At mass on Sunday for the Feast of Epiphany, Father Jeff asked us to remain standing after the gospel reading for the ancient Proclamation of the Date of Easter
The Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany dates from a time when calendars were not readily available. It was necessary to make known the date of Easter in advance, since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on its date. The number of Sundays that follow Epiphany, the date of Ash Wednesday, and the number of Sundays that follow Pentecost are all computed in relation to Easter.Although calendars now give the date of Easter and the other feasts in the liturgical year for many years in advance, the Epiphany proclamation still has value. It is a reminder of the centrality of the resurrection of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great mysteries of faith which are celebrated each year. (From Sacramentary Supplement.)
On the solemnity of the Epiphany, the proclamation takes place after the Gospel, the homily or after the Prayer after Communion. The proclamation should be sung from the ambo by a deacon, cantor or a reader. In their absence, the celebrant or concelebrant or another priest may sing or proclaim it according to the following text:
Dear brothers and sisters, the glory of the Lord has shone upon us, and shall ever be manifest among us, until the day of his return. Through the rhythms of times and seasons let us celebrate the mysteries of salvation. Let us recall the year’s culmination, the Easter Triduum of the Lord: his last supper, his crucifixion, his burial, and his rising celebrated between the evening of the 9th of April and the evening of the 12th of April. Each Easter – as on each Sunday – the Holy Church makes present the great and saving deed by which Christ has for ever conquered sin and death. From Easter are reckoned all the days we keep holy./ Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, will occur on the 25th of February. The Ascension of the Lord will be commemorated on the 21st [or 24th] of May. Pentecost, the joyful conclusion of the season of Easter, will be celebrated on the 31st of May. And this year the First Sunday of Advent will be on the 29th of November. Likewise the pilgrim Church proclaims the Passover of Christ in the feasts of the holy Mother of God, in the feasts of the Apostles and Saints, and in the commemoration of the faithful departed. To Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come, Lord of time and history, be endless praise, for ever and ever. Amen.
I had not heard of the Epiphany proclamation before but it was for me the perfect capstone to the lessons I have been pondering this Advent and Christmas season. In trying as a family to put Advent and Christmas in their proper sequence we are becoming more attuned to the Pilgrim Church. Each year, as we journey around the sun we also repeat the journey of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world. It is my hope that each time I follow this journey with just a little deeper understanding and faith.
Through the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar I have also grown a deeper understanding of what it means to be a part of a universal church and a participant of a world-wide faith community. Over the past 37 days, we have brought you 44 posts contributed by over 50 people from 3 different continents. Our thanks go out to our contributors, the webmasters who posted our badge or advent calendar, and everyone who has dropped in to enjoy the great Advent content. You can see the blogs, podcasts, or music of our contributors at their own websites listed below.
Thanks to Drew Beatty and John Meadows who helped me out when the site went down midway through the Advent Calendar project.
And a heartfelt thanks to my loving wife, Nancy and our daughter Sarah who have been my compatriots in life and in this project. I am overwhelmed by the number of people who were involved in making the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar a success. If I neglected to list your name, please accept my apology for the oversight and let me know so that I can add you to the list. It is my sincere hope that through our blog and podcast we can help our own family and others grow closer to Christ through Mary. That’s a wrap for the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar, but please continue to join us at the Catholic New Media Roundup as we shine a spotlight on the great ways Catholics are spreading the Good News using new media.
Send me your feedback on the blog at http://cc.ductapeguy.net by email at (catholicroundup@gmail.com) catholicroundup (at) gmail (dot) com or by calling 206-337-0611.
When I was first explaining my idea of a Catholic New Media Advent Calendar to my family I said that it could contain any kind of media that helped us to focus upon the season of advent– whether it was the written word, visual art, podcast, music or even funny cat videos. My daughter thought that the idea of showing cat videos was hilarious so she immediately grabbed her camera and started chasing the cat. Here are a couple of her cat videos.
