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“JEWS” AND “GREEKS” Part 2 - Monthly Spiritual Message May 2020
In Israelite usage, the term “Judean and Greek” form a division of the house of Israel. Other similar terms favoured in the New Testament are “Hebrew and Hellenist”. “Hebrew” referred to fervent observers of Israelite traditions, with great respect for Israel’s ancestral patriarchs. “He ..
“JEWS” AND “GREEKS” Part 1 - Monthly Spiritual Message April 2020
When we read the word “Jew” in the Old or the New Testament, we naturally identify the person as being like a present-day Jew. For example, in the Book of Esther, Mordecai, is described as a Jew living at Susa (Esther 11:2 1a; 2:5). In John’s Gospel 11:45, many of the Jews believed in Jesus. The ..
Saints Louis & Zelie Martin
Louis and Zelie Martin each felt a call to consecrated religious life during their youth, however they found themselves wholeheartedly entering into the marriage vocation. Their zeal for consecrated life however never left them, and this desire to unite themselves more deeply with the life of th ..
A Seraphic Angel appears in the form of the Crucified Christ and gives St Francis the stigmata - Monthly Spiritual Message March 2020
Two years before his death in 1226, St Francis went to the beautiful mountain of La Verna, and there he lived on the mountain with a few of the brothers spending his time in prayer. As he entered deeper into prayer and became lost in the love of God, to the things of this world, he wa ..
Positive Opposites - Monthly Spiritual Message February 2020
There are certain basic elements or components of growth that have to work in harmony if there is to be development. Many of these elements are pairs of opposites that are all in themselves positive. Here is a sample of four pairs of positive opposites: formal - informal permanent - ..
FRANCIS, TEACH US TO PRAY (Part 3) - Monthly Spiritual Message January 2020
“Francis Teach us to Understand.” From the moment of his mystical experience of the crucified Christ[1] (applewebdata://7A16203C-C9C2-4ADD-84AA-A0927CC2C257#_ftn1)until his stigmata on La Verna and even to his transitus from this world, Saint Francis’ inner vision and personal relationsh ..
FRANCIS, TEACH US TO PRAY (Part 2) - Monthly Spiritual Message December 2019
The prayer of adoration that Saint Francis taught the friars at Rivo Torto flows out of a profound mystical experience of Christ Crucified that only Saint Bonaventure,[1] (applewebdata://535A8D2A-A911-4100-9066-FE0D2A2E48D1#_ftn1) of all the sources, tells us happened to Saint Francis. It was ju ..
FRANCIS, TEACH US TO PRAY (Part 1) - Monthly Spiritual Message NOVEMBER 2019
Thomas of Celanotells us that coming back from Rome, where they had received verbal permission from Pope Innocent III to live their way of life, Saint Francis and his twelve companions[1] (applewebdata://A483F3CE-7BEB-4744-B4DD-10776A5AD568#_ftn1)found an abandoned hut near Rivo Torto and began ..
SECULAR FRANCISCAN PRIORITIES (Part 2) - Monthly Spiritual Message OCTOBER 2019
In Part One, last month, I quoted Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii nuntiandi n.72, and drew out three priorities of the laity, and specifically of the Secular Franciscans, in the world. “Hence the active presence of the laity in the temporal realities takes on all its importance” ..
SECULAR FRANCISCAN PRIORITIES (Part 1) - Monthly Spiritual Message SEPTEMBER 2019
Jesus says in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations" (Mt 28:18). The gospel calls every person who believes in Jesus Christ to spread the Good News. Every Christian is a missionary by vocation. In 1975, Pope Paul VI wrote a ground-breaking Apostol ..
ORIGINS OF THE SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER - Monthly Spiritual Message AUGUST 2019
The Secular Franciscan Order traces its origins back to St Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), who gathered round him the “Brothers and Sisters of Penance of Assisi”. Let us read what the early biographers of St Francis have to say about them. Friar Thomas of Celano, who knew St Francis, wr ..
THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS - Monthly Spiritual Message JULY 2019
We usually interpret the parable of the talents in Matthew’s gospel (Mat 25:14-30), and of the pounds in Luke’s gospel (Lk 19:11-28), as an exhortation to develop our God-given gifts and to make them productive in building the Kingdom of God. Our heroes are the servants who returned their talent ..
Recent Articles
- FRATERNAL DIALOGUE - Monthly Spiritual Message May 2021
- “THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL FRANCIS TO FRANCIS” PART 3 - Monthly Spiritual Message April 2021
- “THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL FRANCIS TO FRANCIS” PART 2 - Monthly Spiritual Message March 2021
- “THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL FRANCIS TO FRANCIS” PART 1 - Monthly Spiritual Message February 2021
- Towards Christmas - Monthly Spiritual Message December 2020
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Are You Being Called?
If you sometimes feel the need, or an inner urging, to do a little more than just attend Mass and be a good parishioner, please...
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