Monastery of Christ in the desert (United States)

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St. Benedict prescribes for a wise, old man, whose age prevents him from roaming about, to be stationed at the gate of the monastery and to greet guests. So meet Brother URL, your own virtual guide. You will be surprised how far this old monk can roam when he has a guest in tow.

Saint John´s Abbey

Link to Saint John´s Abbey

Introduction and Mission

We, the monks of Saint John's Abbey, a community of Catholic Benedictine men, seek God through a common life of prayer, study, and work, giving witness to Christ and the Gospel, in service to the church and the world.

Called together by Christ, we support each other under the Rule of Saint Benedict and our abbot. Our life together encourages learning, creativity in the arts and trades, and care for God's creation.

We serve the Church and the wider community through our prayer and work in education, pastoral ministry, the missions, publishing, and in hospitality to people of all faiths.

Monastic Life According to the Rule

The Rule of Saint Benedict envisions a permanent, autonomous community, seeking God, living closely together under an abbot. The monks make common prayer the heart of every day. The love thus generated by preferring nothing whatever to Christ is expressed and shared in generous hospitality and creative accomplishment.

Daily Schedule

The Saint John's schedule expresses this tradition with Morning Prayer at 7 a.m., Midday Prayer at noon, and Evening Prayer at 7 p.m. Eucharist is celebrated at 5 p.m. daily except on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

About two-thirds of the community live and work at Collegeville. The abbey is located in central Minnesota on 2,400 acres of managed woodland and lakes just off Interstate 94 at exit 156 about 10 miles west of Saint Cloud and 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Benedictine Autonomy

Unlike most other Catholic religious congregations, each Benedictine monastery is autonomous, but the community is grouped juridically into a Congregation according to origin or geographic situation. Benedictine monasteries increase in numbers by starting foundations that later become independent. These Benedictine monastic families — or tribes — unite worldwide in a loose Confederation of Benedictine Monastic Congregations.

Leadership

Saint John's has a history of leadership in theological, secondary and higher education. The monks have made liturgical development and publications, pastoral ministry and missionary zeal, programs in religion and psychiatry, and ecumenical scholarship their special concerns. Commitment to preservation and promotion of culture is evidenced by establishing the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library and in founding Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). The abbey is especially cognizant of its responsibilities for environmental conservation. In 1989 Saint John's was among the first Catholic institutions to adopt a policy concerning allegations of sexual abuse or exploitation

The World Community for Christian Meditation

Link to The World Community for Christian Meditation

The roots of the Community lie in the desert tradition of early Christianity. In 1975 John Main started the first Christian Meditation Centre in London where the first of many weekly meditation groups began to meet. In 1991 the John Main Seminar was held in the old Utopian town of New Harmony, Indiana. It was led by Bede Griffiths and was the basis of his book The New Creation in Christ: Meditation and Community.

Meditators from many parts of the world came together on this occasion to discuss the future of the community that had been forming for many years already as a ‘monastery without walls’. They named it The World Community for Christian Meditation. The symbol of the Community is an ancient image that represents the union of the contemplative and active dimensions of life.

It is now growing through 100+ countries. Individuals, weekly groups and centres share the vision of peace and new consciousness that are the spiritual fruits of meditation. Groups meet in homes, parishes, offices, hospitals, prisons and colleges. A number of Christian Meditation Centres, such as that at Georgetown University, helps to share the teaching. Dialogue with other faiths has arisen from this deepening of Christian. The link with the Benedictine monastic family is especially valued and an Oblate Community grows within the larger community of meditators.

In recent years, initiatives have led to the teaching of Christian meditation to children, as an Eleventh Step practice, and has led to a deeper spiritual understanding among those in the business and financial worlds, those working for peace and justice, clergy of all denominations and the sick and dying.

On the eve of its 20th anniversary, the Community opened its Meditatio program, revised its governance structure and undertook a development of its outreach in crucial areas of social concern, technology and the training of young meditators for the next generation of leadership.

The Meditatio centre in London will coordinate a series of seminars as well as the development of our Internet presence and media. Training programs will be created to share the insights of these seminars with national coordinators and group leaders in the different regions of the community. What is learned at the global level will thus be shared at the local level. Meditatio will also help in the formation of young meditators who come from different parts of the world as interns or as part of the "Oblate year" formation program.

Medio Media, the publishing company of the Community, produces and distributes books, CD’s and DVD’s.

Many countries have national WCCM websites and there are special sites for those working with meditation with children, prisoners, peace and justice and those in recovery.

The Mission Statement of the Community was agreed at the John Main Seminar at New Harmony Indiana in 1991 and forms part of the WCCM Constitution accepted by all national communities: To communicate and nurture meditation as passed on through the teaching of John Main in the Christian tradition and in the spirit of serving the unity of all.

