Bishop Greg Homeming OCD 2022 Lenten Talk 1 - St John of the Cross - Diocese of Lismore, Australia 

Thank you so much Father Bishop Greg for the Online Holy Mass today. Thank you Lord. AMEN.

We are nothing without God. Trust in him and his Divine Providence. I learned this from two years of homelessness as a woman in her 50s. It has hard but God brought me through and brought me closer to Him. I thank Him for my homelessness.

Pray for god bless Sarah, Marie, Sandy and Jacob are good to well from Thomas Amen.

He would see persection as a blessing. Blessed are you who suffer persecution for my sake. It was a gift. A blessing in disguise. Mary MacKillop said the same. Some of my greatest trials were my biggest blessings.

Dear Bishop Greg Thankyou for your talks during this difficult time. ALL people need to hear and need your deep faith and love of God. Many Blessings

Bishop Greg, how well you preach and bring comfort to your people in distress through the life of St John of the Cross in whom you have so much confidence and draw inspiration from. May the people of Lismore be filled with the love of God, and be blessed with the wisdom which flows through your Lenten Talks.

Bishop, for 2 years you have been my covid parish. I am able to dedicate this Lent to peace in Europe and for flood recovery in Lismore. God bless you all.

Thank you father for your holy presence here today. A powerful opening. We miss you at the St Ives parish in Sydney but your presence is wider now and touches more people. Blessings to you.

Thank you Bishop Greg for this new insights and aspects with our life with God. Prayering for all to recover from the flood. God bless all. 🙏

Many prayers, donations and support are needed for all those suffering from the floods. May God be with them all and may they receive all the help they need to survive this horror. Many Blessings to them all. 🙏

Thank you bishop Greg. We pray for all affected by flood & war.🙏

Stunning talk, thank you Greg.

Hello Bishop...Blessed to have scrolled on your past Lenten Reccollection..and now...this one! Thank you Lord!

I was planning to come to Lismore after visiting Grafton and Maclean. My mothers grandparents came from an island in the Clarence River i wanted to visit. Lucky i have not managed to make it there yet.

Thank you for your thoughts and well-chosen music.

Pray for the conversion of sinners. Sometimes, one man's sins is a nation's pain.

Amen....❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹🌹🔥🔥🔥🥀🥀🔥🍉🌹🌹🌹🥀🔥🙏🙏🙏

Thank you Bishop Greg I needed to hear t reading this day as I am struggling with pain so May God bless you and these wonderful talks from Canada

I first came upon St John of the Cross in 1974 in my first year at St Columba's Springwood. One of the seminarians had come back from buying second hand books in Sydney and he laid them out for all of us to see in the library. Just one book took my eye: 'Dark Night of the Soul' by St John of the Cross. He passed it on to me and from that time onwards the writings of St John of the Cross became guideposts for my life. Everything he expounds in his four treatises on the soul's ascent to the lofty heights of Mt Carmel and the spiritual marriage in Living Flame of Love and Spiritual Canticle are related back to Sacred Scripture. His life was extraordinary, punctuated throughout with trials and sufferings which he met with calm and serenity. His mother formed his single minded devotion to Jesus and from the time he was a small child to the end of his life the Virgin Mother of God was with him. St Thomas Aquinas is called 'The Angelic Doctor' and St John of the Cross 'The Doctor of Divine Love'. I consider myself to have had a very fortunate life. I was schooled in the Lismore Diocese by the Marist Fathers at St John's Woodlawn. They were rigorous in imparting the Catholic Faith and their education standards for the secular world were streets ahead of the education that is meted out today in any school anywhere in Australia. Last week I saw St Carthage's Cathedral inundated by the flood that swept through Lismore. I looked in utter disbelief. This beautiful church is perched up on a grassy hill out of harm's way, but harm came its way. I believe this is unprecedented. I never thought I'd see the day when a Discalced Carmelite was consecrated Bishop of Lismore. I remember Bishops Farrelley and Satterthwaite from the 1960's & 70's. Both were good, holy and honourable men. You are all in my prayers. There is not a town in Australia that has seen more floods than Lismore in the last 100 years. I remember in 1967 there were three floods in a single month. What strikes me most about this town is that the people keep coming back after each flood. That is uncommon, and that is not possible without a community spirit of individuals coming together to help each other in time of need. I will give generously to your flood appeal Bishop Greg Homeming. Thank you for your beautiful insight into the soul of St John of The Cross during his nine months of captivity in Toledo where he was tortured, humiliated and starved by his own. "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to him who judges justly". Translation of St John of the Cross's 'Dark Night of The Soul' by E Allison Peers On a dark night Kindled in love with yearnings- Oh happy chance! I went forth without without being observed My house being now at rest. In darkness and secure, By the secret ladder disguised- Oh happy chance! In darkness and in concealment, My house being now at rest. In the happy night In secret, when none saw me, Nor I beheld aught, Without light or guide, Save that which burned in my heart. This light guided me More surely than the light of noonday To the place where He (well I knew whom) Was awaiting me- A place where none appeared. Oh night that guided me, Oh night more lovely than the dawn, Oh night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed in the Beloved! Upon my flowery breast, Kept wholly for Himself alone, There He stayed sleeping, and I caressed Him, And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze. The breeze blew from the turret As I parted His locks; With His gentle hand He wounded my neck Causing all of my senses to be suspended. I remained lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved. All ceased and I abandoned myself, leaving my cares forgotten among the lillies.

Good introduction of his co-founder. So the waters of God' S creation came to overflow into your church. Open all the church doors so that the water flows in and out without resistance. Then the damage will be negligble as it was in the mosques of Aceh when the tsunami came. If there is mud in your church just clean it up. But here's the challenge and opportunity for you dear bishop make your church like Noah' Ark. Sir, you are not the modern day St.John of the Cross but recent events have made you the modern day Noah. 2nd reflection- what can we learn from Noah and his floods? What are the lessons for our patience, fortitude and resilence in the time of adversity. How does adversity strengthen our faith?

There is a massive Statue of St. Michael the Archangel in Independence Square in Kiev Ukraine. They have a great devotion to him, so it is only fitting that we, the world, pray St. Michael's Prayer for Peace in Ukraine and in the whole world. Set it to the homepage on the screens as a reminder to pray it often…. “St Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

Bishop I want to become Catholic but I have no way of making it to mass is watching it on RU-vid good enough

The gospel of salvation -how to be saved for sure! The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we make Him Lord of our life. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we repent and get baptized. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we fear God and work righteousness. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we confess our sins and ask for His forgiveness. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we receive Him as our personal savior. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we believe He died for our sins. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we invite the Lord into our heart. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we receive the Eucharist of holy communion. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we keep the commandments and sell our possessions. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we forgive those who have trespassed against us. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we stop sinning. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we walk the isle and join the church. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we pray the sinners prayer. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we are confirmed. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we deny ourself, take up our cross and follow Him. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we observe Yom Kippur. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we endure unto the end. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we kneel at an old fashioned altar and cry a hot scalding bucket of tears. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if while listening to "Just as I am" we decide to walk the isle and give our heart to the Lord. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we pray the rosary. The gospel is not "Christ died for our sins" if we DO ANYTHING! Don't pervert it by adding to it. The gospel is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 15:1-4. "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel... By which also ye are saved,... how that Christ died for our sins... he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures." Just keep it simple. (2 Corinthians 11:3) God says salvation is found through faith in the finished cross-work and resurrection (Ephesians 2:8-9.) It is only faith that can justify and count for our righteousness. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5) Salvation is not getting our sins forgiven, it's believing they already are! Source - Truth Time Radio - also on youtube - for solid bible study!