Celebrating at Home: Nothing is Impossible for God28th Sunday in Ordinary TimeIn the Jewish tradition, wealth was seen as a blessing from God and the wealthy person as especially favoured by God. Along with the idea of divine blessing and favour came a divine obligation (often ignored) – the care of God’s poor.As the conversation between the rich man and Jesus unfolds, we see that he a good and upright man. The commandments which Jesus spells out are those to do with one’s treatment of others. Read more ...Continue Reading

  Celebrating at Home: Gracious and Generous Love27th Sunday in Ordinary TimeNo doubt, many will find this Sunday’s Gospel difficult reading. One of the great themes of Mark’s Gospel is that, in Jesus, all things are being restored to God’s original purpose. That gives us a bit of context for the words of Jesus.Among Jewish scholars and rabbis of Jesus’ time there was often fierce debate about the grounds for divorce permitted by Jewish Law (Deuteronomy 24:1). ]The words of Jesus make clear that marr ...Continue Reading

 October – Octubre – Ottobre  2024 ENGLISH | ESPAÑOL | ITALIANODownload English: ocarm.org/en/prayer/lectiodivina Descargar Español: ocarm.org/es/prayer/lectiodivina Scarica Italiano: ocarm.org/it/prayer/lectiodivina ENGLISHLECTIO DIVINA - October 2024[*]Lectio Divina October, 2024 [Pdf] (1.87 MB)[*]Lectio Divina October, 2024 [ePub] (233 KB)[*]Lectio Divina October, 2024 [Mobi] (1.36 MB)  If you wish to receive updates on current news from the Carmelite Order, ...Continue Reading

Celebrating at Home: Doing Good in the Name of Jesus26th Sunday in Ordinary TimeThe disciples are on a steep learning curve as Jesus instructs them about what true discipleship is all about. In this Sunday’s Gospel, when they report that they tried to stop someone casting out devils in Jesus’ name just because ‘he was not one of us’, they probably expected praise from Jesus. Instead, they got a rebuke.True discipleship is not about holding the mystery of the Kingdom to our self, to dispense as we see fit, deciding ...Continue Reading

 Celebrating at Home: Becoming A Child25th Sunday in Ordinary TimeToday’s readings continue last Sunday’s themes of Jesus as the ‘suffering servant’ and the nature of authentic discipleship.On the road through Galilee Jesus continues to instruct the disciples that he will suffer and die and rise again, but the disciples seem very slow to understand and are too afraid to ask him about it.Using a little child as an example Jesus tells the disciples that real leadership is about service and giving without expecting an ...Continue Reading

 Celebrating at Home: Who Am I?24th Sunday in Ordinary TimeThis Sunday’s Gospel teaches us how to find our true identity. Both the ‘people’ and Peter have ideas about who Jesus is. For the people he is John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets returned from the dead. For Peter, Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. But what happens next reveals that Peter and Jesus have very different ideas about who this Messiah is.Though Peter understands correctly that Jesus is the Messiah, he misunderstands the kind of Messia ...Continue Reading

 Celebrating at Home: Loosening the Ligaments23rd Sunday in Ordinary TimeEven with the benefits of modern technology and social media people can still feel deeply isolated, cut off from those around them. They share something of the experience of the man in this Sunday’s Gospel. He cannot hear and cannot speak properly. Living in the ancient world that must have been a profoundly isolating, frightening and frustrating experience for him. Jesus takes the man aside, away from the crowd, puts his fingers into the ...Continue Reading

 Celebrating at Home: Washing Hearts, Not Hands22nd Sunday in Ordinary TimeThis weekend we resume reading from St Mark’s Gospel. This Sunday’s episode is about ritual purity verses purity of heart. The Pharisees were a group of especially observant Jews. They took ritual observance very seriously. These observant Pharisees and some scribes criticise the disciples for "not following the tradition of the elders" by not washing their hands before eating. This passage is not about good hygiene but about a rit ...Continue Reading

 September – Septiembre – Settembre  2024 ENGLISH | ESPAÑOL | ITALIANODownload English: ocarm.org/en/prayer/lectiodivina Descargar Español: ocarm.org/es/prayer/lectiodivina Scarica Italiano: ocarm.org/it/prayer/lectiodivina ENGLISHLECTIO DIVINA - September 2024[*]Lectio Divina September, 2024 [Pdf][*]Lectio Divina September, 2024 [ePub][*]Lectio Divina September, 2024 [Mobi]  If you wish to receive updates on current news from the Carmelite Order, subscribe to CITOC ...Continue Reading

 Celebrating at Home: Lord, Who Shall We Go To?21st Sunday in Ordinary TimeOver the last four Sundays, St John has taken us on a journey of discovering Jesus as the living Word of God who nourishes and strengthens us on our journey; as the living bread who gives his very self (flesh and blood) for the life of the world; and, today, as the bread of faith. Those who share the bread of faith are those who have chosen to believe in Jesus and follow him.This meditation from John is about how Jesus is still present and a ...Continue Reading