Cross of Wales

Pope Francis has gifted two shards from the True Cross to HRH King Charles III which have been incorporated into the Cross of Wales, which will be part of the procession at the coronation of King Charles. An interesting act of ecumenism for a pope to gift something to the monarch of England (whom has been the self-proclaimed "Head of the Church of England" since King Henry VIII).

The Cross of Wales

This is a source of consternation among some Catholics - a relic from the True Cross should not be just gifted to a church (or person) who stands in "protest" (Protestant) against the Catholic Church. Please share your thoughts. Does this imply a unity which does not yet exist?

Source:

https://www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/news-and-events/the-cross-of-wales-will-lead-coronation-procession/ 

He Is Risen!

 

That was Ukrainian, here it is in English:

 

(Actually, a better translation would be "Christ Is Risen!")

Happy Easter!

Our salvation is complete, Jesus is risen from the grave! 

Rejoice!  Hallelujah!

Christ the Lord is risen today!

Traditional Easter greeting in many languages:

Arabic Al Maseeh qam! Haqqan qam! Armenian Qristos haryal ý y merelotz! Haverzh ordnyal ý harutiune Qristosy! Albanian Krishti Ungjall! Vertete Ungjall! Byelorussian Khristos Uvoskros! Zaprowdu Uvoskros! Chinese Helisituosi fuhuole. Queshi fuhuole. Coptic Pikhirstof aftonf! Khen o methni aftonf! Czech Kristus vstal zmrtvy'ch! Skutec~ne~ vstal! Danish Kristus er opstanden! Ja, sandelig opstanden! Dutch Christus is opgestaan! Hij is waarlijk opgestaan! English Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! Chaucerean Middle English Crist is arisen! Arisen he sothe! Estonian Kristus on surnuist ülestőusnud! Tőesti ülestőusnud! Ethiopian Christos T'ensah Em' Muhtan! Exai' Ab-her Eokala! Finnish Kristus nousi kuolleista! Totisesti nousi! French Christ est ressuscite ! En verite il est ressuscite ! Gaelic Taw Creest Ereen! Taw Shay Ereen Guhdyne! Gaelic Erid Krist! G'deya! n erid she! Irish Gaelic Tá Críosd ar éirigh! Go deimhin, tá e ar éirigh! Scots' Gaelic Tha Crěosd air čiridh! Gu dearbh, tha e air čiridh! German Christus ist Auferstanden!!! Wahrhaft auferstanden! German Christ ist Erstanden! Wahrlicht Erstanden! Greek Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti! Georgian Kriste aghsdga! Cheshmaritad aghsdga! Hebrew Ha-Mashiah qom! Be-emet qom! Icelandic Kristur reis upp! Sannlega reis han upp! - Icelandic Italian Cristo č risorto! Č veramente risorto! Iyaric Patw Krestos a uprisin! Seen, him a uprisin fe tru! Japanese Harisutosu Fukkatsu! Jitsu Ni Fukkatsu! Korean Kristo Gesso! Buhar ha sho Nay! Latin Christus resurrexit! Vere resurrexit! Norwegian Christus er Oppstanden! Sandelig Han er Oppstanden! Polish Chrystus zmartwychwstal! Zmartwychwstal prawdziwie! Portugese Christo Ressuscitou! Em Verdade Ressuscitou! Rumanian Christos a Inviat! Adeverat a Inviat! Russian Christos voskres! Voistinu voskres! Sahidic Coptic Christos aftooun. alethos aftooun. Sanskrit Kristo'pastitaha, Satvam Upastitaha! Serbian Hristos Vaskrese! Vaistinu Vaskrese! Hear it! (Serbian chant) Church Slavonic Christos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese! Slovak Kristus vstal zmr'tvych! Skutoc~ne vstal! Slavonic Christos Voskrese! Voistinu Voskrese! Spanish Cristo esta resucitado! En verdad, esta resucitado! Syriac Meshiha qam! Bashrira qam! Swahili Kristos Ame Fu Fuka! Kweli Ame Fu Fuka! Swedish Kristus ar Upstanden! Sannerligen Upstanden! Ukrainian Kristos Voskres! Voistinu voskres! Welsh Atgyfododd Crist! Atgyfododd in wir! Zulu Ukristu Uvukile! Uvukile Kuphela! And by request from my long-time friend, Verga: Klingon Krist peplu'ta' taHbej peplu'ta' Pronunciation: H = German ch as in Bach, apostrophe is a glottal stop

Posted at 9pm Arizona/Pacific Time so it is up by midnight on the east coast.