When I started this post, I went looking for Christmas Lolcat pictures. I stumbled upon the LOL Cat Bible: Lectionary Readings for Epiphany Sunday. That’s right folks. A bunch of people have been busy translating the LOLCat Bible. And you can find the Sunday lolcat readings on the Meeauw blog.
Here is the Lolcat translation of the visit of the Magi from Matthew 2.1-12.
da visit to da maji, liek srsly
1 Nao, when Jebus was borned in teh dayz when Herod teh king wuz rockin the casbah, hai look, dere sum waiz doodz comin frm teh Eats into Jerusalem
2 n dey wuz all leik “rawr! we iz waiz d00ds from teh Eats! Lol but srsly wear iz teh new leet king j00 dat got borned? In teh eats we wuz in nait timez and omg der wuz dis star in a invisibel plaen n it saied to us ‘go to Jerusalem n find leet king j00 dat got borned, but do not eated him jus be liek hey leet king j00 yu pwn srsly. k?’ so ya wer is he?”
3 king herod (teh n00b king) was campin liek a ub3r n00b near der, n wen he heared dis he wuz liek “omfg hez in mah empaire, steelin ma gloriez (an mai cookiez wtf)?!??! n all d pplz in Jerusalem wuz leik “hey yea wtf?!”
4 So he got all d pplz who are has teh smartz, ne he sayed “sry im n00b but lol srsly wer doez king j00 spawn?”
5 N dey sed to him “lol.. d00d, obviusly king j00 spawns in beetleham, ceiling cat saied to sum gai wun time “oi rait dis down n stuff” n he rited:
6 “dw beetleham, u r not teh fail, cuz from u iz gunna come dis leet d00d who cn pwn evry1 n is haz cookiez. Hez gunna saev teh ppl of Israel n whatnot.”
wtf… star said to come here….
7 Den king herod was liek kk, n he aksed teh waiz d00ds “u know wen it wuz nait timez n dat star saied stuff 2 yuz, wen waz dat happen?” n teh waiz d00ds wuz like “lol wut?”
8 So king herod sed “omg dw, juz go too beetleham n look for teh new king j00 n wen u find him IM me coz I wanna sai to him how much he pwnz. (har har har I are smartz…)”
9 After dat dey wuz on der way n teh star in a invisibel plaen waz fast. Srsly. n it wuz liek “hai2u! good job d00ds! btw teh king j00 is ova here my plaen is pointing 2 wer he iz, k?”
10 Teh wiez d00ds wuz leik “kthx we cn see wer he iz now!” n wuz happi n stuff.
11 Dey goed dere n seed ickle kid Jebus n mary who wuz are who bornded him. n dey were liek “d00d u r teh new king u pwn srsly! lol u are so leet! omfg < ltrly! Btw we bringd u sum cheezburgrs n munniez n faierwerks n stuff u can has dem if u want.”
12 Aftr dat dey waz about to IM king herod den wun of dem sayd “o, actuly, I hasd a dream at nait timez n ceiling cat wuz like “hey sup d00d.” n I wuz liek “nm, u?” n he wuz liek “nm but d00d get dis, king herod r liez tbh. He iz lookin for Jebus so he cn pwn him wtf!!!?” Den I woke up bt srsly ceiling cat sed dat.” So teh udder waiz d00ds sayed “o wtf, I haet dat n00b king herod wtf is hiz problem” n dey all goed bak to der hoem in d eats bi differnt way.
And while we’re celebrating the 11th day of catmas, I highly recommend you check out Fransiscan Focus a great blog by Lisa whose online nickname is Franciscat.
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
Send me your feedback on the blog at http://cc.ductapeguy.net by email at (catholicroundup@gmail.com) catholicroundup (at) gmail (dot) com or by calling 206-337-0611.
Today, Paul Camarata explains the origins of Christmas midnight mass and the mass at dawn. He takes us back to the early celebrations of the Birth of Christ on the Feast of Epiphany in Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the 4th century through the writings of a spanish nun named Egeria.
To learn more about the saints and hear saint news, please check out Paul’s wonderful podcast, The Saintcast. Thanks Paul. Music in this episode: O little town of Bethlehem by Kathy Fisher at fishertheband.com.
