Spiritual

The liturgical year 2023-2024 will be accompanied by the Evangelist Mark. Below we propose the continuous reading of the Gospel divided into about forty stages, chapter after chapter, verse after verse. The individual episodes were broadcast by Radio Maria for the column “Your word makes me live” presented by Don Giacomo Perego, Pauline biblical scholar and professor of the Missionary Theological Study of PIME. We hope that what we have shared can continue to be of help in enjoying the richness of a Word full of life, whose treasures are never exhausted….

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The Centro San Fedele in Milan – run by the Jesuits and a place of spiritual and cultural reference for many – has launched the initiative of “Masses without haste”: these are monthly celebrations, open to all, but especially designed for young people and friends of the Ignatian family in Milan. They have two special features: after the Gospel and homily, a time of silence is left for personal prayer and for those who wish, can continue with a short sharing in small groups. This is the way in the Ignatian tradition to “hear and taste” the Word before moving…

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On the last Sunday of the Catholic Church’s liturgical year, Chinese Catholic communities celebrated with zeal the Solemnity of Christ the King by participating in relevant pastoral initiatives. After the Eucharistic celebration at the Parish dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Beijing, the parish priest  Fr. Zhang Xiaozhuo presented certificates and small prizes to parishioners who participated in the daily Bible reading. The said event was an initiative inaugurated on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Church. Fr. Zhang stressed the importance of individual and communal reading of God’s Word and announced that…

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Four appointments of spirituality to enter the dimension of Advent, confronting the mystery of the “ultimate realities.” This is the path offered by the “Biblical Tuesdays” of COME AND SEE in which, on the initiative of the Centro Culturale San Paolo, the Bible dialogues with the world of Cinema, Music, and Art. Leading the evenings will be biblical scholar Fr. Giacomo Perego, international coordinator of the Centro Biblico San Paolo, Prof. Alberto Bourlot, professor of Semiology at the Catholic University of Milan, Fr. Fulvio Rossi and Fr. Stefano Negri, art enthusiasts and leaders of the Pastoral Community of Lainate-Pagliera-Barbaiana (Mi).…

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Our mission is to “Lead people all over the world into a transformational relationship with Jesus.” We achieve this by creating powerful media resources and study trips to help people understand the Bible in its original context. As people experience the original context, it transforms their understanding of the Bible, and in turn, has a life-changing impact on their relationship with Jesus.We’re also creating a groundbreaking original series called The Sacred Thread where we’re taking the audience on a worldwide adventure to uncover the original context of the Bible.We believe context is everything, and in order to understand the Bible…

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Compassion is a nonprofit organization working for children in need. The foundation’s goal is to free children from physical, economic, social, and emotional poverty to help them grow into responsible women and men. Founded in 1952, Compassion began operations in Korea following the war by providing food, medical care, education, and Christian education to orphaned children. Today, among its main commitments is to give an illustrated Bible to all Christian children of all denominations in the knowledge that to draw on God’s Word is to drink from a spring of grace and light. See the relaunch of the outreach campaign.

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On Tuesday, Oct. 10, with a meeting titled “I give you the price of the field” (Gen. 23:1-20) held in Milan, the evenings of Jewish-Christian “Meetings in Two Voices” resumed, the result of the collaboration between the Jewish Community, Waldensian Church, Baptist Churches, Jewish-Christian Friendship and Jesuit Fathers Theological Center of Turin and Carlo Maria Martini Foundation and Ambrosianeum Foundation of Milan. The 2023/2024 edition of the two-voice meetings will continue, between Milan and Turin, with the reading of the book of Genesis and, in particular chapters 23 to 29, dedicated to the Jacob cycle. In addition to the Milan…

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The Ordinary Time of the Church is far from over. If Christmas Time and Easter Time highlight the central mysteries of the Incarnation and the passion, death on the cross, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time, on the other hand, take us through the life of Christ: to be converted, to live and conform our lives to Christ. The goal toward which all of history is directed is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King…

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Why do we read in the second chapter of Acts of the Apostles: “While the day of Pentecost was being fulfilled…”? Is it simply an anticipation of the name of the festival that would soon be born with the descent of the Holy Spirit? No, the reference is to a Jewish festival already existing in the time of Jesus. Jesus, like all Jews, had celebrated throughout his life the pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem; one of the most important feasts for Judaism, which fell precisely in the days recounted in Acts of the Apostles. It’s the festival of the…

