Shooting of Father Francisco Vera. He was guilty of saying a public Mass. In 1927, he was discovered saying a mass and was executed. The photo was taken by the Captain in charge of the firing squad.

During Lent, we tend to try to give something up.  Maybe we fast, maybe we don’t eat chocolate.  But, what are we really willing to give up for Lent?

Believe it or not, many protestant Christians are under the impression that Catholics do not read the Bible.  I am sure many do not read the Bible, just as I am sure that many protestants do not read the Bible, either.  But, the impression that Catholics do not read the Bible seems to be one of those myths that just will not go away.

I am not under the impression that I can erase this myth.  But, I can do my best to show that Catholics do, and are supposed, to read the Bible.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

SCRIPTURE IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH
131 “And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigour, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life.” Hence “access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful.”

132 “Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too – pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place – is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture.”

133 The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful… to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”

Well, that should be a good response.  But, I am not sure that it would satisfy everyone.  So, all that is left for me to do, is to let you know what I did on last Thursday.  I am not going to recount my personal time in Bible Study or Lectio Divina.  I am going to recount what we read during the Liturgy of the Hours and the Mass.  The Liturgy of the Hours is the formalized prayer of the Church.  It is made up of:

• Matins
• Lauds
• Non
• Sext
• Terse
• Vespers
• Compline

This is the daily prayer of the Church.  It is said around the world by Priests, Religious (people like me), and lay people.  Together, as a church, we pray and have been doing it for a very long time.  This structure of prayer goes back to the earliest times of the Church.  It became more and more formalized over time.  But, it has always been there.  Augustine spoke of structured forms and gave norms on how his Priests were supposed to pray. In addition to the Liturgy of the Hours, we have Mass daily.  The Mass contains biblical readings as well.

Since “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ”. The Church has a daily reading plan.  It is contained within the Liturgy of the Hours and the Mass.  Last Thursday, the readings were:

• 1 Chronicles 29:10-12
• 1 John 3:23-24
• 1 Kings 2:1-4,10-12
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23
• 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
• Apocalypse 11
• Colossians 1:23
• Hebrews 12:1-2
• Isaiah 66
• Luke 1:68-79
• Luke 2:29–32
• Luke 1:46-55
• Mark 6:7-13
• Psalm 118(119): 153-160
• Psalm 127 (128)
• Psalm 128 (129)
• Psalm 142 (143)
• Psalm 143 (144)
• Psalm 146 (147A)
• Psalm 15 (16)
• Psalm 43 (44)
• Romans 8:18-21
• Wisdom 1:1-2

Wow.  That looks like a lot of Bible reading to me.  In fact, it is 3381 words, 473 lines of text, or 20 Pages.  Every day these readings change.  Every day we read new readings.  And every day we read about the same amount of Scripture.

I have been to some churches where the bible reading contains 1 sentence that someone talks about for an hour.   I am not saying that all Protestant churches are like that.  But, the one experience I just mentioned was one of those places I heard that common refrain “Catholics do not read the Bible.”

I don’t mind if someone disagrees with how the Catholic Church interprets scripture.  But, please do not say that we do not read the Bible.  Every day of the year anyone can hear the Bible read and the Gospel proclaimed in Catholic Churches around the World.

I have attached the text of the Bible readings from Thursday, the 4th week of Ordinary time.  Please download it and read it. ThursdayReadings

And please remember, “The Church forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful… to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”

I have not been writing on my blog.  Yesterday, I was thinking about how it has been 6 months since I arrived in Austria. Then I realized that I have really been ignoring the blog.  So, I am going to correct this most grievous error.

I have planned a couple of new series.  I hope that all of them are of interest to you all.  Here is an overview:

1. Lenten Retreat!  My present to all of you is the first book of the Imitation of Christ.  Every Wednesday and Friday, I will post a chapter from Book 1.  I hope that all of you read them.  They are short and will give you a lot to think about.  This will actually start before Lent and finish after Easter.
2. Articles about the Bible and the Catholic Church.  My most popular posts tend to be ones that deal with the Scriptures.  So, I have started writing a few articles.
3. The Baltimore Catechism.  I am thinking of posting the Baltimore Catechism.  This will be done one Lesson a week (maybe on Sundays).  This is really just to help inform you about what the Catholic Church believes.
4. Book reviews.  I am not sure about this one.  But, I might write some book reviews.  I read a lot.  So, I could always review the books I have read.  I will also do some reviews of Bibles.  That would go with #2.

In the next few days, I will post an introduction to the Imitation of Christ.  Next Wednesday, Chapter 1, Book 1 will be posted.  On Monday, you should see my first posting about the Catholic Church.  It will be addressing the question, “do Catholics read the Bible.”

I wish each and every one of you a Merry and Beautiful Christmas.  As we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  I hope that you experience the love of God and the joy of salvation.

The Church is decorated and ready for Midnight Mass.

I have some decorations in my room for a small Christmas get together with my brother before mass.

This month’s was a candle lit mass featuring Gregorian Chant.  The music selection is the Agnus Dei and is being sung by the members of the Stift.

I hope you enjoy it!

The video was filmed and edited by Drew Breeze, sound recording by Jason Fudge, singing by the Canons Regular of St Augustine, Klosterneuburg.

The audio files will include us chanting.  The video files include a cellphone video of a chant practice before a mass, some scenes from a candle light, and a chant video.

Today is Christ the King.  The last Sunday of the liturgical year.  The cycle of Christian Life is once again completed.  We start the year with Advent and in anticipation of God delivering us a Saviour.  We then have Christmas, were we celebrate the Birth of Christ, our Saviour.  We then spend our time leading up to Lent and Easter with the earthly ministry of Christ.  This is when the fullness of his Mission is revealed to us. Not only is He the Saviour that was promised to the people of Israel, He is also God in the form of His Son.  We come to Lent, this is when we walk with Christ during His last days here on Earth.  It concludes with his Crucifixion.  On Easter, we celebrate His Resurection from the dead.  God has conquered death and has given us the promise of Eternal Life with him.  We then begin learning about the mystery of our faith.  This all concludes on Christ the King Sunday.  Where we celebrate Christ ruling Heavan and Earth as a King and God.  From a promise, to a child, to a teacher,  to our redeemer, to our savior, to a king the Life of Christ is preached every Sunday from the pulpits of His Church.

I hope that all of you have had a blessed year.  Whether you have experienced joy or sorrow,   Christ was there with you.  He has been greeted as a Triumphant King and has been executed like a criminal.  He has experienced the joy of His followers and has experienced the sorrows of a martyr’s death.  Christ is there with us always.  And that is the true blessing of life.

It was a good event.  It is really geared for ‘kennenlernen’ (this is the German verb ‘to become acquainted with, become friends with’).  Overall, it was a pretty good day.  I was able to meet my inner monk (and reaffirm that I should not be a monk).  I was able to meet some people from other orders.

Two of the people I met on Saturday came to visit us on Monday.  It was nice to have visitors.  They are from an order that is in the 15th District of Vienna.  I had met one of them a week earlier at a Wander Mutter Gottes prayer group meeting.

One of the difficult things about moving to a new country and joining a religious order at the same, is that you do not meet a lot of people.  Events like JOLT are nice for this reason.

I still need to update this blog more.  But, I need your help for that.  What do you all want to read about?  I am not always sure what to write about.  Let me know.

I also want to thank everyone for the comments, emails and phone calls.  I am not always able to respond quickly.  But, I want everyone to know that I read all of them and I appreciate them.