FILIPINO TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLIC: THE MANIFESTATION OF LIGHT

Friday, January 4, 2008

THE MANIFESTATION OF LIGHT

On January 6 is indicated ass the feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord in the old Liturgical Calendar. Epiphany means “manifestation”. The glory of the Lord was manifested among the gentiles. The adoration of the magi is symbolically important, first on the grounds that the three magi who came from the east were gentiles. The gifts they bore symbolize the role that the Messiah will have. The introit for today’s Mass expresses this thought more eloquently in this manner:

“Ecce, advenit Dominator, Dominus et regnum in manu ejus , et potestas, et imperium Psalm. Deus Judicium, tuum regi da: et justitam tuum filio regis. Gloria Patri…. Ecce advenit.”
(Behold the Lord the ruler is come: and the kingdom is in His hand, and power and dominion. Ps. 71.2. Give to the King Thy judgment, O God; and to the King’s Son Thy justice, Glory be to the Father… Behold the Lord.)

The First lesson is taken from Isaiah 60:1-6. This passage from scriptures tells us the glory of Jerusalem. How Jerusalem was engulfed in darkness but of a sudden the Lord shall arise unto her and cover her with the brilliance of light. Te gentiles shall find this light from her and will obey. This light shall draw people to her and she shall be the guiding light. Here the adoration of the Magi symbolizes the gentiles’ conversion to the Lord and Christ the Lord is the light coming from Jerusalem, the mystical city of God. From this passage don’t we see the wisdom of history? Anyone familiar with the history of humanity will get a glimpse of how the faith of the Church has been a source of light unto the gentiles.

The gospel for today’s Mass is from Matthew 2:1-12. Here St. Matthew tells us that the magi diligently sought the Christ Child in order that they may render Him worship. Does this not teach us a lesson that likes the magi we should also seek the Lord with all our hearts? There is no need for us to get out of our daily routine in order to find the Lord. Our daily tasks, the people we meet daily, even our enemies, from them we can find the Lord. For s the Lord said, whatever we do to the least of our brothers we did it unto him. How often too in our daily lives we are tempted to do the things the Lord hates? Herod symbolizes Satan, the arch deceiver, full of hatred and envy. In our lies too Satan comes as a roaring Lion. That’s why St. Peter tells us to be on our Guard because the devil like a roaring lion seeks to devour anyone that comes along the way. These can be done successfully if we are diligent in our prayers.

To each and every one, Blessed Epiphany.

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A 13 years old boy............. in 1983, but now I am a golden boy, gaining weight and wiser, but younger at heart. I consider myself as a “novus ordo baby” because I was born in the late 60s after the 2nd Vatican Council introduced the novus ordo missae and grew up confronted by the confusions as a result. Like my generation I never saw what the church was like prior to Vatican II, but I am a living witness to the gradual disappearance of religious traditions we hold dear. Young as I was then I could not understand what was going on. But I suffered the sense of loss as I saw how the modernizing influence in the church disfigured the liturgy and clouded the way we believe and practice our faith. But then being a child, powerless, not knowing what it was, and why it happened, I simply drifted into the sea of confusion, too young to understand. With a glimmer of faith in my heart, planted by baptism and confirmation, strengthened by the sound teachings of my parents and grandparents, I sailed into the sea of life, day after day, seeing the changes happen, feeling the sense of abandonment, yet God was merciful to me. In 2005 I discovered the Traditional Latin Mass or commonly known in the post-conciliar period as the Tridentine Mass. I began to love the rite of mass that has nourished my ancestors, the saints and the martyrs. I am eternally grateful to His Holiness Pope John Paul II for recognizing the rightful aspirations of Catholics attached to the ancient forms of the Roman Rite through his apostolic letter ECCLESIA DEI DI AFFLICTA. I am also eternally grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for liberating the Traditional Latin Mass through his apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum. I fully agree with the program of his pontificate regarding the Hermeneutics of Continuity and disdain the hermeneutics of rupture. Today I consider myself a Traditional Roman Catholic attached to the liturgical discipline of 1962 as outlined in the Motu Proprio SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM of his Holiness. I believe that there is only one Roman Rite, the Ordinary and the Extraordinary and that the Mass in whatever form should be celebrated with dignity. My voyage is on. Join me in this quest.

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FILIPINO TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLIC

Friday, January 4, 2008

THE MANIFESTATION OF LIGHT

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The Word Made Flesh

Tu es Petro (You are Peter...)

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