Scepter Blog Corner

Whenever he would write on the Eucharist, the man of God would encourage a slow meditative reading of his words, so as to let their truth penetrate into the heart. He wrote:

I would like these notes to be read very slowly, so as to give time for the head to learn, for the heart to be moved, and for the grace of God to go to work. After they have been read in this way, then ponder them in prayer before the tabernacle.

Present-day culture and Christianity can, in a sense, find common ground in the concept of freedom. After all, Christianity is a message of freedom and liberation. To realize this, we need only to open the New Testament, where the words “free,” “freedom,” “set free” occur regularly. “The truth will make you free,” says Jesus in St. John’s Gospel. 1 St. Paul states: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” 2 and, elsewhere, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” 3 St. James calls the law of Christianity a “law of liberty.”

By José María Barrio and Rodolfo Valdés

Our Lord right away returns to that person’s daring question: what must I do? “If you would enter life,” he answers, “keep the commandments” (Mt 19:17).

The Gospels portray the young man as an observant Jew who might have been satisfied with this reply. The Master has confirmed him in his convictions, by pointing to the commandments he has observed since early childhood (cf. Mk 10:20). But he wants this new “Teacher,” who speaks with authority, to spell them out clearly. He rightly suspects that Christ can open up for him undreamt of horizons. He asks: “Which?”

By Olga Emily Marlin

The story of the Alvira couple began on wheels: the wheels of a Spanish train, in 1926. Paquita would never forget that day, January 23, when she saw Tomás for the first time.