A Treasure To Be Shared

Baptism of the Eunuch by Rembrandt Recently we've read that Pope Leo intends a kerygma-centred mission to be the focus of the upcoming June consistory of cardinals. Mary Rose at Zeale website reports that Pope Leo XIV has formally summoned the world’s cardinals to a June 26–27 consistory in a letter urging a renewed focus on the Church’s core proclamation of the risen Christ rather than institutional preservation. Pope Saint John Paul II describes the kerygma as “the initial, ardent proclamation, by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith ( Catechesi Tradendae )." FOUR ASPECTS OF THE KERYGMA THE SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST Kerygma is a Greek word meaning proclamation and refers to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. God loves you and has a purpose for your life. God created us for a relationship with Him (St John 3:16-17; 1 John 3:1), to share a most profound communion of love. Our relatio...

Reverent liturgy, including well-prepared homilies firmly rooted in biblical wisdom made accessible. We really and truly meet Jesus and the saints in the sacred Liturgy. Rendered beautifully, mindful of the connection between the earthly and the heavenly Liturgy, we are formed by the Eucharistic Jesus for an eternity with him. Confession: supply formation to assist the examination of conscience, refinement of judgement, clarity of purpose, development of virtue, and dependence on God's grace. God provides the medicine of mercy through Holy Mother Church to help us grow in holiness. We need what the Holy Ghost provides: perspective. Without the grace of God, we can flounder in scrupulosity or wander in indifference. The Light of God is necessary for us to remain vigilant and ready to repent of our sins. If we become full of ourselves, there is no room for God in our lives. Fellowship and a rich devotional life: study and discussion groups that support formation for mission, evangel...

View Through GN2026 Know your identity, know your role. Look carefully at matters that inspire you, that draw your attention to good things even while you may be reluctant to follow such promptings. All good things in life require some kind of constructive investment, even the littlest of ventures. Weighing & Observing You may desire a family or even a career in a given field, but does the frequency of your thoughts and actions suggest another path or at least a reconsideration of your current plans? You may desire to be a priest or a religious, but are your thoughts pulling you elsewhere? Do you find contentment in supporting others, in listening, in serving? What else do you enjoy or see a need to be involved in? Do you take the time in silence, say on a walk or just sitting in peace, to observe your thoughts? Do you take time in prayer to ask God for guidance, for opportunities to explore and apply yourself? What motivates you to action? What gives you joy? What attracts you to ...

Tertullian (d. ca. 250) In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the Sign of the Cross (De corona, 30). The Sign of the Cross is both a prayer and a ritual blessing. The way in which a worshipper makes the Sign of the Cross can say a lot about a person's intentions and practice of the Faith. Is the gesture deliberate and reverent, or careless and rushed? Is the gesture lazy or haphazard? Does someone look like they're swatting flies? Are some words omitted? Picture any of the above scenarios, but replace ‘Sign of the Cross’ with a loving gesture toward a spouse. Now imagine it as a half-hearted kiss, a limp hug, or even a weak handshake with a friend. The way the gesture is carried out can say a lot about what the other person may or may not be feeling and thinking. What do we want t...

Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, S.D.B., Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. Homily from 8th day of Novemdiales Masses for Pope Francis  [edited for length] Dearest Sisters and Brothers, St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori teaches that praying for the dead is the greatest work of charity. When we help our neighbors materially, we share ephemeral goods, but when we pray for them we do so with eternal goods. In a similar way lived the Holy Curé of Ars, universal patron of priests. [...] On this third Sunday of Easter everything invites rejoicing, exultation. The reason is given by the Risen Lord and the presence of the Holy Spirit. St. Athanasius affirms that the risen Jesus Christ makes man's life a continuous feast. And that is why the Apostles - and Peter first among them - are not afraid of imprisonment, nor of threats, nor of being persecuted again. And in fact they boldly and frankly declare, “Of these things we ar...

