Every year around the Ash Wednesday, Catholics around the world go to the churches to pray, receive ashes on their forehead and ... start anew.

This year, I would like to offer my 5 tips for Lent, hoping that it can inspire you to become closer to God, be nicer to yourself and one another.

In 1997, Pope Saint John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life. This celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd. This Feast is also known as Candlemas Day; the day on which candles are blessed symbolising Christ who is the light of the world. 

On that occasion, I am having a conversation with the Capuchin Friar - Fr John Nguyen and the priest of the Diocese of Parramatta - Fr Andrew Rooney.

We chat about the similarities and differences in our way of offering our life to God and living our vocation.

Enjoy the talk.

Fr Gerard O'Dempsey, Parish Priest at The Good Shepherd Parish, explains to us the parts of the Mass and their meaning.

This is Part 1 of our chat about the Eucharist.

- What is the meaning of words: Eucharist and Mass?

- Does Penitential Rite removes our sins?

- What is the Liturgy of the Word?

- Why do we stand and sit during the Mass?

- What does "collect" mean?

and some more important questions have been answered describing what is happening during the Mass from the beginning till the end of the Liturgy of the Word.

In this Episode we talk about the meaning of Advent, our struggle of being distracted, trying to focus. It is never easy but God understands our struggle and is there for us. 

It's almost the end of the year and many of us feel stressed and overwhelmed. How to make these last few weeks of the year meaningful? What is the Church year and how the two are connected? In this episode I talk about some possible ways of making this time more meaningful for us. 

What is your understanding of HOPE in your life? What is the meaning of hope in the Bible? When do pray with hope and for hope? What are the moments of hopelessness in your life? How do you overcome them? 

Sometimes we question the effectiveness of prayer, yet when feeling desperate, ask others to pray for us. Is this meaningful? Does it make a difference? In this episode I share some possible answers to these questions.

On October 22 we celebrate the liturgical memorial of  Saint John Paul II. This day and a fact that we now have first Sanctuary of JP II in Gosford, motivated me to talk about JP II in my life, about the Church process for sainthood and invite you to reflection on your favourite saints. 

The word Evangelisation appears in Church world quite often. Very often we are not aware of its meaning and impact on our life in faith. It is very common that people limit the act of Evangelising to the work of priest and religious. In this episode I talk about responsibility of evangelising which each one of us has from the day of our Baptism. I share my thoughts on what is a key to Evangelisation. 

In this Episode I reflect on different ways of encountering God through the intercession of Blessed Mary. I talk about the Rosary prayer and other Marian prayers and propose some possible ways of overcoming difficulties in finding our connection with Mary, including falling asleep when we pray. 

In this episode are explore different reasons and ways to be grateful to God. We unpack some wonderful quotes of Brother David Steindl-Rast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtBsl3j0YRQ) as well as explore the meaning of holiness. 

In this episode we talk about 'Belonging' and some possible ways of overcoming feelings of not belonging, especially in the time of transitions in our life.
The main audio track is originally from the video created for the Saturday Sessions, in the Diocese of Parramatta. You can watch this on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tgp_O17o5w 

How did the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II inspired me to talk about the Kingdom of God? How do we live the Kingdom of Heaven here and now? In this Episode I share some reflections on Biblical sources of its meaning. I also talk about the charism and mission of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth left by Blessed Frances Siedliska as a legacy: spreading the Kingdom of God .

This time I chat with Fr Gerard O’Dempsey, a parish priest of The Good Shepherd Parish (https://www.facebook.com/goodshepherdparishplumpton, http://www.goodshepherd.org.au), where I go every Sunday to worship and serve as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.

As we talk, I learn the reasons why Fr Gerard loves Queensland more than New South Wales, how did he become a Capuchin Friar, what does he like cooking and where his passion for buses come from .

The main part of my chat is to unpack the meaning of church Liturgy. In his final message Fr Gerard encourages us to come to Sunday Mass with our little THANK YOU thoughts and intentions and bring them to God during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Enjoy the talk. 

Change is in the air? What change? We don't know yet, but the statistics (NCLS research of 2021) and experiences of many people are telling us clearly that some change would need to happen into the future of the Church. We pray that we let Jesus lead us to His Father and help us to listen to the Holy Spirit - for and through this change.

Why people go/don't go to the Church? What are the two "tables" of the Eucharist? What does it mean that the Eucharist is a MYSTERY?
This Episode 25 reflects on the above questions and the reality of Jesus's unending love left for us in the Eucharist.

