CatholicJules.net

Today as I look back, I want to thank and give praise to God for having given me the opportunity to do my little bit in sharing my faith and His Word through this blog. Praise and Glory be His alone!

Catholicjules.net was born 10 years ago when I started truly growing in my faith. Before its birth, I had started blogging a few years earlier under the moniker Juleslife and the title of my Blog was ‘Living Life With A Passion’ which had a garnered a decent enough following. But as I started growing in love with my Lord, I found that truly living life with a passion and in the fullness of life itself, is only to be found in a deep personal relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

And so with great desire, I wanted to share this truth with others. So I began posting my faith journey both on WordPress as well as on Facebook and started the sharing the links with both family and friends. Needless to say that in the beginning year or so, I had very few followers and wondered if I should continue. Well I prayed about it and decided that the whole idea to begin with was simply to share the faith and of my journey into greater faith. And so if just someone out there in the world was inspired or comforted then that would be enough!

If memory serves me right it was only towards the end of 2012 that I began my personal daily reflections ‘On Today’s Gospel’ and did this from Monday to Saturdays. This of course still continues to this very day. For Sundays, that is on my day of ‘rest’, I would always post Dr Scott Hahn’s Sunday Reflections. Just so you know,  posting everyday six days a week, is not without its many challenges. I had persevered to do so even while on holiday overseas, at retreats, in sickness and in health. And continued to do so even though there were many, many, many, times I just did not feel like doing it! Or having sinned found it extremely difficult to share my reflections without feeling like a hypocrite! Each time however I would pray and entrust everything to Jesus asking Him for His mercy and grace to continue. I would pray to the Holy Spirit to guide me and inspire me, that whatever I shared would be according to His Word and Will for me to share. I am deeply aware of this great responsibility. For always in the back of my mind, I envision myself before the Lord upon my return home to Him, and He asks of me this very question, “I have asked you to feed my sheep and lambs have you fed them well?” I would like to be able to answer “YES Lord I have!” And then to hear Him say to me, “Well done my good and faithful servant, come dine with your master.”

Do pray for me dear sisters and brothers in Christ, that I may continue to share the light of Christ with all. Amen

Here are some of the statistics for Catholicjules.net

Here is a list of the countries who have visited the blog from Jan till Sept 2021

May the loving fire of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ burn in your hearts and may His peace reign therein. Merry Easter to you and your loved ones.

Today as we begin the triduum leading to Easter, we remember our Lord’s great love for us. Once again we piece together the great tapestry of our salvation history and dwell in the mystery and the Holy presence of our Lord. The blood of the lamb that once saved the Israelites during the passover of destruction, would now and forever save the faithful in the world, through the passover of death into new life with our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ the once forever lamb of God. Through Him we have the source and summit of our faith, the Holy Eucharist. The sign of the new and everlasting covenant.

Christ the most high priest Himself would therefore institute the Holy priesthood. He began through perfect love by washing the feet of his disciples. And we disciples of the Lord are to do likewise. For in the washing one another’s feet we put into action our love for one another as our Lord first loved us.

At this time we may not have the Chrism Mass, neither are we able to participate most fully at the Maundy Thursday Eucharistic Celebration nor are we able to receive Jesus in the most Holy Eucharist. Cling to Him nonetheless and we shall surely His grace and the outpouring of His love. For the Lord our God has spoken, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Amen

First reading

Exodus 12:1-8,11-14 ·
The Passover is a day of festival for all generations, for ever

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’

Second reading

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ·
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.

Gospel

John 13:1-15
Now he showed how perfect his love was

It was before the festival of the Passover, and Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. He had always loved those who were his in the world, but now he showed how perfect his love was.
They were at supper, and the devil had already put it into the mind of Judas Iscariot son of Simon, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had put everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and was returning to God, and he got up from table, removed his outer garment and, taking a towel, wrapped it round his waist; he then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel he was wearing. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ Jesus answered, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’ ‘Then, Lord,’ said Simon Peter ‘not only my feet, but my hands and my head as well!’ Jesus said, ‘No one who has taken a bath needs washing, he is clean all over. You too are clean, though not all of you are.’ He knew who was going to betray him, that was why he said, ‘though not all of you are.’
When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes again he went back to the table. ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’

Our hour has not yet come. That very hour in which we prepare ourselves to finally meet our creator. What have we to show for ourselves? Had we lived a life in the light of our Lord and saviour’s resurrection? Have we embraced our cross to follow Him? Have we united our sufferings with His for the redemption of the world? Have we cared for the least of our brethren?