The minute you walk outside of your church on Sunday you’re in mission territory. | Bishop Robert Barron There is a lot of complaining about social and political upheaval. Many Western societies are tipping sideways due to poorly thought out and poorly managed governmental social policies. Peoples from very different cultures are inflecting their new homelands, and responses range from indifference to confrontations of one kind or another. I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.  | Saint Dominic Savio May it be suggested that there is an opportunity to evangelize newcomers and invite them to embrace the Christian Faith? Though social circumstances could be seen as a challenge or threat, the creative mind can see beyond obstacles to create opportunities to welcome people, foster civility, and to work for the common good by sharing what Christianity has always offered: faith and reason, authentic hospi...

[Estimated Read Time: 8 minutes] Disclaimer By "Ordinariate flavour," one should not attribute to this author final say nor conclusive authority.  This blogger is merely an agent (member, messenger) gathering treasures from primary sources and distributing those pearls to a wider audience to celebrate the shared Catholic charism localized in the Personal Ordinariates, to stimulate awareness of the transcendentals, and to foster zeal for the Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls. +  +  + Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul. | Saint Augustine The radiant season of Christmas invites us through the transcendentals to mission.  The story of the Incarnation and birth of Christ inspires a wonder, joy and peace that leads us beyond narrow perceptions to the glory of the ultimate reality of salvation in Jesus Christ, a renewal, a revival and a restoration in Christ now and for eternity. The great theol...

The Lesson [ Read time 8 minutes ] To many diocesan Catholics the idea of praying the Mass with 'thees' and 'thous' is somewhat silly. Yet, they harbour no such attitude when praying the Our Father of the Mass, or the Hail! Mary  of the Rosary. The information that follows is intended to give reason for the hope that is within those of us in the Ordinariate who are so very content to be immersed in a multitude of blessings given by the Lord for our salvation and joy. Sacral English From the OLSC Ordinariate, ed. by Gilbert. The Book of Common Prayer as written by Thomas Cranmer remains a literary masterpiece. It developed a beautiful poetic way of conversing with God in the vernacular at a time when the western Church spoke only Latin. Yet Cranmer’s English was never vulgar or banal.  We continue this tradition in the Ordinariate in the language we use in our liturgies. Since the liturgy is an encounter with God, the language we use should be appropriate to this encoun...

People are drawn to a centre, the Mass, because Jesus, present in the Eucharistic Liturgy, is the heart of the community. Christ's Mass is the heart and centre of the Catholic Christian community. That fellowship nurtured during Mass extends into daily life. The Mass informs our lives and impels us to extend to others the invitation to " come and see " and be "eucharisted", grafted to Jesus and received into His fellowship, His Church. When we honour the Lord in the liturgical assembly, in the Eucharistic liturgy, through our humble acts that are born of the grace Jesus gives to us to celebrate His glory and announce His saving word, He showers His blessings upon us according to his will, for the salvation of souls. The genius of the Ordinariate established by the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus , the vessel of the Anglican patrimony, is a liturgical spiritual patrimony that sustains a generous cultural patrimony, a complex yet accessible family of ...

The seasons of Advent and Christmas - yes, dear friend, Christmas is an entire season lasting beyond Boxing Day and New Year's Eve - are seasons of the Word Incarnate. Each year, the Church provides us with a lavish feast of readings in the Mass that immerse us in the mystery and revelation of the Incarnation. For those of us who attend the Ordinariate Liturgy - Divine Worship - or the Latin Mass (1962 Missal), we are blessed with hearing most days the Last Gospel. Divine Worship contains and proclaims a particularly beautiful translation of the Gospel of Saint John, Chapter 1 verses 1 to 14. We who are created in the image and likeness of God - we are little words of God spoken by the Word of God - would do well to acquaint ourselves with God's holy word, for the word of God is a pool of living water in which we may be refreshed. This Christmas, take a vacation with the word of God. Dine on some scripture - the readings of the Mass, perhaps? - even a minute or two, every day o...