De La Mennais Brothers: Making Jesus Christ better known and loved by young people

I’m sitting here this afternoon after having come back from the Good Friday celebration in our parish, for which I was asked to carry the cross during the Veneration of the Cross section. The Choir there is conducted by one of my old Maths teachers from nearly 30 yrs. ago so if I’m around over Easter I always join his Choir for the Triduum (as I am generally cycling with my club Sunday mornings I normally go to evening Mass in the Southampton parish where I grew up, or another neighbouring one, and so don’t normally sing with this Choir).   Never more than during these days of the Triduum am I struck by the idea of simultaneously living a reality that is both present in the here-and-now and yet is somehow still to come.   It’s the reality of a life standing before the empty tomb and it is the life of our everyday existence: a life torn by the reality of pain and suffering, but where the empty tomb acts as a sign of hope, that there is joy and peace waiting for us if we would b...

Thank you, Lord! I have had the pleasure and the privilege to have studied at a Jesuit University faculty as part of my training to be a De La Mennais Brother and was delighted - as were many, it seems - that we now have a Jesuit Pope. But what about the man himself, his character, his background? In our modern media-savvy world it only took seconds for news agencies and people sitting in front of their TVs everywhere to bring up websites and images from the internet giving us a pen picture of this surprise choice... and those important first impressions were undeniably  and reassuringly positive. A collective sigh of relief could be heard like a gentle wave breaking over Catholics throughout the world, after which was a growing sense of optimism and excitement as Pope Francis asked those in St. Peter's Square to pray for him, as he smiled and joked, all with the calm serenity of someone who has accepted God's will in his life in total trust that "all will be well and all ...

I had this ready to post before the recent Conclave. I'll still put it out there because I think it summarises so well the whole idea of calling + vocation: "Ask our Lord what he has in mind for you! Ask him for the generosity to say “yes!” Do not be afraid to give yourself totally to Jesus. He will give you the grace you need to fulfill your vocation." Pope (Emeritus) Benedict XVI Vocation here is to be understood in the context of a general culture of vocation in which  each person  is called to a particular way of life (whatever that may be) which will give the individual the deepest fulfilment, happiness and joy and allow them to share their talents/gifts with others for the development of God's Kingdom. P.S. Very excited about what the future holds for us with Pope Francis as Shepherd of the Church. Posted with Blogsy

The Superior General of my congregation, Frère Yannick, has been offering some very useful Lenten reflection material on his blog (see here ). Each day he takes a quote from one of the day's Mass readings and links it to similarly-themed quotes from our Founder (Fr. Jean-Marie De La Mennais) and passages from other sources, including the writings of Pope Benedict XVI, suggesting a time of prayer with these texts as meditation material. Here are the texts for yesterday's blog entry: Wednesday 6 th  March Deuteronomy  (Dt 4: 1; 9): And now, Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today, so that, by observing them, you may survive… But take care, as you value your lives! Do not forget the things which you yourselves have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as you live; teach them, rather, to your children and to your children's children. Jean-Marie de la Mennais,  (M, 86): "O my God, if we had faith! This lively faith, this ...

I have just adopted a cardinal. Though they are not an endangered species, they could certainly do with our prayers right now.  adoptacardinal.org This is my guy: Congratulations! You have adopted this Cardinal: Agostino Vallini, from Italy, born 1940-4-17. He's been a Cardinal since 2006-3-24 and his function is: Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome, Archpriest of the papal Lateran Basilica and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University May the prayer for your Cardinal be deeply blessed.