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Issue: What are the biblical origins of the Mass and the New Testament priesthood? Is the Mass really a sacrifice, or is it merely symbolic?Response: The biblical origins of the Mass and the New Testament priesthood are rooted in the Old Testament. Both the Old and New Testaments provide clear evidence that the Mass is a true sacrifice, offered by a priest, and the Victim is the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.      God stated three times that the Passover sacrifice would be “an ordinance for ever,” not for a temporary period, such as until the Messiah...

ROME, NOV. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.Q: Could you succinctly state the relationship between the importance of the Eucharist versus the Word of God in the liturgy of the Mass? I was on a Eucharistic retreat with a group of Catholics, when the leader of our group said that we as Catholics believe that the Word of God is as important as the Eucharist. I have always been taught that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, but after she said this I...

CNA STAFF, Nov 19, 2008 / 12:11 pm (CNA).- To kick off the new Liturgical Year beginning on November 30, Catholic News Agency is pleased to announce the addition of a new column, “Road to Emmaus.”  The column, written by Brian Pizzalato, will assist in helping readers come to a deeper understanding of the Sunday readings.  Pizzalato, the Director of Catechesis, RCIA & Lay Apostolate for the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, is also a faculty member of the Philosophy department of the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, England.  His column will publish each week, giving readers the opportunity to see the relationship...

 We live in a world of dos and don’ts. We use them every day: Do brush your teeth. Don’t drive too fast. They seem to impact our lives from minute to minute. Our consciences, our faith, and our knowledge of the world help us manage all the dos and don’ts we encounter. This goes for our relationship with God as well. When reading and applying the Bible to our daily lives, a few simple dos and don’ts will help us bring the Bible more clearly into our daily lives.Do: Read the Bible frequently, daily if possible.Don’t: Let your Bible go...

The Dos and Don’ts of Reading the Bible November 6th, 2008 by Marcel LeJeune ·  We live in a world of dos and don’ts. We use them every day: Do brush your teeth. Don’t drive too fast. They seem to impact our lives from minute to minute. Our consciences, our faith, and our knowledge of the world help us manage all the dos and don’ts we encounter. This goes for our relationship with God as well. When reading and applying the Bible to our daily lives, a few simple dos and don’ts will help us bring the Bible more clearly...

The Old Testament has very much to say about the end of the wicked. Its poetic books of Job, Psalms and Proverbs repeatedly affirm the moral principles of divine government. The wicked may thrive now and the righteous suffer, these books tells us, but that picture will not be the final one. These books reassure the godly again and again that those who trust will be vindicated, they will endure forever, they will inherit the arth. The wicked, however proud their boasts today, will one day not be found. Their place will be empty. They will vanish like a slug...

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and discipline. No matter what happens with this election, even if The One wins, let us not fall to Obama Derangement Syndrome. It's not the end of the world. It's not even the end of the United States as we know it. The genius of America is its people. It only means we need to continue to work, and to remember God is in control and has a plan. Let's all hang in there.

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says the priority for the Church today is above all to nourish itself with the Word of God, so as to bring forward the new evangelization.

I am under the impression from previous readings of the Bible ... that there is a verse that states that whoever is in a place of authority was choosen by God to be in that office. In looking over the scriptures I have not found it. Romans 13:1-4, Hebrews 13;17. 1TIMOTHY 2:2, do not seem right.

p>VATICAN CITY, OCT. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- After the conclusion of the working sessions of the world Synod of Bishops, Benedict XVI invited the some 400 participants and collaborators to lunch.The meal took place Saturday at 1 p.m., in the atrium of Paul VI Hall.President Delegate Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, addressed the Holy Father on behalf of the assembly, offering a brief, spontaneous and humorous reflection in Italian.The Australian cardinal brought a chuckle suggesting that this synod was one of those during which "most agreement and most communion" was lived, and therefore that "it has been perhaps the least...

From Strong's Hebrew Dictionary (Word #) 1299 baraq baw-rak' a primitive root; to lighten (lightning):--cast forth. (Word #) 1300 baraq baw-rawk' from 'baraq' (1299); lightning; by analogy, a gleam; concretely, a flashing sword:--bright, glitter(-ing sword), lightning.