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
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In 2007 or 2008 my wife and I made a New Year’s resolution to attend Sunday Mass (and feast days) wherever we were and whatever we were doing. Prior to that we were faithful to going to mass every Sunday– except when we were traveling or attending weekend long music festivals or…
Since we have made this resolution, finding masses when we are traveling has become a pleasure and an adventure. Web resources like masstimes.org and diocesan websites make it easy to find the location and mass times of a church nearby to where we are staying. The website for our Archdiocese of Toronto allows you to search for the nearest parish by postal code, which is a very handy feature for travelers.
Today we attended mass for January 1, the feast of Mary the Mother of God at St. Justin the Martyr parish, a large suburban parish just north of Toronto. The homily focused on the apparitions of Mary at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima. In each of these instances Mary appeared in a remote, unremarkable location and asked the visionaries to tell their bishops that She wished a church to be built on that location. The priest pointed out that if these apparitions occurred in such remote locations that nobody should feel that their heart is too remote to ask Jesus to come live in it.
Another reason I love going to mass at churches away from home is that it helps me reflect upon the idea of the small ‘c’ meaning of ‘catholic’ meaning that we belong to a universal church. Wherever we attend mass we are a part of the sacrifice of Jesus in the Eucharist. The suburban parish we attended today is a very multicultural parish with members from many nations and cultures in the parish community. This also helps remind me that the church is worldwide and universal. St. Justin’s is a modern church building and the artwork within it is a blend of contemporary and traditional styles. The stained glass windows contained portraits of many saints including my daughter’s favorite, Blessed Kateri Tekawitha and St. Maximillian Kolbe. Like many geeks I have adopted St. Maximillian as a kind of patron of the Internet because of his skillful use of all forms of media of his time to spread the Gospel (sort of like many of us are trying to do with new media).
Speaking of new media, I like many others, have found that the promise of podcasting and social media is in making connections between people and facilitating communities. Having been an active participant in several online community projects, in the podcasting community at large, and within the Catholic online community (or St. Blogs Parish as it were), I have noticed that the Catholic community online has a different and richer definition of community than other online community. This understanding of community is very much rooted in our understanding that we belong to a universal church and that we are united by the sacrifice of Christ in the Eucharist. Several times I have heard Catholic rocker Bryan Murdaugh refer to the celebration of the Eucharist as ‘The original social network’. For me it is enough to know that wherever I am, I can probably find a mass and that I will instantly be connected to the worldwide family of the Catholic Church. I’m told that I overuse the word ‘awesome’ but that is truly awesome!
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
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January first, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, holds a special place in my life. Four years ago, on January first, my oldest daughter was born.
Celebrating Mary’s motherhood has become a celebration of my motherhood. The obligation of Mass has turned into a thanksgiving for a blessing I didn’t think I wanted. Through our shared feast day, I have come to know the Blessed Mother with a whole new appreciation.
I was never going to get married or have children. There were two main and many other underlying reasons I would have cited, had you asked me all those years ago. All of those “reasons,” though, led back to one thing: my lack of hope.
Reason #1: Why get married when marriage was obviously such an outdated proposition – and one that only left pain when it didn’t work out? My own family was evidence of this, and all around me in the wider world, it seemed that the only marriages that lasted were of my grandparent’s generation, and that was only because they didn’t know any better.
Reason #2: Why bring a child into a world such as ours? I didn’t need to look far to find support for this argument. There was heartache everywhere: rise in crime, increasing abortion rates (people not wanting their children), split homes. The world, as I saw it, was a hostile place. I often thought it was too bad that I was in it.
My reasons were shattered slowly, and my hard heart was softened by the touch of three mothers: my sister-in-law, my mother-in-law, and the Blessed Mother herself.
First, I watched a couple bury another son with grace and dignity. I watched a woman arrange the funeral for her daughter’s son, her grandson. I watched the funeral director with tears streaming down his face. I sat beside the man I would someday marry after he carried himself there, and I watch him still struggle with what was the third small white casket for his family.
