Sudan: Walking with the Nuba People
American doctor Tom Catena earns top medical missionary award for saving lives in Africa’s forgotten war zone. An American surgeon – who has cared for more than a million patients … Continua a leggere
Palm and Passion Sunday
All the evangelists devote much space to the story of the passion and death of Jesus. The facts are basically the same, though narrated in different ways and with different perspectives. Each evangelist presents his own episodes and details of choice, underscoring different aspects.
The Ninety-Nine and the One
Throughout the years that I’ve been writing, I have sometimes been asked “Why do you write the way you do, invariably with some kind of secular bent? Why don’t you focus more on catechesis, teaching church doctrine, explaining the creeds, defending the church’s position on moral issues, and doing apologetics for the church?”
5th Sunday of Lent (A)
It is painful to be left by a friend, but it is selfish to want to hold on to him. It would be like preventing a child to be born. “Untie, let him go”—Jesus sweetly repeats today to every disciple who does not resign himself to the death of a brother or a sister.
Weakness Builds the Soul
Psychologist and author James Hillman suggests that it is our inferiorities that build up our souls. His view is that it is not our strengths that give us depth and character, but our weaknesses.
4th Sunday of Lent (A)
We need believers of the truth, attentive to life and sensitive to the problems people have, seekers of God who are capable of listening and accompanying respectfully the great number of men and women who are suffering, who seek and don’t find a way to live that is more human and more believing.
Joseph, a word from the deep Silence
Joseph is certainly not the man portrayed by a certain iconography. Surrounded by mystery, within a family that he loved and where he felt loved, identified with his vocation of protecting the Author of Life, exercising his profession competently, he was… A HAPPY MAN, a son of his Son’s Resurrection! (Luke 20:36)
The size of our Hearts
God puts us into this world with huge hearts. The human heart in itself, when not closed off by fear, wound, and paranoia, is the antithesis of pettiness. There’s nothing small about the human heart.
Challenges Facing Africa
An examination of issues related to the extraction industries, trade agreements, land grabs, capital flight, corporate tax evasions, human trafficking, mass migrations, and the endemic conflicts.
3rd Sunday of Lent (A)
The Bible tells many of these meetings at the well. The one read in today’s Gospel has Jesus and a Samaritan woman as protagonists. The well mentioned still exists. It is located along the road that leads from Judea to Galilee. It is more than three thousand years, is very deep (32 m) and still gives good and fresh water, as in the time of Jesus.
2nd Sunday of Lent (A)
Encounter with God in prayer inspires us anew to “descend the mountain” and return to the plain where we meet many brothers weighed down by fatigue, sickness, injustice, ignorance, poverty both material and spiritual.
1st Sunday of Lent (A)
And please, do not forget — do not forget! — what would happen were we to treat the Bible as we treat our mobile phone. Think about this: the Bible always with us, close to us!
The Way of the Cross with Oscar Romero
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his martyrdom, we offer you a Way of the Cross with reflections of saint Oscar Romero.
Message of Pope Francis for Lent 2020
Putting the paschal mystery at the centre of our lives means feeling compassion towards the wounds of the crucified Christ present in the many innocent victims of wars, in attacks on life, from that of the unborn to that of the elderly, and various forms of violence.
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Some sages of antiquity have proposed high morals: “Behave in such a way as to turn your enemies into friends” (Diogenes). “It is proper to man to love also those who persecute him” (Marcus Aurelius), but the imperative “Love your enemies” is an invention of Jesus.
Carrying our Solitude at a High Level
I once received a letter from a woman who expressed frustration in finding support, even among her church friends, for living out a high ideal.
Vocation story: “What do you want from me?”
He always felt that God was calling him. For a while, he resisted that voice, up to the point of being ready to call it quits. Eventually, he yielded to God’s will. Now he is making the best of where God places him. A Comboni Father, Zúñiga Paredes Roy Carlos from Peru, tell us his story.
What’s in Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on the Amazon synod?
