CHRISTIAN LIVING

• Liturgical Year/Calendar are the different seasons of the Church namely Advent, Christmas, Lent, Paschal Triduum, Easter and Ordinary Time.
• These different seasons of the Church help us in our worship activities so we can increase our faith and be closer to God and others.
• There are 3 cycles that the Church follow: Cycle A, B and C.
• Advent starts the Liturgical Season and is called the New Year of the Church.
• The liturgical color for Advent is purple, symbolizing the time we prepare for the coming of Christ.
• Christ's coming in history is a fact, His coming in mystery is a reality, and His mystical coming is His second coming at the end of the world.
• There are 4 weeks of Advent before Christmas, symbolizing the 400 years that the Israelites waited for the Savior.
• The Advent wreath is the symbol of Advent.
• The four candles symbolize the four weeks of Advent.
• Christmas Season is from December 25 until the Baptism of Jesus, the Second Sunday of January, celebrating Christ’s birth.
• Lentent Season starts from Ash Wednesday until Holy Thursday Chrism Mass, a time of fasting and abstinence in preparation for Easter.
• Paschal Triduum, the holiest 'Three Days' (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday), starts from the evening of Holy Thursday up to the Easter Vigil on Black Saturday.
• Easter is the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, lasting until Pentecost (50 days), within the Season of Easter is Ascension, 40 days after the Resurrection.
• Ordinary Time is structured in 2 sections of 34 weeks, the first section starts the Monday after the Baptism of the Lord until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the second section begins the Monday after Pentecost Sunday until the Feast of Christ the King, the Sunday that concludes the Liturgical cycle of the Church.
• Ordinary Time is a time for the fullness of Christ’s teachings and works, symbolized by the liturgical color green.
• Communion of Saints is a concept found in the Apostles’ Creed, representing the unity of all members of the Church with Christ as head.
• Church Triumphant refers to those who are already in glory with God in heaven, also known as Saints.
• Church Militant describes pilgrims on earth, we, the living.
• Church Suffering refers to those who are being purified in purgatory.
• Despite these different states, we are in communion in one family of God.
• In communion, we love the same God and our neighbor, and are disciples of the same Lord, animated by the same Spirit.
• Our Church here on earth is a prototype of our Church in Heaven.
• Filipinos are culturally attuned to communion with the saints and the departed.
• We ask for the intercessions of the saints and pray for the dead, as evidenced in 2 Maccabees 12:46.
• God should always be the center of all our religious practices.
• Our communion with the saints and the departed should always reflect our mutual love for God.
• We ask for help/intercessions from the saints, but do not directly pray to them.
• We emulate their holiness/virtues, but should never worship them.
• We pray for our beloved dead, and celebrate All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2.
• Love for others through generosity or sharing of one’s talents, time and treasure is a theme from Christmas lessons.
• The 8th Commandment states: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
• The law that upholds the truth is the 8th Commandment.
• Jesus Himself is the Truth, as stated in John 18:37.
• He who denies that Jesus is the Christ and the Truth is the antichrist, denying the Father and the Son, as stated in 1 John 2:22.
• The 8th Commandment also instructs us to not swear at all, but to say yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no, as stated in Matthew 5:33-37.
• As a man of the Commandments, Jesus was always Himself, never playing roles or putting on a false face to impress others or win their allegiance.
• Jesus was always true to Himself and completely open to others, dealing with them not in abstract realities, but in truth.
• The 8th Commandment commands us to speak the truth in all things at all times, especially concerning the good name and honor of others.
• Speaking the truth is a command, not an appeal or option.
• Detraction, another form of defamation, is an unjust, unnecessary revelation of the person’s hidden faults.