Surely, in this grief, there was despair. And yet, what I took away, what I still learn from that experience, was hope. Everyone cried, yes. And then…they comforted each other. They held on to hope. They continue to hope.
Then there was a Mother’s Day Mass the year before I became Catholic. My relationship with my own mother was very fractured at that point, and I was in the midst of a five-year period in which I did not talk to her or communicate with her at all. It was at Mass, as Father was talking about the love Mary has for each of us, how she holds us and comforts us, that I found myself sobbing, shaking and hiccupping and crying in great gulps. I had to go to the back of the church and I was unable to come back in. Afterwards, I was unable to tell anyone what came over me. I didn’t know myself. Looking back, I think Mary must have touched my soul, and my hard heart must have softened enough to let the light of God’s love shine just a bit onto it.
Motherhood is a gift to me now. I am so blessed to be on both ends, receiving and giving. My relationship with my mother has been mended for some years now, and I’m surrounded by other mother-figures in an almost endless community of saints-to-be. Our Blessed Mother walks with me, and comforts me so very often.
As we contemplate Mary, the Mother of God, I find myself viewing my struggles with a more humorous eye, rolling my eyes at my dramatic moments, and finding inspiration in a humble approach to the hardest job I’ll ever hold. When I see the daughter whose birthday we celebrate on this Marian feast, I remember that I’m aiming for Mary in my vocation: to be a little more like the Mother of God each day, drawing closer to Jesus and better cooperating with the grace of God.
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
Send me your feedback on the blog at http://cc.ductapeguy.net by email at (catholicroundup@gmail.com) catholicroundup (at) gmail (dot) com or by calling 206-337-0611.
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
Send me your feedback on the blog at http://cc.ductapeguy.net by email at (catholicroundup@gmail.com) catholicroundup (at) gmail (dot) com or by calling 206-337-0611.
Merry Christmas. Praise be to Jesus Christ now and forever.
The miracle of Christmas is far too important to celebrate for just a single day. The Christmas story needs to be experienced and reflected on for entire seasons. To fully experience Christmas takes an entire lifetime on this earth and into eternity.
The Church begins to prepare for Christmas during Advent. This is a time when we set aside a few weeks to prepare the way for Jesus birth. After Christmas day the Church continues to celebrate for a few weeks allowing what we just experienced to take root.
While we are still living, it is a time to prepare for our ultimate destination, heaven. Our life of faith is a journey. This journey is full of unexpected events, pitfalls, hardships, and disappointments. Fortunately, along the way we experience dull reflections of the happiness in store for those of us willing to stay the course.
The birth of Christ at the first Christmas was not the beginning of the second person of God. The word was with God. God has no beginning and no end. At Christmas the word became flesh and came to meet us. Thanks to the coming of Jesus at Christmas, the law of God that once was written on stone tablets is now written on our hearts. Dwelling among us, God is so close to us and has a relationship with us.
It is amazing to think about the dimensions of God. In himself God is a society. He is one, but, at the same time three distinct persons who are not complete without each other. The works of creation can remind us of the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It has been observed that a family with the husband, wife, and children are but a faint reflection of the properties of God. Our capacity to love is dependent upon our entering into the source of love that is God. If there is to be order of the universe, each part of God’s creation must align to the purposes of its creation.
The word becoming flesh and dwelling among us is in itself an incredible sign of contradiction. To enter into the love of God presents such challenges for us. This Jesus born in such humble circumstances for the single purpose of dying to expiate sins of all humanity calls us to enter into his sacrifice. The Sacraments that we as Catholics receive by our own choice, or that of our parents, require a sacrifice that changes us in a radical way. The changes we experience are truly causes of division. When the Son of God was on earth, he was killed and his followers suffered, many being killed themselves. The word of God is still with us and many Christians to this day are still persecuted.
Each year, when the season comes, we are asked by God to experience the incarnation anew and to allow the baby Jesus to grow in our souls from ‘cradle to cross’ and from ‘cross to grave’. The journey takes us to many places we don’t want to go and sometimes while on our own we regret going there. But, knowing that God brings order to the disorder that life can be if left on our own, makes life a little more worth living. Knowing that God is closer to us than we can ever imagine, can make the difficult journey a little easier to bear.
