The movie “Alive” which came out in 1993, featuring John Malcovich and Ethan Hawke, is about the Uruguayan Rugby Team whose plane crashed on the side of the Andes and a lot of their team mates died, together with the pilots and the flight attendants.
This Christmas will not only open a Jubilee Year for the Universal Church, declared by Pope Francis, but also comes as the Society of the Divine Word celebrates its 150th Jubilee Year.
The theme of the SVD Jubilee is ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone’ and that theme makes a great Christmas meditation, because it was on that first Christmas, more than 2000 years ago, that the Light of Christ came into our world. And we, as followers of Christ and missionaries, are witnesses to that Light.
As we begin the season of Advent, I’m sure we are looking forward to many warm and congenial gatherings with colleagues, family and friends.
One of the pre-Christmas gatherings we always enjoy here at the SVD Marsfield community is the shared lunch with the staff and our SVD seniors. We are blessed to have the presence of these retired missionaries in our midst and it is always interesting to hear their stories from the past as well as their current plans and activities.
Jesus’ teaching of putting a millstone around a person’s neck and throwing him into the sea; plucking out the eye, cutting off limbs if one sins is rather disturbing and puzzling for a good teacher like Jesus.
If I asked anybody if they love to experience pain, particularly physical pain, well I'd think you were a masochist if you would ever say yes. Well … believe it or not, pain is very necessary in life and, ironically, pain is life-saving.
In today’s Gospel passage, we indeed see the continuation of the discourse on the Bread of Life from last Sunday. Who is the Bread of Life? Jesus himself.
To borrow a joke from one of my favourite preachers Fr Bel San Luis, SVD, there was a young man who was praying to God. This was his prayer, “Lord, grant me the gift of patience … I want it NOW!!!”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Today we celebrate the mystery of the Holy Trinity. This mystery is called the mystery of all mysteries because the Holy Trinity is the core or centre of our faith.
Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, ‘The Joy of the Gospel’, states, “There are Christians whose lives seems like Lent without Easter”. Are we that?
One of the most important events in an Athletics competition is the relay race. And one of the most crucial moments of this race is the baton change.
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