What do you think about nudism / what does your church/denomination teach about nudism? I'm curious. :-)
I'll do some research on the Catholic church and let you know what we teach, as well as my own thoughts on the subject.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
12.07.2005
11.29.2005
Advent Prayer
Double Post - here's an Advent prayer I liked:
Advent Prayer - Henri J.M. Nouwen
Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!"
Amen.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
Advent Prayer - Henri J.M. Nouwen
Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness,
send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!"
Amen.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
The Immaculate Conception
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." - Matthew Ch. 1
During this blessed season of Advent we celebrate one of our church’s Marian feasts: The Immaculate Conception (December 8). As a Church, we affirm two central teachings with this dogma:
1. We affirm that Jesus was truly human and truly divine. Inasmuch as he was fully human, he needed a human mother, and he needed to born as any other child has ever been born. However, inasmuch as he was fully divine, he needed a vessel of surpassing purity and holiness. Hence the need to have a mother who was in some way protected from original sin and all of its harmful effects.
2. Flowing from that teaching, since Jesus, in all of his humanity and divinity, needed a sanctified place from which to be born, we also affirm that Mary, from the first moment of her conception, was spared the effects of original sin. Hence the word “immaculate”, which literally means “without stain.”
Mary is called “full of grace”, then, precisely because she never lost that sanctifying grace that our sins rob us of. Since she was free of original sin, then, she was in a state of sanctifying grace from her conception to her death.
Our Catechism says the following:
490. To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role". The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
491. Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1844:
"The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854.)
When we celebrate this great feast day, then, we are celebrating Mary’s willingness to serve, Jesus’ full humanity and divinity, and we are celebrating God’s saving grace, which had prepared Mary from before she was born to be the Mother of His Son.
This Advent, then, let us pray that by drawing closer to Mary and by entering more fully into the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception we may be drawn closer to Jesus, her Son, and to the Father who willed his birth.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
During this blessed season of Advent we celebrate one of our church’s Marian feasts: The Immaculate Conception (December 8). As a Church, we affirm two central teachings with this dogma:
1. We affirm that Jesus was truly human and truly divine. Inasmuch as he was fully human, he needed a human mother, and he needed to born as any other child has ever been born. However, inasmuch as he was fully divine, he needed a vessel of surpassing purity and holiness. Hence the need to have a mother who was in some way protected from original sin and all of its harmful effects.
2. Flowing from that teaching, since Jesus, in all of his humanity and divinity, needed a sanctified place from which to be born, we also affirm that Mary, from the first moment of her conception, was spared the effects of original sin. Hence the word “immaculate”, which literally means “without stain.”
Mary is called “full of grace”, then, precisely because she never lost that sanctifying grace that our sins rob us of. Since she was free of original sin, then, she was in a state of sanctifying grace from her conception to her death.
Our Catechism says the following:
490. To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role". The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
491. Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1844:
"The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854.)
When we celebrate this great feast day, then, we are celebrating Mary’s willingness to serve, Jesus’ full humanity and divinity, and we are celebrating God’s saving grace, which had prepared Mary from before she was born to be the Mother of His Son.
This Advent, then, let us pray that by drawing closer to Mary and by entering more fully into the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception we may be drawn closer to Jesus, her Son, and to the Father who willed his birth.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
11.27.2005
I wrote a haiku! :-)
We spent Thanksgiving with my sister up in Austin. While there we visited a Children's Museum in downtown Austin. They had an exhibit on Japanese culture (which focused on Hokkaido, Japan, which was cool because that's where my brother lived for several years before moving to Hawaii) which included several haikus. I had haikus on the mind, and on the way back from Austin I wrote this one: I'm quite proud :-)
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
leaves slowly browning
falling petal shower storm
fall approaches
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
A Time of Expectation
Another cannabilized post that I wrote for our school newsletter - I thought it appropriate as today we enter into the liturgical season of Advent.
Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is nearly over; daylight is on its way. Let us then throw off the works of darkness, and ready ourselves for the light. (Romans 13:11-12; Second Reading for the 1st Sunday of Advent)
Every year, our church gives us a wonderful gift several weeks before Christmas: Advent (the word means “it is coming” or “the promise is near”). It is a time of preparation for us: a time to get ready, to prepare the way, to make a space. It is a time to prepare ourselves for the coming of the light - the birth of Yeshua ben Joseph, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ.
Advent is also a time of listening, of watching, and of waiting. We look to the changing seasons to let us know that time keeps moving forward. We listen to the readings at our Sunday celebrations and we know that the time is almost near. We wait in expectation for the central time in human history, when God broke through into creation in a very tangible, touchable, sacramental way.
And it is a joyful expectation, a time to get ready for one of our great Christian holy days of celebration. We wait in joy - awesome, wonderful joy - as parents wait for the birth of a child, as flowers wait for the coming of the dawn, as children wait for dessert after a meal – we wait and we wonder in deep down, soul and body filling joy.
