Welcome to 2022

Above : The Bible in a Year Podcast was #1 worldwide again, in all categories, for the second year running!

Welcome to 2022. I pray that this year will be a spiritually uplifting one for you. With all that is going on in the world, it’s a great time to look at our faith in a more focused manner. We tend to have plenty of new year’s resolutions for physical goals, professional goals, habitual goals, financial goals etc., but I want to recommend that we also set some spiritual goals for this year! I strongly encourage us all to review our own spiritual relationship with God by focusing on our prayer life and also deepening our understanding of the faith through faith formation. There are so many great initiatives around the world and I can encourage you to pick three things that you can implement and to which you commit for this year. As you know, so many people made the commitment last year to read through the Bible in full, following along with Fr Mike Schmitz’s daily podcast from Ascension. In 2022, the Bible in a Year Podcast is back and, for the second year in a row, is rating at the top of the podcast charts. This year also sees the launch of the Spanish version. If you missed out on this last year, I encourage you to subscribe to this brilliant initiative. In this newsletter I want to share some exciting developments and initiatives we are currently working on at Parousia, including study groups, academy courses, Parousia on Demand, Parousia World and a growing range of books and other resources.

Above : The Bible in a Year podcast is now available in Spanish. Not too late to begin!

The Parousia Academy Expanding

As you may know, we are working on expanding the course offerings for the Parousia Academy. Our first new release for 2022 is the ‘Introduction to Faith and Science’ course, by Fr Robert Spitzer S.J., which will available from the beginning of February. We have mapped out releases for the year ahead and we’re very excited to be sharing with you these wonderful courses from some of the world’s leading teachers of the faith. With six courses already to choose from, it’s a great time to start your faith formation journey and take your faith to the next level! The Parousia Academy is available to everyone. You can complete the courses for your own general knowledge, or you can choose to complete assessments (in the form of a simple two-page essay) to obtain credit towards our ‘Certificate of Mission’ qualification (12 completed courses required to obtain this qualification). More than the minimum twelve courses will be released by the end of this year, allowing for the first graduates to obtain their certificates. These courses start from the low price of $99AUD and we pray the we can have thousands of students participating throughout the year.

Above : The Parousia Academy will expand with new courses available this year. Fr Robert J Spitzer will begin our 2022 offering, with a course on faith & science.

So far we have had a number of students submit their assessments and I pray many more come forward and register for this exciting new certificate program. We need to raise up our next generation of faith leaders and I invite you to pray about enrolling in the Parousia Academy to deepen your own faith. Learn more at: https://www.parousiamedia.com/academy.

Parousia Podcasts Will Be Back This Year!

Last year was the biggest year yet for our Parousia Podcast. This year, we have some exciting new podcast series planned so stay tuned for announcements as they are released. You can expect to hear fascinating interviews from some of the world’s best communicators of the faith and some of the most engaging Catholic speakers and experts out there. All our podcasts are available through all popular audio podcasting platforms as well as the video versions on YouTube and social media. This year, we will be trying to theme our podcasts more intentionally, aligning them with either the church calendar, world issues, current affairs or any other topical theme on which we can contribute week-to-week. It is our hope that we not just release an overload of content that becomes ‘noise’, but rather a carefully planned out calendar of informative releases that will take us all on a journey through our faith. We want this year to be a naturally informative and inspiring year for us all. Look out for the various shows that all make up the Parousia Podcast!

Above : ‘Speakin’ with Deacon’ with Mark Griffin and Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers is just one example of the many exciting new podcast series you can expect in 2022.

The Narrow Gate Blog Articles are Back!

The Narrow Gate blog articles made a return in 2021 and will continue in 2022. We weren’t actually sure how popular this series was until we had some technical issues with our first blog of this year and received feedback from so many people who were unable to access the content. It was nice to know that so many look forward to these articles and that is was missed! This was great encouragement for us to continue this blog and you can expect weekly articles from either the Parousia team, or from our various speakers and partners around the world. These articles will also be themed very similarly to the podcasts. We really do want to streamline the weekly themes and not just release content for the sake of it, but actually present a structured series of informative posts. All these articles are archived on our website under ‘Narrow Gate‘ so please be sure to go back and take a look at these very informative blogs and feel free to share them among your family and friends. We’d also love to get any feedback or ideas of any desired topics for 2022.

