Prayer in Online Space

As we are presenting more time at home, it’s very easy to become bored. It’s more easy to forget God. We can be carried away by what’s being reported in the media. We as Christians, we need to feed our soul and mind with the appropriate literature. Let’s not forget to pray. Prayer can move mountains!

We are presenting some links which we hope may benefit all our readers.

The Catholic Mass (all of it written down)

http://catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/Mass.htm

The prayers recited by priests, religious and lay persons:

https://breviary.net/hours.htm

Where to find the breviary…

https://www.universalis.com/today.htm

http://www.ibreviary.org/en/tools/ibreviary-web.html

Daily Mass:

http://www.vatican.va/content/liturgy/en.html

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi6JtCVy4XKu4BSG-AE2chg

Holy Masses live online

http://www.catholictv.org/masses/catholictv-mass/masses-live-demand

Documents of the Second Vatican Council [1963-1965] (We do mention it a lot on our blog)

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm

Other relevant material:

http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals.index.html

Stations of the Cross

https://www.catholic.org/prayers/station.php

Listen Live

Mysteries of the Rosary

https://www.catholic.org/prayers/mystery.php

Free courses on the Bible

https://www.catholic.org/bible/

Radio stations

https://streema.com/radios/genre/Catholic

https://tunein.com/radio/Heavens-Road-FM-Catholic-Radio-s185353/

https://tunein.com/radio/Catholic-Talk-c100000603/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_religious_radio_stations

Other links supplied by a reader of our blog. Thanks!

Prayer Resources Creighton University Online Ministries
https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html 

Faith ND – University of Notre Dame – An Outreach of the ND Alumni Association
http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/start.aspx?gid=609&pgid=61

Pray As You Go
https://pray-as-you-go.org/

Sacred Space
https://www.sacredspace.ie/
 

Families with Children
Loyola Press Faith Family Fun
https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith/family/family-faith-and-fun
  

Prayer Groups sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago
Prayer groups (intimate size at 15 people per group) will gather weekly for 30-40 minutes to read and reflect on the Word of God, build community and share prayer intentions.
Sign up here by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3. 


Book Clubs Sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago
Book clubs will gather weekly for approximately 60 minutes to read and reflect on faith and values-based books, articles and other resources.
Sign up here by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3   


Other helpful Resources United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/about/communications/usccb-president-reflection-and-prayer-during-coronavirus.cfm

Ronald Rolheiser OMI 
https://ronrolheiser.com/en/#.XoIDk4hKjIU

Spiritual Communion Prayer by Pope Francis   My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart … I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.

Holy Week Resources

https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/3788244/Holy_Week_at_Home%20(1).pdf
Celebrating the Eucharist Missalette for Holy Week
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/3788244/CE%2052%232__

Palm%20Sunday–Easter%5B1%5D.pdf

An Examen For Life During COVID-19

https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2020/03/14/examen-covid-19/

National Catholic Reporter Feature Series
https://www.ncronline.org/feature-series/coronavirus/stories?tt

The coronavirus and the married priest

I don’t have in mind to become a doctor or else to give medical advice on what to do or how to prevent the coronavirus! Yet as a married priest I can’t help it, in writing about some parallel lines with our basic idea of married priesthood.

Fear. If languages divide us, yet one common language was seen throughout the whole world these last weeks: FEAR. When people are afraid, one is surprised what they might do. The case of the corona beer which clearly has nothing to do with the sickness has been victimised…just because it has the corona name, many people are not buying it any more!!! It’s incredible, yet when fear takes over, common sense goes out!

What did we do as a Catholic Church for so many years? The fear of death and hell has made many people submissive to our teachings. I do know of cases where at the point of death, some people have left all their possessions to the church in the belief that they would have won heaven!! Alas, their children might have gone hungry or became poor in the meantime!

In this context, now I do see why so many people are afraid to share their stories of love with a priest. Fear takes over. Even though we promise to change any details in order to protect their identity. How can we liberate these people from the slavery of fear?

Now I do understand what a friend of mine used to say: fire does not kill many people. Panic does! In fact many people in a fire die because of panic and not of fire in itself! Who hasn’t seen the crowds in the supermarkets where some people came to blows in order to buy basic items? Some psychologists called it the fear of the unknown.

Some people panic when the priest declares himself to be married. They want to stay but their panic takes control and they go to a ‘normal church’ to get married or to get baptised. There isn’t an adult faith. It’s just convenience! They are not born fighters! A married catholic priest is an unknown entity in their religious background! It’s fear of the unknown!

