30 Nov – Feast of St. Andrew, apostle Andrew was the first apostle. A fisherman and the brother of St. Peter, and a follower of St. John the Baptist. He went through life leading people to Jesus, both before and after the Crucifixion. He became a missionary in Asia Minor and Greece, and possibly areas [...]
29 Nov Mishandled Gifts The daily newspapers are filled with cases of the way people mishandle their fellow-beings. Most people trample on others for selfish gain or pleasure, often indifferent to the long-lasting harm they cause. Parents, teachers, and bosses who are not person-centred, tend to stuff those under them with negativisms, low self-esteem. The [...]
28 Nov The Millionaires’ Memorial A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a threadbare suit, stepped off a train in Boston and walked timidly into the outer office of the President of Harvard University. The secretary knew immediately that such country hicks had no business at Harvard. She frowned. “We [...]
27 Nov The Wrapper All gifts come wrapped; some attractively, others ordinarily. People-gifts come decked up in a variety of guises and disguises. On the one hand, “Clothes make the man”; on the other, “Appearances are deceptive”. It is next to impossible to judge or bale people exclusively by their “wrappers”. People do not come [...]
26 Nov Persons are gifts which the Father sends to me… wrapped. Some are wrapped very beautifully; they are attractive when I first see them. Some come in very ordinary wrapping paper. Others have been mishandled in the post. Once in a while there is a special delivery. Some persons are gifts which come very [...]
25 Nov – Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King Christ The King We celebrate Christ our anointed King who overcame suffering and death and so brought us out of darkness into his kingdom of light. – the Sunday Missal _____________________ The Bridge Builder An old man, going a lone highway, Came, at the [...]
24 Nov – Memorial for St. Andrew Dung-Lac, priest and companions, martyrs Andrew Dung-Lac (1785-1839) was a Vietnamese priest who worked in the missions with the priests of the Foreign Mission Society of Paris (MEP). He was imprisoned and repeatedly tortured in the persecutions of Minh-Meng. He died with St. Peter Thi, and is one [...]
23 Nov – Memorial for St. Clement I, pope, martyr; Memorial for St. Columba, abbot Charity unites us to God. There is nothing mean in charity, nothing arrogant. Charity knows no schism, does not rebel, does all things in concord. In charity all the elect of God have been made perfect. – Pope St. Clement [...]
21 Nov – Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary This celebration commemorates the presentation of the child Mary, in the Temple at Jerusalem, when she was three. This feast was first kept in the eighth century. It symbolises the consecration of her life to the Lord. – from the Weekday Missal __________________ The Spiritual Aspirant [...]
20 Nov The Harmonious Couple Once while driving through a small town a man suddenly realised that he was lost. Seeing no one in sight, he drove up to a farmhouse nearby to ask for directions. He saw an elderly woman sitting at the entrance. Then he heard someone whistling and turning around he saw [...]
