'The Sunday Website’ is an international work of Saint Louis Jesuit University. It prepares site visitors for Sunday Mass by supplying the coming Sunday’s readings, prayers for contemplation on these readings, aspects of spirituality found in them, background information, general prayers of intercession and finally, musical pieces being played by selected parishes in North America and England. It is a really valuable resource for individuals, celebrants, homilists, liturgists and choir directors. Since Catholic and Anglican liturgies share many of the same readings throughout the year, this is a very valuable ecumenical resource.
Click here for next Sunday's reflections and resources.
Click here for next Sunday's reflections and resources.
Fr Claude Mostowik is Director of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Justice and Peace Centre in New South Wales, Australia. He also works at the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education. Concurrently he is President of both Pax Christi Australia and the Peace and Justice Commission of the NSW Ecumenical Council. He works tirelessly for social justice: “Living the ‘spirituality of the heart‘, the basis of the charism of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, is important and I hope that I am responding to make God’s presence embodied in my relationships with people,” he said. “This is the work I wake up for.”
Read his weekly reflection on justice, linked to the scripture of each Sunday's liturgy.
Read his weekly reflection on justice, linked to the scripture of each Sunday's liturgy.
Professor José Antonio Pagola is a widely published Spanish priest, theologian and biblical scholar. His sometimes controversial writings address Christ’s life from a modern perspective, demystifying much of the dogma contained in the Bible and in other religious scriptures. He contends that Jesus’ core message was to present the reign of God as one of compassion. This, he says, was a radical departure from the emphasis on the wrath of God that had inspired the prophets of Israel and John the Baptist. They have often attracted controversy.
Professor Pagola brings the same freshness of approach to his homilies. He is one of many contributors to the useful Homily Homes website.
Professor Pagola brings the same freshness of approach to his homilies. He is one of many contributors to the useful Homily Homes website.
This excellent homily resource offers a choice of four commentators each week:
Fr Michel de Verteuil, a Spiritan Trinidadian priest, has devoted his life’s work to the promotion of Lectio Divina, an ancient contemplative method of reading Scripture. The practice is shared by Catholic and Anglican churches.
Fr Thomas O'Loughlin is President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham.
Sean Goan is a teacher, author and Biblical scholar who has studied scripture in Rome and Jerusalem. During his teaching career he has been very committed to adult faith development. He is married, with three children,
Fr Donal Neary SJ is editor of The Sacred Heart Messenger and has authored many books on spirituality and the environment.
Click here to read the reflections for next Sunday.
Fr Michel de Verteuil, a Spiritan Trinidadian priest, has devoted his life’s work to the promotion of Lectio Divina, an ancient contemplative method of reading Scripture. The practice is shared by Catholic and Anglican churches.
Fr Thomas O'Loughlin is President of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain and Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham.
Sean Goan is a teacher, author and Biblical scholar who has studied scripture in Rome and Jerusalem. During his teaching career he has been very committed to adult faith development. He is married, with three children,
Fr Donal Neary SJ is editor of The Sacred Heart Messenger and has authored many books on spirituality and the environment.
Click here to read the reflections for next Sunday.
Any time, online, self-guided.
The worldwide Jesuit online prayer phenomenon that is ‘Sacred Space’ has a 14 day ‘Isolation’ retreat specifically for use during the Coronavirus crisis. According to Sacred Space:
We are built for communication with God, our creator and origin. Relating to God should be easy as it is an essential part of who we are. However, when we hit difficult moments such as the Coronavirus crisis, God seems to have abandoned us and prayer can seem impossible. Yet, given that we are created in the image of God, it is possible to live our lives close to God in a personal and intimate way. "God is closer to us than we are to ourselves" said St Augustine.
The retreat is designed to help us recognise where God is present in our everyday lives. This is an adventure into the unknown, where we can take some pointers from wise people who have gone before us, but it is also one where we have to trust our instincts and believe that God is offering us new opportunities. Make your prayers real, heartfelt and based on your experience, and step out to where God is waiting. Jesus Christ, be our light.
