Explore the Truth.
The Sanhedrin was the forum for the pharisees, who believed in the resurrection and in angels, and the saducees, who are akin to new theories and philosophies. All beliefs and philosophies concerning God and His creation are allowed to be expressed here. Read More
Sacramentals are places, objects, dates, actions or gestures that give us grace. It reminds us of the grace of the Sacraments, gives us good thoughts, and increases our devotion to God, angels, and saints. It can also give us good health, protection from evil spirits, and help us receive blessings for those who use it. The difference between the Sacraments and Sacramentals is that the Sacraments were instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, while Sacramentals were recognized sacred signs, objects and acts by the Catholic Church. The Sacraments give sanctifying grace, while the Sacramentals give actual grace. Sanctifying grace makes the soul holy and becomes a child of God, and it is permanent unless we make a grave sin. Actual Grace is a temporary grace that enlightens our mind and strengthens our heart to do good and avoid doing evil.
The Stations of the Cross or The Way of the Cross is a series of images depicting the passion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. These images are usually placed in Catholic church’s nave where the faithful come to pray during the Lenten season.
As we posted the article 'The History of the Holy Mass', let's answer some questions about it. By answering these questions, we will be enlightened by facts and truths that we should know.
The Sacrament of Penance or also known as reconciliation or confession is one of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church. It is where we confess our sins to the Priest and where he has us absolution and our penance. Recently, I've been looking for churches near me that has a schedule of confession. Some of the church people do not know the schedule, and some said it depends on the schedule of the priest. I wondered why some of these churches have no confession schedule posted in their parish or online. Is the Sacrament of Penance no longer important today?
Education is very important because it shapes our future, including the young. But today, education has missed something which has always resulted in worries, depression, and anxiety, not only for youth but also for adults today. What is lacking in our education that enlightens the mind, but leaves a weakness in the heart? The solution is to receive education about our Lord and our faith. In short Catechism. What prompted me to say this? A lot of people who are struggling in school, work, or any problems that will cause worries, depression, and anxiety are searching for something to hold onto, but they are unable to find it. We can face the problem with confidence by holding on and praying to God. We can ask for help from the saints who have previously lived in this world, faced hardships, but remain strong because of their faith in God. Speaking of Catechism, there is a saint who is very well known for education and Catechism. That is St. John Bosco.
Have you experienced of doing something for your love or for other people, but still, they ignore you. Is it pain that everything you've done to them, yet they still don't remember your sacrifice. Now you know this feeling you must understand that there's one person who also experience this and it is not just days, months or five years, but it's been 2000 years and still, the people ignored his sacrifice, and that person is our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been tortured, crucified and died because He love us. Even so many years have passed, still He loves us and show it in the form of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Where the greatest love of all was given, the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
When Pope John XXIII called for the second Vatican II Council, reformation has been prepared until it was executed by Pope Paul VI. Many changes have been made that swayed from the Sacred Tradition such as the religious freedom, removing the minor orders in the Holy Orders and mostly, changes in the Holy Mass which is the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Missale (New Order of Mass). Many bishops and clergy are againts to this reform which results on institutions of Traditional Catholic Societies. While the Vatican II changes occurred in the church and to the faithful. There are clashing of clergies happening inside the Church, this is the Traditionalist against the Modernist and the Traditionalist against the Traditionalist.
Recently, there's a news item about US Bishop Strickland was removed from the Diocese of Tyler by Pope Francis. The Vatican didn't provide reasons or his removal buy Bishop Strickland was recently known to criticise Pope Francis including the acceptance LGBT (And now the blessing of the same-sex couples). When he celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass in 2020 for the first time, he fell in love with it and continued celebrating it. He disobeys the Pope's command on restricting the Traditional Latin Mass. For the views of some of our Catholic brethrens and Priests, disobeying the Pope is not good and it may end up as schismatic. But do we really have to obey the Pope even his words and actions will lead us to heresy and blasphemy? Even he makes more Catholics swayed their way to the truth?
Did you know that God has three personas? Or the Church has Seven Sacraments? Did you know why do we pray to the saints and why there is a purgatory? These questions are about Catholicism that often attacked by the protestants. The Question is... Is it important to have Catechism? Or are we just go with the flow and being a Catholic is a personal choice? The answer is Yes. It is important to have Catechism.
You may notice that today, we post the Feast of the Kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ or mostly known as the Feast of Christ the King. While the world knows that this feast was celebrated on the last Sunday of November, we post it in the last Sunday of October. The reason is because today, is the original date of this feast before Pope Paul VI moved it.
Prayer to
Saint Michael
“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.”
Ex Primoribus
It seems that Elizabeth Masue Masuda-Almazan is a possible saint.
