Back to Basics

In this Back to Basics article on the Holy Spirit, especially relevant now that almost every BCBP chapter is presently conducting their own BCLPs, Nancy helps us understand better what it means to encounter God’s Spirit. She traces His creative and salvific action from the beginning of time until the present age while sharing with us some of her own experiences with the Holy Spirit and what it means to live a Spirit-filled life.

In the kingdom of men, the crowns made of durable, precious metals yield the symbol of power and dominion. In the Kingdom of God, it is always the opposite. It is those crowns made from living vines and branches that God chooses to show that true power is found in those rooted in the earth – in other words, in humility (derived from the Latin humus meaning “from the earth”).

In many places throughout the world, Christians observe Pentecost Sunday as a celebration of God as the Trinity — three divine Persons liv­ing eternally in perfect unity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is the mystery at the heart of Christianity, and from the beginning it distinguished the apostolic Faith from everything else. It is the foun­dation of every Christian creed; all other dogmas, all other revelation, come from the fact that God is three in one.

Integrity. This is a term that we often hear connected with ‘character’,’ business dealings’, and ‘information’. We assume it means honesty, but Webster expands this meaning to include: sincerity, completeness, wholeness; a quality associated with a file (information) that is complete and uncorrupted; goodness, principle, purity, rectitude, soundness, uprightness, and virtue. Here are 8 questions to ask ourselves if we really have this virtue of integrity and practice it daily.

Corporal works of mercy done with the most noble of intentions please the Heart of Jesus immensely. However, it is equally important to practice the Spiritual Works of Mercy. Jesus said point blank: “What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and loses his soul in the process. What can a man do in exchange for his soul?”

This article summarizes the basic Church teachings on Mary as Mother of God, Ever Virgin, the Immaculate Conception, her cooperation in the Redemption, her Assumption and Queenship and Spiritual Motherhood. This material may also help you understand more deeply the BCBP’s “Mary, Mother of God” teachings.

Growing spiritually is a never-ending process. Citing Enoch’s exemplary life, this Back To Basics article dwells on the need for a goal and a firm commitment to live as Christ wants us to live as the keys to “becoming”.

Our world needs good and strong families to overcome these threats! The Philippines needs holy and loving families to protect the beauty and truth of the family in God’s plan and to be a support and example for other families.

She is Mary, Virgin and Mother, a woman of simplicity and mystery. Mary is only mentioned nineteen times in the New Testament in which we see only the barest outlines of her life. But each picture, icon and statue view Mary through different images and symbols that help us understand her simplicity and her mystery.

What is dignity? It can be defined as the state or quality of being worthy…