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Ave Maria! This short video presents the visit of St. Pio of Pietrelcina’s relics brought to Perth by Fr. Ermelindo Di Capua, a Capuchin from San Giovanni Rotondo. It also gives a condensed summary of St. Pio’s life and holiness in the process. +++ |
Sorry, Homily was lost today, and it was a good one! Tune in tomorrow — Here is one thought from it:
- this is a description of almost all college campuses in the US, where all our youth are being formed. God Help us! +++ |
Ave Maria Mediations
Elisabeth and Felix Leseur
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Homily #100831 ( +++ |
Homily #100830m ( +++ |
Homily #100830 ( +++ |
Homily #100829t ( Ave Maria! 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Mass: OF, – Readings: +++ |
Ave Maria Meditations
Courage and strength in ordinary life. Living up to the full the demands of the Faith and of our vocation.
If, upon realizing that his life was in danger, the Baptist had remained silent or retired to the sidelines of public affairs, he would not have been beheaded by Herod. But John was not that kind of man. He was not like a reed shaken by the wind. He was true to his vocation and his principles to the end. If he had remained silent, he could have lived a few more years, but his disciples would not have been the first to follow Our Lord. He would not have prepared and made straight the way of the Lord, as prophesied by Isaiah. He would not have lived up to his vocation. His life would have been bereft of meaning.
Jesus is probably not asking us to suffer a martyr’s death for him. But He is asking us for courage and fortitude in facing up to the demands of ordinary life – to stop watching a bad television show, to cease putting off an apostolic conversation … We cannot allow ourselves to hide behind excuses when there is so much apostolic work to be done. We have to act with optimism, loving the world and the good that is in it while seeking to increase that goodness. We can do this with the example of a joyful family and of the youthful love that is born of holy purity.
There are other kinds of cowardly silence which we have to struggle against. There is the silence we maintain with the person next to us. God has put him there so that we might be a beacon of light for him or her. In addition, it is hard to imagine that we can be courageous at all in this life if we are not first courageous with ourselves, especially when talking with our spiritual director.
Many of our friends, on seeing that we truly practice what we preach, will be attracted to the Faith. Centuries ago, many people converted after witnessing the martyrdom of the first Christians. We dedicate this day to Our Lady. We ask her to teach us when to be silent and when to speak out.
Fr. Francis Fernandez (In Conversation with God) |
Homily #100829 ( Ave Maria! Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Mass: EF, Protector Noster – Readings: +++ |
Ave Maria! Every August here in the countryside of Campocavallo, Italy, the first Sunday of the month is set aside to honor the Queen of the town, the Madonna of Campocavallo. The residents of this town- located in the “campagnia”, or countryside – gather together, fashion with their own hands, and present a unique offering to the Queen, whose sanctuary (Beata Virgine Addolorata) is the heart of the town and houses the miraculous image of the Sorrowful Mother. The offering, roughly the size of a Hummer automobile or larger, is church or religious structure constructed of steel, wood, and, most importantly, the grain of the local fields. The members of a group called “The Covo” and comprised of lay people (Italians, obviously) male and female, young and old. This year the offering was a replica of the lovely Basilica of Pompei, located in the southern part of Italy. I had the privilege of observing and filming, over a period of 5 or 6 months, the work of the Covo, and I present to you my own offering, albeit hastily done and always incomplete, to the same Queen of Campocavallo, whose feast day happens to be the day of my birth. Ave Maria! +++ |
Homily #100828 ( +++ |
Ave Maria! The Catekids are taking on a serious one this time, the 5th Commandment, You shall not kill. Catechism of the Catholic Church has the more general term “Respect for Human Life” and the Catekids cover the many areas that this involves. Ave Maria! +++ |
Ave Maria Meditations
Nothing is far from God. - Saint Monica Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled. - Saint Monica, about the conversion of Augustine The day was now approaching when my mother Monica would depart from this life; you know that day, Lord, though we did not. She and I happened to be standing by ourselves at a window that overlooked the garden in the courtyard of the house. At the time we were in Ostia on the Tiber. And so the two of us, all alone, were enjoying a very pleasant conversation, “forgetting the past and pushing on to what is ahead..” We were asking one another in the presence of the Truth – for you are the Truth – what it would be like to share the eternal life enjoyed by the saints, which “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which has not even entered into the heart of man.” We desired with all our hearts to drink from the streams of your heavenly fountain, the fountain of life. That was the substance of our talk, though not the exact words. But you know, O Lord, that in the course of our conversation that day, the world and its pleasures lost all their attraction for us. My mother said, “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be his servant. So what am I doing here?” I do not really remember how I answered her. Shortly, within five days or thereabouts, she fell sick with a fever. Then one day during the course of her illness she became unconscious and for a while she was unaware of her surroundings. My brother and I rushed to her side, but she regained consciousness quickly. She looked at us as we stood there and asked in a puzzled voice: “Where was I?” We were overwhelmed with grief, but she held her gave steadily upon us, and spoke further: “Here you shall bury your mother.” I remained silent as I held back my tears. However, my brother haltingly expressed his hope that she might not die in a strange country but in her own land, since her end would be happier there. When she heard this, her face was filled with anxiety, and she reproached him with a glance because he had entertained such earthly thoughts. Then she looked at me and spoke: “Look what he is saying.” Thereupon she said to both of us, “Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” Once our mother had expressed this desire as best she could, she fell silent as the pain of her illness increased. - from the Confessions of Saint Augustine |
Homily #100827 ( +++ |
Homily #100826 ( +++ |
8 min) >>> 
Audio (MP3)
