Father Peter Fitzgibbon
Monday 7th October each year is special for me. It is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. My life’s education began in a family of a parish of Our Lady of the Rosary and in a school of Our Lady of the Rosary. This October 7th was also the first-year anniversary of the […]
NINE-MONTH NOVENA October 26th – 16th Reflection from Cardinal Raymond Burke Our Lady of Guadalupe’s direction in 1531 was to build a “sacred little house,” a chapel, a church,” in order to draw people into a profoundly personal encounter with her Divine Son, Jesus Christ, in the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist. […]
NINE-MONTH NOVENA September 25th – Fourteenth Reflection from Cardinal Raymond Burke Although the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe occurred nearly 500 years ago, Our Lord still desires that we continue coming to Our Lady of Guadalupe because He desires to speak to us through her as Mother of Divine Grace. The situation today […]
NINE-MONTH NOVENA August 26th – Twelfth Reflection from Cardinal Raymond Burke How does Our Lady propose that we know and serve her Divine Son Who alone is our salvation? Having announced to Saint Juan Diego the truth about herself and her relationship with God, and the truth about her Divine Son, Savior of the World, […]
NINE-MONTH NOVENA 10th Reflection from Cardinal Raymond Burke July 24th When Our Lady interceded to restore the health of Juan Bernardino, she also instructed him to convey the miracle of his healing to the Bishop. It was at this moment, too, that she asked she and her image on the tilma be known by the […]
NINE-MONTH NOVENA Eighth Reflection from Cardinal Raymond Burke June 25th Am I not here, I who have the honour to be your mother? Are you not in my shadow and under my protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my […]
From composer Dan Shutte we have lyrics and music for lines found throughout many of the Psalms. One such composition runs with the joyful chorus: Sing a new song unto the Lord; Let your song be sung from mountains high Sing a new song unto the Lord Singing alleluia I have sung it for years, […]
NINE-MONTH NOVENA Sixth Reflection from Cardinal Raymond Burke May 28th Let us continue to reflect on the Third Apparition, and on the Bishop’s request that St. Juan Diego present a sign. Our Lord calls “blessed” those who have not seen and still believe. And yet, in His mercy, Our Lord accords us an abundance of […]
From Cardinal Burke in his website presenting the Nine Months Novena invoking the Intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Two important background documents. The first is from Saint Juan Diego’s own account of his encounter with the apparition. The story was written by Antonio Valeriano. It is entitled The Nican Mopohua which are the […]
Fourth Reflection – From Cardinal Burke, April 23rd Let us continue to contemplate the importance of perseverance. Though Saint Juan Diego failed to convince the Bishop that his claims were true, he did not let his failure be the cause of despair. Instead, he dutifully followed the Virgin Mother of God’s instruction to return to […]
It’s Easter Sunday evening after a beautiful day following our Masses at Our Lady of Kapiti Church. Easter is a whole week and then several more weeks. Plenty of time for Easter reflections. Here I simply want to offer you an ancient Holy Saturday reflection. Be it noted that in our Credo we affirm that […]
Is there anything we can do? About a world in peril with many Christians confused! This is the question being addressed by American Cardinal Raymond Burke. He is proposing nine months of prayer for divine help. Starting on the 12th of March and running to 12th December, the latter date being the church’s memorial to […]
They had booked accommodation, but their room had been taken. For Mary and Joseph arrived late, but not the child, he had to come at the appointed time, To be born in a hayshed, asleep on the hay. Jesus! Special moment for Mary: Relax, Joseph, she says Together they gaze upon the child. A delightful […]
Very early on the 8th of December, I turn on the light and prepare a cup of tea. What is that outside? A strange brightness. Of course, it is close now to the summer solstice in this part of Earth. At 4.55 am this is dawn. With my cuppa brewed I sit down but not […]
For October 7th, Feast of the Holy Rosary It’s a special day for one who was first formed in a Parish dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. In those days there were fifteen decades of an Our Father, ten Hail Marys, Glory Be, and the Jesus prayer from the children of Fatima, Portugal, 1917. […]
A special image of Church is that of “the Body of Christ”, where Christ is the “head” of the body, and we are the “members” of the body. (I Corinthians 12: 12-27) The concept of the union of Christ and Church is understood even more wondrously in the picture of a new Jerusalem coming down […]
When Pope Francis decreed on January 21 St. Irenaeus (c. A.D. 130-202) a Doctor of the Church, many Catholics were surprised, as many thought that Irenaeus was already so honoured. Pope Francis has indicated that St. Irenaeus should be known as “Doctor of Unity,” because he “was a great spiritual and theological bridge between Eastern […]
We might ask what is this devotion between God and ourselves? And how crucial is it for our personal spiritual growth? For me it is becoming aware of One reaching out to call me by name and looking to reveal devotional intimacy divine. To all who are listening for it, the call to such devotion […]
The Word of God is the opening to intimacy with God. It was handed down orally across many generations before ever being written as Sacred Scripture. Once written down the Word of God came to be the Holy Bible. I have before me texts printed in GOOD NEWS BIBLE, a study edition with essays which […]
Starting with verses from the 2nd Epistle of Saint Peter Chapter 1. They mention TRUE DEVOTION, the topic of our recent posts. Have a look: May you have more and more grace and peace as you come to know our Lord more and more. By his divine power, he has given us all the things […]
One of my Facebook friends has written us as follows: “Ivân, one of the Medjugorje seers, received an urgent message from Our Lady. She said that the war in Ukraine will become even more serious and will spread throughout the world. To stop it, ask everyone to respond quickly and pray intensely now, especially the […]
REFLECTING ON MY OWN INFANT BAPTISM I was about three weeks born. My parents brought me to Father Michael Griffin at St Patrick’s Church, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand. Peter John, I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It was the sacrament of baptism and […]
To baptise children is to ignite in them the flame of faith. As parents co-create with God in conceiving new human life, so too they work with him when they bring their children to be baptised. They ask the Divine Spirit to bestow on their children a supernatural gift that is nothing less than divine […]
GOSPEL for Feast of the Baptism of the Lord in Year B is Mark 1: 7 – 11 In the course of his preaching John the Baptist said: ‘Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. […]
Reading about young Samuel in 1st Samuel Chapter 3 reveals his simple pathway to divine and prayerful intimacy. How about taking a deep new dive yourself into sacred scriptures? In search of similar material for fruitful meditation. Much wisdom, teaching, and spiritual experience are recorded in the Hebrew scriptures, all looking forward to the coming […]
MEDITATION – ASSUMPTION of BLESSED MARY The Apostle John had a vision of a whole world in great danger, especially churches, and a woman and her baby being attacked. In the vision the child was protected, and the woman too. We worship the One who chose and safeguarded Blessed Mary, first for the protection of […]
Feast of Sacred Heart of Jesus Matthew 11.25-28, Luke 10.21-22 From his Sacred Heart in the hearing of those who would open their hearts to his, our Lord Jesus addresses these words to the Father: “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and […]
Humans have spiritual interests. Growing together in communities across generations and locations, peoples developed ways to express their shared spiritual awareness. Spiritualities many and varied were attempts to respond to the desire to know where we have come from, what is our purpose in the here and now, and where we will be when all […]
Someone knew my name before anyone else knew it, knows me, loves me, and knows and loves everyone else. At this stage let me refer to that ‘someone’ simply as One. At first, when I hear this One, I do not know who One is. Eventually however One reaches out to call me by name […]
The church in which I abide is described as a body, its members associated with a Head. One of its first members became an apostle, one who knows the Head so well that he is chosen to take the mentality of the Head and announce it authentically for others to follow. In his new life […]