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Sunday December
30
Feast of Holy Family
The
Sacrament of the Neighbour - A Reflection for 2013. The 'non-person'
in Liberation Theology David Timbs
(Sunday
blogger from Australia)
Gutierrez
intensifies the shock effect of the Jesus story by proposing that the
wounded man, left for dead on the side of the road, should be seen as none
other than God! Gutierrez
invites us to recognise that it is Christ himself standing in the sandals
of the poor, outcast, the de-humanised. It is then possible to acknowledge
him/her as not only our ‘neighbour’ but as our nearest relation.
Former
head of Caritas Intl
now CEO of "The Elders"
RRP:
Reading, Reflection, Prayer
- with readers' comments
Menu for today Dec 30: |
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Readings for Feast of the Holy Family, with teachings about family
life |
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Please add your comments and reflections. What
can we do to promote family life? |
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See comments Dec 29 |
This
week's smile
Holy Family Sunday classic
Last
Friday night at a cousin's house, I met someone who once spent several
months in Calcutta working with Dr
Jack
Preger MBE
See this YouTube
report re Preger's work which has often been compared with that of
Mother Teresa, with whom he worked at one stage. Preger's work also seems
to have inpsired the movie City
of Joy
Vatican II Reflection 369
The five basic principles
of Ecumenism
John W: Daily Blog - Dec 30
Memories of a HK
Vietnamese refugee camp
Dec 27-Jan
30:
I'm now in Australia.
Love to meet up with
readers in Melb, Syd, Bris, GC -
John W
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Monday December
31
Scotland: Hogmanay!
Signs
of church life
Seven signs of
life at St John's Anglican Church, Melbourne.
Your church display
these 7 signs??
c.f. Signs
of Emergence
& Vital
signs - urban churches
& Signs
of life in a Catholic St John's !
Joseph
Girzone's
suggestion for 2013:
I suggest we try at least once every hour to stop what we are doing
for a brief moment, and think of Jesus, and realize that he is with us,
and just say "hello" to him. Maybe share something with him - a
joy or something you may be working on, or anything. If we can do that at
least once every hour of our waking day, we will be letting him know that
we want him to be part of our life and our partner. As time goes on, we
will find what a wonderful experience it is, knowing how intimate God has
become with us. Our life then will gradually change
Balance
of the year
Fr M. Menapace OSB
A special reflection
for
this last day of 2012
Most
US companies
pay no federal tax
RRP:
Reading, Reflection, Prayer
- with readers' comments
Menu for today Dec 31 |
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Let's use these readings to review our 2012 focus |
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Please add your comments for
this last day of 2012 |
Vatican II Reflection 370
Ecumenical key: renewal
John W: Daily Blog - Dec 31
Photos of family gathering
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Tuesday
January 1
Happy New Year!
The Gift of Love
Martin Mallon
(Tuesday blogger from Ireland)
Let us all accept Jesus’ “gift
of love” and make the world a much better place for everyone in 2013.
Jan 1 has
been a traditional day to pray the Veni
Creator Spiritus...as Pope Leo did in
1901!
On
January 1, 1901, Pope Leo XIII prayed to the Holy Spirit. He sang the Veni
Creator Spiritus by the Holy Spirit window in St. Peter's Basillica in
Rome. That same day, in Topeka, Kansas, at the Bethel College and Bible
School, the Holy Spirit came upon a group of Protestants who had been
praying to receive the Holy Spirit as the early Church did in Acts chapter
two.
The
blessing for a new year
- Mary, Mother of God
Beautiful Jan 1 reflection
by Daniel Daring
We may be
doubting whether God's blessing bestowed on us on this first day of a new
year would be able to carry us safely throughout the entire year. Yet, a
blessing “is not a casual activity.” It carries with itself a power to
protect from charms, magic spells, and all sorts of bad influence. Each
time my mother was sending us off to school, field trip, or vacation, she
would mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross, firmly believing in
the protecting power of this blessing.
RRP:
Reading, Reflection, Prayer
- with readers' comments
Menu for today Jan 1 |
January 1 readings
with the theme of
blessing |
Please add your comments and reflections. Any
special reflection
for 2013?! |
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See readers' comments
Dec 30 |
Vatican II
Reflection 371
Ecumenism: humble heart
John W: Daily Blog - Jan 1
2013 resolution; photos
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Wednesday January 2
The
space between words
Chris McDonnell
(UK
Wed blogger)
Silence is precious and necessary for a Christian.
So
as we welcome another year maybe we should seek those silent spaces more
often, when we might listen for the Lord and he in turn might find us,
waiting, in silent expectation Once
upon a baby
Judith Lynch
Perhaps
one of the first messages we can take from the accounts of Jesus' nativity
is that each of us has a nativity as well—a birth story that holds
within it all the promise and hope that attended that Christmas some two
thousand years ago. Whatever excitement or sorrow your birth story holds,
whatever ordinariness surrounds it, it is worth knowing and celebrating
------
In this time of shame and sadness, The
Church needs Mystics. A review of Richard Rohr's new book
‘Immortal
Diamond: the Search for Our True Self’.
