This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday. The name comes from the first word of the Entrance Antiphon in Latin, which means, ‘Rejoice’. The full text of the antiphon is: Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice! Indeed, the Lord is near. That is what we are rejoicing in: God’s nearness to us. We recognise that nearness in the presence of Jesus, born so long ago, and his continuing presence through the Holy Spirit in our lives now. We rejoice that God has always been with us, whether we realised it or not. God has never left us. Read more.
Pope Francis has declared a “Year of St Joseph” from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021. The Pope has also written a new Apostolic Letter, Patris corde (With a Father’s Heart) marking the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. Francis suggests that many ‘ordinary’ people who have quietly helped others through the pandemic are images of St Joseph, himself a ‘hidden presence’ who nonetheless played ‘an incomparable role in the history of salvation’. Jesus, he says, saw the image of God’s tender love in the person of Joseph.
Read the Pope's pdf Letter about St Joseph
Out of nowhere comes one of the most exotic people in the Bible. Like the wild man of Borneo he bursts onto the scene wearing camel skin and existing on a diet of locusts and wild honey. He must have made quite an impression. Mark’s Gospel tells us that ‘all Judea and the whole of Jerusalem’ turned out to see and hear John, the baptiser. Read more & download Lectio Divina for this Sunday.
Celebrating At Home for 2nd Sunday of Advent 6 December PDF
Celebrating At Home for 2nd Sunday of Advent 6 December EPUB
Next Friday, 11 December, Brs Amandio Soares Salsinha, Narcizio da Costa Vilanova, Silvestre Alves and Agostinho Dos Santos will make their Solemn Profession (life commitment) as Carmelites and Brs Virgilio de Jesus Brites, Honorio Pereira Babo Lobato, Ponciano Norberto de Deus, Natasio de Jesus Maia and António Preto da Costa Soares will make their first profession of vows in Hera, Timor-Leste. We congratulate and warmly welcome these brothers! See larger photo.
Repentance and forgiveness console God’s people and prepare the way for the Lord to enter our hearts. The magnificent first reading from the prophet Isaiah today looks forward to the appearance of God. Great preparations take place for his arrival - hills are lowered, valleys filled in, a straight highway is made in the desert. The joyful message of God’s approach is proclaimed from the mountain tops and shouted in the streets. Read more & download Lectio Divina for this Sunday.
Celebrating At Home for 2nd Sunday of Advent 6 December PDF
Celebrating At Home for 2nd Sunday of Advent 6 December EPUB
Welcome to our JPIC newsletter for December. The record breaking temperatures over our continent in the last few days, can only serve to keep reminding us of the crucial need for climate action. If we take heed of the ancient Advent call to ‘stay awake’ we will notice the planet calling us to an urgent ecological conversion. We are all able to do something: reduce, recycle and re-envisage our life style to a simpler way of living.
Our Advent journey begins today. This week’s Gospel calls us to ‘Stay awake’, to be vigilant and attentive so that we do not miss the moment when God breaks into human history once again. The God who came among us is still among us. In Advent we train our eyes to see the reign of God more clearly so that we may be totally caught up in God’s action in the world. Read more
Royalty seems to be an endless source of fascination for many people. They are a different kind of celebrity. Maybe it’s the power, real or largely ceremonial. Maybe it’s the wealth and lavish lifestyles. Maybe it’s the pomp and pageantry. Maybe it’s the glittering robes and crowns. In the Old Testament scripture, God comes among his people not as a warrior-king, with a frightening display of military power or with thunderbolts in his hands, but as a shepherd-king: feeding his flock, gathering the lambs in his arms, holding them tenderly and leading the mother ewes to rest. God’s coming liberates and frees his people through tenderness and forgiveness. Read more
The whole idea of ‘kingdom’ has been thoroughly re-written in the teaching of Jesus: there is only one master and you are all brothers… The disciples are indeed kings – they have the power of Jesus’ spirit in them. But this power is not to be exercised in the classical sense ‘having power over others’, but by being true servants. The power of the spirit of Jesus fuels deeds of loving kindness for the brothers and sisters of Jesus – reversing horrible human conditions, and bringing healing and salvation. Read more & download Lectio Divina for this Sunday.
Celebrating At Home for Christ the King PDF | Celebrating At Home for Christ the King EPUB
Today, Carmelites remember with love and thanksgiving all those people who have handed on to us the heritage of Carmelite life and spirituality. We remember especially those we have known and who have deeply enriched our own living of Carmelite life. These brothers and sisters of ours may not have been famous spiritual writers nor renowned for extraordinary experiences of prayer, but they made their mark on the Order and on each of us through their own efforts to live in allegiance to Jesus Christ in service to the Order and to the Church.
May God welcome them fully into the Divine embrace.
