Lenten Pilgrimage 2022

Above: The Artwork for this years Lenten Pilgrimage

The Lenten Pilgrimage will begin on 2nd March this year. We are excited to be partnering with Allan Smith once again. This year, our theme is going to be, ‘The Seven Last Words of Christ‘. We will be journeying with the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, using his reflections on Christ’s seven last words. We will be working through a compilation book of Sheen’s writings entitled, ‘The Seven Last Word of Christ Explained‘. These classic works have been compiled and released by Allan Smith from Bishop Sheen today and will serve as our guide throughout lent. Parousia’s own Matthew-Hermann Tague will also host a weekly ‘Live’ discussion within our Parousia World platform, joined by Allan Smith and our live online audience.

Above: Steve Ray will be sharing his powerful reflections on the stations of the cross

In the last fortnight of lent, we will re-release ‘for free’ the fourteen stations of the cross reflections by Steve Ray. These were the video meditations he recorded last year and have since been available for purchase, but during lent this year we will make them free so that a maximum audience can take advantage of these very powerful reflections. Another feature during lent will be a nine-day novena to St Joseph, prayed Live, leading up to the ‘Solemnity of St Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary’. This will include a daily Rosary and the Litany to St Joseph, led by a live guest in Parousia World.

Journey with Hallow alongside us this Lent

In addition to the Parousia Lenten Pilgrimage, based on The Seven Last words of Christ, we also have our good friends from Hallow offering a free, 40-day prayer challenge on the same theme. Hallow will be offering audio reflections read out by two famous ‘Jesus actors’. Jonathan Roumie, who acted as Jesus in the recent series entitled ‘The Chosen” along with Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus in ‘The Passion of the Christ‘ film. We felt that these two Lenten programs are so complimentary that we could not ignore this Hallow initiative. By walking daily through all of these Lenten practices and by joining in with our live, weekly interactions in Parousia World, we pray that this will be a lent like none other! Hope you make the most of it!

Please visit our website for more information: www.parousiamedia.com. Follow the links to Parousia World to set up your free account today

Above: Hallow #Pray40 challenge, featuring Jonathan Roumie and Jim Caviezel

Have you noticed the monthly themes?

The Church dedicates the month of February to the Passion of Our Lord. Throughout 2022, Parousia will be featuring graphic banners across all our platforms, to help promote and dedicate that particular month to the theme chosen by the Church. We want to be very intentional this year with our themes and join in the Church’s liturgical seasons in a more meaningful way. In addition to the monthly themes, we also aim to highlight more of the major feast days, to help deepen our spiritual lives in union with the Church. Look out for these specially designed graphics to help guide us spiritually throughout the year.

Above: The month of February is dedicated to the Passion of Our Lord

Brand New Parousia Podcast Series!

Above: We are excited to launch the ‘School of Sheen Podcast’ with Allan Smith

This month we launched a brand new Parousia Podcast series called ‘School of Sheen’, with the founder of Bishop Sheen Today, Allan Smith. Each month our very own Matthew-Hermann Tague will host the series, interviewing our expert guest, Allan Smith, discussing the writings of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. The first podcast was an introduction to the series and also to our upcoming Lenten Pilgrimage. Allan works tirelessly at sharing the wisdom and teachings of the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen.

Above : We are excited to launch the School of Sheen Podcast with Allan Smith

Archbishop Sheen has led a number of retreats on the seven last sayings, but each time he presented them from different perspectives. He wrote many books including, ‘The Lord’s Prayer and the Seven Last Words‘ and ‘The Seven Virtues: The Seven Last Words and the Art of Practicing Virtue‘. During lent this year we are launching a compilation volume of nine of these books entitled, ‘The Seven Last Words of Christ Explained‘. We are very excited to be discussing Fulton Sheen’s works in this latest podcast series and invite you to subscribe to our Parousia Podcast via YouTube or your favourite Podcast App.

Above : Our host Matthew-Hermann Tague is back to host this brand new series.

Parousia Bible Study Groups Now Live!

