Holy Thursday

April 17, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

The Easter Triduum (sometimes called the Paschal Triduum) begins on Holy Thursday with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, is continued through Good Friday with the celebration of the Passion of the Lord and Holy Saturday, reaches its summit in the Easter Vigil, and concludes with Vespers (evening prayer) of Easter Sunday.

Holy Thursday is the day on which Christ celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples. This is the day we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist as the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and the institution of the sacrament of the priesthood.

During the Last Supper, Christ blessed the bread and wine with the same words that Catholic and Orthodox priests use today to consecrate the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass. In telling His disciples to “Do this in remembrance of Me,” He instituted the Mass and made them the first priests. During the Last Supper, Jesus offers himself as the Passover sacrifice, the sacrificial lamb, and teaches that every ordained priest is to follow the same sacrifice in the exact same way.

The washing of the feet represents the service and charity of Christ, who came “not to be served, but to serve.”

It was only a few hours after the Last Supper that Judas would betray Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, setting the stage for Christ’s Crucifixion on Good Friday.

Near the end of the Last Supper, after Judas had departed, Christ said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” The Latin word for “commandment,” mandatum became the source for another name for Holy Thursday: Maundy Thursday.

At the conclusion of the Mass, the faithful are invited to continue Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the night, just as the disciples were invited to stay up with the Lord during His agony in the garden before His betrayal by Judas.

After Holy Thursday, no Mass will be celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil celebrates and proclaims the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Morning Prayer

April 17, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I will begin this day.

I thank you, Lord, for having preserved me during the night. I will do my best to make all I do today pleasing to You and in accordance with Your will. My dear mother Mary, watch over me this day. My Guardian Angel, take care of me. St. Joseph and all you saints of God, pray for me.

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.

I wish to gain all the indulgences attached to the prayers I shall say and the good works I shall perform this day. Amen.

Morning Prayer

April 16, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I will begin this day.

I wish to gain all the indulgences attached to the prayers I shall say and the good works I shall perform this day. Amen.

Marriage is gift from God

April 15, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

God bless traditional Catholic marriage between a husband and wife. The Catholic teaching on marriage is that it is between one man and one woman.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Marriage is an original gift from God to humanity. Although sin entered the world damaging the marital relationship, this gift was not lost but redeemed by Christ and raised to a sacrament (see Eph. 5:28-32; see also Mtt. 19:4-6). Sacred Scripture proclaims that God created humanity in “His image” as “male and female” (see Gen. 1:27). So unique is this relationship that the marital union makes of the husband and wife “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). Procreation, Scripture teaches, is a gift from God (Gen. 1:28). When spouses conceive new life, they participate in the Lord God’s creative power. This is an awesome privilege and sacred responsibility!”

Morning Prayer

April 14, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I will begin this day.

I wish to gain all the indulgences attached to the prayers I shall say and the good works I shall perform this day. Amen.

The Blessed Mother reflects her Divine Son . . .

April 14, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

“It may be objected: ‘Our Lord is enough for me. I have no need of her.’ But He needed her, whether we do or not. God, Who made the sun, also made the moon. The moon does not take away from the brilliance of the sun. All its light is reflected from the sun. The Blessed Mother reflects her Divine Son; without Him, she is nothing. With Him, she is the Mother of Men.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen

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Palm Sunday

Love Being Catholic

April 13, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

Dear Love Being Catholic Facebook Friends,

I have loved writing and maintaining this online ministry over the last 3.5 years! I have learned so much from all of you through your comments and messages on my posts and truly appreciate each one of you. Thank you so much for being a part of this page, and for all of your many prayers over the years.

My mission is to help you grow deeper in your love for Christ, His Church, and our Blessed Mother, while at the same time give you some easy-to-understand answers to questions you might have been asked by others about our faith. Through the grace of God, this page now has almost 80,000 Facebook friends and is reaching several million people around the world each month.

It takes hundreds of hours to research, write and maintain this site, which I love doing, but at the same time it has become a bit of a financial strain. (I am a one-mom operation) Any support is appreciated as it would allow me to continue running Love Being Catholic like I have been for the last several years.

If you’re enjoying this page, or my blog at LoveBeingCatholic.com, and it has been a blessing to you, please consider supporting it with even a modest donation of $5.00-$10.00 – every little bit helps.

If you have donated already, I thank you wholeheartedly for making all of this possible. If you find any joy and value in Love Being Catholic, please consider supporting me in my efforts. Please also keep me in your prayers – you are all in my prayers as well!

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Peace in Christ,

Liz

Holy Week Begins . . .

April 13, 2014 | Love Being Catholic

Holy Week gives us the opportunity to re-live the passion of Jesus. We can never understand how much He loves us, but we are called to understand and think about the suffering He endured for us here on Earth. Happy Palm Sunday!