Our Lady pregnant with Jesus can be an image of the Church and each of us with the life of Christ within us desiring to see His face in Heaven. Today's joyful encounter between Our Lady and Saint Elizabeth reminds us of the impact Jesus can have on those around us when we nurture that presence and carry Him to others with joyful self-forgetfulness.
#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...
Zechariah struggles to trust in the will of God for his life. He asks, 'How can I be SURE of this?' He loses his speech for the next few months - in our prayer today, we explore what a perfect medicine this was for him.
St Joseph was ready because he always was. He lived ready to fulfil the instructions of the Angel. He was faithful. He is the man of Advent. Being close to him these days will helps us live Advent as we should.
The celibate vocation involves a number of ‘no’s', just as St John the Baptist honestly affirmed that he was not the Christ, Elijah, or the prophet announced by Moses. But, as with John, these ‘no’s' lead to a deeper yes to Christ which ultimately leads to our full happiness.
The first reading speaks of Elijah as "appearing like a fire," going to heaven in a "whirlwind of fire" and bringing down fire from heaven to the earth three times. Jesus himself speaks of his "coming to cast fire on the earth." Holiness is to burn with the love of God and to let ourselves to be burned by this love.
Jesus laments about the generation of people who are never satisfied. This Advent we seek to prepare "the manger of our souls" by removing the barbed wire of complaints from our souls and putting up the lights of peace and joy that we recover in the sacrament of confession and learning how to rectify our intention.
Our Advent guide, John the Baptist, is praised by Jesus today. What does it mean that the violent are taking the Kingdom of Heaven by force?
Jesus tells us to come to him when we are looking for rest. We should take him seriously and actually seek to find our peace not in other forms of distraction or entertainment but in Jesus above all.
To guide us through our Advent we celebrate yet another beautiful Marian feast. Our Lady of Guadalupe is an exquisite portrait of Mary's maternal solicitude. We go to her in prayer for our hearts, those of our priests and bishops, and especially for the hearts of young expectant mothers. May Mary, through the visit of her intercession, obtain for our heart a home and a shrine for all human life.
The friends lowered the paralytic through the roof to get to Jesus. No one thinks of the guy who put on the roof, what did he make of this frantic desire to get to Jesus that destroyed his handiwork? Material concerns sometimes get in the way of miracles in our own lives. May we do the best possible job of getting people closer to Jesus
#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...
#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...
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The words of God to Satan: ipsa conteret caput tuum (Gen 3). The devil is getting his due.
Today we are being encouraged to follow Jesus, to meet Him atop the mountain spiritually. So, let us follow Jesus up the mountain because God first came down to us, so that we may be raised up to meet Him
“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” Lord, your words are a call to true simplicity: an inward unity of life.
When we recognise how unworthy we are for the Lord to come to us, we might be tempted to refuse him. In today's Gospel we see the centurion's faith not only in his humility as he looks at himself but also in his confidence as he looks at Christ.
03-12-23 For real! (DOH) Ideas to spark your prayer
Unlike NYE at the end of December, this one at the end of the liturgical year, and at the end of the month of November, gives us an opportunity to prepare for our own death - a moment we should face with great trust and faith.
Towards the end of the liturgical year, we are reminded of the difficulties that will come for the disciples of Christ. And Jesus asks us to persevere, to keep up the good work. Christian optimism is not passive, Chesterton explains, but active. We don't just expect things will turn out well. We help God to bring His Kingdom and make it happen.
30-11-23 On the Lookout (JE) Ideas to spark your prayer
29-11-23 Save your soul with patience (JG) Ideas to spark your prayer
28-11-23 Beware the bunker mentality (JK) Ideas to spark your prayer
27-11-23 Mission Partners (MC) Ideas to spark your prayer
26-11-23 Seeking the Great King (MM) Ideas to spark your prayer
The resurrection is the major game changer of our lives, our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is what gives us life, we have to witness to this
Lk 19:45–48 // Jn 2:14–17. Jesus throws tables and uses a whip to drive off cattle, sheep, and pigeons that don't belong to him. He got angry. But he was God. So his anger could not have been a sin. When we get angry, how can we follow Jesus' example who got angry but without sinning?
Thanksgiving Day in the USA - Using the Thanksgiving Proclamation from President George Washington, let us learn to give thanks for specific gifts from God and do so knowing that we represent many others (our family, our friends, the Church, our country, the whole world).
An account of the feast of St. Cecilia and how here body was discovered in 1599, with Stephano Maderno making that famous sculpture of her. She is patron of artists, and intercedes to preserve beauty in the world. I inserted a brief background music of the Nisi Dominus aria by Vivaldi. Exquisite to listen and to pray with.
21-11-23 The royal treatment (GJ) Meditation to spark your prayer