Look how people invaded some supermarkets and bought more than enough portions of basic needs! Some people rightly say that the longest journey in the world is not a geographical destination but rather the I to become WE! The supermarkets gave enough proof that we need to work more on community feeling and understanding. It’s one of the main missing type of work in many parishes! We still find it too difficult to leave behind the factory of sacraments to start community building as a main issue in parish work.

One of the expressions which is has become fashionable is the internet of things. Well, in some countries they have been locked in. It goes without saying that many people have to revert to the internet to spend their time and/or to communicate and/or to buy some necessities. We are experiencing a social experiment where we are practically living just with our family members. All other people are ‘virtual’.

Well, many parishes and priests have been caught on the wrong foot. How many of them can use the internet in order to proclaim the Good News? Although many of them have social media accounts, yet they have never used the internet as a medium for their work! They still relied on churches to meet people. Yet, people, especially the young ones, are practically 24/7 on the internet. Shall the coronavirus scare teach them a lesson to start using the internet more? Can we use it for the married priesthood? This was one of our thoughts at the beginning and it still is. We weren’t allowed space in a ‘normal parish’. We didn’t find it a problem because we already knew that the internet would have gained more popularity. Consequently we would meet more young people online rather than in a ‘normal church’!! One has to note that the internet is not to be used simply as a space for mass or for other lecture type of work!!

Within the virtual world, how can we enhance the sense of community? This is going to be our next challenge. People meet online, easily. Yet it doesn’t turn them into a community. One of them is the exchange of views or ideas. We do need to respect others especially when we do not agree. We can’t call others names! We cannot judge others. We have to see the frail, human face behind the monitor or the written message.

The work of community building is a never ending job. It’s not always full of roses, although even roses have thorns! We need to have more people who believe that as a community we can achieve more and better. One, on his own, cannot achieve much.

Let’s start the ball rolling

It’s time to start. It’s time to move on. It’s time to pass into action. It’s time to show that we mean business. It’s time to be on the offensive.

Why are we writing so? One cannot continue to wait forever! There are people who are asking for more priests. We cannot simply turn our heads in another direction! Communities without priests tend to lose direction. They cannot grow spiritually! They need guidance. They need somebody to show them the way. This is the ultimate reason which pushes us into action. The doctor cannot leave a patient unattended. Jesus himself used the example of the doctor.

Obviously there would be some Catholics who would question our authority if we are doing this according to the canon law. Well, when there is an emergency, nobody would ask for papers. We give what we can to help the injured person. Christ himself broke the law when He spoke with public sinners, women and other persons who were ‘outside’ the community for religious reasons. He cured people on a Saturday etc…..He never broke the law to His advantage but to help others. He felt ok with his conscience! The law is there to serve humanity and not vice versa! Besides we are ordained priests forever. One cannot simple delete or postpone our priesthood. Our mass is valid as that of the Pope because we all received the same Holy Spirit in ordination!

Let’s unite behind our married priests in order to promote our cause. Let’s not waste our time in useless fighting! Let’s concentrate on what keeps us as one movement: married priesthood. Let’s not be so weak so as to leave this community just because of some odd comment. We need to be fighters because when we present our ideas, not all the Catholic community would agree with us. We have to face tough time as we have just recently seen with the present Pope. We lost the fight but not the battle! Time is in our favour as more and more people will join our cause and do their part to convince other Catholics of our mission.

In the meantime, if we can, how about attending mass of a married priest? Here is a link for priests in the US. In Europe one can find this list.

An open letter to Pope Francis

A long time ago, soldiers used to put their ears to the ground to listen for any noises. Normally they would know if a group of troops were approaching their land. Nowadays we expect all leaders to listen to what’s going on in the world. They have several modern ways to ‘listen to the ground’.

It’s an open secret that most people are in favour of married priests. There is no need of any proof because any survey in any part of the world will swing to one direction: married priests now!

Yet for some unknown reason you chose to go against the grain! How are the people allowed to feel now? They were sure that you had listened to their cries, yet, you chose differently! Why? Is this a listening church?! It’s surely NOT! Do you believe that God can speak through his people?

