Sunday Gospel Reflections
We are moving towards the end of Year B of the Church's liturgical
calendar. November 22 will be the last Sunday of Year B (the
Solemnity of Christ the King) and November 29 will be the start
of the Advent season - marking the beginning of Year C in our
Catholic liturgy. As we now near the close of the liturgical year,
let us reflect well on the themes of the Sunday gospels, as they
will help us prepare to examine the many times we have failed to
respond to the call of Christ, and also those times when we have
responded well to His counsels. Below is a list of reflections
on the themes of: humble faith in discipleship, the call to all
faithful to follow Christ in holiness, and the value of being
generous in following Christ wholeheartedly:
30th Sunday of the Year (Oct 25)
All Saints Day (Nov 01)
32nd Sunday of the Year (Nov 08)
Visionaries: Sts. Margaret Mary and Faustina
This blog post is part three of a Series on saints and holy men
and women who were chosen by the Lord to create a greater impact
upon the world, so that His message may be heard more strongly.
This third part of a Series features the visionaries St. Margaret
Mary Alacoque and St. Faustina Kowalska. Because these two nuns
have responded to the Lord to be His instruments for the world's
conversion and in renewal in the Church, many Catholics all over
the world now reap the spiritual benefits of devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus and to His Divine Mercy.
learn more about visionaries of Christ
Learning to Deepen our Life of Prayer
If we become too active in our life and work, we may lose the
balance that is needed to obtain both health of body and soul.
This is where the practice of meditation and contemplation can
help us achieve that needed balance. These two spiritual exercises
can restore us back to our grounding and rootedness in God - one
that will help us see the wisdom of placing eternal realities
above everything that is temporal. If we regain our vision of
faith in a God who always provides for us, we will not be led to
frenetic activity and noise - both of which are destructive of
productivity and fruitfulness in life, work, and relationships
within the family.
learn more about deepening prayer
The Great Abbots of the Monastery of Cluny
When monasteries began to lose their autonomy and started to be
controlled by powerful secular leaders, Duke William of Aquitaine
founded a monastery at Cluny, France. This monastery became the
beginning of the reform movement in monasticism. Through Cluny
and its spiritual influence, monasteries regained their autonomy
and independence from influential secular rulers. Cluny's spirit
of reform was led by seven great saintly abbots who also acted
as peacemakers and negotiators in the politics of Europe at the
time.
learn more about Cluny
Part two of this Series
Learning from the post-Vatican II popes
The Second Vatican Council is a great milestone in the history of
our Catholic Church. It was able to reroot us back to the biblical
vision of our faith and to see the world again as the context for
mission under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. John XXIII led
this renewal with his message of "aggiornamento". Paul VI
continued in this same direction and also kept the conservative
tradition of the Church on her stand on natural birth control
methods. John Paul I was not able to teach much except for the
witness of his person because of the very short term of his
papacy (33 days). It was John Paul II who taught the world with
a spiritual force that emphasized mission, holiness, devotion to
Mary, Christian unity, interreligious dialogue, respect for life
in all its stages, and world peace. Benedict XVI now continues
from where John Paul II had left and adds his own teaching on
God's love (Deus Caritas Est), hope in God (Spe Salvi), and the
need for a new world order where charity and truth is integrated
in global systems (Caritas in Veritate).
learn more about post-Vatican II popes
