Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Jesus had drawn  support and loyalty  from a large group of people, especially from those regarded as misfits. Some of the women in this scene would have been amongst those who had left behind their homes, families and friends and travelled with Jesus from town to town. They then supported Him and his disciples, providing for all their needs. Read on https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. (Mark 15: 21 ) It is interesting  that we are told so much about Simon – that he had come in from the country and that he had two sons. He was a family man and had probably come in to Jerusalem for business so carrying the cross for  this ‘criminal’ was not likely to have been on his travel itinerary. He had responsibilities at home and in town;  things to do, places to be. Read on: https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

Reflection by Louise Crossley When I gave  birth for the first time, I felt that it was more than I could bear.  I vividly remember fearing I could literally break in half. The other births, while still painful, where less overwhelming as my body was strengthened by past experience. When I first  experienced a broken heart, I thought I could not live on.  The pain seeped through my body as though my heart was leaking venom that was poisoning my will to go on. While heartbreak is never easy, it gets a little less intense as a result of knowing what to expect or from bracing ourselves somewhat. Jesus carrying the  cross at this Station represents the impact of first times...read on:  https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said,"Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck him repeatedly.  John 19:1-3 By Margaret Kirchener The bathroom seems  so far away. My arthritis has flared up and every step is torture. I crawl through  the house using a broom as a crutch. I desperately need my medication. Everything else in  my life fades. All that exists is me and the throbbing pain... Read on: https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

Being judged and  wrongly declared guilty is a horrible experience. I had a taste of this once when a valuable item went missing in my share household and everything pointed to me. It's equally as devastating when you are judged and victimised for standing up for something you believe in. A sense of our own powerlessness can make us feel incredibly vulnerable and rejected. What kind of  God is willingly vulnerable to the opinions and judgements of humans? Standing before Pilate, was Jesus thinking about the divine power He could invoke to escape from the fate of death? Read on:  https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: "Before the cock crows you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly.  Matthew 26: 69-75     When Jesus first  met Peter, He fixed his gaze upon him and said, 'You are Simon, son of John; you will be called Peter'. ( John 1:42 )That was an experience of the grace of God in giving the fisherman a new vocation to proclaim the love and mercy of God. Later on, Peter  had a unique experience of grace with James and John when they witnessed the Transfiguration whereby the body of Jesus was transformed by Light.  Matthew 17:1-13 Despite experiencing miracles , healings and the Transfiguration, Peter was still full of fear of death and therefore denied knowing Jesus in the courtyard. Read on:  https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council.  They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe; and if I question you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” All of them asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God?”  He said to them, “You say that I am.”  Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!”  Luke 22: 66-71 By the time Jesus  got to the Sanhedrin, he had been deserted by his closest friends and betrayed by one of his disciples. Now he is standing before the Sanhedrin –the leaders of the people of God; priests of the Temple; God’s representatives on earth; defenders of the faith; shepherds of God's people. Of all, these should have recognised Him for who He was ...

The 10 Minute Daily Retreat will focus on the Scriptural Stations of the Cross during Lent, posting on Sundays and Fridays, and each day during Holy Week.  Let us stay  awake together because we all know that "that our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak.” Matthew 26: 41 Jesus chose to  leave Peter and the two sons of Zebedee while He advanced into the garden to pray. He clearly felt the need to be alone with His Father in His final hour.  When He returned to find his disciples asleep, why did He challenge them?  Did He really need their support to manage His sorrow and distress? Read on:  https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au /

...“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”   “We can,” they answered .  Matthew 20:22 I’m a nurse;  I’ve seen people suffer . I’ve helped calm women as they experience the agony of childbirth.  I’ve administered morphine when the pain of cancer becomes too much to bare. I’ve held a mother as she wailed after the death of her child. James and John  want  prestige, position and favouritism from Jesus. Instead he offers them suffering! And they accepted it. They went on to experience terrible suffering, and they persevered and endured. Do we dare  to sit before Jesus and allow Him to ask us,  'can you drink of this cup?' During this season  of Lent...read on: https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/  

Susanna Wesley, the  mother of the famous preachers John and Charles, gave birth to nineteen children and lived in a tiny house. The only place she could retreat to pray was the corner of her kitchen. Her children knew that when she sat there with her face hidden behind her apron, woe betide anyone who disturbed her. This was her sacred space. The word,  sacrosanct ,  first came into use around the 15th Century. It virtually disappeared from everyday English for a few hundred years, making a comeback in recent times. It is derived from two Latin words:  sacro 'by a sacred rite'  and  sanctus, 'holy.' Read on:  susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au

Beloved: 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is better than wine, 3     your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is perfume poured out;     therefore the maidens love you. 4 Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers... 7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,     where you pasture your flock,     where you make it lie down at noon; Song of Songs SS 1:2-4,7 I tapped impatiently on  the steering wheel, waiting for the church car park to clear. It had been a long, hot Service and I felt totally washed out.  The sermon had urged us to seek an experience of  spiritual renewal. There was nothing fresh about my spirit. Physically tired from long shifts, mentally drained from study and emotionally wrecked from house sharing, there was little room for spiritual growth. In my naivety  I didn’t recogni...

