News - November 2011 RSS Feed

Readings for the Second Sunday of Advent “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.” In this proclamation, the prophet Isaiah not only captures the role of Jesus Christ, the comforter, he addresses the very essence of Christ — “like a shepherd he feeds his flock: in his hands he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care.” Yes!

Join us every Monday between now and Christmas, and listen to a different Redemptorist story each week! You’ll hear four of our confreres tell their own stories — how they became Redemptorists, where the Lord has led them (from Brazil to the home missions circuit, from Puerto Rico to the streets of Brooklyn), and what words of wisdom they have for the younger generation.

Today, as we in the United States pause to give thanks to God for the many blessings in our lives, we share with you a few meal prayers written for use in our Redemptorist communities. This collection of blessings is made up of prayers inspired by Scripture and our Redemptorist rule of life: All things are yours, Lord, lover of life.

Readings for the First Sunday of Advent Each year as Advent comes upon us, we as Christians and as Catholics, are faced once again with the same dilemma. The Church is telling us it is the season of Advent, a time of recollection and preparation, and yet, all around us we see and hear the sounds of Christmas!

From Redemptorist Superior General: To the Provincial of the Province of Vietnam: "We admire the commitment of the Province of Vietnam, and your own personal commitment, to support all efforts for justice and peace, especially for those in Vietnam who suffer from violence, from injustice, and from the efforts of those in the communist regime who do abuse or ignore human rights.

There’s no "Christmas creep" here at redemptorists.net! We hope you’ll join us again this year beginning November 23 for our annual Advent retreat. Each Wednesday we’ll post a new reflection on the coming Sunday’s Gospel reading.

After a little more than a year of waiting, the vice postulators for the sainthood cause of Blessed Francis Seelos received word recently that Vatican experts have declined to consider the cure of a Maryland woman as the second miracle needed for Seelos’ canonization.

Perfect for small group discussions, RCIA classes, and individuals seeking to better prepare for Sunday Mass, Living the Word: Scripture Reflections and Commentaries for Sundays and Holy Days (November 27, 2011 through November 25, 2012) , provides commentary, reflection and discussion questions for the readings for 2012.

Happy “birthday” to all Redemptorists and our collaborators around the world! Today is the 279th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. St. Alphonsus Liguori’s dream became a reality on this day in 1732 when he and a handful of followers first began to live and work toward one goal: preaching the good news of God’s plentiful redemption to all, especially to the poor and most abandoned.

Father John "Jack" Smyth, a Redemptorist missionary who spent 20 years in Brazil, died November 3 at the St. John Neumann Residence at Stella Maris in Timonium, MD. He was 73. Click here for a complete obituary.

Last Sunday, the traveling relics of St. John Neumann visited the Diocese of Trenton, NJ for a day of prayer and reflection. The celebration took place at St. Peter’s Church, a worship site for Jesus Good Shepherd Parish.

Redemptorist missionary, superior, administrator, and pastor Father John Louis Smyth, remembered as a tenaciously hard-working priest, died on November 3, 2011 surrounded by his confreres at their religious community in Stella Maris in Timonium, Maryland.

An unusually early snow storm dropped a few inches of snow on Mount St. Alphonsus in Esopus, NY, last weekend, but Redemptorists, Redemptoristines, and their families and friends still made it to the annual Memorial Mass.