Another set of Marian apparitions or appearances by the Virgin Mary had been claimed. No, I’m not referring to the Lipa Apparitions which church authorities suppressed nor the Cabra incidents which died out snuffed by involvement of local politics. I am referring to the alleged San Narciso apparitions of Our Lady to a Japanese national who chose to live in the homeland of her husband.
Today, we would like to educate ourselves over an issue. Is it possible for a foreigner to love another country other than his or her very own homeland? We will be gathering some pertinent evidences as we are motivated by our group’s trip to San Narciso, Zambales where we witnessed ourselves the heroism of two foreign nationals in the persons of Nellie Elizabeth Stocks-Fontillas and Elizabeth Masue Masuda-Almazan. But since some of us have already stated that they are already writing about the two Elizabeths, I would rather focus on other examples. Since I might come up with a very lengthy piece because many foreign nationals lived heroic lives in the Philippines, I would like to zero in on Americans and Japanese who are considered heroes in their own right when they somehow manifested their love of the Philippines and her people.
Masue Masuda was a Nihongo teacher for the young Japanese nationals growing in Mintal, Davao, Philippines before WWII. Having fallen in love with a Filipino co-teacher, she opted to leave her Buddhist Japanese family which eventually returned to Japan, Masue instead went with Vicente Almazan, her husband to his native town of San Narciso, Zambales. Here, they had quite an amicable life with the Filipino community with both the teachers settling instead as farmers. Being all foreigners in San Narciso who were married to Filipinos, she developed a strong friendship with compatriot Mary Nakashima and especially Nellie Elizabeth Stocks, an American.
The town of San Narciso in Zambales is witness to intertwined lives. This became very evident during the war-torn years when the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the Philippines. Of course, during times of intense hardships, the character of each person really comes out, like when an ore is thrown into a crucible to find out which element it would manifest.
Cyrus, the Great prophesied as the bird of prey coming from the east summoned by God had been the subject of ironies. At least two cult leaders from the far east, Felix Manalo of the Philippines and Sun Myung Moon of Korea used the same bible passage in claiming they are the raptors anointed and summoned by God for a great purpose. This would only prove that even in death, Cyrus still causes a stir even as when he was still alive.
One of the most modern prevalent crimes would be identity theft. For instance, one would not know that his identity is being used for a crime that would need such identity in an authorized registry such as one being done by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) intended to legitimize something bogus. Hence, investigators noted that common people such as vendors are made corporate stockholders by criminals operating the POGO for money laundering even without their knowledge. But of course, there are some who do these things deliberately by portraying themselves as real Filipinos and legitimate businessmen in spite of the fact that they are assuming another identity by using falsified documents. But one can be so wrong in assuming that this is a modern crime.
Sumerian and Akkadian account of the hero Gilgamesh, is an epic poem of antiquity concerning the King of Uruk (not to be confused with Abraham’s Ur) culled from clay tablets from the library of Ashurbanipal (669-631 BC), the last king of the Assyrian empire. He is the son of an anunnaki (nephelim) and a human who is characterized as a mighty giant. As king, he had this lusty vice of taking the bride for himself on the day of the wedding and none of his subjects could stop him.
The recent arrest of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy made a lot of allegations moot and academic as many of the claims of violations of human rights rested on the premise that he was no longer in the KOJC Compound. It was alleged that the police tasked to arrest him were to many and have used excessive force which against the members of the church.
As early as the Greek civilization in the west and the Chinese civilization in the east, the value of military training and education had been emphasized. In the earliest Peloponnesian war, Athens recognized the dominance of Sparta in military conflict because of its military readiness and caught up with the warlike city-state. Even in the Sino classic The Art of War, there is an account of court ladies being beheaded because they did not take military training seriously despite the protests of the emperor to which they belong.
When men have mutual respect for one another, they practice an honorable and virtuous behavior wherein they treat each other as equals. And for the fairer sex, the female, they show utmost respect wherein the ladies feel protected and valued. This manifest behavior is what is expected of cavaliers, the gentry, or in the native parlance, the maginoo.
Whether they would like him to go to oblivion or keep his name as a real challenge, the Medjugorje apparitions story may never be complete without the mention of the former priest, Tomislav Vlasic, who voluntarily like Judas took it upon himself to take care of the seers there.
There is no stopping Pope Francis. If John Paul II may be said to be the most traveled pontiff during his lifetime, Jorge Bergoglio may actually break his record and in so doing bring about so many records between the Vatican and the countries he has visited during his pontificate.
Mariology
The Blessed Virgin Mary holds many revered titles in the Catholic tradition, but one of the most ecclesially significant is “Mother of the Church” (Mater Ecclesiae). Officially proclaimed by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council in 1964, this title affirms Mary’s unique and enduring role in the life of the Christian community. However, it is also a title that is not universally accepted across all Christian denominations, particularly among many Protestant communities.