This First Sunday of Advent reminds us of the final coming of Christ, when He will come to judge the living and the dead. The Lord Jesus calls us to vigilance, which is being in a state of readiness by living in truth and virtue and by faith.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus.

The image used is Ercole Ramazzani, “The Last Judgment,” 1597 (public domain)

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Pope Pius XI instituted this Feast of Christ the King* in 1925. Of course, the Pope wasn't inventing anything new; that's not the way Popes operate, or shouldn't. The Pope is the guardian of the deposit of faith but at times in history a Pope has had to, for various reasons, make explicit what has always been believed.

 Often the best way to do that, is to enter the dogma into the sacred liturgy through a feast day.

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The basilica that we honour today has an interesting history as well as being of high significance for us all around the world. I hope you will enjoy learning about its history and, perhaps, being reminded of the spiritual significance of our holy buildings, of which this one has a unique place.

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These two important and great days that herald the beginning of the month of November, the month of the Holy Souls, are worthy of our attention together this year because one falls on a Saturday and one on a Sunday. Not just for that reason though, together they tells us about who we are and where we are going. They remind us also of the doctrine of the Communion of the Saints on earth, in heaven and in purgatory. 

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The parable of the pharisee and the tax collector (or publican) is again a parable about prayer but also a parable about the sin of pride and the virtue of humility. Pride leads to be being happy about oneself and the humility leads to being at rights with God. The latter is what we should be striving towards.

The image used in this podcast is "The Pharisee and the Publican" by James Tissot painted somewhere between 1...

The title of this podcast might have you wondering, particularly if you have looked at the readings for this Sunday's Holy Mass. If you listen you will see how the necessary reverence shown to the Blessed Sacrament fits within the question that Our Lord poses at the end of this Sunday's gospel.

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Amazing Grace is the title and first words of a well-known hymn, composed by John Newton. Its appeal goes wide among Christians. I have called this podcast after the hymn, not because I want to talk about it, or its composer, but rather because the Collect of today's Mass prays to God for grace to accompany us. So, I thought a teaching about grace would be in order. I find many Catholics do not fully understand the splendour, ...

What a beautiful prayer that the disciples make to Jesus! Their request is one that we can make our own too. But as the Lord often does, He wishes to teach  more than the disciples expect.

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If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

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This Sunday's parable of Lazarus, the poor man, and Dives, the rich man, is a lesson in charity towards the poor but also a lesson in the end-of-life result of living separated from God, namely Hell. 

It's not popular to talk about Hell since the prevailing notion is that Hell does not exist, or that it is empty, or that as long as I am nice, I won't go there. But that is not what Our Lord teaches us in this parable a...

The parable of the steward in this Sunday's gospel is a masterful teaching story given to us by Our Lord Jesus. The steward is referred to as dishonest, unrighteous, cunning but also astute. What and how can he be all these at once? There are so many aspects to this parable, that deserve our attention, but too many, I think, to address all at once. But, I hope what I do focus on is helpful.

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Today's important Feast Day supplants the Sunday in Ordinary Time and gives us another opportunity to reflect upon and appreciate the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, its immense and perfect power and its effect upon all of Creation.

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Today in Rome, Pope Leo XIV will declare that the Church has two new saints - St Pier Giorgio and St Carlo Acutis. It's been a long wait for those who love Pier Giorgio - 100 years!! Somewhat less for Carlo - 19 years. But, these two young men have much in common, more than just being young and Italian.

Both these two young saints show us holiness to an extraordinary degree but, because of who they were and the lives they led, ...

This podcast, first of all, has some comments upon the school shooting during the past week in Minneapolis, continuing  to address the reality of evil and human free will, which was mentioned in the previous podcast.

Then attention is turned to Holy Communion as it is First Holy Communion Day in the parish. I explore many things and use some insights from the-soon-to-be-saint, Carlo Acutis. He called Holy Communion his highway to he...

Once more, Jesus speaks of difficult realities. Those who think that Jesus never makes demands upon us have never read the gospels. 

Today Our Lord and Saviour speaks of how we  must strive to enter heaven. It should not surprise us because we follow Him who suffered and died that we might just do that, join the saints and angels in heaven.

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To follow Christ faithfully and truly is not easy. He demands of us a surrender of our will and that we love Him with all our heart, and soul and mind. Some will not understand this. They may even be members of our family; some may be our friends. The world will not understand and may reject us because they have already rejected Him.

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The parable of the Good Samaritan is so well known. Let us not, though, be too familiar with it so as to miss whatever the Divine Teacher reveals to us each time we hear or read it.

The image used for this podcast is The Good Samaritan by William Henry Margetson

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Please accept my apologies, I should have remembered to say this is the podcast.

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If you would like to contact me to provide feedback, suggestions or to ask questions you can do this via email:

frpchandler@armidale.catholic.org.au

Also if you would like to support me in this work, please send me an email and I will provide details for how you can make a donation.

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The word "abasement" is used in the Collect of this Sunday's Mass. What does it mean? And what is Christ's abasement? What does it have to do with us?

Good questions deserve good answers. I hope this episode helps to answer those questions.

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Well, a special occasion! The feast day of two saints bumps aside the Sunday liturgy in Ordinary Time. We shouldn't be surprised because these two saints are both extraordinary and immensely significant for the Church.

We know a deal about them in terms of their accomplishments and their endeavours. Also we know their words and their mind from the pages of the New Testament. But let us not forget that it is their love for Jesus...