[NYer]

And meanwhile, a glimpse of the Antichrist for the curia


On the afternoon of the first Sunday of Lent, February 25, Benedict XVI and his collaborators in the Roman curia will begin their spiritual exercises, which will continue until the morning of Saturday, March 3.

So for one week, the ordinary activities of the pope and the curia will be suspended. Even the Wednesday audience will be cancelled.

The preacher that the pope has chosen for these exercises is cardinal Giacomo Biffi, 79, archbishop of Bologna from 1984 to 2003. He will preach three times each day, on the general topic: “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God: think about the things above, not about earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2).

But on the afternoon of Tuesday, February 27, cardinal Biffi will speak to his audience on a topic that is off the main subject but very dear to him: “The prophetic admonition of Valdimir S. Soloviev.”

According to Biffi, in fact, this great Russian thinker, in the book “Tale of the Antichrist” which he wrote shortly before his death in 1900, “foretold with clairvoyant lucidity the great crisis that struck Christianity in the last decades of the twentieth century.”

Biffi exposes Soloviev’s vision and his own in an essay from which www.chiesa published an extract, in this article from two years ago:

> Antichrist Alert! Cardinal Biffi Rouses the Church (3.6.2005)

In brief, the crisis that Soloviev foretold is the replacement of faith in Jesus Christ crucified and risen with “a series of values that are easily peddled in worldly marketplaces.”

What Biffi will tell the pope and the curia is easy to guess at, because he has already written about it:

“Soloviev’s teaching was both prophetic and widely ignored. But we want to propose it again, in the hope that Christianity will finally feel itself called upon and will pay it a bit of attention.”

[NYer]

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ASH WEDNESDAY MASS FROM ROME (90:00)
Feb 21 11:00 AM & 9:00 PM

More Listings

[NYer]

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ASH WEDNESDAY MASS FROM ROME (90:00)
Feb 21 11:00 AM & 9:00 PM

More Listings

[trisham]

These biblical texts indicate that eros is part of God’s very heart: the Almighty awaits the “yes” of His creatures as a young bridegroom that of his bride.

***********

This moves me to tears.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

---The Cross reveals the fullness of God’s love ---
That says so much.


Each step that day, as the crowd pressed in,
How hard it was for You, burdened with a dark world's sin,
that last, painful walk through Jerusalem's dust,
beneath a burden incredibly hard to bear, but bear it You must -
step by aching step, one foot following another
a countdown You were born for, while others thought to smother
Your light, Heaven's light, beneath a rebel's death
Each step that day a struggle of muscle and breath
each step one less to the time when you would walk no more
before tasting the depths of darkness that would open hope's door.

Watching you in mind's eye, O my Jesus, what you did so long ago,
the reality of that moment doubted by so many who think they know,
in my heart, seeing your blood streaked face marred beneath your thorny crown,
Your mother's tears, the bored soldiers, the impatient centurion's frown,
I contemplate your words, "Come to me, you who are heavy burdened," and know
that as I watch you walk that short but hard march, each shove and blow
from the place of condemnation to the place of execution,
That your death was a gift, the choice was God's solution.


O my Jesus, may I, in my remembering that day, that gift,
learn to follow in your footsteps in gratitude, and let you heal sin's rift,
walking beside you on the road from death to life beneath the cross you give me;
teach me to bear its burden well, as a treasure, graciously
with as much love and willingness as my wavering heart can muster,
And forgive me this day, if I forget and stand and whine and bluster
Because I love you for the loving walk you took -
Bring it to my mind daily - help me stand and look!

Amen.

[Jaded]

Probably they should preach In brief, the crisis that Soloviev foretold is the replacement of faith in Jesus Christ crucified and risen with “a series of values that are easily peddled in worldly marketplaces.” to the folks in the pews.

[mockingbyrd]

I think about how much I love my daughters. God loves us all with so much more intensity, He wants us to see Heaven so much more than we can ever desire. It's so powerful, and moving to think about His love. And how we will never full comprehend it.

[franky]

"God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son"

All summed up in one sentence from John.

[the invisib1e hand]

This really blows me away.

[Maeve]

A star in your crown for posting this, NYer.

[Salvation]

**“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced”**

We all need to do this. Christ died for ALL our sins.