Prayer Breakfast on Zoom organized by CCCRS

Time : 10:30 am to 11:30 am
Join us on Zoom at  www.zoom.us
Meeting ID: 862 6301 1853
Password: 469577
Details of the event:

10:00 am to 10:30 am	Praying the Holy Rosary & Divine Mercy Chaplet	Led by prayer groups
10:30 am to 10:35 am	Deacon Alex	Welcome note
10:35 am to 10:40 am	Peter Thompson	Opening Prayer
10:40 am to 11 am	Anthony Banka	Praise & worship
11 am to 11:25 am	Anthony Banka	Testimony
11:25 am to 11:30	Deacon Alex	Closing prayer & Final blessing

“My peace I give you… Let not your hearts be troubled.” (John 14:27) 

https://www.cccrs.com/1246-2/

At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel ( cf.Mt16: 13-20) presents the moment in which Peter professes his faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of God. This confession of the Apostle is provoked by Jesus himself, who wants to lead his disciples to take the decisive step in their relationship with him. In fact, the whole journey of Jesus with those who follow him, especially with the Twelve, is a journey of education of their faith. First of all he asks: “Who do people say the Son of man is?” (v. 13). The apostles liked to talk about people, as did all of us. Gossip is liked. Talking about others is not so demanding, for this reason, because we like it; also “skin” the others. In this case, the perspective of faith is already required and not gossip, that is, it asks: “What do people say that I am?”. And the disciples seem to compete in reporting the different opinions, which perhaps to a large extent they themselves shared. They shared themselves. Basically, Jesus of Nazareth was considered a prophet (v. 14).

With the second question, Jesus touches them to the heart: “But you, who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). At this point, we seem to perceive a few moments of silence, because each of those present is called to get involved, manifesting the reason why he follows Jesus; for this reason a certain hesitation is more than legitimate. Even if I now ask you, “Who is Jesus for you?”, There will be some hesitation. Simon takes them away from embarrassment, who enthusiastically declares: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). This response, so full and luminous, does not come to him from his impulse, however generous – Peter was generous -, but is the fruit of a particular grace from the heavenly Father. In fact, Jesus himself tells him: «Neither flesh nor blood have revealed it to you – that is, the culture, what you have studied – no, he has not revealed this to you. My Father who is in heaven has revealed it to you “(v. 17). Confessing Jesus is a grace of the Father. To say that Jesus is the Son of the living God, who is the Redeemer, is a grace that we must ask: “Father, give me the grace to confess Jesus”. At the same time, the Lord recognizes Simon’s prompt correspondence to the inspiration of grace and then adds, in a solemn tone: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and the powers of hell will not prevail over it” (v . 18). With this affirmation, Jesus makes Simon understand the meaning of the new name he gave him, “Peter”: the faith he has just manifested is the unshakable “stone” on which the Son of God wants to build his Church, that is, the Community . And the Church always goes on on the faith of Peter,

Today, we hear Jesus’ question addressed to each of us: “And you, who do you say I am?”. To each of us. And each of us must give an answer that is not theoretical, but which involves faith, that is, life, because faith is life! “For me you are …”, and to say the confession of Jesus. An answer that also requires us, like the first disciples, to listen to the voice of the Father and to be in harmony with what the Church, gathered around Peter, keep proclaiming. It is a question of understanding who Christ is for us: if He is the center of our life, if He is the goal of all our commitment in the Church, of our commitment in society. Who is Jesus Christ for me? Who is Jesus Christ for you, for you, for you… An answer that we should give every day.

But be careful: it is indispensable and commendable that the pastoral care of our communities be open to the many poverties and emergencies that are everywhere. Charity is always the main way of the journey of faith, of the perfection of faith. But it is necessary that the works of solidarity, the works of charity that we do, do not distract from contact with the Lord Jesus. Christian charity is not simple philanthropy but, on the one hand, it is looking at the other with the eyes of Jesus themselves. and, on the other hand, it is seeing Jesus in the face of the poor. This is the true path of Christian charity, with Jesus at the center, always. May Mary Most Holy, blessed because she believed, be our guide and model on the journey of faith in Christ, and make us aware that trust in him gives full meaning to our charity and to our whole existence.

