Latest news with #JubileeofEcclesialMovements
Herald Malaysia
7 hours ago
- Herald Malaysia
Australian sister reflects on graces of jubilee pilgrimage
Traveling more than 10,000 miles to take part in this weekend's Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities, Sister Therese Mills, MGL, spoke to CNA of her great joy as she joined tens of thousands of other pilgrims in Rome. Jun 09, 2025 Sister Therese Mills, MGL, traveled from Australia to attend the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities in Rome, June 8, 2025. | Credit: Sister Therese Mills By Kristina Millare Traveling more than 10,000 miles to take part in this weekend's Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities, Sister Therese Mills, MGL, spoke to CNA of her great joy as she joined tens of thousands of other pilgrims in Rome. A leader of the Missionaries of God's Love Sisters, a charismatic Catholic group founded in Australia in 1987, Mills said her pilgrimage to Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope has been a time of refreshment and renewal. She described the 'amazing' experience of walking through the Jubilee Door of St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, the first day of the special jubilee dedicated to new Catholic movements and associations. Mills recalled 'just opening my hands and just praying that the Lord would refresh and renew my heart and refresh and renew my faith.' 'The thing that blew me away — and what I loved the most — was we were all on this journey together but everyone was speaking and praying in different languages,' she shared with CNA on Pentecost Sunday. Mills called her visit to the Blessed Sacrament chapel inside the papal basilica a 'God moment' that she will not forget. 'I just sat before Jesus and bawled my eyes out to be honest,' she said with a laugh. 'I was very overwhelmed with his love … the gift of being with him in this place, and with the universal Church.' The approximately 70,000 pilgrims participating in the weekend jubilee had the opportunity to explore different churches in Rome and attend music and entertainment events organized by various ecclesial groups. A few of the hundreds of new Catholic associations taking part in the June jubilee include the Neocatechumenal Way, Catholic Action, Communion and Liberation, the Catholic Shalom Community, the Community of Sant'Egidio, the Focolare Movement, and CHARIS International. During his homily at the Vigil Mass, Pope Leo described the new and diverse Church communities gathered around him as 'the fruits of the Second Vatican Council' who are 'grounded in the one Lord Jesus Christ' entrusted with 'a single mission.' Mills attended both Pope Leo's Pentecost Masses — the Vigil on Saturday night and one on Sunday morning. 'I really love being part of a universal Church, being united as one, and coming together to pray for the Spirit,' Mills said. In the days leading up to the official jubilee festivities, Mills undertook a pilgrimage to holy sites in Rome linked to patron saints of her Australian-based community, including St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Therese of Lisieux, and St. Catherine of Siena. The first Missionaries of God's Love Sisters household was formed in the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn in 1988. Since then, the religious sisters have lived and ministered in the Australian cities of Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, and Sydney, and led outreach missions around the country and in other Asia-Pacific nations, including Fiji and Papua New Guinea.--CNA
Herald Malaysia
9 hours ago
- General
- Herald Malaysia
Pope Leo at Pentecost Vigil: God intends all to live as one
Pope Leo leads a Pentecost Vigil prayer service for pilgrims taking part in the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and new Communities. Jun 09, 2025 The 'wide-open' embrace of St Peter's Square (@Vatican Media) By Christopher WellsSome 70,000 pilgrims from more than 100 countries took part in the Vigil of Pentecost in Saint Peter's Square Saturday evening, as part of the festivities for the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New Communities. After a 'pre-Vigil' consisting of prayer, song, and witness testimonies, the jubilant crowd of pilgrims was joined by Pope Leo, who led a Liturgy of the Word focused on the unity that is a gift of the Holy Spirit. 'St Peter's Square, with its wide-open and welcoming embrace, magnificently expresses the communion of the Church,' which is experienced in the various groups present, Pope Leo said his homily. Synodality unites us to all The Holy Father went on to highlight the concept of synodality, rooted in the communion of the three Persons of the Trinity and as 'God-with-us'; and pointing to the future. Where the Spirit is, the Pope said, 'there is movement, a journey to be made.' Pope Leo explained that this journey unites us to all of humanity, with the Holy Spirit teaching us to walk in unity, in contrast to the violence and division that marks our world. 'The earth will rest, justice will prevail, the poor will rejoice and peace will return,' he said, once we no longer act as predators, but as pilgrims; no longer each of us for ourselves, but walking alongside one another.' 'God created the world so that we might all live as one,' the Pope continued, explaining that 'Synodality' is the term the Church uses to describe this unity. 'Evangelization is always God's work' Finally, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the work of evangelization, which does not mean trying to take over the world, but refers instead to 'the infinite grace that radiates from lives transformed by the Kingdom of God.' Evangelization, then, can be understood as the way of the Beatitudes, the path chosen by Jesus. To follow that Path, Pope Leo said, 'we have no need of powerful patrons, worldly compromises, or emotional strategies. Evangelization is always God's work.' The Holy Father encouraged members of ecclesial movements to be attached to their particular Churches and their local parish communities. 'Together with the bishops and in cooperation with all the other members of the Body of Christ, all of us will then work together harmoniously as one,' he said; and then, 'the challenges facing humanity will be less frightening, the future will be less dark, and discernment will be less complicated… if together we obey the Holy Spirit.'--Vatican News