Pray as you go

Link to Pray as you go

World Apostolate of Fatima (Blue Army)

Link to the World Apostolate of Fatima

What is the Blue Army?

The World Apostolate of Fatima – “Our Lady’s Blue Army” - is a Public International Association of the Faithful under The Pontifical Council for the Laity, established as such to speak officially to the world on behalf of Holy Mother Church about the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal in 1917 to three little shepherd children; the message from heaven she delivered to the world during those apparitions; and the profound miracle which was performed in order to verify that she was indeed who she claimed to be, and that her message to the world was authentic.

Contained in Our Blessed Mother’s Fatima Message are the keys to bringing about the conversion of sinners which is necessary to save souls from hell and bring peace to the world. The apostolate’s mission is to help people everywhere learn, live and spread the Message of Our Lady of Fatima in communion with the Church and in concert with the New Evangelization. When it finally succeeds these keys will be in the hands of all of God’s children. Souls will be saved and peace will come to the world. Reparation for sin, the cultivation of virtuous living and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are the core of Our Lady’s message. These are contained in and supported by what have come to be known as Our Lady’s Fatima Requests. It is the teaching of these requests and the assisting of people in living them that the apostolate’s mission is directed.

Contemplative Prayer for Everyone

Link to Contemplative Prayer for Everyone

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10

In 1974, Father William Meninger, a Trappist monk and retreat master at St. Josephs Abbey in Spencer, Mass. found a dusty little book in the abbey library, The Cloud of Unknowing. As he read it he was delighted to discover that this anonymous 14th century book presented contemplative meditation as a teachable, spiritual process enabling the ordinary person to enter and receive a direct experience of union with God.

This form of meditation, recently known as 'Centering Prayer' (from a text of Thomas Merton) can be traced from and through the earliest centuries of Christianity. The Centering Prayer centers one on God.

The Cloud was written, not in Latin but in Middle English - which means that it was intended primarily for laymen rather than for priests and monks. Father Meninger saw that it was a simple book on the ultimate subject, with only 75 brief chapters.

He quickly began teaching contemplative prayer according to The Cloud of Unknowing at the Abbey Retreat House. One year later his workshop was taken up by his Abbot, Thomas Keating, and Basil Pennington, both of whom had been looking for a teachable form of Christian contemplative meditation to offset the movement of young Catholics toward Eastern meditation techniques.

Ten years later, Abbot Keating, now retired and a member of Father Meninger's community of St. Benedict's in Colorado, initiated his highly organized and effective Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. in order to facilitate a spirituality focused on Centering Prayer.

Like Abbot Keating and Father Basil, Father Meninger takes a limited time each year from his silent monastic life to travel the world and teach contemplative prayer. His book, The Loving Search For God is an effort to bring the message of The Cloud of Unknowing to men and women of the 21st Century.

This workshop has been videotaped and rendered as television and audio programs of approximately four and a quarter hours. Father recommends these recordings as a way to learn more about prayer in general and in particular how to practice contemplative meditation.

These recordings are available to you via this website's online store in many formats. You can view portions on your computer screen right now in the Chapel. Join us?

Apostleship of Prayer

Link to Apostleship of Prayer

Since 1844 our mission has been to help Christians live out their desire to serve God with their whole lives and their whole selves. God asks us all to pray for ourselves and for others. To make ourselves a living sacrifice and to pray without ceasing for all the needs of the Church and for the whole world. Since the nineteenth century popes have asked the Apostleship of Prayer to pray for specific intentions. We receive two prayer intentions each month from the Holy Father, pledging ourselves to pray for them every day.

In 2006, the board of the Apostleship of Prayer approved this statement of our mission:

The mission of the Apostleship of Prayer is to encourage Christians to make a daily offering of themselves to the Lord for the coming of God's Kingdom and for the Holy Father's monthly intentions. This habit of prayer encourages a Eucharistic spirituality of solidarity with the Body of Christ and loving service to others. Nourishing this spiritual program is the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Georgia Bulletin, The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta (USA)

Link to The Georgia Bulletin

The Georgia Bulletin, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, strives to inform, form, inspire, educate, and strengthen the religious identity of the members of the Catholic community of North Georgia by providing significant local Catholic news, information, columns, commentaries, and photographs, as well as national and international news related to the Church.

The Bishops´ Conference of Scotland

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Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Japan

Link to Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Japan

Active Parishioner

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Our Mission:

The mission of ActiveParishioner.com is to serve as an online Catholic information center providing resources to help people bridge the gap between our Catholic faith and our daily lives. ActiveParishioner.com is a resource for lay and ordained Catholics and for others interested in the Catholic tradition.

