God of new beginnings and fresh hope, you are timeless and yet come to us “in time.” We offer you all that has been and ask you to bless all that will be: a blessing for our family members and friends, living and deceased; patience in dealing with problems and problem people; trust in times of sickness.
Redemptorist Fr. Kevin O’Neil recently wrote a guest editorial in the New York Times, offering some perspective on the tragic events in Newtown, CT, and Webster, NY, that left many communities struggling this Christmas.
It’s been a busy season around the Baltimore Province for sharing the Good News of God’s love! We began with the celebration of the feast of the Virgen de la Divina Providencia, patroness of Puerto Rico.
Click to view larger. Dearest Jesus, who wept at the death of your friend and taught that they who mourn shall be comforted, grant us the comfort of your presence in our loss. Send your Holy Spirit to direct us lest we make hasty or foolish decisions.
Excerpted from “The Discourse for Christmas Night,” included in “The Incarnation, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus Christ,” by St. Alphonsus Liguori Glory to the divine love, which induced God to become a little child, poor and lowly, to live a hard life, and to die a cruel death, in order to show man the love which he bears him, to gain his love in return.
Photo courtesy of Madrid Province. Courtesy of Scala: On Thursday, December 20, Pope Benedict XVI approved the promulgation of the Decree on the martyrdom of the Servants of God José Javier Gorosterratzu and five companions, all martyrs of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists).
At the very heart of the spirituality of St. Alphonsus is love: God’s love for us and our love for God in response. St. Alphonsus was overwhelmed by God’s love for him and for all of us, and for Alphonsus, this was especially manifest in Jesus.
At the very heart of the spirituality of St. Alphonsus is love: God’s love for us and our love for God in response. St. Alphonsus was overwhelmed by God’s love for him and for all of us, and for Alphonsus, this was especially manifest in Jesus.
When St. Alphonsus founded the Redemptorists 280 years ago, he placed the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer under the patronage of Mary, the Immaculate Conception. In 1854 when Pope Pius IX solemnly declared the doctrine of Mary’s sinlessness from the moment of her conception, St. John Neumann, himself a spiritual son of St. Alphonsus, was present for the occasion.
Today we celebrate with Redemptorists throughout the U.S., and with the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, as they welcome their new bishop, Redemptorist Joseph W. Tobin. Archbishop Tobin’s installation Mass will be livestreamed online through the Archdiocese of Indianapolis website , as well as televised on EWTN and on Boston’s CatholicTV.
Redemptorist missionary, Reverend Joseph Gorney, died on December 3, 2012 at the Vice-Province of Richmond’s retirement home, St. Alphonsus Villa in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Father Gorney was born on February 14, 1925 in Baltimore, MD professed his first vows as a Redemptorist on August 2, 1946 ordained on June 17, 1951 and died at 12:30 PM on December 3, 2012.