[00963-EN.02] [Original text: Italian] – Taken from the Vatican News – Bulletin

At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

These are the words of the Pope in introducing the Marian prayer:

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel ( cf.Mt15.21-28) describes the encounter between Jesus and a Canaanite woman. Jesus is in the north of Galilee, in foreign territory to be with his disciples a little away from the crowds, who are looking for him more and more. And here comes a woman who begs for help for her sick daughter: “Have mercy on me, Lord!” (v. 22). It is the cry that comes from a life marked by suffering, by the sense of helplessness of a mother who sees her daughter tormented by evil and cannot heal her. Jesus initially ignores her, but this mother insists, insists, even when the Master tells the disciples that his mission is addressed only to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v. 24) and not to the pagans. She keeps begging him, and he, at this point, tests her by quoting a proverb – this seems almost a bit cruel -: “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (v. 26). And the woman immediately, quick, anguished replies: “It is true, Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27).

With these words this mother demonstrates that she has intuited that the goodness of the Most High God, present in Jesus, is open to every need of his creatures. This wisdom full of trust strikes the heart of Jesus and snatches words of admiration from him: «Woman, great is your faith! Be it for you as you wish “(v. 28). What is the great faith? The great faith is that which brings its own history, also marked by wounds, to the feet of the Lord asking him to heal it, to give it meaning. Each of us has our own story and it is not always a clean story; many times it is a difficult story, with so many pains, so many troubles and so many sins. What do I do with my story? Do I hide it? No! We must bring it before the Lord: “Lord, if You want, you can heal me!”. This is what this woman, this good mother teaches us: the courage to bring one’s own story of pain before God, before Jesus; touch the tenderness of God, the tenderness of Jesus. Let us make the proof of this history, of this prayer: each one thinks of his own story. There are always bad things in a story, always. Let’s go to Jesus, let’s knock on Jesus’ heart and tell him: “Lord, if you are, you can heal me!”. And we will be able to do this if we always have the face of Jesus before us, if we understand what the heart of Christ is like: a heart that has compassion, that carries our pains upon itself, that carries our sins upon itself, our mistakes, our failures. There are always bad things in a story, always. Let’s go to Jesus, let’s knock on Jesus’ heart and tell him: “Lord, if you are, you can heal me!”. And we will be able to do this if we always have the face of Jesus before us, if we understand what the heart of Christ is like: a heart that has compassion, that carries our pains upon itself, that carries our sins upon itself, our mistakes, our failures. There are always bad things in a story, always. Let’s go to Jesus, let’s knock on Jesus’ heart and tell him: “Lord, if you are, you can heal me!”. And we will be able to do this if we always have the face of Jesus before us, if we understand what the heart of Christ is like: a heart that has compassion, that carries our pains upon itself, that carries our sins upon itself, our mistakes, our failures.

But it is a heart that loves us as we are, without makeup. “Lord, if You want, you can heal me!”. And for this it is necessary to understand Jesus, to be familiar with Jesus. And I always return to the advice I give you: always carry a small pocket Gospel and read a passage every day. Bring the Gospel: in your purse, in your pocket and even in your mobile phone, to see Jesus. And there you will find Jesus as He is, as He presents Himself; you will find Jesus who loves us, who loves us so much, who loves us so much. Let’s remember the prayer: “Lord, if You want, you can heal me!”. Beautiful prayer. May the Lord help us, all of us, to pray this beautiful prayer that a pagan woman teaches us: not Christian, not Jewish, but pagan.

May the Virgin Mary intercede with her prayer, so that the joy of faith and the desire to communicate it with the witness of a coherent life may increase in every baptized person, which gives us the courage to draw close to Jesus and tell him: “Lord, if you want, you can heal me! ”.

[00950-EN.02] [Original text: Italian]
Taken from the Vatican News – Daily Bulletin

At 12 noon today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of the study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

These are the words of the Pope in introducing the Marian prayer:

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

This Sunday’s Gospel passage (cf. Mt 14 : 22-33) tells of Jesus walking on the waters of the stormy lake. After feeding the crowds with five loaves and two fish – as we saw last Sunday -, Jesus orders the disciples to get into the boat and return to the other shore. He dismisses the people and then goes up the hill, alone, to pray. He immerses himself in communion with the Father.