Or have we instead embroiled ourselves with the workings, cares, calculations, schemings of the world. Only interested in what’s in it for me, myself, I and maybe a little for those we deem family. Survival of the fittest! Afterall we live in a dog eat dog World! Are we then surprised at all at the panic buying? Every mask for oneself? Why do people need so much toilet paper? Well isn’t it obvious that these people live out of their toilets? All their self centred problems and woes are easily and quickly flushed away together with their precious toilet paper. ( those with a genuine need for that many not included*grins*)

Let us be grateful our hour has not yet come, let us turn our hearts to our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ who has redeemed us. So that we can live out Holy loving lives as we are called to do. Amen

First reading

Wisdom 2:1,12-22
Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man and condemn him to a shameful death

The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:

‘Our life is short and dreary, nor is there any relief when man’s end comes, nor is anyone known who can give release from Hades.
Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life, reproaches us for our breaches of the law and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.
He claims to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a son of the Lord.
Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking, the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
his way of life is not like other men’s,
the paths he treads are unfamiliar.
In his opinion we are counterfeit;
he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth; he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as Happy and boasts of having God for his father.
Let us see if what he says is true,
let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.
If the virtuous man is God’s son, God will take his part and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.
Let us test him with cruelty and with torture, and thus explore this gentleness of his
and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death
since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.’

This is the way they reason, but they are misled, their malice makes them blind.
They do not know the hidden things of God,
they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded, they can see no reward for blameless souls.

Gospel

John 7:1-2,10,25-30
They would have arrested him, but his time had not yet come

Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.
As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.’
Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:

‘Yes, you know me
and you know where I came from.
Yet I have not come of myself:
no, there is one who sent me
and I really come from him,
and you do not know him,
but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.’

They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.

Strength In Weakness Conference part 2
https://youtu.be/oqvd7XATAko

In moments when we are Spirtually down, Christ Jesus our Lord finds a way to lift our spirits! It is with great joy I share this link with you. Stronger in weakness a conference held in Melbourne. Great to hear the praise and worship team from the Community of The Risen Lord and the wisdom of God through His speakers and one of my spiritual fathers, Brother Lalith. Part 2 to follow

https://youtu.be/Bmi9qG7L5D0

Most ministries especially the liturgical ones have a dress code and for very good reasons. Quite often, though members refuse to adhere or try to intepret what was laid out if the dress code is not specific or detailed enough. Some insist on pictures to go with the guide. Question is why? Whom is it that you serve?

A brother in Christ recently shared that on his recent trip to a certain country for holiday, the extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion were in shorts when they gave out the body of Christ! When did service of God or community become one of personal comfort, convienience or practicality?

Those serving in liturgical ministries you are all Stewards of the Banquet and so are set apart for service. Just as priests put on their vestments, friars their robes, nuns their habits we are dressed in our Sunday best to honour, worship, adore the Lord and lead others into the sacred at Holy Eucharist! Men dress up as men ready to go serve! Most parishes would prescribe dark colour slacks, white long sleeve shirt, tie, leather dress shoes and SOCKS. NOT black jeans passing off as slacks and certainly not loafers but leather shoes preferably black. Perhaps there can be a fund set aside for those who cannot afford this basics. Those who can certainly afford it, should not come in worn leather shoes. Women should embrace their feminity and dress up as women, ensuring they are modestly dressed after the heart of our Blessed Mother. Outside of the liturgy they can dress as they deem fit again prayerfully after the heart of Blessed Mother. It is not about uniformity but rather conformity. We are declaring our unity as one Body In Christ.