On our website we have hundreds of stories of priests falling in love with other significant ones. Besides there are many more stories who did not give us permission to publish their story. They are coming from all parts of the world. If you truly believe in the beauty of celibacy, have you ever listened to the bad side of it: ie forced celibacy on priests? Recently we had the story of two priests who forced their women to have an abortion in order to hide their sexual adventures! We weren’t allowed to publish their story. In a way you’re going to encourage similar stories even though each person has to carry his/her personal responsibility!

Another consequence of your decision is that once again we are re-enforcing the notion that sex and women are bad, or wrong or dirty! Indirectly we’re going back again to the idea that celibacy is superior to marriage. It’s useless to publish countless documents where you write that marriage is so important in the eyes of God. Well, your action speaks louder!

Another false opinion running around is that a married priest will not have enough time to serve his people. Well, could you please publish the working timetable of celibate priests? Most churches in Western Europe are empty. They rarely visit homes. So where are they working after celebrating mass?

You have emphasized the importance of the Eucharist for any community in the world. Truly it is the right spiritual nourishment for our spiritual growth. What answers are you going to give now that most communities don’t have resident celibate priests? Please, with all due respect, be aware that you’re putting a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. Many people will be leaving the church without the proper spiritual nourishment!

Some Catholic interpreters are saying that the pressure of the so called ‘traditionalists’ has taken its toll on you. Well, be aware that they are never going to be your supporters! But now you lost a great majority of others who were seeing you as a ‘different’ pope. You cannot imagine the disappointment, delusion and spiritual emptiness that they are feeling with your decision!

It has reaffirmed our personal decision of many years ago when we felt the decision to leave the official priesthood because of several matters which were against our conscience. Yes, a priest does not leave simply, because he cannot tame his sexual impulses! He leaves because there are several incongruences in the Catholic church – the latest being the prohibition of married people from priesthood, although people coming from the Anglican religion can stay married and enjoy married life!

Another contradiction is that we’re going against the bible which has ample proof that most of the apostles were married. Are we going to filter the bible? Are we going to pick and select what’s more suitable from the bible?

Your Holiness you come from the beautiful continent of Latin America where base level community is way of life in the church. You truly understand that the spiritual community intertwines with their daily needs. Imagine if a priest is married and has children. What a beautiful position that would be to connect with many other married people in the church. He won’t preach with words but would rather be a living testimony to the whole community. Alas we are being deprived of such testimony…We have so many priests who are happy to make our stone churches richer but our living church is poor.

We are afraid that history is going to repeat itself! Pope Paul VI was seen in a very bad light after going against the commission who were in favour of contraceptives. It has made him appear in a different light altogether. You are a strong defender of immigrants and the poor people. Well, all that will go down the drain. History will only remember that you said ‘no’ to married priests!

According to the teaching of the church and recently affirmed by your Holiness (https://religionnews.com/2013/09/11/pope-francis-tells-atheists-to-obey-their-conscience/), we go for a different road where we feel we are being called to serve the people of God as married priests, as priesthood is forever and indelible.

According to the law of the church, no priest shall deny any service to lay people who come in good spirit! We are living in an emergency era in the Catholic Church of today. Many people need more priests not simply to fulfill their Sunday obligation but for more services, help, counselling, teaching etc…Nobody would wait for the Pope’s permission when one sees another Catholic in an emergency!Emergency is not simply at the point of death but rather the bigger flock with no shepherd, according to biblical information!

One final note: although we are not vociferous like the so called ‘traditionalists’. Please don’t take it as just an opinion of just one website. Here are some articles which clearly shows that other people are on the same bus!

https://www.futurechurchnews.org/article/pope-francis-with-all-respect-you-should-have-done-more

https://news.yahoo.com/pope-francis-sides-traditionalists-priest-celibacy-040755784.html

https://www.catholicchurchreform.org/216/

https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/disappointment-outrage-over-papal-document-amazon?clickSource=email

https://international.la-croix.com/news/deciding-not-to-decide-for-now/11818

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51474009

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Correction—Pope-Francis–In-With-All-Due-Respect–You-Should-Have-Done-More.html?soid=1101674625527&aid=sN1e7mviJPw

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/lebanon-married-priests.html

Going alongside the big wave

One of the things which effects our society is that without knowing it we are living as if in separate compartments! How many times we notice people eating at a restaurant, yet they talk very little, all glued to their mobile phones? Others on a train, bus etc… all searching on their mobile phone. What’s happening to our society? In this change of humanity it’s going to be extra difficult to explain to people about any subject. We do remember nostalgically the times when we used to have arguments on a bus or any other public place. Yet, most of us are silent, reading on our mobile phones. Most probably we are just updating ourselves about the latest gossip or non-significant news!