Yes, God is here with us and throughout our lives he is ever so gently nudging us to enter into his love. He wants us to know and do his will. The journey we are on is the quest to know and do his will. This is the journey of a lifetime and is precisely why Christmas is far too big to fit into one day. Click to watch Cradle and the Cross Music Video on Youtube
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
Send me your feedback on the blog at http://cc.ductapeguy.net by email at (catholicroundup@gmail.com) catholicroundup (at) gmail (dot) com or by calling 206-337-0611.
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
Send me your feedback on the blog at http://cc.ductapeguy.net by email at (catholicroundup@gmail.com) catholicroundup (at) gmail (dot) com or by calling 206-337-0611.
Today my friend from seminary, Father Michel Nault, presents us with a Christmas Prayer.
Lord, during the next week or so, I will be turning my Christmas tree on and off many times. Let me try to remember what it means each time I do it. In the tree let me see my Christian character, upright and dependable; in the lights, let me see a reminder that in You is life, and the light is the light of people, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it. Let the feasting and the happiness remind me of the tidings of great joy which the shepherds heard. And, in the generosity of Christmas, let me reflect on Your generosity in giving me a constant chance of renewal even when I have blotted my copy book badly. Thank You, Lord, for the spirit of Christmas Eve, as generous tomorrow as today. And if, by some chance, I should live through a whole week in that spirit, it is even possible that the Christmas spirit can become an all round year affair!
Join us tomorrow for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities as we journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.
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Nancy, Sean and Sarah wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Let’s all join in the worldwide celebration of the coming of Christ into the world. As our Christmas gift to you, we have prepared a very special Catholic New Media Roundup Christmas Mixtape. Enjoy.
Christmas Message from our family to you and yours.
Join us tomorrow and every day in December for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities.
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Today James and Jodi Mazzuchi from the Our Catholic Life Podcast give us a reflection on the scripture readings for December 23.
Join us tomorrow and every day in December for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities.
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Today, Mac and Katherine from the Catholic in a Small Town podcast bring us breaking news of a religious conspiracy that claims to know the “true meaning” of Christmas. Greg Willits from The Catholics Next Door on Sirius Satellite Radio, The Catholic Channel, makes a guest appearance as the ACLU rep, Mr. Cankorface.
Join us tomorrow and every day in December for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities.
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Lisa Hendey from CatholicMom.com and the Catholic Moments Podcast has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar from when I first suggested the idea to her. Today we have a video of her sons, Eric and Adam Hendey playing a celtic arrangement of We Three Kings, on guitar and recorder.
Join us tomorrow and every day in December for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities.
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Today, we have a special treat all the way from west Texas. Allyson Sweeney from The Catholic Family Podcast recorded the Catholic Family Kids, Catherine, Austin, Hanna, Luke and their friend Breanna singing Prepare a Way for the Lord. Thanks so much for sharing a little bit of your Catholic Family advent with us.
Join us tomorrow and every day in December for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities.
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The day I announced the Catholic New Media Advent Calendar, Blaise Alleyne emailed me and said that he was a regular reader of my blog and that he would like to contribute some of his music to the advent calendar project. I hopped over to his site and was delighted to become virtually acquainted with him. I thought I was the only Catholic, folk singing, songwriting, podcaster, copyfighting, linux using, defender of free culture in Canada. Apparently there are at least two of us. Blaise Alleyne is a Toronto musician, programmer, blogger and frequent contibutor toTechdirt, who releases his music under a Creative Commons BY-SA License, which means that you can use it, remix it, or build upon it as long as you too release it under the same license and give him credit. That is waay cool. If you enjoyed Blaise’s arrangement of O Come, O Come Emmanuel, you can find more of his Christmas music at http://blaise.ca/music/christmas/. Join us tomorrow and every day in December for more reflections produced by great Catholic New Media personalities.
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