Find within these pages a clearinghouse of articles, news, links, events, collaboration tools and other resources shared with fellow priests. New pages every week — look forward to an expanding toolbox of practical resources at your fingertips!
Loving the Mass
The Mass is about love, says the prelate of Opus Dei when asked for advice for those who are sometimes bored by the Eucharistic celebration. Bishop Javier Echevarría affirmed that his latest book, "Living the Holy Mass," is an attempt to rediscover love for the Eucharist. He contended that Benedict XVI "has written that the best catechesis on the Eucharist is the Eucharist itself well celebrated. Therefore, the first duty of piety for the priest that celebrates or for the faithful that participate in the Mass is the attentive, devout observance of the liturgical prescriptions."
News Bytes for Your Parish Bulletin
- Pope Notes Hopes for Shroud of Turin
- Benedict XVI Reviews Pius XII Film
- Ed Koch: Anti-Catholicism Evident in Media
- Vatican Takes to Blogging
Vatican via Twitter
The Holy See has made its foray into the social networking platform Twitter by launching a feed in six languages, including English and Spanish. Twitter is a free, micro-blogging service that allows users to send or receive brief messages ("tweets") through a computer or smart phone. Vatican Radio and the other media sources of the Holy See will diffuse information through Twitter channels. The Vatican also launched a new Web page (www.resources.va) that offers multimedia information on current topics.
Confession as Dialogue
The sacrament of confession should be at the center of pastoral concerns and be a method to carry out a "dialogue of salvation" with the faithful, says Benedict XVI. The Pope said this upon receiving in audience participants in the annual course on the internal forum promoted by the Apostolic Penitentiary. Noting the underway Year for Priests marking the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, the Holy Father said: "From the holy Curé d'Ars we can learn to put our unfailing trust in the sacrament of Penance, to set it once more at the center of our pastoral concerns, and to take up the 'dialogue of salvation' which it entails."