The worldwide Jesuit online prayer phenomenon that is ‘Sacred Space’ has a 14 day ‘Isolation’ retreat specifically for use during the Coronavirus crisis. According to Sacred Space:
We are built for communication with God, our creator and origin. Relating to God should be easy as it is an essential part of who we are. However, when we hit difficult moments such as the Coronavirus crisis, God seems to have abandoned us and prayer can seem impossible. Yet, given that we are created in the image of God, it is possible to live our lives close to God in a personal and intimate way. "God is closer to us than we are to ourselves" said St Augustine.
The retreat is designed to help us recognise where God is present in our everyday lives. This is an adventure into the unknown, where we can take some pointers from wise people who have gone before us, but it is also one where we have to trust our instincts and believe that God is offering us new opportunities. Make your prayers real, heartfelt and based on your experience, and step out to where God is waiting. Jesus Christ, be our light.
This image is of Skellig Michael. Just 500 years or so after the death of Christ, the first monks arrived on this remote Atlantic island, 12km from Ireland's south west coast, lying at the very edge of the then known world. The monastery that they established in this inhospitable environment remains one of the most remarkable testaments to human faith on earth. The island was the westernmost sacred site along a long line of ancient pilgrimage places running from Mount Carmel in Palestine through Greece, Italy and France to Ireland. Each page of this website features an image of Skellig Michael.
This image is of Skellig Michael. Just 500 years or so after the death of Christ, the first monks arrived on this remote Atlantic island, 12km from Ireland's south west coast, lying at the very edge of the then known world. The monastery that they established in this inhospitable environment remains one of the most remarkable testaments to human faith on earth. The island was the westernmost sacred site along a long line of ancient pilgrimage places running from Mount Carmel in Palestine through Greece, Italy and France to Ireland. Each page of this website features an image of Skellig Michael.
This is another unusual Advent Calendar. Irish choir, Encore Voices Dublin, have selected some of their favourite Advent hymns, sung by different choirs - one for every day of December. We hope you enjoy them as much as New Pilgrim Path does! Click on the image above to access.
This is another unusual Advent Calendar. Irish choir, Encore Voices Dublin, have selected some of their favourite Advent hymns, sung by different choirs - one for every day of December. We hope you enjoy them as much as New Pilgrim Path does! Click on the image above to access.
This Advent, join Loyola Press - a Jesuit ministry - for a special online Advent experience. Following a traditional Advent calendar format, the experience invites you to slow down this season and discover the quiet moments of Advent hope. Each day reveals a new online Advent resource – ranging from ‘Creativity and Healing in Advent’ to ‘Silent Prayer in Advent’ and many, many more. This is a beautiful way to nurture your spirituality daily at this busy time of year.
Access the Advent Calendar here.
Access the Advent Calendar here.
1st December
Es ist ein Ros' ensprungen
Performed by the British vocal ensemble, VOCES8.
The Prophet Isaiah is one of our guides on our pilgrimage through the first days of Advent. The scripture reading today speaks in familiar terms of the stock or root of Jesse, and how a shoot shall spring from that stock. Jesse was the father of King David, so the royal lineage of the Messiah is established. The beautiful German Advent carol Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, often translated as See how the Rose of Judah, is most familiar in this harmonisation by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621).
Es ist ein Ros' ensprungen
Performed by the British vocal ensemble, VOCES8.
The Prophet Isaiah is one of our guides on our pilgrimage through the first days of Advent. The scripture reading today speaks in familiar terms of the stock or root of Jesse, and how a shoot shall spring from that stock. Jesse was the father of King David, so the royal lineage of the Messiah is established. The beautiful German Advent carol Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen, often translated as See how the Rose of Judah, is most familiar in this harmonisation by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621).
This week we turn our attention to sacred spaces - whether digital, such as our own website, New Pilgrim Path and our featured website, Sacred Space - or physical. Our Music of the Week and Poem of the Week reflect the latter, specifically one of the world's oldest and most important monastic sites. The UNESCO World Heritage site of Skellig Michael lies 12 km off Ireland's south-west coast. It has been described as one of the most remarkable testaments to human faith on earth and inspired the creation of New Pilgrim Path. Click here to learn more.
