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Showing posts from November, 2019

First Sunday of Advent (A)

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The Unknown Day and Hour   Lectionary: 1 Reading 1 -  Isaiah 2:1-5 Responsorial Psalm -  Psalm 122: 1-9 Reading 2 -  Romans 13:11-14 Alleluia -  Cf. Psalm 85:8 Gospel -  Matthew 24:37-44 '... Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.' Introduction  As we gather on this First Sunday of Advent , we also mark the beginning of the Church’s new liturgical calendar and a four-week preparation period leading up to Christmas. The word Advent comes from either of two Latin words, which simply mean “to come” (Ad-venire) or “to arrive” (Ad-ventus), and as early as the fourth (4th) century, Christians have had this special time of preparation towards Christmas. Of course, Advent is not merely a countdown to Christmas; Even as we begin the material preparations for the social celebration of Christmas, the liturgical celebrations of these weeks invite us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus. But what does the co...
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Deacon Inquirer

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  Let's Get this Party Started ... The process to become a Deacon in the Archdiocese of Boston begins with the "Inquirer Stage" ... which is really just three (3) to four (4) information sessions that are open to everybody, usually in the fall: Who is the Deacon, and am I one who is called? How does diaconate ministry fit into marriage and family life? Application process, Canon Law, Formation from the wives' perspective. Half-day discernment retreat on Saturday The Application Process ... After you complete all four (4), you can begin the Application Process ... The actual application was fourteen (14) pages of questions in three (3) sections: The Applicant Questionnaire, The Pastor Evaluation, and The Spouse .  Attached to the application are two (2) essays : a brief (2-3 page) autobiography and a similar "spiritual" autobiography about your spiritual life that brought you to this point.  Included is a list of canonical issues or impediments that must be a...
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Dominican Postulancy

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  Introduction : St. Dominic was originally a priest, a canon regular, who was already bound to live by the Rule of St. Augustine, and the statutes of St. Norbert.  St. Dominic renounced the worldly power that he had been born to, and could have laid claim to even as a member of the clergy, and went around on foot like the ordinary people, living a poor and penitential life.  His primary objective was to counter the heresy promoted by the Albigenses/Cathars and eventually founded the  Dominican Order Of Preachers to bring the dedication and education of the monastic orders into the active defense of orthodoxy.  He believed that parochial clergy were too poorly educated and poorly formed (spiritually) to make their rudimentary preaching effective in such apologetics.  St Dominics innovation was to propose a community of priests that would share in the preaching office of the bishop.  It was nearly 400 years AFTER Dominic when the Council of Trent began...
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