“I dream of an Amazon region that fights for the rights of the poor, the original peoples and the least of our brothers and sisters, where their voices can be heard and their dignity advanced.”
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
In truth, the term “Law” does not translate exactly the Hebrew word “Torah” that is derived from the root word iarah. It indicates the act of shooting an arrow to show the direction. Even on the roads, we orient ourselves by following “arrows,” signage.
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Calling his disciples “light of the world” Jesus declares that the mission entrusted by God to Israel was destined to continue through them. It would have appeared in all its glory in their works of concrete, verifiable love. These are works that Jesus recommends to “show.”
Enzo Bianchi – Introduction to Lectio Divina
The table is ready: the food of the Word and the Eucharistic food are given to you by him who nourishes, consoles and strengthens you, so that in your journey, in your exodus from this world to the Father, you may be fed and not faint, relishing that viaticum that is offered to you, a sick and tired member of the people of God.
Lectio divina, The Missionary’s typical prayer
While praying the Scriptures using the lectio divina method we allow ourselves to be cradled or rocked by God. This method is not so much about discovering new meanings, preparing new discourses but feeling God’s presence within us. (Fr. Joe Vieira)
Lectio divina – The Lumko “Seven Steps” Method
Steps 1-4 help us to listen and “to surrender ourselves to God”.
Step 5 brings us together as brothers and sisters.
In step 6 we confront our life with the Word of God.
In step 7 all are invited to share in spontaneous prayer.
World Day of Consecrated Life
Forty days after Christmas, we celebrate the Lord who enters the Temple and comes to encounter his people. In the Christian East, this feast is called the “Feast of Encounter”: it is the encounter between God, who became a child to bring newness to our world, and an expectant humanity.
Presentation of the Lord
Mary and Joseph take him in the temple and consecrate him to the Lord: they recognize that he is the Lord’s. They will never withhold him for themselves; they will prepare him to deliver him as a gift to the world—in the time appointed by God.
Ecumenism in Africa: Dialogue in the Continent of Diversity
In ancient times, the word ecumene denoted the whole known world and defined that portion of the earth that was inhabited, in contrast with the lands as yet unknown. Later, the concept of ecumenism attained a religious meaning referring to the movements within Christianity that aimed at unifying their various denominations
John Converset, “Creation remains for me the original Word of God”
From my early childhood I loved to be outdoors, especially at first light in the morning. There was something very attractive and fascinating, whatever the weather or the time of year. Later on I realized that somehow God was present and speaking to me in a very personal way through nature
Parola e Trasfigurazione
Formazione Permanente – italiano – 1/2020
Tra i diritti umani fondamentali, bisognerebbe aggiungere anche la trasfigurazione. Invece, il sistema in cui viviamo non prevede momenti di trasfigurazione: non sa neanche cosa siano o li considera una perdita di tempo, momenti “improduttivi”.
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Today’s Gospel is made up of three parts. First of all, with a quotation from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus’ activity in Galilee is introduced (vv. 12-17). Then there is the vocation story of the first four disciples (vv. 18-22). Finally, the activity of Jesus is summed up in one sentence (v. 23).
David Glenday, “Dio parla, nasce la missione”
In questa serie di riflessioni dei confratelli sulla missione e la Parola di Dio, P. David Glenday condivide, sotto forma epistolare, i suoi pensieri su come la Parola di Dio l’abbia plasmato come missionario.
Manuel João, “La Parola di Dio nella mia vita”
In preparazione alla prossima Domenica della Parola di Dio vi offriamo dei testi di alcuni comboniani che condividono la loro esperienza sul tema: “La Parola di Dio nel nostro essere e fare missionario”, in occasione dell’anno di spiritualità sulla Parola di Dio, nel 2012. Potete trovare qui il testo in diverse lingue.
Living with Frustration and Tension
Our generation has some wonderful emotional and moral qualities, but patience, chastity, contentment with the limits of circumstance, and the capacity to nobly live out tension are not our strengths.
