To know You, O Father, is life; true life; eternal life…
Indeed, it is this that we always seek… We are constantly on the lookout for something that will fulfil us, that will make us happy – according to our concept of happiness -; for something that will last… But can there be true happiness without You? Read More
In 1932, God the Father appeared to Mother Eugenia Ravasio, an Italian nun, and gave her a message for all of humanity. Essentially, it is a declaration of love for Mankind (https://www.fatherspeaks.net/eugenia_msg.html#THE%20FATHER%C2%B4S%20MESSAGE,%20book%201,%20part%201). The message was carefully examined by the Bishop of Grenoble, the diocese where the events took place, and he concluded that it could only have a supernatural origin. One of the wishes expressed by God the Father in this message is for a liturgical feast to be established in His honour on 7 August each year. Although only the ecclesiastical hierarchy can officially implement this, we can celebrate it privately and dedicate this day to our Heavenly Father. To this end, we will begin a Novena to God the Father tomorrow, 29 July, in preparation for His feast.
To You, Heavenly Father,
we entrust ourselves wholly and unreservedly,
for You are our loving and most beloved Father.
I place these words as the beginning of the novena to God the Father which we begin today, for this is how we men should live. Read More
Lk 21:9-19
The Gospel reading for the memorial of Saints Nazarius and Celsus, according to the traditional lectionary.
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “When you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. Read More
Gen 18:20-32
In these days Yahweh said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin is so grave, that I shall go down and see whether or not their actions are at all as the outcry reaching me would suggest. Then I shall know.’ While the men left there and went to Sodom, Yahweh remained in Abraham’s presence. Abraham stepped forward and said, ‘Will you really destroy the upright with the guilty? Suppose there are fifty upright people in the city. Will you really destroy it? Will you not spare the place for the sake of the fifty upright in it? Do not think of doing such a thing: to put the upright to death with the guilty, so that upright and guilty fare alike! Read More
Mt 13:16-17
(Gospel for the Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them”.
Mt 20:20-28
Then came to him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, adoring and asking something of him. Who said to her: What wilt thou? She saith to him: Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom. And Jesus answering, said: You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to him: We can. He saith to them: My chalice indeed you shall drink; but to sit on my right or left hand, is not mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by my Father. And the ten hearing it, were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them to him, and said: You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that are the greater, exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be the greater among you, let him be your minister: And he that will be first among you, shall be your servant. Even as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many. Read More
Mt 13:10-17
Then the disciples went up to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’ In answer, he said, ‘Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not granted. Anyone who has will be given more and will have more than enough; but anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled: Listen and listen, but never understand! Look and look, but never perceive! This people’s heart has grown coarse, their ears dulled, they have shut their eyes tight to avoid using their eyes to see, their ears to hear, their heart to understand, changing their ways and being healed by me. ‘But blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! In truth I tell you, many prophets and upright people longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it. Read More
Mt 13:1-9
‘That same day, Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the shore, and he told them many things in parables. He said, ‘Listen, a sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up at once, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Anyone who has ears should listen!” Read More
Song 3:1-4a
In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not. I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and I found him not. The watchmen who keep the city, found me: Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth? When I had a little passed by them, I found him whom my soul loveth.
This text is read at Holy Mass on the Feast of a great lover who met her Lord: St. Mary Magdalene. Today’s Gospel recounts precisely the encounter of Mary Magdalene with the Risen Lord, and the way in which He makes Himself known to her (Jn 20:1,11-18).
Ex 14:5-18
‘When Pharaoh king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, he and his officials changed their attitude towards the people. ‘What have we done,’ they said, ‘allowing Israel to leave our service?’ So Pharaoh had his chariot harnessed and set out with his troops, taking six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots in Egypt, with officers in each. The Lord made Pharaoh King of Egypt stubborn, and he gave chase to the Israelites. The Israelites marched confidently away, but the Egyptians, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, his horsemen and his army, gave chase and caught up with them where they lay encamped beside the sea near Pi-Hahiroth, facing Baal-Zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up — and there were the Egyptians in pursuit of them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help.