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).-The big news today was Pope Benedict's lesson at this morning's session of the synod of bishops. After listening to the first round of 11 cardinals and bishops deliver their five-minute talks, we heard the solemn pronouncement "Fiat intervallum." (Let there be a break!), which we have heard many times over the past 10 days. While many of us are used to hearing "Fiat lux" from the Genesis account of creation, or responding with "Fiat mihi senundum verbum tuum" (Be it done to me according to your word) during the Angelus, the words "Fiat intervallum"...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Even making a plan to buy a Bible in Zimbabwe is enough to work you up into a sweat, says Jesuit Father Oscar Wermter.Morgan Tsvangirai, the Movement for Democratic Change leader, greets supporters at a rally in Harare, Zimbabwe, Oct. 12. Zimbabwe's opposition will walk away from a power-sharing deal if new mediation efforts fail to break a deadlock over Cabinet posts, Tsvangirai said. (CNS/Reuters) At last, the Bible has been translated into Shona, a local language, and is selling for $6. So, like other parish priests, Harare-based Father Wermter wants to order 20 for those in...

VATICAN CITY — The Synod of Bishops on the Bible heard an unusual suggestion Tuesday morning when a Hong Kong observer asked Pope Benedict to start up his own daily blog on Scripture.Agnes Kam Leng Lam, president of the Catholic Biblical Association of Hong Kong, said people need to experience Scripture in small but significant doses.“To put it in a nutshell, I’d like to suggest to you Holy Father to start a multi-language blog to shepherd today’s world by scriptural verses, daily verses,” she said on the synod floor. The pope’s blog should include simple reflections that relate Scripture to...

Cardinal Emmanuel Delly of Baghdad, Iraq Vatican City, Oct 14, 2008 / 10:48 am (CNA).- Tuesday morning’s meeting of the synod of bishops on the Bible saw Cardinal Emmanuel Delly of Baghdad, Iraq and Bishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Lihn of Thanh Hoa, Vietnam speak about how their flocks remain faithful to the Word of God amidst persecution. “I am a son of the land of Abraham, Iraq,” Cardinal Delly began as he spoke passionately about the seemingly impossible struggle to bring peace to his country. Saying that the Church has “tried everything to obtain peace and serenity for the...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The patriarch of the Melkite Catholic Church, who lives in Syria, and the Latin-rite patriarch of Jerusalem invited members of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible to visit them and discover how living in the land of the Bible can make its words come alive. Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham of Damascus, Syria, and Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem addressed the synod Oct. 10, extending invitations but also talking about some of the challenges Christians in the Holy Land are facing. Patriarch Laham told the synod: "The word of God unites us; it reinforces...

  Lord, Teach Us To Pray The Lord’s Prayer Table of Contents     By every standard of comparison, the most popular prayer in existence is the Our Father. One sign of its popularity is the number of polyglot collections of the Lord’s Prayer which have been published at various times since the invention of printing. Already in 1787 the Spaniard Hervaz printed the Pater Noster in three hundred and seven dialects and languages, and the practice of multi-lingual editions has been going on ever since. But the Lord’s Prayer is not only the most popular prayer in existence, it is...

Vatican City, Oct 10, 2008 / 11:35 am (CNA).- On Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, with Pope Benedict present, several Church fathers offered their input to the ongoing synod on the Bible. Among them were the president of the Council on the Family, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and head of the Pontifical Council for Legislative texts.Addressing the assembly, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli spoke about the need to incorporate the Word of God into the lives of families. The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family recommended that families make the Bible a part of their lives by following...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Learning to pray with the Scriptures, improving homilies and ensuring an accurate interpretation of Bible passages were the major themes of formal presentations, open discussion and small-group work Oct. 7-8 at the world Synod of Bishops on the Bible. Canadian Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, the synod's English-language briefing officer, said the three concerns came up repeatedly during the Oct. 7 open-mike discussion in the synod hall and in small groups Oct. 8. Pope Benedict XVI was not present for the Oct. 7 evening session, and he does not participate in the small-group discussions. Father Rosica said...

Cardinal Says Scripture Inseparably United to Tradition Synod Considers Word of God as More Than Bible VATICAN CITY, OCT. 7, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Scripture and Tradition are inseparably united since they both come from the same source, says the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal William Levada, a delegate president of the synod on the word of God, affirmed this Monday when he addressed the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. "As the dogmatic constitution 'Dei Verbum' reminds us, there exists an indissoluble unity between sacred Scripture and Tradition since both flow from...