In his message for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Fr Miceál O’Neill (Prior General of the Carmelites), says, "We come from a different culture, one that St Titus Brandsma stood for and suffered for in his life. It is the culture of peace and forgiveness. It is that culture that says that we are all sisters and brothers to one another without exception, which makes it unthinkable that we should take up arms against one another."
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Following his arrest in January 1942 Titus Brandsma was imprisoned at Scheveningen for 7 weeks. Later he would be taken to Amersfoort and Cleve before being transported to Dachau Concentration Camp in June 1942. In his next prisons, circumstances would not be so pleasant, but his days at Scheveningen may have been God’s blessing as a spiritual preparation for what was to come.
Pope Francis says society creates “an adjective culture” that prefers to immediately label people as good or bad. Jesus, he says, breaks the mentality that separates, excludes, isolates and belittles the person.
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Celebrating At Home 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF]
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Celebrating At Home 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub]
You can download and save the scripture texts, reflections and prayers for Lectio Divina for each day of this month. Lectio Divina is a traditional way of praying the Scriptures. Visit our Lectio Divina page for more information about how to pray using Lectio Divina. Join our Lectio Online group every Friday at 10am (Australian Eastern Standard Time) to prayerfully reflect on the coming Sunday's Gospel. Register here.
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Lectio Divina July 2022 [PDF]
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Lectio Divina July 2022 [iPhone/iPad]
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Sunday 3rd July will see many prominent members of our Catholic Church come together for the continuation of the momentous event in our Australian Church, he Second General Assembly of the Plenary Council as well as the opening of NAIDOC Week.
There is a sense of simplicity and urgency as Jesus commissions the seventy-two to spread the Good News of God’s involvement in human life. Spreading the message of the Gospel is always to be done in a non-threatening way – by winning over hearts and minds through good example and good living.
The Carmelites warmly invite you to celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with Mass at 10.30am on Sunday 17 July at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 210 Richardson Street (cnr Wright St), Middle Park.
You can send the names of any mothers, living or deceased, you would like remembered in the Mass to: The Carmelites, 75 Wright Street, Middle Park, Vic 3206 or phone (03) 9690 8822 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Very often in life we know what the right thing to do is, yet we can find it very difficult to do. There is a sense of that in the Gospel reading for today. What happens when we feel we are doing the right thing and get treated badly because of it? Will we act like James and John, wanting to call down fire from heaven to punish the offenders? Or will we follow the way of Jesus and just go ‘to another village’? We can be filled with such a sense of righteousness that we turn ourselves into God’s avengers, but we are really avenging ourselves.
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Celebrating At Home 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time [PDF]
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Celebrating At Home 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time [ePub]
Join Fr Roderick for this short video of highlights from the Canonisation Mass. Fr Roderick is the Parish Priest of one of the Titus Brandsma parishes in the Netherlands.
As a University Professor with a specialty in Philosophy, Titus Brandsma would have been acutely aware of the ideas and propaganda circulating in neighbouring Germany during the 1930’s. The Nazi party promoted a broad spectrum of basic principles which enshrined raw power and violence, especially at the expense of the weak. One can only rise to the top of a struggle by stepping on those inferior people below. In such a mindset, Christianity was ridiculed for its care and attention to the poor, sick, elderly, and handicapped.