Above : Look out for this Narrow Gate logo across our weekly emails and website.

Parousia World is back in 2022!

Above : Parousia World is a free, worldwide Catholic Community online!

Parousia World is back in 2022! This really started to grow last year and, now with over 3000 international members, we want to expand the reach of this unique global community. It’s within Parousia World that we present the various prayer campaigns, Bible studies, meet and greet sessions, spotlight interviews and much more. Early this year we will be running some ‘how-to’ sessions for those who might be having setting up their logins or navigating the platform. A Parousia World login is free to set up and once you have done that you can login for free to view all the action! 

Parousia Bible Study Groups Expanding!

Above : Matthew-Hermann Tague will host a weekly online study this year. Look out for the many other study sessions both online and face-to-face.

With the lock downs throughout the last year, we realised the importance of online study groups. Thanks to our partnerships with Ascension, Augustine Institute, St Paul Center and many others, we are now able to host these exciting studies online. We are planning to host at least four online studies this year, as well as another four as face-to-face groups. In addition to these, many parishes are hosting their own groups across the country and the world, so please consider participating in these study groups. It’s not only a great way to learn the faith, but also a chance to meet other like-minded Catholics. Also, please look out for new content on our On-Demand video platform. Over 500 videos are are now available and we are planning to expand our movies category along with many more talks, courses and series. Look out for monthly new content releases. Also look out for new book titles and other resources in our online store. We are ready for a big 2022 with you. Please pray for us as we will also pray for a blessed year ahead for you all!

God Bless
Charbel Raish – Director

Brother Francis: Lent with Brother Francis (Episode 20)

40 Daily Meditations for the Entire Family!

Lent is a special time in which we draw close to God in preparation for Holy Week. We examine our hearts prayerfully and resolve to turn away from the things in our life that are not pleasing to God. The meditations you will find on this DVD will help children understand the rich meaning of the Lenten Season.

This episode includes:

A short introduction of what the Lenten season is, why we observe it, and how to grow in faith through each daily meditation.

40 animated meditations that help us in our Lenten journey as we come closer to Christ!

“Something to Think About”– each day the viewer is challenged with a thought that will bring heart change and action to the faith walk.

“Let’s Pray”– each meditation is accompanied by an on-screen prayer where the entire family can ask God’s help in living out that day’s devotional.

Holy Family – 500 Piece Puzzle

Completed Size: 61cm x 46cm

The Church: Pillar and Bulwark of Truth

– Robert M. Haddad

New Testament Basics for Catholics

– John Bergsma

Award-winning author and theology professor John Bergsma follows up his popular Bible Basics for Catholics—which has sold more than 60,000 copies—with a closer, more an in-depth look at the New Testament. Using simple illustrations and the same clear, conversational style that characterized his earlier book, Bergsma introduces four of the most important writers in the New Testament: Matthew, Luke, Paul, and John.

With humor and simple illustrations, theology professor John Bergsma focuses on Matthew, Luke, Paul, and John, whose writings comprise about 90 percent of the New Testament. The gospel of Matthew, written for Jewish Christians, illuminates the life and teachings of Christ as the long-promised Messiah. In Luke’s gospel, readers will delve into the infancy and Triduum narratives, as well as the Acts of the Apostles and the life of the early Church. This leads the reader to discover St. Paul and his first and arguably greatest theological treatise: Romans. Finally, “the beloved apostle” St. John draws us in to the unsurpassed beauty of the fourth gospel, as well as the most mysterious book of the New Testament: the book of Revelation. A concluding chapter offers suggestions for further study.

Intended as an introductory work for those who are new to scripture study, this New Testament book does not aspire to be a comprehensive guide to all twenty-seven books of the New Testament, but is intended to lay the foundation for a lifetime of scripture reading.