Overall
this book helps to validate Karl Rahner’s conclusion that “The
Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all.” How
to make the world a better place
Joseph
Girzone
RRP:
Reading, Reflection, Prayer
- with readers' comments
Menu for today Jan 2 |
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Agony of the bed-ridden |
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The Owner of
the world |
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Seeing is
becoming |
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No. 1 on death
list |
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Please add your comments about any of these readings |
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See Jan 1 comments |
Vatican II
Reflection 372
Used to be forbidden, now
encouraged: Christians of different denominations praying together
John
W Daily
Blog Jan
2
Jesus is the Coach,
we are the players
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Thursday
December 27
Feast
of St John the Apostle
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Every Thursday, Daniel
Daring's reflection on the Sunday readings,
to help us prepare for Sunday:
This week, for Holy Family Sunday: Attack
on the Family.
This reflection supports the call of bishops
in the Philippines and other places for mothers to say no to being migrant
workers, despite economic considerations, since the consequences of
migrant working far outweigh extra finance
The
cover of the March 1997 Fortune magazine asks, “Is Your Family Wrecking
Your Career?” The answer given to its readers is the new ‘gospel’ of
capitalism and corporate world: ‘your career is more important than your
family!’
In
order to combat the ‘worldly gospel’ of capitalism we have to rediscover the
importance of spending time together. A yearly trip to Jerusalem could take five
days of journey from Nazareth. It was a time to set aside all the problems of
the world. It was a time to pray and to be with close relatives and friends. It was a vacation as well. It was
a necessary break, spent together with God and with one another |
John W: Daily Blog - Dec 27
"Les Misérables" !
RRP:
Reading, Reflection, Prayer
- with readers' comments
Menu for today Dec 27 |
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Readings for Feast of St John the
Apostle with theme: The Baby in
the manger is The Word made flesh |
Please add your comments:
Do we forget Jesus is God? |
Vatican II Reflection 366
Classic clarion call for Ecumenism!
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Friday
December
28
Celebrating
the Prince of Peace in the Land of Guns
Michael Moore
3 reasons for
America's high propensity to gun violence Hans
Kung and the Roman Inqisition
"Benedict has medieval idea of the papacy"
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Yesterday in Melbourne I saw Les Misérables
and agree strongly with these two comments:
I
have seen the play 3 times in 3 different countries but had been
indifferent to it. But the movie was so different, it sent a message
of Christianity, that God is Love and that we should forgive others
who hurt us, not once but "seventy-seven" times.
c.f.
these words from NCR's review
'Les
Misérables' a fusion of heaven and earth, sight and sound:
"Les
Misérables" is moving and inspiring. It is a prayer, the
Gospels brought to life; it is the Creed and sacraments lived. Mercy
and truth meet. The screenplay by William Nicholson is faithful to
the story (as told and developed by at least five others); it is
deeply Christian and points to a world that can be if we so choose.
It is a heartbreaking, deeply felt tale of human anguish, brought
about |
Shepherds
discuss new baby
Joseph Girzone
RRP:
Reading, Reflection, Prayer
- with readers' comments
Menu for today Dec 28 |
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Readings for Feast of the Holy Innocents, a
day of prayer for babies in the womb |
Please add your comments:
What difference does Jesus make? |
OMI
bishop taking on Planned Parenthood in Texas
Vatican II Reflection 367
Ecumenism not an option
John
W: Daily Blog - Dec 28
Australia very expensive!
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Saturday December 29
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Mini-reflection - John
W
In many parts of the world churches are being closed and parishes merged.
But when a local community loses its "club house" people stop
belonging to the "club".
A better way: let a married pastoral
couple, espy a deacon and wife, live in the presbytery and look after
church services (baptisms, weddings, funerals etc) as well as general
pastoral care.
Please
don't close St Margaret Clitherow Church
Don't close St Theresa Church Don't
turn my church into a minimart Save
our churches
“We have been
shattered by this. People were crying last Sunday realising that we
will no longer be able to come here.” The
church has been a focal point for the community, staging concerts
and holding a lunch club for pensioners
-----
p.s.
from John W:
Today it's "Less than 200 people not viable". In a
few years it will be "Less than 500 not viable".
This line of thinking, based solely on the shrinking number of
priests, is madness.
When
you're short of doctors, you don't close hospitals....you
train/employ more doctors! |
Pope
v. Pell (J. Sleven)
Vatican
II Reflection 368
Respecting other Christians
RRP:
Reading, Reflection, Prayer
- with readers' comments
Menu for today Dec 29 |
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Readings for Fifth Day of Christmas Octave, with the story
of Simeon |
Please add your comments:
Does it matter if we go through
life without knowing our real parents?
...without knowing Jesus? |
John W: Daily Blog - Dec 29
The Brain that changes itself
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Many thanks for checking
this website each day
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