Who decides what readings are chosen during  the Mass? How many readings are meant to be read on weekdays and Sundays? What to do when our mind drifts away during the homily? Those and more questions are answered in this episode. 

What we know about Jesus and His Church is what we learn through the catechism and participating in the sacraments. But ... what if... we meet Jesus face to face and are able to have a conversation with Him - about life, about His vision for the Church. What would He say? What questions would you ask Him?

In this shorter episode I reflect on the question which we rarely ask ourselves: Why do I love God? Why do you love God? Something to ponder about this week.

How often do you find yourself surprised by unexpected events in your life? How often do you wonder about the meaning of the things which you did not see coming? In this Episode we try to stop, reflect and learn how to "leave to God", how to rely on His immeasurable love. 

In this episode we explore what does God teach us through his loving kindness which we discover in the book of Psalms, in other people and our own desire to be more like God. 

The word VOCATION is understood and misunderstood by many. In this episode we talk about life vocation, specific vocations of our life, finding the vocation within chosen way of living and God's example of finding and pursuing what is "our best". 

How do do you experience the presence of God in your life? Do you feel God's real presence? We all struggle with these questions! In this episode, I attempt to give a few suggestions on learning from our human relationships how to experience and deepen our relationship with God. 

In this Episode we talk about what does it mean to trust God and why it is challenging at times. We learn the Hebrew words from the Bible describing trust: חסה -chasah, בטח - betach, יחלל - yachal and their meaning. Finally, we try to name the reasons why it is not always easy to trust God. 

In this chat I learn about Fr Raass vocation to priesthood.

Fr Raass (https://divineword.au/news/news-events/item/905-fr-asaeli-raass-svd-elected-as-next-provincial) was "offered to God" by his grandma. Did he have anything to say?

We also talk about his understanding of what it means to be a missionary and the power of a simple human hug.

In this episode I share my understanding what does it mean to "let go" of things, people and events in our life. How active and intentional it needs to be. I share my own understanding of what it means to "let God" be in charge of our hearts and minds. I finish with a personal story how hard it sometimes is to pray to God with "boundless confidence" trusting Him at all times. 

In this Episode I am reflecting on the gift of life: how challenging and surprising it is and how it leads me to being grateful.

In this Episode we explore different ways of learning how to be more patient and how we can learn to be patient like God. We share some scenarios helping us to understand how important is to practice patience. We learn that God understands our impatience and.... does not get impatient with us :).

In this Episode I continue the reflection on the topic of disappointing God. When we think about disappointing, ultimately we might ask ourselves if we can impress God. I offer you my "yes" and "no" answer and invite you to find your own answers.

In this Episode we talk about why the Pentecost is called the Birthday of the Church and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. We remind ourselves about our Baptism and Confirmation we received the Holy Spirit in the Church for the first time and what does it mean for our life in faith. We ponder about the gifts and fruits of the Spirit we need the most.  

This episode builds our talk about passion as we talk about expectations and disappointments. Many of us are disappointed in ourselves and/ or others. What we experience as human- we project on God. Can we disappoint God? Let's try to find an answer together.

In this 10th episode we talk about life passions and how do they connect with our own life purpose. We look at Jesus and passions which motivated Him in His life and mission on earth. 

In this Episode I talk about the challenges of what it means to be at home with your heart, how to connect with Jesus who is: the Way, the Truth and the Life in the context of our life through our prayer and action. We touch the topic of Pope Francis' Encyclical Letter "Laudato Is" and the 7 years Action plan which we are all called to follow. Finally, we try to define  the term "Ecological spirituality" (https://laudatosiactionplatform.org) and share some examples on how to live it. 

In this Episode we will talk about the importance of listening before speaking. We will explore what it means to listen to the voice of God in our heart and how to become the voice of God in words and action. We will look into some examples from the Old and New Testament on how to be a messenger of the voice of God. Listening and speaking will be something that we will do from the moment we wake up, till the time we will go to sleep again at night. Are words matching our actions? Are we trying to follow God’s voice or allow other voices to take over? Let us be gracious and kind.

With this episode I would like to introduce a new series of shorter Episodes called "10 minutes from the heart" (on the logo marked with the little ❤️) . From time to time I would like to share just one short topic which might encourage your own reflection. Today's "10 minutes from the heart" is about the gift of time. God’s gift of time is precious. We all have it from the day we were conceived to the day we will meet God again. He gives us enough time and asked us to use it the best we can.

Many of the episodes shared in this podcast are simply sharing people's stories.

