From Luke 12, 8-12: Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." Confidence in getting up again after our falls.
With Original Sin we became experts at deception and covering up. Jesus teaches us to recover lost innocence by learning to uncover ourselves to him.
In today's readings and with the celebration of today's feast of the North American Martyrs, we are called to see the divine law and the precepts of the Church as freeing us and guiding us to Our Lord, to our heavenly home. The Pharisees of Jesus' day couldn't see this as they were too legalistic, but the martyrs who we commemorate today show how to live by the spirit of the law, that is to have a relationship with God, to die to self, to be freed from bondage to a purely strict observance of le...
Lk 10: 1-9 “The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.”
We can all tend to inner complication in our relationship with God. This should not discourage us in any way but rather provides many opportunities to set our hearts on the simple and highest path: to try to love God and others in each moment and in any situation
‘Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites’ - we too are called to ‘become signs’ to the world we live in. Let's pray about how to be faithful in that mission.
Mt 22:1-14 Everyone is invited to the wedding banquet. Do we have a wedding garment? Do we have sanctifying grace? It’s like a boarding pass to get on the flight to heaven. We have the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist that help us to live in grace and happiness, to always carry our boarding pass.
14-10-23 You can do it! (PA): - Mary, our model - Listen - Excuses?
Jesus describes himself as the strong man who is able to overcome the devil. Satan thinks and claims he has the world under his control, but this is one of his many lies. Christ through the Redemption has overcome the devil and we need to believe in and have confidence in his greater power and his triumph over evil.
231012 Ask and Receive (JG) "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you." With these words Jesus guarantees the efficacy of prayer. Above all, we should pray with great trust and daring. The best thing to ask for is precisely what God most wants to give us, Himself.
The Lord’s Prayer is the prayer par excellence, which we have learned directly from the Lord’s lips. Going deeper into this prayer will help discern our attitude to prayer more generally, and allow us to grow in confidence.
We can consider the story of Martha and Mary from the standpoint of what we do after receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion. We may want to get right to work but to take a few minutes in Thanksgiving and contemplation is the better portion.
#10MinuteswithJesus ** Put yourself in the presence of God. Try talking to Him. ** 10 minutes are 10 minutes. Even if you can get distracted, reach the end. ** Be constant. The Holy Spirit acts "on low heat" and requires perseverance. 10-Minute audio to help you pray. Daily sparks to ignite prayer: a passage from the gospel, an idea, an anecdote and a priest who speaks with you and the Lord, inviting you to share your intimacy with God. Find your moment, consider you are in His presence and clic...
The parable of the landowner and the tenants helps us to reflect on our expectations, how frustrating it is when they are unfulfilled and God’s patience in helping us to get the next step on our journey
Praying the rosary is contemplating the life and face of Jesus through the eyes and heart of Mary, who kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. Some of it she would have witnessed personally. Other events she would imagine and reflect on once John had told her about them.
#10MinuteswithJesus ** Put yourself in the presence of God. Try talking to Him. ** 10 minutes are 10 minutes. Even if you can get distracted, reach the end. ** Be constant. The Holy Spirit acts "on low heat" and requires perseverance. 10-Minute audio to help you pray. Daily sparks to ignite prayer: a passage from the gospel, an idea, an anecdote and a priest who speaks with you and the Lord, inviting you to share your intimacy with God. Find your moment, consider you are in His presence and clic...
Luke 10:1-12: "The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit." Doing apostolate in pairs, requires we be accountable to one another. One of the disciples might have been Joseph, called Barnabas, which means Son of Encouragement, which encapsulates the attitude we should have with others. To encourage them.
St Francis is a great example to us of the need to be more detached from too many creature comforts, something which frees us to appreciate the simpler things of life.
#10MinuteswithJesus ** Put yourself in the presence of God. Try talking to Him. ** 10 minutes are 10 minutes. Even if you can get distracted, reach the end. ** Be constant. The Holy Spirit acts "on low heat" and requires perseverance. 10-Minute audio to help you pray. Daily sparks to ignite prayer: a passage from the gospel, an idea, an anecdote and a priest who speaks with you and the Lord, inviting you to share your intimacy with God. Find your moment, consider you are in His presence and clic...
On this day in 1928, St. Josemaria was shown Opus Dei.
A father had two children. He asked the first one to go to work in the vineyard but he said "No" and to the second one and he did say "Yes" but didn't go. The first one ended up doing the will of his father, but a bit late. He failed. But when he eventually showed up, his father was proud of him. We make mistakes. But our Father God keeps on waiting for us. And receives us with a smile.
Jesus is emphatic that true success is not when all seems to go well but when we share in His death and Resurrection.
St Josemaria thought it important to link together our formation as Christians, with the protection offered to us by the angels. We pray about why!
28-09-23 Is that true (PA) 28-09-23 Is that true (PA)
Unity is absolutely essential in the work of evangelization, otherwise we can be like a broken clock which, for all its fine parts, does not work. If we don't work together, we won't work effectively. Let us heed Christ's call to evangelize confident in the power of God, without exaggerating possible obstacles or our own limitations.
Unlike Jesus's contemporaries, even his Mother, who had to fight through crowds to be near him, we have easy access to Jesus. Thanks to the Eucharist and to Jesus's presence in our souls, we are always very close to him and he to us. This availability makes it easier for us to know and do his will.
Light that is not illuminating anything is a lost opportunity. Or simply a waste. We should find ways to assure that our light does not go out. Jesus needs us to be his lit lamps in this world.
Jesus invites us to stay faithful and never resign in our spiritual struggle. He can work great things at any time, and calls us tk wait with hope and optimism until he gives fruit to our labors.
So What Sow Much Jesus explains the key to the parables. A heart that is open to grace will understand the parable on many of the levels that are available to the hearer. All must struggle, study and be open to this grace that the fruit may come and be abundant. We need to look at this parable, which we have heard before, again and again.
We give thanks for the witness of women disciples who help the whole church to give to the Lord because of their joy and suffering