During the night crossing of the lake, the disciples’ boat gets blocked by a sudden wind storm. This is common on the lake. At one point, they see someone walking on the water coming towards them. Shocked, they think it’s a ghost and scream in fear. Jesus reassures them: «Courage, it’s me, don’t be afraid!». Peter then – Peter, who was so determined – replies: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come towards you on the water”. A challenge. And Jesus says to him: «Come!». Pietro gets off the boat and takes a few steps; then the wind and the waves frighten him and he begins to sink. «Lord, save me!» He cries, and Jesus takes him by the hand and says to him: «O you of little faith, why did you doubt?».

This story is an invitation to abandon ourselves confidently to God in every moment of our life, especially in the moment of trial and disturbance. When we feel strong doubt and fear we seem to sink, in the difficult moments of life, where everything becomes dark, we must not be ashamed to cry out, like Peter: “Lord, save me!” (v. 30). Knocking on the heart of God, on the heart of Jesus: «Lord, save me!». It is a beautiful prayer. We can repeat it many times: «Lord, save me!». And the gesture of Jesus, who immediately extends his hand and grasps that of his friend, must be contemplated for a long time: Jesus is this, Jesus does this, Jesus is the hand of the Father who never abandons us; the strong and faithful hand of the Father, who always and only wants our good. God is not the great noise, God is not the hurricane, he is not the fire, he is not the earthquake, as the account of the prophet Elijah recalls today; God is the light breeze – literally says this: it is that “thread of sonorous silence” – which does not impose itself but asks to listen (cf. 1 Kings 19 : 11-13). Having faith means, in the midst of the storm, keeping your heart turned to God, to his love, to his tenderness as a Father. Jesus wanted to teach this to Peter and the disciples, and also to us today. In dark moments, in moments of sadness, He knows well that our faith is poor – we are all people of little faith, all of us, me too, all – and that our path can be troubled, blocked by adverse forces. But He is the Risen One! Let’s not forget this: He is the Lord who went through death to bring us to safety. Even before we begin looking for him, he is present beside us. And by rising from our falls, it makes us grow in faith. Perhaps we, in the dark, cry out: “Lord! Lord! ”, Thinking he is far away. And He says: “I’m here!”. Ah, he was with me! So is the Lord.

The boat at the mercy of the storm is an image of the Church, which in every age encounters headwinds, sometimes very hard trials: let us think of certain long and bitter persecutions of the last century, and even today, in some parts. At such times, she may be tempted to think that God has abandoned her. But in reality, it is precisely in those moments that the witness of faith, the testimony of love, the testimony of hope shines the most. It is the presence of the risen Christ in his Church that gives the grace of witness to the point of martyrdom, from which new Christians and fruits of reconciliation and peace for the whole world sprout.

May Mary’s intercession help us to persevere in faith and brotherly love when the darkness and storms of life undermine our trust in God.

[00932-EN.02] [Original text: Italian]
Taken from Vatican News – Daily Bulletin

The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God desires for all to have abundant life, for each person’s hunger, thirst and need to be met abundantly – without need to pay, without demonstrating the “right behaviour”, without earning the gifts of life. In the Gospel, Jesus challenges the disciples beyond the reality they can see: “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” The miracle is there is enough for us all, if we will do things differently than we have. Today’s world is challenging: addictions, poverty, unequal distribution of resources, greed, politics – so many things threaten the lives of God’s people. Will we be agents of getting food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, homes to the homeless, and relief to the suffering, or will we use excuses, apathy, and self-protection to stand in the way? It’s not about politics – it’s about following God who extends life to all.

Prayer: For willingness to be agents of God’s unconditional love – and life – for all people, we pray to the Lord. God of the hungry, teach us to give to those most in need. Blind us to the excuses we use to measure worthiness, in favour of seeing all your people as destined to abundant life. Shake us out of our complacency and self-protection, that we may never stand in the way of others’ receiving what they need to thrive. Amen.

Taken from the Facebook page of Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.