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FIRST SUNDAY OF AUGUST – FEAST OF GOD THE FATHER OF ALL MANKIND

God the Father of all Mankind, The Father desires to have one Sunday every year dedicated to honouring Gods paternal nature under the title of “Father of all Mankind “. God the Father has chosen the 1st Sunday in August . We celebrate this in Cardiff on Sunday 2rd August 2015 at 3.00pm .  Nazareth House ,Cathays Cardiff . CF 10 3UN

Pope John Paul II wrote: “The whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father, whose unconditional love for every human creature, and in particular for the ‘prodigal son, we discover anew each day.’ In the Old Testament the Jewish people realised that God loved them like a father, and Jesus taught his followers to call the Father ‘abba’, a word which means ‘daddy’.

Every day we say the Our Father prayer, and every day we offer the sacrifice of Jesus to the Father (at Mass). Nonetheless it is surprising that the Church has not instituted a special feast day for the Father. This is currently being requested of Rome, particularly by the Father of All Mankind Apostolate. The prayers that follow are taken from a publication produced by that organisation, and it has the Imprimatur.

Why promote a feast day for God the Father at this time? Because the Father has made it clear that he wants us to draw closer to him. Extraordinary as it sounds, in 1932 an Italian nun called Mother Eugenia Ravasio had visions of God the Father: ‘Her most important legacy to us is the Message of the Father, the only private revelation made personally by God the Father and recognised as authentic by the Church, after ten years of the most rigorous examination.” The Bishop of Grenoble conducted the Enquiry and he wrote: “The object of the mission which would appear to have been entrusted to Mother Eugenia is precise and, from the doctrinal point of view, I see it as legitimate and timely. Its precise object is to make God the Father known and honoured, mainly by the institution of a special feast which has been of the Church. The Enquiry established that a liturgical feast in honour of the Father would be quite in keeping with catholic practice as a whole.”

The above quotations come from the book The Father Speaks to His Children (Imprimatur 1989). It is worth repeating that this is the first time in the history of the Church that private revelation from the Father has been authenticated. Therefore we should feel very blessed that it is for our times.

In the Bible God made his presence known in various ways, and in order to speak with Mother Eugenia the Father took the form of a young man. He said: “I cannot give my beloved Son another time to prove my love for men! I am now coming among them in order to love them and make them know this love, assuming their image and their poverty…” God the Father wanted us to have a picture, which would represent him and remind us of his presence. The above icon resembles the description given by Mother Eugenia.
(Why didn’t we hear about this wonderful event before? The heresy of ‘modernism’ has tainted the Church for over 150 years, and one of its influences is an indifference to private revelation. Even Fatima and the Divine Mercy messages are not appreciated.)

When teaching the Jews at the time of Moses, God instructed them on how he wanted to be honoured. He asked for an 8-day feast with the final day called the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23 v.33-43). This formula was later repeated, with another 8-days and the final day called the Feast of Dedication of the Temple. Octave is the Latin word which signifies the number 8, and the Church continued the tradition of associating 8 days with a major feast. In our times, God instituted Divine Mercy Sunday as the 8′ day of Easter – a fulfilment of the Easter promises. Now, in giving honour to the Father we again use an octave of prayer. The 8th day falls on the first Sunday in August – the Father’s chosen day for the feast. This means that the octave starts on the last Sunday in July.

However the prayers can also be said at any time. The main purpose of the eight days of prayer, is that they will focus our minds on the Father in various ways. Then we will be ready to consecrate ourselves to the Father. This preparation and consecration is important: God wants us to re-dedicate ourselves to him. In the Bible, after the Temple had been defiled by invaders, the Jews had an 8-day feast of re-Dedication. Similarly, our souls are defiled by sin and apathy, and the consecration will be a renewal and blessing for us.

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