A Deo et Rege

I ordered a couple of books recently. The first, which arrived yesterday is the The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition. It is essentially the text of the RSV with some changes to make it more Catholic. For example, Mary is addressed as "full of grace" instead of "O Favored One" at the Annunciation. Another example is "brothers" of Jesus are translated as "brethren." And the word "who" is used of the Holy Spirit instead of "which." These are all good changes from a Catholic standpoint. This version differs from the first edition in that it has removed all archaic language and made some Old Testament changes (e.g. "young woman" in Isaiah 7:14 is now "virgin" although I haven’t found any other examples yet).

The second book, which I’m still waiting on, is the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which simplifies the larger catechism into a question and answer format. I am very excited about reading this. I hope it will make the Faith more accessible, especially to those in Catholic schools, PSR programs, and RCIA classes. Once I get it (come on amazon!), I’ll let everyone know what I think.

It is that time of year when scores of people are brought into the Catholic Church through baptism and/or confirmation following a period as a catechuman in RCIA or an equivalent experience. I want to welcome some of my friends on the net to the Church! It’s a little early, but I don’t want to forget. Before I give the names, I want to give a quote from St. Augustine (from "On the Advantage of Believing"):

This (i.e. the Catholic Church/Faith) hath been brought to pass by the
Divine Providence, through the prophecies of the Prophets, through the
manhood and teaching of Christ, through the journeys of the Apostles,
through the insults, crosses, blood, of the Martyrs, through the
praiseworthy life of the Saints, and, in all these, according as times
were seasonable, through miracles worthy of so great matters and
virtues. When therefore we see so great help of God, so great progress
and fruit, shall we doubt to hide ourselves in the bosom of that
Church, which even unto the confession of the human race from [the]
apstolic chair through successions Of Bishops, hath held the summit of authority.

A big welcome to:

Brandi
Jason
Danny

If anyone else who reads this blog is becoming Catholic this Easter, please let me know. Some of you I know are becoming Catholic, but I’m not sure when.

Photo taken at Lourdes Shrine, Euclid, OH by Jonathan Bennett

Tomorrow begins the Divine Mercy Novena which is a powerful nine day set of prayers beginning on Good Friday and ending on Divine Mercy Sunday (the second Sunday of Easter). Jesus appeared to St. Faustina on several occasions as she relates in her diary. Regarding the novena, she wrote that Jesus revealed to her:

On each day of the novena you will bring to My Heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy… On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls. By this novena I will grant every possible grace to souls.

To participate in this wonderful practice, you can visit this Divine Mercy Novena page (also used as a source for the above quote). For more information on the chaplet associated with St. Faustina and the novena, you can visit this page on the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

I participated in the chaplet and novena last year and can say that it is a wonderful spiritual practice. I am excited about doing it again this year!

Image from St. Charles Borromeo Church Image Gallery