But above all, and especially in our times of war and unrest, we wait in hope for the coming of our brother and our savior, the Prince of Peace. We wait for a time when everyone - lion and lamb, American and Iraqi, Catholic and Protestant, wealthy and poor, cool and uncool, parent and teenager, teacher and student - will sit together at a common table and share a meal together. We wait for the coming of our Lord, who is Hope incarnate, and who gives us the hope that tomorrow will always be better then today.
One of the ways our church helps us to prepare is with the traditional symbol of the advent wreath. The wreath is filled with symbols and meaning: the circle of evergreen boughs reminds us that God is everlasting, with no beginning and no end, and with a love for us that never dies. The four candles symbolize almost 4,000 years of waiting for our Messiah to be born, and the light from the candles symbolizes the light of Christ, burning brightly in the darkness. The purple candles remind us that, like Lent, Advent is a time of preparation and waiting. The third candle (the pink one) symbolizes that our time of waiting is almost over, and that the celebration is about to begin. The middle white candle, which traditionally is put there on Christmas Eve and lit on Christmas day, symbolizes the birth of a vulnerable, trusting, loving little boy who changed the course of history.
Our church also encourages us to spend more time in prayer during Advent. We can make some time to pray alone - just after rising or before going to bed are two excellent times for us to pause and spend even a few unrushed moments with our God. Before mealtimes, we can take a minute to silently (if alone), or vocally give thanks to God for the blessing of a nourishing meal. Making time for a leisurely trip to Mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning would be a prayerful change of pace for many of us. Reading even small portions of Scripture would be prayerful. And spending time together as a family in prayer would be an excellent way to prepare for Christmas, as would celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation together.
In whatever ways you decide to celebrate, my prayers are with you and your family as we prepare together for the arrival of our greatest gift ever – the gift of light and love that burned so brightly in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, and that continues to be born in our hearts and in our lives each Christmas.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is nearly over; daylight is on its way. Let us then throw off the works of darkness, and ready ourselves for the light. (Romans 13:11-12; Second Reading for the 1st Sunday of Advent)
Every year, our church gives us a wonderful gift several weeks before Christmas: Advent (the word means “it is coming” or “the promise is near”). It is a time of preparation for us: a time to get ready, to prepare the way, to make a space. It is a time to prepare ourselves for the coming of the light - the birth of Yeshua ben Joseph, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Christ.
Advent is also a time of listening, of watching, and of waiting. We look to the changing seasons to let us know that time keeps moving forward. We listen to the readings at our Sunday celebrations and we know that the time is almost near. We wait in expectation for the central time in human history, when God broke through into creation in a very tangible, touchable, sacramental way.
And it is a joyful expectation, a time to get ready for one of our great Christian holy days of celebration. We wait in joy - awesome, wonderful joy - as parents wait for the birth of a child, as flowers wait for the coming of the dawn, as children wait for dessert after a meal – we wait and we wonder in deep down, soul and body filling joy.
But above all, and especially in our times of war and unrest, we wait in hope for the coming of our brother and our savior, the Prince of Peace. We wait for a time when everyone - lion and lamb, American and Iraqi, Catholic and Protestant, wealthy and poor, cool and uncool, parent and teenager, teacher and student - will sit together at a common table and share a meal together. We wait for the coming of our Lord, who is Hope incarnate, and who gives us the hope that tomorrow will always be better then today.
One of the ways our church helps us to prepare is with the traditional symbol of the advent wreath. The wreath is filled with symbols and meaning: the circle of evergreen boughs reminds us that God is everlasting, with no beginning and no end, and with a love for us that never dies. The four candles symbolize almost 4,000 years of waiting for our Messiah to be born, and the light from the candles symbolizes the light of Christ, burning brightly in the darkness. The purple candles remind us that, like Lent, Advent is a time of preparation and waiting. The third candle (the pink one) symbolizes that our time of waiting is almost over, and that the celebration is about to begin. The middle white candle, which traditionally is put there on Christmas Eve and lit on Christmas day, symbolizes the birth of a vulnerable, trusting, loving little boy who changed the course of history.
Our church also encourages us to spend more time in prayer during Advent. We can make some time to pray alone - just after rising or before going to bed are two excellent times for us to pause and spend even a few unrushed moments with our God. Before mealtimes, we can take a minute to silently (if alone), or vocally give thanks to God for the blessing of a nourishing meal. Making time for a leisurely trip to Mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning would be a prayerful change of pace for many of us. Reading even small portions of Scripture would be prayerful. And spending time together as a family in prayer would be an excellent way to prepare for Christmas, as would celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation together.
In whatever ways you decide to celebrate, my prayers are with you and your family as we prepare together for the arrival of our greatest gift ever – the gift of light and love that burned so brightly in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, and that continues to be born in our hearts and in our lives each Christmas.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
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