Fons et Ignis

On this Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception, let us reflect on the immense gift that was given to Mary when she was conceived by her mother, St. Anne. This gift is no less than God's Mercy. Why would Mary have any use of God's Mercy when she has already 'found favor with God'? Listen to our podcast and find out the answer. Have a blessed feast day!  

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Image: James Villanueva 

Music: Dominique Fauchard  

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There is so much say about God's Mercy and Love, and much more to reflect on when we meditate on it and receive His grace daily through prayer and the Sacraments. God is waiting. God is ready. God is rich in love for YOU.   

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Image: James Villanueva 

Music: Dominique Fauchard  

For more artworks by James Villanueva, you may also visit my Facebook page: fb.com/artprayerworks

There is so much say about God's Mercy and Love, and much more to reflect on when we meditate on it and receive His grace daily through prayer and the Sacraments. God is waiting. God is ready. God is rich in love for YOU.   

Please don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel. You may also share this with your friends and use my topics to enrich your group discussions. Have a blessed day!   

Image: James Villanueva Music: Dominique Fauchard  

For more artworks by James Villanueva, you may also visit my Facebook page: fb.com/artprayerworks

Luke Chapter 19: 1-10 Zacchaeus the Tax Collector  

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”  But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”  Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  

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Jesus always makes the first move. "You did not choose me. It was I who chose you", He said. And indeed, Christ comes to our encounter in a very particular moment in our lives. Here are some of my personal reflections on Bible passages describing the different meetings of Jesus with different individuals. Have you met Him yet?   

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From the Gospel according to John: 

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman  Now he [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.  When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”  Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”  “I have no husband,” she replied.  Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”  “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”  “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”  Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”  Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”   

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Jesus always makes the first move. "You did not choose me. It was I who chose you", He said. And indeed, Christ comes to our encounter in a very particular moment in our lives. Here are some of my personal reflections on Bible passages describing the different meetings of Jesus with different individuals. Have you met Him yet?   

Please don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel. You may also share this channel with your friends and use my topics to enrich your group discussions. Have a blessed day!   

Image: James Villanueva l Music: Dominique Fauchard  

For more artworks by James Villanueva, you may also visit my Facebook page fb.com/artprayerworks

Pier Giorgio led a short but meaningful life. He did not waste any time; he loved those who are close to him, and he event went further to love the least of our brethren. Through his love for God which he nurtured with care, he was able to bring the same love to everyone else. We too have the same choice. Let us become that 'love' for others today.  Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us!   

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Image: James Villanueva Music: Dominique Fauchard  

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While most of us may expect that saints can only be found cloistered in some hidden monastery, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is a natural outdoors man. He does not only promote the love of nature, but also the love of prayer, and how having such can make a really big difference in our lives.   

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Image: James Villanueva Music: Dominique Fauchard  

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Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is a model of charity and devotion to Jesus for the youth. Discover his childhood virtues and how Christ's presence in the Eucharist played an important role in his growing love for those in need.  

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Image: James Villanueva Music: Dominique Fauchard  

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There is so much say about God's Mercy and Love, and much more to reflect on when we meditate on it and receive His grace daily through prayer and the Sacraments. God is waiting. God is ready. God is rich in love for YOU.   

Please don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel. You may also share this with your friends and use my topics to enrich your group discussions. Have a blessed day!   

Image: James Villanueva Music: Dominique Fauchard  

For artworks by James Villanueva, you may also visit my Facebook page: fb.com/artprayerworks

The Scriptures and the lives of the saints resonate the Mercy of God. And this should encourage us to always hope in His Mercy. He knows us down to our very core, and wishes to make us better by forming us in his school of love. Time and time again His Mercy remains steadfast--ever awesome, everlasting.   

If you wish to understand more the Jewish traditions on Mercy and how it forms part of the Scriptures, go to: www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-13-attributes-of-mercy/  

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Image: James Villanueva Music: Dominique Fauchard  

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When our minds wander off during prayer, one way to get ourselves recollected once is again is to remember our neighbors and pray for them. In that way, we are carried away by Love back to Love again.

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Distractions are a normal part of prayer life. But they can be discouraging at times and when not handled well may exhaust your attentions. Here are some simple ways of dealing with distractions during prayer.   

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Image: James Villanueva Music: Dominique Fauchard  

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Let us keep in mind St. Teresa of Avila's simple yet meaningful definition of prayer: an intimate friendly exchange where we talk we this God whom we know loves us.

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Music: Dominique Fauchard

“For me, prayer is a surging of the heart; a simple glance towards heaven, a cry of gratitude and love." Love surrounds the works of St. Therese of the Child-Jesus. Let us reflect on how she simplifies her praying experience to one of love and see how we can do the same.   

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Also please visit and subscribe to my YouTube channel: Fons et Ignis. Have a blessed day!

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Music: Dominique Fauchard

The closer our relationship is with someone, the simpler our communication becomes; that even silence becomes a language more powerful than words.  

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Also please visit and subscribe to my YouTube channel: Fons et Ignis. Have a blessed day!

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Music: Dominique Fauchard

As we nourish our earthly relationships with time and presence, so do we nourish our relationship with God in prayer.  

Please don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to my channel. You may also share this with your friends and use my topics to enrich your group discussions. 

Also please visit and subscribe to my YouTube channel: Fons et Ignis. Have a blessed day!   

For artworks by James Villanueva, you may also visit my Facebook page fb.com/artprayerworks

Music: Dominique Fauchard