In the gospel of John, Jesus said 'I give you a new commandment; love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have for one another, every one will know that you are my disciples.'
This simple message to 'LOVE,' can easily be felt through the eyes of parents holding their new born baby, you feel their unconditional love. In baptism, the parents sign of faith is passed on to the baby, as true disciples of Jesus.
'Maronites' is a term given to the early followers of Maron, a priest and a hermit. He followed the path walked by Peter and Paul, and spent his life teaching about the faith. After converting an old pagan temple into a church, he ministered to many people from there with the gift of healing and counsel.
Taizé, a little village on a hill in the Burgundy region of southern France, has, since 1940 shared its name with an international, ecumenical, Christian community. The Taizé community, originally founded by Roger Schütz (Br. Roger) is now home to over a hundred brothers from many different countries and Christian backgrounds. As with most religious communities the brothers there make a life-long commitment to communal living, celibacy, and simplicity of life. The brothers live by their own work, not accepting gifts or donations for themselves. Some of the brothers live alongside the poorest of the poor elsewhere in the world, in small fraternities in an attempt to continue the pilgrimage of trust on earth.
Who in their right mind would carry a larger than life size wooden cross across the highlands of Scotland?
You will be surprised, there is always a group of 20 to 30 people who do this every year during holy week in Easter. It may sound daunting at first but once you have done it, you really want to keep doing it every year.
This morning I've come across an article on internet about architectural barriers. Even though we all know what they are, how often do we think about them? Personally, I realise that I think about them very little, possibly only when I have to carry a heavy suitcase around. However, millions of people are affected by them daily.
The monastic way of life, seen often working within its cloistered walls, or in far flung exotic villages, away from the hustle and bustle of city life is where we often find monasteries. Quite the opposite is where we find the Monastic Communities of Jerusalem.
