Solitary Soul

  THE GREAT WAR Mario D’Couto  “For our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, against the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.” -           Ephesians 6:12             As we begin the Easter Triduum and for the time we have spent during the season of Lent, taking some form of penance, the question that comes to my mind is “Why?” Why do penance? Is it because it is some routine that is supposed to be followed and implemented every year? The Church does not oblige us to other than two days where it is mandatory to fast, namely, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. In truth, it is a personal responsibility. Yet, as a good Catholic, it is always a good practice to take up some form of penance so as to mortify ourselves where in the ultimate purpose is to strengthen ourselves to battle aga...

  THE DECISIVE HOUR Mario D’Couto             The feast of Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week, the climax towards the culmination of Our Lord’s battle against the infernal foe. To provide some context, no matter how much the Pharisees and the Scribes conspired against Our Blessed Lord with Herod, they could not lay a finger on Him unless He willingly surrendered Himself to them. He knew the time of His own death and He knew that the time had not yet come. The Pharisees, the Herodians and the Sadducees who formed an alliance would not have their Victim until He would deliver Himself into their hands, He was in complete control of His life.             He reaffirmed by saying that He would not die in Galilee, where He was then but in Jerusalem as we find in His words, “It is unthinkable for a prophet to meet his death anywhere but in Jerusalem” (Luke 13:33). No matter h...