Have you ever reflected what is your story?

I know people who tell me: I don't have a story!

This is not true. You have a story, because you have the gift of life.

We have a story because God wants us to continue ti share His love with others.

Each story is different

Each story is unique

Each story has a purpose

Each story is an integral part of the picture/ puzzle.

Your story matters and you matter.

What is your life story as you see it today?

In this episode I am joined by my best friend and a writer, Elizabeth, as we talk about SUNDAY- what is the significance of the day, why do we have the day off from work and how does Sunday connect with the Jewish tradition of Sabbath. Finally, we will try to see what does Sunday/Sabbath mean for us and how do we connect it with our life in faith.

In this episode I  invite you to think about what does the Bible say about Easter and what does it mean for us. This is not a historical reconstruction of the events of Jesus’s resurrection. It is a story told and re-told by people who MET RESSURECTED Jesus and shared it with others.
What do we learn from Easter and resurrection of our Lord?

-Appreciation of the gift of life. God meets us at every stage of our life journey. He knows what works and what doesn’t work for us and meets us there.

-Hope for the life after death. Easter invites us to the invisible but yet to come reality.

-Faith is a continuous journey. Of the life and death cycle which repeats many times in our life in many ways. Happy Easter everyone!

In this episode we unpack all significant events and moments of Jesus' last week on earth by following what is written in the Bible. We attempt to see the connection between what is happening in Jesus’ life, our lives and the liturgy of the Church. Finally, we think about simple ideas to commemorate each day of this week in action.

In this episode we will talk about what overthinking is and how to overcome it. Is it possible that the members of the Holy Family: Mary, Joseph and Jesus experienced what is the reality of all of us? Were they overthinking? How do they give us an example to overcome it? 

In this episode we will talk about prayer. What is my and your experience of prayer on our life journey. We will unpack different ways of understanding prayer as an expression of our relationship with God. 

In this first episode I would like to welcome you to this podcast, share a few words about myself and explain the reasons for podcasting. I hope that you will enjoy with me a journey of seeking God together. I hope that the topics I plan to share with you will be something you will be interested in. I look forward to talking and listening with you where is God in everyday life. 

In this episode I talk with Anthony Costa https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-costa-1ab8bb48/: A husband, father, musician and the owner of MInistry Digital Media https://www.ministrydigitalmedia.com.au .

Anthony shares with us stories about his journey in life and a desire to stay obedient to God's plan towards him. He talks about many ways he shares his skills and learn continuously.

Anthony talks about the impact of Covid on the milestone in his professional career, how he uses AI and why his daughter will not receive the mobile phone when she will start the high school.

Enjoy the chat.

In this short reflection upon my return from overseas I reflect on gaining life experiences:

- When and how do we gain them?

- How long does it take to learn ?

I share with you a short story found on the Internet and encourage you to reflect on your own life experiences.

This is the last chat/ interview I had privilege to record with our Sisters while attending the meeting in Rome. In this episode I talk to Sr Janice Fuller, a true champion of the leadership in our congregation. We learn about her life, experiences and love to our congregation.

Enjoy the chat.

This is another chat with the sister of my Congregation. Her name is Sr Paula Kozlowska. Sr Paula ministers in our mission in Ghana: https://www.nazarethfamily.org/?page_id=1903

Her experiences for the past 7 years of being there include learning new food, customs and bits and pieces of Twi language.

Enjoy the chat.

Have you ever wondered what is the Charism and Spirituality of Nazareth or any other religious congregation?

In this episode I talk with Sr Marie Kielanowicz, csfn, a member of our Congregation from our Congregation. Sr Marie not only explains some of those big terms, but also brings very interesting facts from the history of the church and our Congregation.

Enjoy the chat.

It was a my great joy to chat about life, vocation, internationality and being a migrant, with Sr Emmanuela Le from the Holy Family Province, USA.

https://nazarethcsfn.org/about-us/sisters-stories?rec_id=15

In this Christmas edition of the Podcast I share my thoughts on the reality in which God comes to us as Man. I reflect on the impact His coming brings to our life and the fact that we are living in the reality of Kingdom of God on earth and realities of things which are still yet to come.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas.

In this Episode I reflect on where and how we can experience God's responses to our life dilemmas, especially at the hard times.

As we celebrate the month of June, I encourage you to reflect on the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/litany-to-the-sacred-heart-of-jesus-270

Finally, I share with you how you can be an instrument of the Holy Spirit, of God's voice to others.

Have a great week everyone.