As always, more than crying or reminiscing about the past, we have to live today. How can we turn the internet in our favour? In this sense, we are not without hope. This blog has started being unnoticed for the first few years. Where are we now? We have hundreds of followers without spending one dime in publicity! It’s the quest for information which has brought so many followers. Every women falling in love or meeting the priest who shows more than just some interest, are going to start thinking and looking for other people having similar experience/s. Although the internet was promoted for free views, there are very few spaces on the internet which openly discuss love with a priest!

Our aim is not simply to attract women having relationships with priests, but rather the general public. First of all we need the help of all our readers! Everybody nowadays has at least one social account! If one shares our thoughts on social media, we would be making our presence felt. Today we can do publicity without asking big companies to do this job. Personally we don’t like big companies not only because we have to fork out a hefty sum of money but rather because we don’t like large crowds. We need the right people instead. In other words, we need people who are not brainwashed. Experience have taught us that it’s useless to spend time arguing with some people especially in the Catholic Church.

One big asset is the big link people feel about married priests. He is married too. He has kids. He faces the same challenges! The people already feel that this change should be made possible in the church. So what are we afraid of?

Besides another great asset is the consequence of married priests. Just looking at past history in theology we see that most of the time we have discussed issues which were so important for non-married priests, yet they had little relevance in the life of the married people which always formed the biggest group in the church! The married priest does not need any conference or wake up call to investigate the family today. He is facing such challenges on a daily basis!

As we would be conducting dialogue on the internet, we expect the repetition of old ideas. Can the priest have a family and minister to the people? Well it has become a joke lately. If one just looks at churches in the Western part of the world, one cannot ignore the fact that most churches are empty. So why are we continuing this lie of a priest who has a lot of work to do??!! It’s an open secret that the sacrament of reconciliation has practically disappeared for most people! Mass has lost its attraction to so many people. In fact it’s not uncommon to hear people saying that they skip mass regularly. There are many other experiences which prove that the so called traditional work in the church is getting less and less.

The married priest movement has the power to present the teaching of the church [including some significant changes] from the point of view of a married person who is trying to teach his own sons and/or daughters who are growing up and challenging every sign of law, obedience and tradition!

In any case we are firmly convinced that nobody can stop the big wave. We can postpone it for some time, but one day it will take over. Married priesthood is a must for the Catholic Church today.

The role of lack of agreement

In the Western World we are having less children. It’s not rare to find couples with just one child. Without entering the arena of why and what is happening, most children are being deprived of fights, discussing with their peers and being exposed to different thoughts in their own family.

In the Catholic Church we were used to hear ‘the truth’. It was only a one answer approach to practically all questions! The person who used to have a different opinion was regarded as ‘heretical’ which in the middle ages meant being kept aside in all spheres of life! So having problems with the Catholic Church meant total isolation from all social activities besides being branded as ‘bad’.

Although in the 2^nd Vatican council (1963-1965), the Catholic Church tried to open up to other religions, yet we are still baffled if the bishops don’t all show the one, same opinion!

We were all taken aback by the retired Pope Benedict’s comments (maybe somebody else inserted them and used the retired Pope for her/his agenda!!) about celibacy.

In any case, even if it wasn’t Pope Benedict, we are sure that somebody else would have the same opinion regarding celibacy.

Are we a church of dialogue or one of imposition? Do we leave space for different opinions? When we discuss: do we expect the others to bow their heads and say ‘Amen’?!

In 2020 we should enter any discussion with an open heart and open mind. Practically, we don’t have all the truth after all. God can use others to show us aspects or hidden truths in our own religion. Other opinions might have at least a ray of truth! What is God telling us when we meet a different opinion? The 2^nd Vatican Council was a pastoral council which focused mainly on the practical approach of baptised people to other people. Are we truly changed by the council? Please remember that in the council all bishops took part together with the Pope. Theologically it has a lot of weight when studying the documents of any council which took place in the church.

Faith is a journey after all. Like the parable of the workers, who started work at different times (who at 6.00am and who at 6.00pm!), they were all paid the same amount!! This is how God sees things after all. If we’ve been longer in the Catholic Church, it doesn’t equate with being better than others!

