Allah
I read a news. Here.
We never know the name of God in this life, since He is mysterious. Whatever we call Him, “God”, “Lord”, “天主”, “上帝”, “上主”, “Yahweh”, “Jehovah”, “雅威”, “耶和華”, “Al Shaddai”, “Almighty God”, “全能的天主”, “神”, etc., He is still the same God.
Though each of us might describe Him differently, that doesn’t mean He is different. For example, there is a person A, we don’t know his name. And Jack knows A, Jack says A is a good man. And John also knows A, John doesn’t say that A is good, but A is kind and friendly. And James said A is not good. Though they describe A differently, A is still A.
Creeds
During the mass, we will say the Creed. And, normally, there are 2 Creeds: Nicene Creed and Apostle’s Creed.
Nicene Creed is the longer form and Apostle’s Creed is shorter.
Then, have you heard about Athanasian Creed? We will not say this Creed during the mass. But, I like to read this Creed. Because the Creed says about Holy Trinity and Incarnation, very nice.
Read more: Athanasian Creed.
Short prayers
Have you ever felt that, sometimes you are wasting time? For example, you are waiting for some people, or you are on the bed and waiting falling in sleep.
I often feel that.
That is why, I looked for short prayers which I can recite whenever and wherever I am.
I forgot where I read a short prayer. It was:
“Jesus, Mary. I love you save souls.”
Besides that, there is a popular prayer: Jesus Prayer.
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Office reading
Do you know Liturgy of the Hours (or Divine Office)?
Click here to read detailed information: link.
I like a software: Universalis. And you can also read the daily readings on the website.
But the different locations have different reading, so the reading might not be same as your place. For Malaysia, I think the nearest is US calendar of the website. Because some places celebrate Ascension on Sunday, some Thursday.
[1/1/2008]
I forgot to said that, I like the “Reading” from Office Reading. Because most of the readings were written by saints. And from the reading, we can know a lot of their spiritual knowledge.
I think Catholics should know this
I am conservative. But I think this is important for Catholics to know, especially male teenagers and adults. I suggest to read the whole article (link).
The whole article is quite important. It is about a common mortal sin. But I like the following quote:
Holy Communion is a very private thing - and no one should ever feel compelled to receive Holy Communion: no matter what the circumstance. It is most inappropriate to ask another “why did he not receive communion?”
(From: http://www.newjerusalem.com/bepure.htm)
Humble heart
I was an altar server (I use “was” because I do not serve mass as altar server like before anymore). One main thing I learn from the Guild of St Stephen (Archconfraternity of St Stephen) is: Humbleness. I like this virtue, because it is opposite to pride.
Humble should come from our heart that we truly admit our lowliness. It is not, we pretend to be humble so that everybody like us. It is, we truly act humbly even everybody dislike us.
Christmas
Now is advent season, Christmas is coming. We must know why we celebrate Christmas. Remember, it is to celebrate the birth of our Lord. As a Christian, we must know this, and we must teach our children (though I still don’t have children). We are not celebrate for other else, not for Santa Claus. But a lot of people wear like Santa Claus during Christmas Carolling.
Our Lord born in poverty, we need to meditate this, not wearing like Santa Claus and doing some funny things during Christmas Carolling.
Creed
About the Creed, it is about what we (or I) believe. Therefore, inside Creed, there is about the Holy Trinity. Besides that, Creed can be separated into twelve parts.
In accordance with an ancient tradition, already attested to by St. Ambrose, it is also customary to reckon the articles of the Creed as twelve, thus symbolizing the fullness of the apostolic faith by the number of the apostles.
(Reference: Paragraph 191, Catechism of the Catholic Church)
Catholic parents should know
I don’t know what title should this be.
I just read the RSS news, and found that there is a film called “The Golden Compass” which is based on the book. The conclusion of the news is, parents are not recommended to allow their children to watch the film and read the book.
The following is the quote:
It’s not OK for children – impressionable as they are – to read stories in which the plot revolves around the supreme blasphemy, namely, that God is a liar and a mortal. It is not appropriate for children to read books in which the heroine is the product of adultery and murder; priests act as professional hit men, torturers and authorize occult experimentation on young children; an ex-nun engages in occult practices and promiscuous behavior, and speaks of it openly with a 12-year-old couple; and the angels who rebel against God are good, while those who fight on God’s side are evil. This is wrong. And while it’s been softened in the movie – or at least that’s what Hollywood is telling us – it’s still there in the books.
(Quoted from: http://www.zenit.org/rssenglish-21008)
Sabbath and Sunday
I don’t know every body know this or not. Just one to share, because I taugth catechism before, and taught the children about this.
Sabbath is acutally Saturday. If follow the Jewish custom, it is from Friday sunset until Saturday sunset. Because, for Jewish, a day start from sunset. That is why we celebrate sunset mass on Saturday and it fulfils the Sunday obligation. And, Sabbath is the day of rest.