On the fifth Sunday of Easter in the Byzantine rite we commemorate the Samaritan woman at the well who meets Jesus and hears the Gospel preached. To Jews such as Our Lord the Samaritans were distinctly the “other,” worshipping God in a way that the Jews rejected. Among the many important aspects of this Gospel passage one that merits greater discussion in our day is the preaching of the Gospel to those who are not “us.” We encounter in the Gospels many occasions when Jesus meets non-Jews such as when He meets the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30), or when the Roman centurion requests healing for his slave (Luke 7:2-10), or when He heals the Gerasene. Our Lord does not limit His saving ministry to His fellow Jews; He comes as the promised Messiah calling all people to salvation.
As a bilingual kid with a father who couldn’t speak English and a mother who couldn’t speak French, language always seemed to be a battleground. With parents always comically mangling each other’s language I often struggled in school to remember what was grammatically accurate versus what was commonly used at home. Franglais wasn’t in any dictionary I knew of.
Nicole Scheild is executvie director of Canadian Physicians for Life. This is taken from an eblast she sent to supporters earlier this year.
No doubt you’ve heard about the sold-out, international “SatanCon” that took place in Boston over the weekend of April 28-30. Of course, the “Con” stands for “Convention.” It was put on by The Satanic Temple (not to be confused with The Church of Satan — I guess even Satan’s followers have denominations).
What happens to children sexually abused by priests as they grow older? Some, tragically, commit suicide. Some fall into alcoholism and drug addiction in an attempt to cope with the enduring pain caused by such profound betrayals of trust. Serial failed relationships, career catastrophes, depression and hopelessness often follow.
Verbatim: Excerpt from 'Generation Laudato Si'
An essay by Nolan Scharper featured in 'Generation Laudato Si’: Catholic Youth on Living Out an Ecological Spirituality', edited by Rebecca Rathbone and Simon Appolloni, published this year by Novalis.