I began talking about the Rosary last weekend, and I described the literal string of prayers that we say as flowers in a crown that we present to our Blessed Lady. There is a type of satisfaction we gain from simply getting through these prayers as a gift to our Lady (because of our affectionContinue reading “The Lord rules me (Sunday IV of Easter)”
Tag Archives: virtue
Bearing witness (Sunday III of Easter)
It’s the month of May and I thought I would talk a little about the Rosary. I shall use the contents of a book called the Secret of the Rosary by the French priest S. Louis-Marie de Montfort. We don’t always remember why this great prayer of the Church is called ‘the rosary.’ It hasContinue reading “Bearing witness (Sunday III of Easter)”
Burning bushes (Sunday III of Lent)
“More important than the way we die is how we live our lives, in repentance and building virtue.”
Reading through the first letter of S. Peter
The first letter of the Apostle Saint Peter that is preserved in our New Testament was addressed to Christians of Asia Minor, what is now called ‘Turkey.’ As we can see from the map just below, in Greek times, Pontus and Bithynia were on the north, sitting on the Black Sea, Galatia was the greatContinue reading “Reading through the first letter of S. Peter”
Reading through the second letter of S. Peter
It’s the feast day of the Transfiguration! So, let’s get through the second letter of the Apostle Saint Peter, sent much later in his ministry as bishop of Rome, for he hints at his upcoming death. The Apostle here demonstrates a high theology of grace, the benefit on the Church of her embracing the God-Man,Continue reading “Reading through the second letter of S. Peter”
Reading through the second letter of S. Paul to S. Timothy
Paul comes off brilliantly in this letter to Saint Timothy, the second one to that bishop of Ephesus that we have in the New Testament. This is certainly my favourite of all his surviving letters for its brevity and its completeness as a note of encouragement and instruction to Saint Timothy, his beloved disciple and son,Continue reading “Reading through the second letter of S. Paul to S. Timothy”
Reading through S. Paul’s letter to the Philippians
Philippi was one of the great cities of Roman Macedonia in Saint Paul’s time, sitting, as you can see by zooming in and out of the Google Map above, on the ancient Via Egnatia, the Roman Road joining Greek Kavalla on the Aegian Sea to Albanian Durres on the Adriatic. Philippi was a Roman colony,Continue reading “Reading through S. Paul’s letter to the Philippians”
Reading through Ecclesiasticus (aka. ben Sirach)
Today’s summary is on the book of Ecclesiasticus, an important bridge between the Old and the New Testaments that was excluded from by the rabbis from the Hebrew Bible in the centuries after the Resurrection, perhaps because it was considered too Christian. Sadly, protestant rebels did the same in the sixteenth century, probably trying toContinue reading “Reading through Ecclesiasticus (aka. ben Sirach)”
Reading through the letter of S. Paul to the Ephesians
The Church in Ephesos (west of Asia Minor, just across the Aegean from Macedonia and Achaia) was always a good egg in the first century, apparently. In the last book of the Bible, she received a good report from Christ Himself for her discernment with regard to the Apostolic authority: “To the angel of theContinue reading “Reading through the letter of S. Paul to the Ephesians”
‘Integrity His cloak…’ (Sunday III of Advent)
Our readings this weekend invite us to compare our Lord the Messiah with His forerunner or herald, S. John the Baptist. For the first reading gives us a rather vivid picture of the Messiah the Jewish people were expecting and the gospel message gives us a picture of the rather fiery character that John was/is.Continue reading “‘Integrity His cloak…’ (Sunday III of Advent)”
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 