Why the name Active Parishioner?

The Catholic faith is so much deeper and richer than what we can experience in an hour on Sundays. Yet, in our busy lives, it’s easy to not think about our faith as we go about our work, our studies and our leisure activities the rest of the week.

Being an active member of a parish community is foundational to growing in one’s faith. But it’s the starting point, not the end point. The spiritual hunger that is often felt by many individuals points to the need to better integrate our faith with our entire lives.

An Active Parishioner is one who is seeking to better understand the Catholic faith; who is participating in parish liturgies; who is taking God’s input seriously in making life decisions; who keeps an open, two-way communication line with God; who is involved in the local community; and who takes the Good News to heart by reaching out to those in need.

That sounds like a lot to do, but it’s not as hard as it seems. ActiveParishioner.com provides the resources for you to take small steps in deepening your life as a Catholic.

Who Are We?

We are based in the United States in the state of Virginia and have decided to launch this website as a service to Catholics and those interested in the Catholic faith. We have a profound appreciation of the many wonderful Catholic resources that exist and want to share this information with you on an ongoing basis.

The site was founded by Ana Kelly, former Associate Director at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

After many years of volunteering at the parish level and working professionally at the national level within the Catholic Church, it became apparent that there is often a “disconnect” between people and available resources. How does one find good resources to better integrate faith with daily life? We hope to answer this question by helping people connect with the many wonderful Catholic resources that exist.

We are totally self-funded.  Our income comes from the books and other items you purchase from our site and from our ad sponsors.  If you find a resource on our site that you would like to purchase, please do so by following the link to Amazon from our site.  In fact, anything you purchase from Amazon after clicking on a link from our site will provide a referral fee to us, at no cost to you.

We are excited about helping you on your faith journey. We welcome your ideas and suggestions on how we can make this site even more useful for you. Please send us your comments at: apfeedback@activeparishioner.com. Thank you!

The Southern African Bishops´ Catholic Conference

Link to The Southern African Bishops Catholic Conference

Catholic Bishops´ Conference of India

Link to Catholic Bishops´ Conference of India

Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Korea

Link to Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Korea

Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Nigeria

Link to Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Nigeria

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Link to The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Bishop´s Conference in England and Wales

Link to Bishop´s Conference in England and Wales

Santo Nino de Atocha Shrine, Hurley, New Mexico (USA)

Enlace al Santo Niño de Atocha Shrine

The Colonial Revival Church at 204 Cortez, Hurley, New Mexico, was build in 1952, on donated land from Kennecott Copper Corporation. The same site housed the original Infant Jesus Catholic Church established in June, 1916. In typical form of the style, it has double central doors. Our stained glass and wrought Iron doors have the  image of Our Santo Nino de Atocha and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Eight arched stained glass windows portray the images of various saints. The walls also display the Stations of the Cross. Above the new altar in the colonial revival style is the cupola. A magnificent painting by Italian artist, Guiseppe Kadich, was completed in 1952. Restoration will be done by  Spanish Colonial Art Society, Santero artist, Joseph M. Chavez. The painting portrays the Santo Nino de Atocha amidst clouds with a array of angels in adoration.

The Gesundheit Institute

Link to The Gesundheit Institute

The Gesundheit! Institute, a not-for-profit health care organization chartered under the Nonprofit Corporation Act of the District of Columbia, is a project in holistic medical care based on the belief that one cannot separate the health of the individual from the health of the family, the community, the world, and the health care system itself.

Gesundheit’s model is designed to protect care as the core of the medical interaction.

Our model is organized around these principles:

Care is free.
Patients are treated as friends.
Ample time is given to the care interaction (e.g. initial interviews with patients are 3 hours long).
All complementary medicine is welcomed.
The health of the staff is as important as the health of the patients.
Care is infused with fun and play.
Members of the Institute are health practitioners and health educators. Gesundheit’s intention is to model creative problem solving and to spark each medical facility to design their own ideal - to deliver health care in a context that is our ideal design and educate other health care practitioners to design their ideal models for care.

In its 40-year history, Gesundheit has offered care to tens of thousands, given workshops and lectures in over 65 countries, built and supported clinics, schools, and orphanages from El Salvador to Cambodia, and brought the joy of clowning to parts of the world damaged by violence and injustice.

Godtube

Link to Godtube

About Us

Godtube.com is a video sharing platform offering online Christian videos with faith-based, family friendly content. Popular video sections on Godtube include; Christian bands and singers in Christian music videos, Christian comedians and comedy skits, spoofs and parodies in funny videos, cute videos featuring kids and animals, sports videos, Christian news videos and inspirational videos. Be inspired in your walk with Jesus Christ and grow in your knowledge of the Bible with videos highlighting inspirational messages and verses.