This is a clear example of what I’m speaking of… A few years back while I was serving as EMHC at the 9:15am all my fellow brothers came appropriately dressed unlike some from the other mass timings where individualism was their thing. For the ladies we did not say a word on how they should dress other than they should be properly attired and modestly so. After a while almost all save for one came in black skirts below knee level, white long sleeve blouses which complimented the dressing of their fellow brothers in Christ serving. We were truly one and it felt really good because we served with one heart as well. I am very pleased to see that today all the EMHC brothers and sisters serving the 915am group are still appropriately dressed!

I know this topic can be sensitive and uncomfortable for some, but perhaps even if you disagree you might be open to reconsider your position on this…

Let us offer the gold of our hearts, in honour of our Lord of Lord, King of Kings. The incense of our prayers and our dressing up in worship, adoration and praise of the Lord our God. The myrrh of our humanity, in dying of self, especially pride; embracing humility to love and serve Him all the days of our lives

X is indeed the Greek letter and first letter for Christos.
And so in short Xmas is Christmas.

That being said ‘mas’ on its own has no meaning. Therefore without Christ, christmas means nothing.

Both may very well hold true that Xmas was used in the early centuries as a shorter form for Christmas and also that the secular world simply wanted to remove Christ from the celebration so that perhaps they could make more money by creating their own stories about the festive season or that it would be more inclusive for all those outside of the faith. Then again they had no clue that God our Father loves all His children.

Personally I will always say, wish and spell Christmas in its entire form. This is my own personal reverence and love for my Lord, who through His incarnation, death and Resurrection has given me life to the full. For me the more important thing is that we lead others to this reality. That the Lord our God came to save us and that we should be fully united with and in Him.

As we are closing in to the end of the liturgical year, I have been reflecting on whether I had been living in the light of Christ and have been asking those around me to do the same. Are we prepared for the 2nd coming of our Lord? Have we stayed awake? Advent is afterall a reminder and time of preparation. Have we led others closer to Jesus Christ our Lord? How do others see us?

I was hoping to have some honest opinions of what others thought about me without being so bold as to open my mouth to ask them. And I certainly didn’t want to rely on my opinion of myself. Well it was great to have unsolicited affirmation subtly as it may be….

On Friday even though my LISS group is only halfway through their LISS Journey, the group members shared some powerful testimonies on their much deeper encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ. And they were thankful for the guidance received.

Last night at a friend’s birthday party and a high school reunion of sorts, a girl friend I have not seen in a few years said this of me and asked this rather humorous question. She said that she never forgot how mischievous I was in school and now through all my Facebook posts and from what she’s heard of me through others, she was wondering if I was a pastor of sorts or at least heading in that direction. I told that we Catholics have priests who are celibate but that didn’t mean we could not have lay persons who are engaged in some form of pastoral care. That being said I was happy to share briefly my own conversion story and that no I am not a pastor.

This morning at our Steward’s reflection session on the readings for Christ the King, a very dear sister in Christ mentioned in her sharing that she was very thankful to our Lord to belong in our group and that another sister in Christ and myself were instrumental in her deepening of faith. Praise the Lord!

Then I rushed off to one of my God daughters, daughter’s baptism. Yup I’m actually not young anymore *chuckles* anyhow it was nice to receive a compliment from a lady I didn’t know who was waiting outside the church on how nice my tie was. Told her that the image of Christ was that of Christ the King. She asked if I had bought it specially for the solemnity. I simply told her no I didn’t because Christ is King all the time! *winks*
As we were seated a guy came up beside me and said hi and that he was a parishioner from my church. He then enquired as to where my rosary was which puzzled me a little. He then explained that he usually sees me with a rosary in my hand. Later at the post baptism reception I was asked by an aunty if I could bless the food. Told her that I could only lead in grace before meals and would be happy to lead, but I saw there was an uncle in the family who should rightly have the honour to do so.

Looking back I have indeed come a long way, and still there is a long way more to go. I humbly ask for your prayers… 🙏 ❤️

What a wonderful reminder found in the train station, of the food and drink of the Saints! Having just partaken of it with about 400 or more saints at Holy Trinity Church 6:30am Eucharistic Celebration.

Have a blessed day dear sisters and brothers in Christ. 🙏 ♥️