Upcoming Parousia Fundraising Dinner

Once again it has been another busy month at Parousia, as we build towards our first fundraising dinner since 2019. Although these last couple of years have been extremely challenging, we are very grateful to have experienced many blessings. However, as you may imagine, we are now in a position where some extra dollars, along with pledges of other forms of support, would be very useful in advancing the work that we are doing. Not only that, but we have all sorely missed the opportunity to gather as a faith community, sharing the Good News and experiencing the joy and strength that comes from good Christian fellowship. We have only just recently started back with some small ‘Live’ events in the form of Bible studies and similar small group gatherings, which has really encouraged us that we can re-build this aspect of our apostolate. But, as you will know, nothing comes for free and by re-introducing these events back into a regular schedule, we need to allocate resources in that direction. We hope you can all come along and enjoy a wonderful night and consider how you can support our work.

Above: Ruben Quezada, author of ‘For Greater Glory: The Official Companion to the Epic Film, will be the keynote presenter at our fundraising dinner

Our keynote speaker for the night will be Ruben Quezada -an expert on the Cristero War, who will be speaking on the topic of ‘Identifying Persecution‘. Also speaking on the night will be Dr Robert Haddad, who will be updating us on the progress of our ‘Parousia Academy‘, as we near the first anniversary of this exciting intiative. 

If you would like to attend this year’s dinner, the details are as follows:

Venue: ‘Waterview’ in Bicentennial Park, Olympic Park

Date: Thursday, 12th May 2022

Time: 6:30pm

Cost: $99 per person

To book your tickets, please visit our website at https://store.parousiamedia.com/ and click the banner at the top of the page. Alternatively, please call us on (02) 8776-8778 and we can organise your tickets this way.

We look forward to seeing you all there. It has been far too long!

Ruben Quezada – Australian Tour

Many people of faith today are asking “What is the price of religious liberty?” In the 1920’s many Catholics in Mexico answered this crucial question at the cost of their very lives. The major motion picture, ‘For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada‘, released in 2012, tells the epic tale of Mexico’s heroic struggle for religious freedom in a little-known conflict called the Cristero War – but many questions still remain.

Join Ruben Quezada on his Australian Tour as he addresses these questions. Ruben’s first event will be our fundraising dinner, followed by a week of public and private gatherings. Keep an eye out for the tour dates as they are advertised by visiting the event details page at: https://www.parousiamedia.com/forgreaterglorytour/

We will host talks at various venues and even be hosting a screening of the ‘For Greater Glory‘ movie, followed by Q&A with Ruben. We look forward to being on the road again and seeing people live in person. May God bless this tour and may it be enlightening for all who attend.

Parousia Podcast

We’ve had another great month of podcast releases across our various podcast platforms. This month we released the next episode of The ‘Defend the Faith LIVE‘ series, featuring Matthew-Hermann Tague and Dr Robert Haddad. The topic for this month’s episode was ‘Is there an Assurance of Salvation?’ 

Matthew-Hermann Tague also contributed two episodes of his series ‘School of Sheen‘, which features Archbishop Fulton J Sheen expert, Allan Smith. They spoke on the topic of two works by the Archbishop Sheen, ‘Victory over Vice’ and ‘The Seven Virtues: The Seven Last Words and the Art of Practicing Virtue’.

Another wonderful discussion was hosted by Charbel Raish, who spoke with Steve Ray on the topic of the Stations of the Cross. Steve has recently led our daily online meditations of the stations of the cross and was a wealth of information.

The final podcast for the month was an episode from my series with Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, ‘Speakin’ with Deacon‘. This month, we discussed the topic ‘Answering God’s Call‘, on the topic of vocational discernment, using Deacon’s own vocation testimony as a bit of a case study. We pray that all of our podcast discussions are fruitful and beneficial to all listeners. Please help by sharing these podcasts with your family and friends. 

Book Launch: ‘Dying to Live’ by Fr John Flader

Another highlight of this month has been the launch of the new book by Fr John Flader, ‘Dying to Live: Reflections on Life After Death‘. We had an enthusiastic group in attendance, who appreciated Fr Flader’s presentation. We completely sold out of the book on the day! Thankfully, we have now received additional stock, which is now available through our website store page. We also recorded Fr Flader’s presentation from the day and have posted it to our YouTube page. 

