the *true* lessons that one can learn from this turning point in the history of Christianity?
In this video episode of the Jimmy Akin Podcast, Jimmy discusses the arguments and reveals both surprising and reassuring facts about the conversion of Cornelius.
This must-see video will prove eye-opening for Christians of all persuasions.
You can watch it here . . .
. . . or DOWNLOAD IT BY RIGHT-CLICKING HERE.
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The Church Year: May 11, 2012
Today is Friday of the 5th week of Easter. The liturgical color is white.
In the Extraordinary Form, the liturgical color for today is red.
Saints & Celebrations:
On May 11, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St.s Philip and James, apostles, who died in A.D. 87 and 93. It is a Class II day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Philip, you can click here.
If you’d like to learn more about St. James, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
We continue our series on the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
194. “Celebrations of the Word, because of their thematic and structural content, offer many elements of worship which are at the same time genuine expressions of devotion and opportunities for a systematic catechesis on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Experience, however, proves that celebrations of the Word should not assume a predominantly intellectual or didactic character. Through hymns, prayers, and participation of the faithful they should allow for simple and familiar expressions of popular piety which speak directly to the hearts of the faithful.”
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Brownian Motion Explained!
Did You Know? Albert Einstein published four amazing papers in 1905, the year known as his “Annus Mirabilis” (Latin, “Miraculous Year”). The second was received for publication on May 11, and it dealt with Brownian Motion–the kind of motion we have all seen when putting a few drops of food coloring into a jar of water. LEARN MORE.
The Church Year: May 10, 2012
Today is Thursday of the 5th week of Easter. The liturgical color is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
On May 10, in the Ordinary Form in the United States, we celebrate St. Damien de Veuster, priest. It is an optional memorial.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Antonius, OP, bishop, and confessor, who died in A.D. 1459. It is a Class III day.
In the Extraordinary Form, we also celebrate St.s Gordian and Epimachus, martyrs, who died in A.D. 360 and 250. This celebration is a commemoration.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Damien de Veuster, you can click here.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Antonius, you can click here.
If you’d like to learn more about St.s Gordian and Epimachus, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
We continue our series on the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
192. This is not the place to reproduce the list of Marian exercises approved by the Magisterium. Some, however, should be mentioned, especially the more important ones, so as to make a few suggestions about their practice and emendation.
Prayerfully Hearing the Word of God
193. The Council’s call for the “sacred celebration of the word of God” at significant moments throughout the Liturgical Year, can easily find useful application in devotional exercises made in honor of the Mother of the Word Incarnate. This corresponds perfectly with the orientation of Christian piety and reflects the conviction that it is already a worthy way to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, since it involves acting as she did in relation to the Word of God. She lovingly accepted the Word and treasured it in her heart, meditated on it in her mind and spread it with her lips. She faithfully put it into practice and modeled her life on it.
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You’d Think They’d Have Better Things To Do
Did You Know? The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on May 9, 1893, in Nix v. Hedden, that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883. LEARN MORE.
The Church Year: May 9, 2012
Today is Wednesday of the 5th week of Easter. The liturgical color is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
On May 9, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Gregory Nazianzen, bishop, confessor, and doctor of the Church, who died in A.D. 389. It is a Class III day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Gregory Nazianzen, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
We continue our series on the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
191. In relation to the western custom of observing a “Marian month” during the month of May (or in November in some parts of the Southern hemisphere), it would seem opportune to take into account the demands of the Liturgy, the expectations of the faithful, their maturity in the faith, in an eventual study of the problems deriving from the “Marian months” in the overall pastoral activity of the local Church, as might happen, for example, with any suggestion of abolishing the Marian observances during the month of May.
In many cases, the solution for such problems would seem to lay in harmonizing the content of the “Marian months” with the concomitant season of the Liturgical Year. For example, since the month of May largely corresponds with the fifty days of Easter, the pious exercises practised at this time could emphasize Our Lady’s participation in the Paschal mystery (cf. John 19, 25-27), and the Pentecost event (cf, Acts 1, 14) with which the Church begins: Our Lady journeys with the Church having shared in the novum of the Resurrection, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The fifty days are also a time for the celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation and of the mystagogy. The pious exercises connected with the month of May could easily highlight the earthly role played by the glorified Queen of Heaven, here and now, in the celebration of the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Eucharist.
The directives of Sacrosanctum Concilium on the need to orient the “minds of the faithful…firstly to the feasts of the Lord, in which, the mysteries of salvation are celebrated during the year”, and with which the Blessed Virgin Mary is certainly associated, should be closely followed.
Opportune catechesis should remind the faithful that the weekly Sunday memorial of the Paschal Mystery is “the primordial feast day.” Bearing in mind that the four weeks of Advent are an example of a Marian time that has been incorporated harmoniously into the Liturgical Year, the faithful should be assisted in coming to a full appreciation of the numerous references to the Mother of our Savior during this particular period.
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And So the Collapse Begins
Did You Know? The Food and Drug Administration announcee it would approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle’s Enovid on May 9, 1960, making Enovid the world’s first approved oral contraceptive pill. LEARN MORE.
The Church Year: May 8, 2012
Today is Tuesday of the 5th week of Easter. The liturgical color is white.
Saints & Celebrations:
On May 8, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
We continue our series on the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
190. With regard to the observance of “Marian months”, which is widespread in the Latin and Oriental Churches, a number of essential points can be mentioned.
In the West, the practise of observing months dedicated to the Blessed Virgin emerged from a context in which the Liturgy was not always regarded as the normative form of Christian worship. This caused, and continues to cause, some difficulties at a liturgico-pastoral level that should be carefully examined.
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The Pause that Refreshes
Did You Know? Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton first sold a carbonated beverage named “Coca-Cola” as a patent medicine on May 8, 1886. It really did contain cocaine back thing. And way too many carbs (just like today). LEARN MORE.
