The Narrow Gate: Parousia News August 2020

Are You Ready for the first Rosary Pilgrimage?

Here we are in August. With so many global tragedies this month – including Covid-19 deaths on the rise and the global pandemic in general, the Beirut explosion, the persecution of Christians still happening in the Middle East and now it looks like we are facing an economic crisis – there is so much to pray for. We thought it would be a powerful project to organise the Spiritual Rosary Pilgrimage. We need to get back to basics again and dive into the life of Christ, through the scriptures, with His Blessed Mother. It is said that after the Mass and liturgical prayers, the highest form of devotional prayer is the Rosary. Also known as the ‘weapon’ by St Padre Pio, this is the prayer Our Lady has asked of us to pray for centuries. We hope this experience will invigorate your faith and your appreciation for the Rosary. Get ready for the amazing line up of speakers!

Above: A Huge line up of speakers come together for the Rosary Pilgrimage

Starting on September 8, the feast of the birth of Our Lady, and concluding on October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, we are excited to be bringing you world-renowned speakers of the highest calibre, including Fr Don Calloway, Fr Larry Richards, Fr Leo Patalinghug, Fr Mitch Pacwa, Dr Scott Hahn, Christopher West, Jason Evert, Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Dr Christine Wood, Sonja Corbitt, Fr Robert Spitzer and the list goes on! The idea is that each speaker will give a 15 minute reflection on one of the mysteries of the rosary and each week is dedicated to a set of mysteries. Week one is dedicated to the Joyful Mysteries, Week two is the Luminous Mysteries and so on. There will also be keynote talks for each week, along with live interviews via a dedicated Facebook group. It’s free to join, so please visit our website and register! Please also help us spread the word and share this among as many people as possible. Can you imagine the power of thousands of people around the world coming together in prayer? This will be a very special pilgrimage.

Hundreds join Support Your Priest Sunday

We had another strong response to the nine day novena to St John Vianney, leading up to the annual Support Your Priest Sunday initiative. For this second year running, 2020 had its obvious challenges in organising celebrations for priests. However, it was great to see so many pray for our priests. Not only did people join in on the nine day novena, but they also wrote letters of appreciation and gave gifts and donations to their priests. Our priests today need our support more than ever. There have been so many challenges for the Church over the years. The Church has been addressing the scandals it faced in the past. Unfortunately, the media give the impression that every priest is guilty. This could not be further from the truth. The vast majority of priests have been doing the best they can and they need our support – however we can provide it. Thanks again to all of you who got involved. St John Vianney, pray for us.

We have been guests on Bishop Sheen Today

Both Matthew-Herman Tague and I have had the pleasure of being interviewed by the founder of ‘Bishop Sheen Today‘, Allan Smith, this month. Allan, who sits on the board that oversees the cause for canonisation for Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Is based in Canada and is the only non-American on the board. He runs various apostolates and has done an amazing job in collating all of Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s works. I encourage you to visit his website www.bishopsheentoday.com, as he has put together all of the videos, audios, articles, books and photos he could find on the now Venerable Sheen. Parousia is excited to be partnered with Bishop Sheen Today and will be bringing to you regular updates on the canonisation process. Together with Allan Smith, we also hope to bring you the timeless talks as well as the many books he has written. These books will be republished in Australia by Parousia so stay tuned for these developments! 

Above: Matthew Tague and Charbel Raish featured as guests with Allan Smith

Parousia Podcasts

Above: The three latest episodes of the Parousia Podcast

Over the last month, we’ve been blessed to have some amazing podcast guests. We’ve had part two of our Footprints of God series, with Steve Ray. This time focusing on Moses. This is a kind of virtual pilgrimage we are putting on each month, travelling through each of the episodes from Steve’s Footprints of God video series. We also had part two with the Liturgy Guys and wow, aren’t they on point when it comes to the liturgy? James Parker, who is based in Perth, talked about the bill put forward in WA, that has now passed the lower house, to allow the breaking of the seal of confession. He touched on so many good points on the subject and I encourage you to learn the arguments as to why we cannot break the seal of confession. Finally, we also had Fr Robert Spitzer, speaking on Faith and Science. Father is the founder of the Magis Center – dedicated to teaching good science and how it integrates with our faith. Another great line up of guests. Please take advantage of all these free podcasts which are on our website and all popular podcasting platforms as well as our YouTube channel. Make sure you ‘like’ us on Facebook and subscribe to our Youtube channel to keep up to date.

A New Partner!

Above: Parousia is pleased to be partnering with Fr Spitzer and the Magis centre

Have you heard of the Magis Center? The Magis Center mission is to restore, reconstruct, and revitalize: belief in God; the transcendent dignity of every human person; the significance of virtue; the higher levels of happiness, love, and freedom; and the real presence of Jesus Christ. We have had the pleasure to be in conversation with the team there in California about how we can help promote their work in Australia. This is very exciting and we are so blessed to have this connection with a solid organisation that teaches the truth in regards to faith and science. There are free online courses you can enrol in and many free downloadable resources too. Visit our website and then go to the partners page searching for the Magis Center.