On the other hand, although we admit that some people are not prepared to handle a married priest in their midst, it doesn’t mean that we relish our opinion or thoughts. It’s up to us to come with practical ways and means to show how the initial church used to have married priests and they managed to conduct the church to better ways!

One final point: Apostles Peter and Paul too had some deep and different explanations regarding our religion! [compare Acts 15:7–11 with Acts 15:19–20] We are different people who experience God in different ways. We were never created to live and act as if we’re photocopies!

May God Bless you all!

The Married Catholic Priest in 2020

After a careful examination of events, with great responsibility, we announce that this year, Pope Francis will let married priests join the rest of priesthood. We will celebrate and be joyful for such event. It shows that notwithstanding the internal pressure of some particular priests and lay people, the Holy Spirit has succeeded in helping the church steer his ship in these troubled waters.

Besides the initial joy and celebrations. What will actually happen? In the Amazon, the people who are already a big asset in the church will continue to do so but now in a new responsibility: that of priesthood! One must note that these people are not coming to church just to be ordained as married priests but that their work is being recognised and given sacramental power.

Other people in other parts of the world will surely comment and feel the practical impact of such a brave and intelligent move by Pope Francis. Most probably they too would ask for married priests. This all depends in the coming days when the document written by Pope Francis will be published. Will it take into consideration other areas of the world? Will it allow freedom of thought in the church? Will it allow the ordination of married men in other parts of the world or will it be just for the Amazon? Truly, is it just the Amazon which needs married priests? What about the rich Western culture of the world besides other areas?

In today’s world we truly believe that the space for big, triumphant churches has no place. Hence the need for more priests to create small living communities. The small communities will need the presence of a priest which is vital for the church. These should not be simply for liturgical purposes but rather as a community, reflect on daily needs of their community in the light of the word of God. The best example is that of Latin American base-level communities. This will be the greatest change in the church!! In the western culture the priest has been tied too much to the liturgical movement. He rarely ventures in the other areas of priesthood. Hopefully, the fact that the priest is married will open his eyes to new realities!

In this sense we hope that married priests will bring about a new reflection in the church. A married priest will press for discussions about married life; about teens and their growing up in today’s world; about relationships; about doing 1001 jobs at the same time; about praying with lots of noises and distractions…

On the other hand, how will other priests react? Will they accept the married ones to work alongside? That we wouldn’t know.

What about the wives of priests? Do they need special instructions how to cope with their husband’s work? We think so. This in order to avoid useless waste of time and energy, or worse, unequal distribution of work. There should be a good timetable in order to balance the duties outside the family with those on the inside. This would be a good example for today’s families.

Let’s pray so that the changes taking place in the church will help the spiritual outcome for all!

Mental struggles in priest-woman relationship

We make several experiences, each and every day. An experience could be something ordinary such as a visit to a restaurant or something much deeper such as falling in love.

When we discuss love issues we tend to forget the most important organ of them all – the brain. Once the brain is effected, then the whole personality changes.

It’s very easy to label a woman falling in love with a priest as a psycho (besides other wonderful nicknames!). In our pastoral experience we did encounter women who make up (invent) the story of falling in love with a priest! This doesn’t imply that all women are in the same boat!

On the other hand, once a woman is imagining the love affair, it doesn’t mean that it’s not real (from her point of view).

From a practical point of view we still take the same pastoral approach: we need to lead this person to Christ. We cannot judge or worse look down on people who are passing through such experience. In fact one of the most challenging issues facing young people is that of mental health (visibly shown in eating disorders, drug taking or violent actions).

Obviously, in such a case, we emphasise the need of not talking or communicating with the innocent part – in this case – the priest. The traditional approach is outlined by the phrase: if one is not ok, how can one truly love another person?

This calls for a professional person in order to give an exact picture of the mental situation for the person. As married priests, we are aware that leading a family it clearly outlines our limitations and it calls for a professional approach. We cannot as priests pretend to solve any kind of problem! We have our own kids. We do love them yet they need somebody who is a professional who could lead them in the right way.

The rest of the women who are not psycho are still effected in their mental health. Every love experience drains a lot of energy from a person, especially if the end result is not positive. Most probably most of the women have received bad treatment from their priest. They do need a special treatment in order to regain mental stability.

One of the challenges that mental health is facing is that while a physical wound is easily visible, a psychological one is not visible at all! Yet the effects might linger on for a much longer period of time.

