MAY THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST, BE ALWAYS IN OUR HEART TO KEEP US HUMBLE, GRATEFUL, MERCIFUL, FORGIVING --- O GOD, BLESS ALL THAT IS COMING FROM YOU AND BREAK ALL THAT IS NOT COMING FROM YOU, AMEN --- This site is just a drop from the immeasurable ocean in JESUS, THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, HOLY TRINITY ONE GOD - HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE - TEACHER, HEALER, REDEEMER --- The main purpose of this site is to make an easier access to Catholic Religion-related links.
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers; I remember your tears and long to see you again to complete my happiness. Then I am reminded of the sincere faith which you have; it came first to live in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I have no doubt that it is the same faith in you as well.
That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.
OR:
Alternative First reading
Titus 1:1-5
From Paul, servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie and so, at the appointed time, he revealed his decision, and, by the command of God our saviour, I have been commissioned to proclaim it. To Titus, true child of mine in the faith that we share, wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our saviour.
The reason I left you behind in Crete was for you to get everything organised there and appoint elders in every town, in the way that I told you.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 95(96):1-3,7-8,10
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Proclaim his help day by day,
tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Gospel Acclamation (Lk4:17)
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Luke 10:1-9
Your peace will rest on that man
The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”’
THE GOSPEL:
Lk 10:1-9 -- The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few - il-ħsad kbir imma l-ħaddiema ftit
Evanġelju
Lq 10: 1-9
Qari mill-Evanġelju skont San Luqa
F’dak iż-żmien: Il-Mulej qabbad tnejn u sebgħin oħra u bagħathom tnejn tnejn qablu f’kull belt u post fejn kien sejjer hu. U qalilhom: “Il-ħsad hu kbir, tassew, imma l-ħaddiema ftit. Itolbu mela ’l sid il-ħsad biex jibgħat ħaddiema għall-ħsad tiegħu. Morru! Araw, qiegħed nibgħatkom bħal ħrief qalb l-ilpup.
Teħdux magħkom, la but, la ħorġa u lanqas qrieq, u fit-triq issellmu ’l ħadd. Fid-dar fejn tidħlu, l-ewwel għidu, ‘Sliem lil din id-dar.’ U jekk fiha jkun hemm bin is-sliem, jistrieħ is-sliem tagħkom fuqu; jekk le, it-tislima tagħkom terġgħalkom lura għandkom. Ibqgħu għand dik il-familja, u kulu u ixorbu milli jkollhom huma, għax il-ħaddiem ħaqqu ħlasu. Toqogħdux idduru mingħand familja għal oħra. F’kull belt li fiha tmorru u jilqgħukom, kulu dak li jqegħdulkom quddiemkom; fejqu l-morda tagħha, u lin-nies għidulhom, ‘Is-Saltna ta’ Alla waslitilkom.’”
Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
R/. Tifħir lilek Kristu.
************
Pope: transmit the faith with the courage of truth and witness
During his homily at morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta Pope Francis reflected on the how we announce the Gospel message saying that words are empty if they do not reflect real life.
By Linda Bordoni
At the heart ofPope Francis’ homily on Friday morning in theCasa Santa Martawas a reflection on how to transmit the faith.
Taking his cue from the liturgical reading of the day in which the apostle Paul addresses his disciple Timothy recalling his “sincere faith” that first lived in his grandmother and then in his mother, the Pope highlighted the words that indicate how faith is to be transmitted: “son”, as Paul calls Timothy, “mother,” “grandmother,” and finally "testimony".
The 'folly of preaching' according to Paul
The Pope said that Paul generated Timothy with the “folly of preaching.” He said that in the reading a mention is also made of “tears” because, he explained, Paul does not sweeten his preaching with half-truths, he does so with courage because the announcement of the Gospel “cannot be lukewarm”.
“Preaching is - allow me the word – ‘a slap’. A slap that moves you and pushes you forward” he said.
Paul himself, Francis said, describes it as ‘the folly of preaching’: “it's folly, because to say that God became man and then he was crucified and then he rose again ...” There is always a pinch of folly in preaching which must not be tempted by mediocrity and half-truths.
The Word without testimony has no strength
The second word Pope Francis chose to highlight is testimony. Faith, he affirmed, is to be transmitted through witness which gives strength to the Word and he commented on how people used to say of the first disciples: “How they love each other.”
He noted that in some parishes today, many tongues can be heard wagging about this person or that… and instead of commenting on ‘how they love each other’ one could be enticed to comment on how people speak badly of each other, on “how they use their tongues like knives to ‘skin’ the other!”
“How can you transmit the faith in an atmosphere that is spoilt by gossip, by slander?” he said.
True testimony, the Pope explained means never speaking badly of the other, it means doing works of charity, visiting the sick, and it means asking oneself why others behave or live as they do.
Pope Francis also emphasized the fact that evil acts as “counter-testimony” or as bad testimony: it takes away faith and weakens people.
The Church gives life like a mother
The other word and concept picked out by Pope Francis is “mother” and “grandmother”. He explained that “faith is transmitted in a womb, the womb of the Church”.
He said that the “Church’s motherhood is prolonged in the maternity of the mother, the woman”.
He recalled a meeting he had with a nun while he was in Albania. She had been imprisoned during the dictatorship, but sometimes the guards would let her take a walk along the river thinking there could be no harm in that.
But the nun was clever, the Pope said, and the women of the nearby villages would bring their children to her when she went out and she would secretly baptize them in the river.
“I ask myself, he said, are mothers and grandmothers like the ones Paul speaks of?” Or do they trust in the fact that the children will learn when they go to catechism?
“It gives me sadness, Francis continued, when I see children who do not know how to make the sign of the Cross” because their mothers and grandmothers have not taught them.
Let us ask the Lord, he concluded, to teach us to be witnesses and preachers and to teach women who are mothers to transmit the faith.
The example of the Word - Published on Jan 23, 2017
2017.01.21 Holy Mass for the 8th Centenary of the Dominican Order Pope Francis presides over the Eucharistic Celebration for the closing of the 8th Centenary celebrations to markthe foundation of the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans.
Pope Francis will close the jubilee for the Dominicans - Published on Jan 17, 2017
from the last section of a four part Franciscan blessing: MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH ENOUGH FOOLISHNESS TO BELIEVE THAT YOU REALLY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD, SO THAT YOU ARE ABLE, WITH GOD’S GRACE, TO DO WHAT OTHERS CLAIM, CANNOT BE DONE.
PROPER GOSPEL on On the memorial of St. Agnes (Virgin and Martyr)
Jan 21 - Homily: St Agnes, Holy Example
Published on 21 Jan 2017
Fr. Ignatius for the retreat titled "Universal Call to Holiness" gives the second homily where he presents St Agnes, virgin and martyr, as a great example for her willingness to go out and give everything she had to obtain the treasure of holiness and the kingdom of heaven. He points out that she overcame the two things that we must overcome to become holy, love of pleasure and fear of pain for she was tempted with many rewards if she was to forsake her faith as well as threatened by many tortures if she did not. Let us choose as well as she did.