Above: Above : The video from Fr Flader’s Book Launch is now available on the Parousia YouTube Channel.

As is always the case at Parousia, we have many moving parts all working together to bring to you resources and initiatives that will be of benefit to all. Keep an eye on our events page for details of upcoming events and Bible studies. We pray that we can, even in some small way, be a positive influence on your faith Journey. Please pray for us and for our apostolate and please know of our prayers for all of you whom we aim to serve.

May God richly bless you and your family.

Mark Griffin

Operations Manager

Dying to Live: Reflections on Life After Death

– Fr John Flader (Paperback)

We are all going to die. But what happens after that is the big question. Many don’t believe in life after death, or they wonder if “there just might be something on the other side.” This book is for them. It leads the reader gently and logically along a path of enquiry into this vital question, arguing from reason and experience. We can all have our opinions, but what awaits us after death does not depend on what we think is going to happen. There is reality out there. And, as this book shows, the reality is eminently positive and it fills us with hope.

The Easter Impact

– Georges Chevrot (Paperback)

The glory of the Cross, victory of death, and the reminder of our own death and new life through Christ’s own, are themes running through this powerful Easter meditation book by Georges Chevrot. He walks us through all the joy of the young apostle John, all of Mary Magdalen’s love for her Master, all the fire that burned in the hearts of the disciples at Emmaus, and all the faith of the unbelieving Thomas. We recall and allow ourselves to be caught up in the excitement of the apostles during those thrilling forty days.

We find ourselves saying: If only I had been there!… only to realize that we are there, with Christ, all the time, in his presence.

To help us relive that period of joy after the Resurrection, Chevrot gives us many considerations on the liturgy of Eastertime, from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, providing a revitalization to our spiritual lives and valuable lessons applicable to our daily lives.

Purgatory from the Other Side

– Karlo Broussard (CD)

To many, the Catholic doctrine of purgatory is one of the Church’s most mysterious and confounding teachings. Fortunately, there are many Bible verses and catechetical lessons that can help us understand better and explain to our non-Catholic friends why it is fitting for souls of the deceased to go through final purification before entering the bliss of heaven.

But we have more than prooftexts and explanations—we have centuries of saintly testimony to the reality of purgatory and what it’s like. In Purgatory from the Other Side, Karlo Broussard (author of Purgatory Is for Real) shares some of these compelling stories of visions of purgatory and interaction between saints and the holy souls.

These are not mere “ghost stories” meant to frighten or raise idle curiosity. No, these accounts strengthen our faith by confirming Church teaching about purgatory (most importantly, about the value of our prayers for the dead!) and filling us with hope in God’s mercy. God will not leave us in our attachment to sin but will allow the rays of his love to remove all the attachments of this world so that we may be happy forever with him in the next.

Through the Year with Mary: Ponder and Pray Together with Children

– Katherine Bogner(Hardcover)

For two-thousand years, Christians around the world have sought the Blessed Virgin Mary as a guide to growing closer to her Son, Jesus. Through Scripture, Catholic teaching, devotions, and countless works of art, we come to see Mary as our Mother, too.

Through the Year with Mary by Katherine Bogner brings together the Church’s traditions in one place and provides a year-long plan for coming to know and love the Mother of God through

• Weekly passages from Scripture, saints, and scholars
• Reflections to nurture your understanding of Marian teaching and devotion
• Sacred art from around the world
• Marian prayers to teach you to grow closer to Jesus through Mary

This comprehensive resource will help adults and children alike to entrust themselves to the most loving Mother of Jesus.

Through the Year with Mary has received the nihil obstat and imprimatur.

Purgatory and Praying for the Dead

– Robert M. Haddad (Parousia On Demand)

Purgatory is one of the most contested and misunderstood of Catholic doctrines. The most common objection one hears from Protestants is that “Purgatory is not in the Bible!” Other objections include, “Purgatory is a man-made invention to enable the Catholic Church to make money through the sale of indulgences” or “To believe in Purgatory is to believe that Christ’s work on the Cross was not sufficient!”

In this presentation Robert Haddad responds to these objections while giving a detailed outline of the Catholic doctrine on Purgatory. In addition to showing how Protestant objections are baseless, Robert shows why Purgatory is necessary and expounds on the many verses in Scripture that support it. Finally, Robert shows how belief in Purgatory has clear support in the writings of the Church Fathers and was integral in the worship of the early Church.