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The Bible is a spiritual, ethical and symbolic heritage of humanity, a set of important resources for everyone, not only for those who call themselves believers. From this premise-conviction comes the proposal of the ‘School of Biblical Economics’ for a weekend of spiritual exercises (this coming November) aimed primarily, though not exclusively, at people who do not identify with a specific religious belief. The course will be taught by Prof. Luigino Bruni, based on some of his texts, in particular the commentary on the Psalms (L’anima e la cetra, Qiqajon, 2021), the book of Job (La sventura di un uomo…

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Today, completely new forms foster in an engaging way a kid’s encounter with the Bible. The Bible Kids App brings Bible stories to life in an original and creative way, designed for two age groups: that of children aged 6 to 8 and that of those aged 9 to 11. For the upper age group we find Bible Kids Explorers, the App designed for kids to interact with the content on a dynamic level. Click to see the promotional video here here. But there’s more: some 60 of the most familiar and beloved Bible stories are presented through well-crafted films…

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After a hiatus due to the unforeseen pandemic, the Saint Paul National Bible Quiz (SPNBQ) of the Philippine-Macau Province returns in a special edition! With its theme “Igniting the Word. Anew”, students from various schools once again demonstrate their mastery of the Sacred Scriptures- from Genesis to Revelation. That is, all 73 books of the Bible! The Bible Quiz began by enthroning the Word of the Lord, sticking true to its roots in the Word of God as it places the entire event under the power of the Word of God. There are 20 participating schools in this SPNBQ special…

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On the occasion of the 47th National Bible Week last Sept. 7,  Pope Francis received the participants in audience stressing the importance of serving the Word. Commenting on the theme placed at the center of the week (covenant and election), the Holy Father stressed how “God never chooses someone to exclude others, but always to include everyone. God’s election always has this social and missionary dimension. This is an important warning for our times, in which ever-increasing drifts of separation dig ditches and erect fences between persons and between peoples, to the detriment of the unity of the human race,…

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Why don’t we see Catholics proclaiming their faith and the Bible on the streets?Here enters St Paul Street Evangelization (SPSE), a lay-founded, non-profit organization that preaches the Gospel of Jesus to all nations by taking the Catholic Faith to the streets.Founded in May 2012, SPSE is an 0n-street Catholic evangelization organization that provides “an avenue for people to share the person of Jesus Christ and the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith” in a world in need of it. The organization has been growing tremendously in the United States with over 200+ teams actively working. The means these teams…

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In Milan, in a poor house in a neighborhood of first immigration, a small community of Jesuits set out on a common search for a renewed way of life. At the center of their day they placed the word of God, prayer, Ignatian spirituality, and attention to young people, especially nonbelievers. The essential lifestyle, shared domestic burdens, total gratuity in ministry, a minimum of work to secure their daily bread, immersion in the lively social fabric and apostolic work prepared and lived together gave birth to the Community of Villapizzone, today composed of five Jesuits, which has become a point…

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Gate Zero is a new video game aimed at teenagers that a team from the Church of Norway is working on. Those who play the game embark with the characters Max and his cousin who live in the year 2072 on a journey back in time using a time machine to solve a riddle involving their late grandmother. During their quest, the protagonists must perform certain tasks: Max, for example, must walk from the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane and visit the Temple in Jerusalem. Currently, the proto version of the video game that has been launched…

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Lisbon, Portugal became the “capital of the world” last august 1st to 6th as the 16th World Youth Day (WYD) 2023 is held where more than 200 nationalities were represented from all around the globe.More than a million and a half young people gathered to celebrate this gathering of the youth. Every country in the world is represented (except the Maldives).This year’s theme is from Luke 1:39: “Mary arose and went in haste”. The theme is an invitation for all young people to be active in their evangelical and missionary endeavors, that they may not only “stand still” but be…

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“Mary got up and went in haste” (Lk. 1:39) is the biblical quotation chosen by Pope Francis with the motto of the XXVIII World Youth Day, which will be held, for the first time, in Lisbon, capital of Portugal, from July 26 to Aug. 6. The biblical phrase (a quote from the Gospel of St. Luke) opens the story of the Visitation (Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth), a biblical episode that follows the Annunciation (the angel’s announcement to Mary that she would become the mother of the Son of God and which was the theme of the last WYD,…

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