Below are three of the homilies we recorded while on pilgrimage. (We may post more later.)
The first below is Deacon Bryan who spoke on our last day, as we headed home.
The second is from Father Lawrence who spoke about the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
Finally Father Simon speaks on our first day about the meaning of pilgrimage.
Many thanks to Maureen for her diligent work downloading all the videos, fighting with youtube when it crashed her computer, and when her computer wouldn't save her files, etc.
She transcribed the main parts of Deacon Bryan's homily below. After that homily are two more links, one to a homily from Father Simon, and one from Father Lawrence.
We have transcribed parts of the homilies below, but you'll just have to listen to them all since each and every homily we heard was beautiful and full of wisdom.
Here is what Deacon Bryan spoke of on the last day:
"...we will bring back with us our experiences – Our primary mission is back home – We have spent a week and a half being immersed in God –At the Transfiguration the apostles have caught a glimpse of the Glory of God and and so have we – We can share what we have experienced here We need to pray for opportunities to share what we have received here."
He raised three main points:
"And we will bring back with us our experiences, a new understanding of the Lord’s Mercy and many things to share with family and friends, that may just open the door of their hearts for the first time or encourage them to go deeper into their faith. But we do have to go. We have to go because our primary mission is back home. Being here is a bit of a time warp isn’t it? For one thing the comments I have heard time and again is the Catholic Faith here, the Catholicity of this beautiful country: such a witness to us. it is easy to be drawn to holy things here, to have a desire to pray.
We have taken the time to come here to grow in our faith. To go deeper. We have spent about a week and a half being immersed in God and it would be difficult to go back to our own busy lives.
First ...how the apostles were impacted by the transfiguration. It changed them. They caught a glimpse of the Glory. So have we, so have we. And we bring that back with us. We can meditate on our experiences here... Heaven is being immersed in God’s love.
Second... we have to realize that our pursuit of holiness though we may get a shot in the arm when having an experience like this, living the spirituality of Nazareth, doing those little acts of love with great love, done out of love for God and for our neighbor.
And third as I mentioned, we can share our experience here,... WE NEED TO PRAY FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE THE EXPERIENCES THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED HERE. AND THROUGH THEM, OUR FAITH, OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST, SO WE CAN INVITE OTHERS TO ENTER INTO THAT RELATIONSHIP THEMSELVES, TO ENCOUNTER THE RISEN LORD ...
Father Lawrence tells us about the history of our Lady, the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
"The Icon was painted by St. Luke on a table top...the message is that Mary can save the world. Through her intercession with her Son Jesus...the first miracle of Jesus happened through Mary's intercession...Jesus will never refuse our prayers if we offer them through the intercession of Mary..."
"We are pilgrims on a pilgrimage. What is a pilgrimage. A pilgrim is a traveler who is in relationship with God. A person who knows God and who is yearning through this journey, to get closer to God....what is our purpose for being here?...the first reason is to give thanks to God, maybe for a particular grace...the second would be as an act of penance...because we are carrying a particular request, as I endure this pilgrimage I carry with me Lord these things that I ask of you"
No comments:
Post a Comment