My Encounter Series with EWTN Asia Pacific

Above: Charbel had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Falzon of Men Alive

During this global pandemic, we have been busy in providing free online content. One of the initiatives we are involved in is the My Encounter series, with EWTN Asia Pacific. For the last few months, I have been interviewing a new guest each week, to dive into their personal testimony. It is inspired by the short form series we have been filming for EWTN for the last two years, all found on our you tube channel. That short form series had a two minute clip of a new person each week sharing their encounter moment. This show is a long form of that, where I get to draw out more detail from each guests’ encounter. It is a 30 minute show that is live streamed on Facebook, across various pages, including our own page as well as EWTN Asia-Pacific. Last month, I had the pleasure or interviewing the founder of Men Alive, Robert Falzon, who is an amazing man of faith. Robert has also been instrumental with the ACBC’s first ever Men’s Conference this month. To know more about his apostolate, please visit https://www.menalive.org.au.

Term 3 Online Bible Studies Fill Up Fast

We are back with term 3 bible studies online! This time, we are offering an 8 week study based Dr Ed Sri’s A Biblical Walk through the Mass. This study also looks at The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, and facilitated by our very own Matthew-Hermann Tague. The response has been overwhelming, with well over 150 signing up. Students receive free access to the 5 videos by Dr Ed Sri, along with an 8 week discussion group via zoom. There are some surprise guests also lined-up for the final weeks. Look out for term 4 bibles studies and get involved.

Brand New Apostolate in NZ

I have been blessed to be working behind the scenes with a brand new start-up apostolate out of Auckland, New Zealand. Three young adults approached me for some advice and so I was able to share some ideas on how to set up an apostolate. Within only a few months, these guys created a brand, vision, website, social media and also have their first virtual event organised, which will be in October, so look out for that. This new apostolate is called ‘Evangelion‘ and Parousia will be partnering with them. Please pray for this new initiative. May it spread the Gospel across New Zealand! This wraps up another month. Please pray for us as we will also be praying for you.

God Bless you,
Charbel Raish – Director

*Featured New Release CD* A New Heart: My Story of Abortion, Addiction & Conversion by Dr Shawna Arnold

Depression and guilt. Sadness and anger. Drug and alcohol abuse. Feeling unforgivable. As Shawna Arnold explains, these symptoms of post-abortion trauma can be overwhelming—but they cannot withstand the love and mercy of God, who makes all things new. In this moving talk, Shawna describes her life experiences, and how she found her way back to the Church and the loving embrace of the Father.

The Footprints of God Series, by Steve Ray

10 x Single DVDs **Special Offer 20% off** Enter Promo Code: PPFOGSR at your shopping Cart

Footprints of God: The Story of Salvation from Abraham to Augustine is a documentary film series hosted by popular Catholic author, speaker, and apologist Steve Ray. Meet the people and see the places that shaped the salvation story through Scripture and Church history. It’s a fast-paced, entertaining biography, travel documentary, Bible study, apologetics course, and Church history study rolled into one remarkable adventure!

Title in this Series Include:

• Abraham: Father of Faith and Works
• Elijah & Elisha: Conscience of the Kingdom
• Jesus: The Word Became Flesh
• Paul: Contending for the Faith

… and others

Matthew: The King & His Kingdom – Jeff Cavins & Sarah Christmyer – Ascension Press (Starter Pack)

This pack is what every leader needs to begin Matthew: The King & His Kindgom. It includes: 12 DVD Set (24, 50-minute videos presented by Jeff Cavins) & Workbook. Each participant and small-group facilitator should have a workbook, which includes session overviews, questions and responses, and talk notes. The workbook is used during each step of the program: The session overviews and questions are needed for Home Preparation and Small-Group Discussion. The talk notes are needed during the Video Presentations. The responses are needed for the Review of Responses.

Consider the Crows – Centenary of the Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga: 1917-2017

Consider the crows is a comprehensive chronicle of significant persons, events and situations shaping the history of the Catholic Diocese of Wagga Wagga from its establishment in 1917 to the present day. Commissioned for the celebration of the diocesan centenary, the book is an interesting and salutary review which may serve as an inspiration to the people of the diocese for the years ahead. Consider the Crows invites the reader to consider to providence of God in the lives of Riverina Catholics across the decades.  The history of the Church and of each individual diocese presents opportunities and challenges for living the present with enthusiasm and joy, and helps us to approach the future with realism and hope.

The World’s First Love: Mary Mother of God (Abridged Edition) – Venerable Fulton J. Sheen

With his characteristic eloquence and brilliance, Venerable Fulton Sheen presents a moving portrayal of the Blessed Virgin Mary that combines deep spirituality with history, philosophy, and theology.

*Featured Parousia on Demand* Theology of the Body Re-Energised 3 Part Series by Katrina Zeno

The Theology of the Body (TOB) has been called a “theological time-bomb” which will transform the way Catholics understand the faith. For nearly 20 years Katrina Zeno has been helping parents, teachers, priests and lay Catholics to unpack the rich truths the TOB contains. In this seminar she will give an overview of the Theology of the Body, show how Catholics can integrate it into their lives and their relationship with God and others.