God and dog are spelled symmetrically for a reason!

Have you ever heard the silly remark about the fact that God, spelled backwards, becomes dog? It is often made sarcastically, almost to imply that the idea of God is as stupid as a stupid dog. Well, not only these people don't know God, they don't even know dogs!



By the way, does anyone know how to re-size either the video or the writing space, so that the first will not go outside the second?

Hocus Pocus…

Many common expressions in the English language are due to the great Bard, William Shakespeare, whose words are known even to those who have not seen his plays. (As an aside, we may want to play a game of identifying such expressions)

But other common expressions are rooted in Catholic traditions, even though not always in a conscious or an appreciative way. For instance, you may have noticed how many non-Catholics invoke Mary when they are utterly awed or surprised (Great Mother of God!).

But it seems that “Hocus pocus” also has Catholic roots. Used by many magicians to create the right atmosphere of mystery, there is a strong theory that it originated from a mocking spoof on the Latin words of consecration used during the Eucharistic prayer: “hoc est enim Corpus meum”, which translates to the familiar “This is my body.” The idea that during consecration bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ is central to the Catholic Faith and yet considered nonsense by those who oppose our Faith. This, apparently, led to the expression and its demeaning tone, which implies that the consecration is all nonsense.

Maybe this bit of trivia is of interest to you and I will leave to scholars with more time in their hands the task of debating whether this is the actual origin of the expression.

What I would like to know from you is: what experience have you had in fielding the opinions of non-Catholics regarding the consecration? And how did you respond? How can you respond if and when your class mates or teachers will express their hocus pocus attitude?

Enjoy the Serenity Zone

There is a beautiful room in the College that is available to anyone who needs a quiet place to pray, meditate, worship, read and so on.

It is called the “Serenity Zone”, it does not have its own room number yet, but is located just across from room 2401, above the Forum. It is a relatively new addition to the College and the “rules” for its proper use are still quite vague. Certainly, it can be only be used for religious/spiritual/meditation activities, but we are still discussing what his means in practice, whether it can be used for group activities and if or how it can be booked.

For instance, it would be nice to celebrate Mass there on certain weekdays that used to be “days of obligation” and are still of special significance, such as Ash Wednesday, Ascension, St. Joseph’s day etc. Or, of course on days that are special for us at the College, such as the beginning of a new academic year or term, the day before exams begin etc.

What do you think? How would you like to use this room?

In the name of the Father…

They say the familiarity breeds contempt and this may apply to the Sign of the Cross. We Catholics use it so often that sometimes we forget what a great prayer it is and what a simple statement of our Faith.

By using it we ask the Holy Trinity to assist us in what we are about to do, including forming our prayers and listening to them. But we also say that we do what we do on behalf of, in obedience to and under the teaching of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

So, as I start this blog, the Sign of the Cross includes all I have to say. May this blog be done “In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”