Posts by Fr. Marcelo Javier Navarro Muñoz, IVE
Love and Brutality
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.(Mt 5:10) Caravaggio, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608)[1] Dear Brothers and Sisters: In today’s gospel we heard: “I want you to give me at onceon a platter the head of John the Baptist.” Then: “So he…
Read MoreEngland and Our Lady of Walsingham
This summer I had to go to England twice. The first trip was for a conference on Catholic Priesthood at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham (London). The conference was organized by both the Theology Department of St Mary’s and Ave Maria University (Florida) hosting a great variety of speakers. It was a joy to present…
Read MoreJune and the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
In one of his Wednesday audiences, Pope John Paul II spoke about the different nuances this devotion brought to the life of the Church. He said that “different is the measure of the knowledge that many disciples, men and women, of the Heart of Christ have acquired of this mystery in the course of the…
Read MoreMay And Mary
“We will never be able to tell people” what God is like… On May 13, 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified two of the Fatima children to whom our Blessed Mother entrusted her message. On the occasion the Pope remarked: “According to the divine plan, “a woman clothed with the sun” (Rv 12: 1) came down from…
Read MoreSaint Catherine of Siena: An Exchange of Hearts
Today the Church celebrates the memorial of this great female saint. This painting, perhaps, does not speak much to our modern sensibility and sense of art. Perhaps. The one below, by the same Italian painter, is better known and, perhaps, more inspiring. The point is that in the first painting, Saint Catherine of Siena is…
Read MoreFROM PALM SUNDAY TO GOOD FRIDAY…AND BEYOND!
On Palm Sunday and Good Friday, the Liturgy of the Catholic Church makes the faithful face the beauty and the cruelty of Christ’s Passion in its entirety. Cycle B—this year—presents us with the simple, almost “laconic,” account of Mark. The concise style of this evangelist helps appreciate at a single glance all the beautiful details…
Read MoreThe “Epiphany” of the Lenten Season (Part Two)
Last month, as we had just come out of the Christmas Season into Ordinary Time, I reflected on the “epiphany” of Ordinary Time (Part One). In the last two months we have celebrated three different liturgical seasons almost without transition. Part Two of these brief reflections needed a change of title, but I will continue…
Read MoreThe “epiphany” of the Liturgical Ordinary Time (Part One)
Have you ever thought about the Liturgical seasons in the calendar year in terms of a ‘roller coaster’? Probably not. Neither did I, well… until now. There have been and will be, in a short period of time, many tight turns and steep slopes, and wild changes, however not unpredictable. But why is it so?…
Read MoreA Flood of Sweetness, Light, and Color?
This is the first time I have seen this painting of the Nativity, which does not seem to be widelyknown. However, the sweetness of the faces of the Holy Family, the light with which the painterhas “caressed” these divine characters, and the soft colors he utilized are nothing short of aprayer in images, without words.…
Read MoreThe End, and the Beginning
The Feast of Belshazzar by Rembrandt1 Daniel answered the king:“You may keep your gifts, or give your presents to someone else;but the writing I will read for you, O king,You have rebelled against the Lord of heaven.You had the vessels of his temple brought before you,so that you and your nobles, your wives and your…
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