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
There’s something that comes first and is more decisive: tell the story of the person Jesus in the communities, help believers to put themselves in direct contact with the Gospel, teach how to know and love Jesus, learn together to live his way of life and his spirit.
Baptism of the Lord (A)
After this original introduction, Matthew, like Mark and Luke, describes the next scene with three images: the opening of the heavens, the dove, and the voice from heaven. He is not recalling remarkable facts he personally witnessed. He uses images well known to his readers, and the meaning is not difficult for us to grasp.
Oral Literature: The tortoise and the drum
One day, the tortoise was walking along a forest path when he came across a palm tree that had plenty of palm kernel fruits.
The Christ-Child of the Year
Every year Time magazine recognizes someone as “Person of the Year”. The recognition isn’t necessarily an honor; it’s given to the person whom Time judges to have been the newsmaker of the year – for good or for bad.
2nd Sunday of Christmas and Epiphany
«The Word of God became flesh». God isn’t mute. God hasn’t stayed silent, enclosed forever in Mystery. God has desired to communicate Self with us. God wants to speak with us, tell us of God’s love, explain God’s project. Jesus is simply the Project of God made flesh.
Mary, Mother of God
The council taught us to look upon Mary as a “figure” of the Church, that is, as the Church’s perfect exemplar, as the first fruits of the Church. But can Mary be a model of the Church even as “Mother of God,” the title with which she is honored this day? Can we become mothers of Christ?
Feast of the Holy Family (A)
Forsome, today’s family is on its way to destruction because it has lost the traditional ideal of «Christian family». For others, any novelty is progress toward a new society. But how is a family open to the humanizing project of God? What features could we identify?
The Meaning of Christmas – Connecting the Dots Between the Crib and the Cross
May the joy of the angels, the humility of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wisemen, and the love of the Christ child be among God’s gifts to you this Christmas.
Christmas – The birth of the Lord (A)
An ancient custom for the feast of Christmas foresees three Masses, called respectively “at night,” “at dawn,” “during the day.” In each Mass, through readings that vary, a different aspect of the mystery is presented, in such a way that we get, so to speak, a three-dimensional vision.
Incarnation – God is with Us
“The incarnation does not provide us with a ladder by which to escape from the ambiguities of life and scale the heights of heaven. Rather, it enables us to burrow deep into the heart of planet earth and find it shimmering with divinity.”
Traffic jams, Christmas trees and banana beer: December in Kinshasa
For us Congolese Christians – and African Christians more widely – Christmas is a celebration of our ubuntu, or the humanity that binds us collectively together. And that is what Christmas is all about. That is the rich Christmas theology embedded within African culture.
God’s Closeness
Once while speaking at conference, a woman approached me with this story.
4th Sunday of Advent (A)
The liturgy for today, the Fourth and last Sunday of Advent, is characterized by the theme of closeness, God’s closeness to humanity. The Gospel passage (cf. Mt 1:18-24) shows us two people, the two people who, more than anyone else, were involved in this mystery of love.
Uganda: Akigat, the prayer to the God
The people from Tapac are referred to as the tapeth. They live in the mountain ranges of mountain Moroto in the northeast part of Uganda. We look at the intercession prayer known as Akigat
Christmas – Its Checkered Origins and Its Checkered Sequence
The story of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas can only really be understood by looking at where Jesus came from, his family tree, and by looking at how his story has continued in history.
3rd Sunday of Advent (A)
The Baptist is the figure of a true believer. He flounders in many perplexities, asks questions, but does not deny the Messiah because he does not match his own criteria. He calls into question his own beliefs.
Staying Awake
All of us know how difficult it is for us to be inside the present moment, to not be asleep to the real riches inside our own lives.
The Hiddenness of God and The Darkness of Faith
When I first began teaching theology, I fantasized about writing a book about the hiddenness of God. Why does God remain hidden and invisible? Why doesn’t God just show himself plainly in a way that nobody can dispute?