Reflection by  Susanne Timpani 'The sun has played havoc on your Celtic skin.' Dr Raju tilted her head. I'd never considered myself a member of the Celtic clan before. For a moment I felt I had been plucked from their midst and deposited into my current, sunburnt, country. 'The cream will irritate, redden, wrinkle, blotch and burn your skin,' she muttered as her hand swept across her script pad, 'but it will halt the changes to your cells and prevent skin cancer...  Read more: https://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/ If I take the wings of the morning     and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,     and your right hand shall hold me fast. Psalm 139: 9-10

“I the Lord search the heart     and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct,     according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10 The gift of knowledge  is summed up beautifully in this passage. It is  like an heirloom of jewelry sometimes given to European children – each receive  a piece that is similar in its element and age but the jewelry itself is different depending on the child’s position in the family.  The youngest child  might receive a bracelet.  The middle child  might receive a necklace.  The eldest child  might receive their mother’s wedding ring.  In the sam e way, the Lord gives us various capacity of knowledge according to where he born us in society. He expects us to use this gift to the best of our ability. Overall, the gift  of knowledge is the appreciation of the heirloom that God has given to us – not ...

'From the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.'  Colossians 1: 9 Reflection by Malcolm Davies When I was  first a Christian I was convinced that I would grow so rapidly that I would be totally mature and integrated within a few years. The reality was  that each small part of growth would be followed by a challenge where I realised that my growth would be very slow. One book that  helped me on my journey was Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila. In that book Teresa describes the journey to spiritual maturity and how long it would take.  I felt encouraged  because I could see in my own life some growth that she described and challenged because there were insights that I could not embrace at this part of my journey.  I have come  to realise that God is patient and I have to be patient with myself,...

He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”  Mark 4:40 Reflection by Willam Barclay ' God gives us peace  when life's problems involve us in a tempest of doubt and tension and uncertainty. There come times when we do not know what to do; when we stand at some cross-roads in life and do not know which way to take.  If then we turn  to Jesus and say to him, "Lord, what will you have me do?" the way will be clear. The real tragedy is not that we do not know what to do; but that often we do not humbly submit to Jesus' guidance. To ask his will and to submit to it is the way to peace at such a time. God gives us peace  in the storms of anxiety. The chief enemy of peace is worry, worry for ourselves, worry about the unknown future, worry about those we love.  But Jesus speaks  to us of a Father whose hand will never cause his child a needless tear and of a love beyond which neither we nor those...

'...we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.' 1 Thessalonians 2:2 At the vigil mass  during the recent world youth day in Poland, Pope Francis called on young people today to be ‘courageous and free’ and to ‘leave a mark’ on our world. It takes courage to leave a mark! What does courage  look like for a Christian in today's society? It means standing for truth in a society where truth is reinterpreted according to one’s view; Read on:  http://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and self-control.   2 Timothy 1: 7 Reflection by Malcolm Davies : When I was  younger I worked in a team in the public service who were all young men and we decided to have a team lunch. Some of the  men wanted to go to a “topless” lunch place. I said I would not be going as it was disrespectful to women. One of them replied that women were part of creation and therefore what was I worried about. There was a lot of tension between some of the men and myself. I agreed that  women were part of creation and therefore should be honoured and respected and that for that reason I would not be going with them...read on: http://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

The word  paraclete  means someone who stands by to help. It can be used of a witness, or an advocate to plead our cause. In the Gospel , the Holy Spirit is referred to as the  paraclete . In the day of trouble, we don't need to fear. No less a person than the Holy Spirit of God stands by to help. We just need  to trust. Adapted from Barclay When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how [ a ]  you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.” Luke 12:11-12

In an effort to remind us to have the good judgement to not judge His children, as our eyes can only see a portion of the whole, our concentration should be on developing OUR best self. I envision  God reinforcing this gift through  Kenneth Slessor's poem: William Street.  ' You find it ugly, I find it lovely.' Search me, O God, and know my heart;  test me and know my thoughts.   Psalm 139:23 Read on:  http://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/

Life's path is  never straight.  There may be smooth stretches, but they don’t last. A dead end causes our plans to screech to a halt. A fork in the road forces us to make an unexpected decision. A hidden obstacle trips us up.  If we fall hard enough, the injury is not only painfully inconvenient, but sometimes it signals the end. Or does it?  Would it make any difference if we followed the voice of a trusted Global Positioning System? (GPS) This examines all the possible routes and – within its robotic limitations – directs us away from the no through roads and back onto the path. If we switched  on our inner GPS, by sitting in quiet prayer, we are likely to hear the Voice of God. However, there is one significant difference... Read More:  http://susannetimpani.blogspot.com.au/