Pretoria Catholic

It is already December; looking back, 2023 has flashed past in record time. The end of the year brings a big joy as we end the calendar year with the Advent season, which prepares us for the anticipation of the coming of Baby Jesus. This Christmas, I want to write about a letter that was found from Pope Benedict XVI's (the then Joseph Ratzinger) childhood.  @Pope_news, Twitter The young Pope referred to Our Lord as "Baby Jesus" and asked for two spiritual gifts in his letter and received them quite literally later on in his life. I had to search what this "green chasuble" is, and it is a priestly vestment worn to celebrate the Eucharist. In other words, he was indirectly asking Baby Jesus to become a priest. The second request was for a Sacred Heart of Jesus. This showed his early desire to love Our Lord and eventually led him to be called by the Holy Spirit as the Pope.  Christmas makes the mystery of all that Our Lord did for us come alive. When we speak about...

“ You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. ” (Matthew 5:13) Salt is something we cannot live without, and yet it’s something so small and seemingly insignificant. Salt can lose its taste if it contains impurities, so after the moisture evaporates, you are left with something that looks like salt but is not salt. Salt in the ocean water prevents earthquakes; salt in food production helps preserve our food for long periods and, most commonly, flavours our food.  Sculpture of St. John Paul II in Rome, 13 May 2019 A priest is just like salt in its pure form. Nothing could take its taste away unless it were some artificial replacement from the onset. At ordination, the priest receives a permanent spiritual character marked on his soul that can never be removed. It is a grace conferred by Christ and cannot be repeated or given temporarily.  A priest is not ...