This might make us aware that in such experience we need to make ourselves stronger. Besides, speaking about mental health, should not be a taboo! In this case it is understandable why some women prefer to ‘love’ an impossible choice rather than none at all or others who are still too weak to share their stories!

May God Bless You All, especially those who feel mentally sick.

The concept of a team

When one is watching TV on his/her own, one can watch any station for any reason. Once the person is joined by just one single person, the scenario changes completely. One cannot watch any station in the new situation. There are two people now. They have to discuss what are they going to watch. Most probably two people have different tastes and ideas about what to watch.

In the church we are still individuals. Most people think about themselves and God. Whenever one starts meeting others for faith talks, one starts seeing cracks. The others don’t understand me; they label me; I feel threatened. This is just some of the comments that we priests witness when trying to gather together a flock. I thought that it was only when it comes to face to face meetings. No, it’s online too. When we don’t see eye to eye we start fighting!

Some people might think that they have lost their faith as they see Christians fighting each other. Well, let’s be blunt: fighting between Christians is not a good publicity at all and under certain principles it shouldn’t exist at all. Yet, if one reads the bible regularly and in a prayerful mode, one discovers many instances where fighting becomes the order of the day; whether it’s physical, emotional or on any other level!

There is never a dull moment in the bible. It happened to Christ himself. He wanted to start His church. He could have done it all alone with no mistakes, perfect method and perfect publicity. Maybe it would have progressed with no hiccups! But that’s our human mind who does not want to face any difficulties, sicknesses, challenges and different opinions then the ones held in our grey matter.

Christ himself chose Peter. He was surely not the diplomatic or ideal person at all with no academical qualifications! Sincerely, who would have chosen Peter out of all people? From the practical point of view there were others who were more qualified for the job. Yet Christ chose Peter. We can never comprehend God’s will 100%.

Reflecting on such events one may come to some interesting points. Is the job of Peter so important after all? Who is in command of the church: Peter or God? Who can perform more than humans: Peter or God? If the church were to be based on human beings, it would have already collapsed! Yet it has a unique long history of at least 2000 years. Is this not a miracle in itself?

Some people might have lost faith after the sexual abuse scandal which turned out to be incredibly universal. Yet it’s not the first time that the church has faced such difficult situations. If one mentions the case when the Pope had six illegitimate sons….when we had two Popes at the same time…when the Pope was more similar to a king than a real shepherd and had attacked and conquered other nations…. when the Vatican was going to be attacked during World War II…

In the bible we have one of the earliest quarrels in the church when both Peter and Paul had totally different opinions about the process of joining the church itself!

We have just seen one aspect: the lack of cohesion and agreement in the ‘crowd’ mentality. How about advantages? Could one have all the ideas of the world in his mind? Could one have all the talents, the spiritual power, the will to help the church? Surely not. That’s why we need the others. Besides there Christ’s words that when two or three people are gathered in his name, He is there, present.

The idea of a team is that a good coach studies each and every member and puts him/her in the right place. It’s useless if we start pointing out the bad side of each person. Jesus is in command of His church. We have to pray more in order to see things from God’s point of view. He knew about his apostles’ weak side, yet He chose those twelve in order to kick start his greatest project on earth – the church. Shall we start dissecting his apostles to look out for defects? Or shall we accept them as God’s messengers?

When facing other people in the church, yes we’re going to meet with sins, fragility, incompetence, hard headed people etc…..yet they are all in God’s wonderful hands who can transform a cemetery into a living group of people! He is God of the impossible and not just of that which is possible!

From our experience, being responsible of a parish, we always tried to find people for particular jobs whilst having a blind eye for their defects. One who talks a lot might be used to transmit quick and urgent messages in the parish! One who was good in projects undertaking was used to conduct projects in the parish. One who was full of peaceful thoughts was brought in when having arguments etc…

If one wants to meet the new baby Jesus in the coming months, why not make a list of positive aspects about your ‘enemy’!!! If you want to dig deeper, why don’t you go for the second step: how can we use your positive side and his/her positive side to the benefit of the church?

Calling for more love stories between women and priests!

It seems that most of our readers are busy praying for a better advent this year as practically nobody is writing any more!

I would like to make an appeal so that more women would come forward with their story dealing with falling in love with a Catholic Priest. We promise that we’ll hide their true identity and country.

Our readers would prefer to read and pray on such stories. Obviously, they are more interesting than reading a theological reflection on married priesthood or on how to present our ideas in the church.

Till then, May God Bless you all!