We are excited to be able to host two live, in-person studies on the popular Lenten series entitled, ‘No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk through Christ’s Passion‘, presented by Dr Edward Sri and ‘Ascension‘. This is a five-part series that will be available to everyone ‘for free’, at two locations. I will be facilitating a live study group at St Michael’s Catholic Church hall in Belfield on Wednesday nights at 7pm (directly after 6 pm Mass). This study will begin on Wednesday, 9th March. Matthew-Hermann Tague will be facilitating the same study in the on the south coast of New South Wales. His study will be on Thursday nights over the same weeks. For full details, please visit our website.

Above : Live study groups are back! Our first offering for the year is ‘No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk Through Christ’s Passion’

The Parousia Fundraising Dinner is booked!

Another live event that is well overdue is our annual Fundraising Dinner. We have not hosted a fundraising dinner for quite some time now. The last dinner was back in 2019 and, due to covid lockdowns, we haven’t been unable to host one since. As you know, so much has happened at Parousia during the pandemic and we will be showcasing all of these new initiatives, including the Parousia on Demand Platform, Parousia World and the Parousia Academy. We will also have an international guest, Ruben Quezada, who is an expert on the Mexican Cristero war.

Above : Mark your calendar for 12th May, as we host Parousia Fundraiser Dinner

This will be part of Ruben’s tour with us, so look out for more tour details next month! This dinner will be a three-course meal with unlimited drinks and the venue will be ‘The Waterview Reception Lounge’ in Homebush Bay, Sydney. Tickets will be available very soon via our website but, for now, save the date: Thursday 12th May, starting at 6:30 pm. We hope you can make it! As you can see there is so much happening, as usual, and it is my prayer that you make the most of these various initiatives. I pray you have a blessed upcoming Lent and I look forward to journeying with you throughout this great season of fasting, almsgiving and prayer. Feel free to share any feedback with us as we take this feedback seriously. Please pray for us as we will also pray for a blessed Lenten pilgrimage ahead for you all!

God Bless,
Charbel Raish – Director

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.

Letters to Myself from the End of the World

– Emily Stimpson Chapman (Paperback)

If you could talk to your younger self, what would you tell her? If you could equip her for the challenges she would face today, with the Church plagued by scandal and the culture on the verge of collapse, what would you say?

In Letters to Myself from the End of the World, Emily Stimpson Chapman answers those questions, weaving Catholic theology, biblical wisdom, and her own life experience into forty-five “letters” to her twenty-five-year-old self.

Both personal and practical, Chapman’s letters reflect upon sin and grace, the Church’s sacraments and saints, scandals and injustice, social media and prayer, suffering, adoption, motherhood, and much more. Written in real time, during the summer and fall of 2020, while pandemics and riots filled the news and as Chapman and her husband prepared to adopt a second child, Letters to Myself from the End of the World is a faithful guide for pursuing holiness and spiritual maturity in a world broken by sin. It’s also a testimony to the power of grace to heal our hearts, renew our minds, and transform our lives.

Presence: Biblical Foundations of the Eucharist

– Dr Tim Gray (CD)

Jesus: The Way, The Truth and The Life

– D’Ambrosio, Cavins, Sri (Starter Pack)

Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life is a ten-week study program presented by Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Jeff Cavins, and Edward Sri. Filmed on-location in the Holy Land and anchored in the life of Christ as presented in the Gospels, this study explores the entirety of Jesus’ life—who he is, what he is really like, what he taught, what he did for our salvation, and what all of this means for us as Catholics today.

This Starter Pack includes:
• The Jesus DVD Set (ten 30-minute videos) – Filmed on location in the Holy Land, presented by Marcellino D’Ambrosio, Jeff Cavins, and Edward Sri.
• The Full-Color Jesus Workbook – Provides session overviews, home reading assignments, engaging study questions, responses, and talk notes for the video presentations.
• The Jesus Timeline Chart – A visual overview of the life of Jesus plus a summary of Catholic beliefs concerning Christ.
• The Jesus Book – Provides a detailed overview of Jesus’ life and times.

The Mass Explained

– Fr Larry Richards (Parousia On Demand)

Inspiring speaker Fr. Larry Richards presents exciting and powerful insights into the history, spirituality, and biblical foundations of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. He opens the door for us to enter more profoundly into this most perfect prayer and unite our offering with that of the priest. This will change the way you experience this most sacred of all mysteries, the source and summit of our lives.