fatherfladerblog

Jan 28 2025 100 ep. 359

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Meditations and mutterings from a Catholic priest

Religion & Spirituality

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Hope in the Lord

Everyone has issues in life which give rise to uncertainty about the future, to doubts and even anxiety. In this meditation we pray about the virtue which gives reassurance in these situations, the important virtue of hope. We use Pope Francis’ document for the Jubilee Year 2025, Spes non confundit, a beautiful commentary on hope, […]

Learning from the humanity of Christ

Everyone wants to be a better person. But what do we mean by this? Who is the standard, the model? It is obviously Christ himself, perfect man as well as perfect God. In this meditation we use texts from Scripture to consider the humanity of Christ and some of the many virtues we can […]

Journey to Bethlehem

In this season of Advent we can learn much about how to focus our spiritual life from Our Lady, as she makes her way to Bethlehem with St Joseph. Among the lessons Mary teaches us are: Docility to the will of God Self-giving to others Bearing hardships without complaining Purifying our soul through penance Life […]

The hope of Heaven

As we know from children’s catechisms, the reason why we exist is to know, love and serve God on earth in order to be happy with him forever in heaven. We know it but we tend to forget it in the busyness and distractions of everyday life. In this meditation, we consider how we can […]

One in the Communion of Saints

One of the most consoling truths of our faith is the reality of the Communion of Saints – the Church triumphant in heaven, the Church suffering in purgatory, and the Church militant on earth, all helping one another. In this meditation we use texts from Scripture, the Catechism, St Bernard, St Therese of Lisieux and […]

Humility

One of the most fundamental virtues is humility. Many of the saints, among them St Augustine and St John Vianney, stress how important it is. In this meditation, we use texts of Sacred Scripture, St Augustine, St John Vianney and St Josemaria to consider how: Humility is the foundation of the other virtues Our Lady […]

The spiritual Olympics

Athletes go through a rigorous training regime in order to achieve their goal of winning a medal in the Olympic games. Our goal is much higher: eternal life with God in heaven. We too need a training regime. In this meditation we use texts of Scripture, especially of St Paul, and of saints like Augustine, […]

Heart in God, not in goods

The Scriptures invite us to love God above all things. But in an affluent society, where goods abound, it is easy to put our heart more in goods than in God. In this meditation we draw on texts of Scripture, Popes Paul VI and Francis, and Fathers of the Church, to consider how: We must […]

Loving with the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is love and, as St Paul writes, love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Since God has loved us first, we should love God with our whole heart, and love one another. In this meditation we use the Scriptures and a letter […]

Hope in the Resurrection

When the women went at dawn to anoint the body of Christ on Easter Sunday, they didn’t know how they would remove the huge stone that closed the tomb. To their surprise, they found the stone already removed. In this meditation we use the homily of Pope Francis in the Easter Vigil in St Peter’s […]