Did Pope Francis Change the Our Father?

One of my sons asked me this question and I said I would get back to him on it. I remember hearing about this, vaguely, in the past. This is what I found...

So, regarding what Pope Francis said about the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father)... that was back in 2019, and he proposed the change, it never really happened.

Per Fox News:

The Pope (proposed to) change the phrase "lead us not into temptation" to "do not let us fall into temptation," as mentioned in the gospel of Matthew 6:13, because the original translation implies that God induces temptation. The change, officials said, is closer to the original intent of the prayer.

"I am the one who falls; it’s not Him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen," Francis explained to Italian broadcasters about the phrase change. "A father doesn't do that, a father helps you to get up immediately. It's Satan who leads us into temptation, that's his department."

Published June 5, 2019 (the statement was actually made in May sometime).

I'm not overly concerned with the proposed change if were ever to be put in place. The Greek, written out literally, is not what we're used to seeing. 

ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν καί μή εἰσενέγκης ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλά ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπό τοῦπoνηροῦ.

Here's that translated by Translate.com:

 Thou shalt forsake us and thou shalt not be tempted by us, 

[that's the "Lead us not into temptation" part]

but thou art us out of wretchedness. 

[that's the ""but deliver us from evil" part]

Google Translate translates it this way:

"lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." (same as we're used to)

 Same copy/paste in a different translator. Funny how the first one (Translate.com) translated it into "King James English" with the "thou shalt..." and "thou art us..." Why use old English?

 The "DeepL" translation site goes with:

"and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

 translate.yandex.com, using the exact same Greek copy/paste:

"let us not be tempted by temptation, but let us be tempted by temptation."

 Bing translation is the same as Translate.com.

 Anyway, it has not changed since he said that nearly 4 years ago, that I am aware of. Could it be changed? Sure! Jesus didn't speak English and clearly, there are variances in the translation just based on the few I looked into. The way you're used to hearing it has been used for close to 500 years, so any change "to Jesus' words" (again, He didn't speak English!) will be met with a lot of resistance.

I hope this helps!

 

A.C.T.S. Is Back!

 After more than three months, I finally got the help I needed to get the ACTS website fully back online!

 

The site will soon have a complete overhaul, but the way it was back in December is back online now!

https://www.americancatholictruthsociety.com

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday, the start of Passion Week. Jesus rides into Jerusalem to the praise and adoration of the crowds, who laid palm branches on the road before Him as He passed by, singing Hosanna in the highest! Four days later He would be arrested and five days later, put to death on in a Roman crucifixion.

This is the holiest week of the liturgical year as we end the week, actually begin the next week with Easter Sunday, our redemption is made complete in the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior!

 

The Passion really begins with Holy Thursday with the "Lord's Supper," which is the first celebration of the Catholic Eucharist. Even before He dies upon the Cross, He is offering Himself in the Eucharist - "This IS My body..." and "This IS My blood..." He declares precisely - no symbolism, "IS" is not symbolic language. The same holds true for John 6, where He declares/commands that we MUST eat His flesh or we have "no life" in us - and not just once, but REPEATEDLY in just a few verses! Then when even many of His disciples said this was a hard saying - and left Him - He did not back down! He challenged The Twelve, "will you also leave?" To which Peter said, "To whom should we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." 

The Passion continues on Holy Thursday when Jesus goes to pray in the Garden of Gethsemene - the Agony in the Garden. It is here where Judas completes his betrayal and hands Jesus over to the guards who arrested Him.

The Passion continues into Friday (Good Friday) morning, where Jesus faces Caiaphas and Pilate, is cruelly scourged and then handed over to the Roman guard to carry His Cross to Calvary, where He is crucified and died.

The culmination of Holy Week ends with the Easter Vigil, the First Mass of Easter (traditionally the Vigil starts around 10pm on Holy Saturday, then at midnight the purple veils are removed from the holy artwork and statues as Mass begins - and we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus!

Have a blessed Holy Week!

 

Tomorrow is...

 ... you guessed it!