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In 1923, on a geological expedition deep in the Ordos Desert of Mongolia, the newly ordained Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, pondered his obligation to offer a daily celebration of the Mass – but how to do so in the middle of the desert, with neither bread nor wine available to him? His solution: the whole earth would become his altar, with the human toil and sufferings of the day to be offered up as his bread and wine. The result of this profound reflection is his The Mass on the World, a mystical expression of the presence and activity of God in all creation. Listen to a reflective reading of selected excerpts from Georgetown University. Click on the image above to watch and participate.
You can read the full text of Teilhard's great prose poem here. |
Detail from the Ghent Altarpiece.
COME, MY SWEET, COME, MY FLOWER
Mediaeval English poem for the feast of the Assumption
Mediaeval English poem for the feast of the Assumption
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Middle English
Crist sayde to hur: "Com, my swete, com, my flour, Com, my culver, myn owne boure, Com, my modyr, now wyth me: For hevyn qwene I make thee." Then the body sat up, and lowted to Crist, and sayde: "My swete sonne, with al my love I com wyth thee to thyn above; Wher thou art now, let me be, For al my love ys layde on thee." |
Modern English
Christ said to her: “Come, my sweet, come, my flower, Come, my dove, my own bower, Come, my mother, now with me, For heaven’s Queen I make thee.” Then the body sat up, and bowed to Christ, and said: “My sweet son, with all my love I come with you to thine above: Where you are now, let me be For all my love is laid on thee.” |
Commentary on John 12: 44-50 ('I, the Light, have come into the world')
Olafur Eliasson made this artwork for the Tate Modern Turbine Hall in 2003. He employed a ceiling of mirrors and artificial mist to create the illusion of a giant sun being inside the space. The main theme the artist wanted to address was climate change. To accompany the installation, Eliasson published a catalogue where he simply addressed questions around our climate: ‘Has a weather phenomenon ever changed the course of your life dramatically?’ ‘Do you think tolerance to other individuals is proportional to the weather?’ ‘To what extent are you aware of the weather outside your workplace?’
He brought sunlight into a dark space. Especially living in a city, we take nature and the sun for granted. By bringing the sun into an exhibition space, Eliasson showed that the sun was there to be appreciated and meditated about. His work thus drew attention to the fundamental act of perceiving the world around us. That is what Jesus is asking us in today’s reading. He wants us to see Him in everything and everyone round us. He is the Light. Light reveals truth. Light reveals flaws in the darkness. Light helps to guide us. But above all, light helps things in nature to grow. As plants need sunlight to grow, so we need Christ in order to grow. Only in Him can we truly blossom.
Olafur Eliasson made this artwork for the Tate Modern Turbine Hall in 2003. He employed a ceiling of mirrors and artificial mist to create the illusion of a giant sun being inside the space. The main theme the artist wanted to address was climate change. To accompany the installation, Eliasson published a catalogue where he simply addressed questions around our climate: ‘Has a weather phenomenon ever changed the course of your life dramatically?’ ‘Do you think tolerance to other individuals is proportional to the weather?’ ‘To what extent are you aware of the weather outside your workplace?’
He brought sunlight into a dark space. Especially living in a city, we take nature and the sun for granted. By bringing the sun into an exhibition space, Eliasson showed that the sun was there to be appreciated and meditated about. His work thus drew attention to the fundamental act of perceiving the world around us. That is what Jesus is asking us in today’s reading. He wants us to see Him in everything and everyone round us. He is the Light. Light reveals truth. Light reveals flaws in the darkness. Light helps to guide us. But above all, light helps things in nature to grow. As plants need sunlight to grow, so we need Christ in order to grow. Only in Him can we truly blossom.
Matthew 5:13-16
Bread of Life
For five weeks this summer (weeks 17-21 in Ordinary Time), Catholic and many Protestant Sunday liturgical readings feature the great 'Bread of Life' discourse from Chapter Six of the Gospel of John. Our Poem of the Week and our Music of the Week are chosen with this theme in mind.
For five weeks this summer (weeks 17-21 in Ordinary Time), Catholic and many Protestant Sunday liturgical readings feature the great 'Bread of Life' discourse from Chapter Six of the Gospel of John. Our Poem of the Week and our Music of the Week are chosen with this theme in mind.
