Passion (Palm) Sunday (Year C) March 20 (Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 2:14-23:56)

How do we make sense of catastrophe and disaster? We usually look for explanations and causes, or more often than not, someone to blame. 

Many of us, I am sure, have been inspired by the movie Of Gods and Men, the story of a group of Trappist monks who, after making a painful decision not to flee from the violence in Algeria in the 1990s, are eventually martyred by Islamic extremists in 1996. Recently, I was much inspired by reading the diaries of one of those monks, Christophe Lebreton. Published under the title Born from the Gaze of God, The Tibhirine Journal of a Martyr Monk, his diaries chronicle the last three years of his life and give us an insight into his, and his community’s, decision to remain in Algeria in the face of almost certain death. 

VATICAN CITY - On the eve of sending off "missionaries of mercy" to all corners of the globe, Pope Francis told his specially appointed men that the reassuring strength of God's love -- not the "bludgeon of judgment" -- will bring the "lost sheep" back to the fold.

VATICAN CITY - Lent is a time of conversion and a time to deepen one's faith, demonstrating and sharing it through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, Pope Francis said.

ROME - After walking across the threshold of the Holy Door with an Orthodox metropolitan and an Anglican archbishop, Pope Francis invoked God's mercy upon divided Christians and apologized for times that Catholics may have hurt members of other denominations.

VATICAN CITY - Shrines are homes of forgiveness that allow pilgrims to experience firsthand God's love and mercy, Pope Francis said.  

VATICAN CITY - Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians are called to work together in order to be a visible sign that God's mercy excludes no one, Pope Francis said during his general audience Jan. 20.

VATICAN CITY - Cold indifference to migrants, the poor, the hungry and the persecuted must be overcome through the warmth of mercy, which can transform people into artisans of peace, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis warned against false spirituality and worldliness saying many people appear to be spiritual but live in a way that is totally detached from the presence or needs of others. He stressed that works of mercy are at the heart of our faith in God and the visible sign of that faith. The Pope was speaking at his first Mass at the Santa Marta residence since the Christmas break.

VATICAN CITY - The gift of mercy is a light that helps Christians reflect on the past year and radiates hope at the start of the new year, Pope Francis said.

TORONTO - Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, the Vatican’s Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, will be the keynote speaker at a Jubilee Year of Mercy conference in Toronto on New Year’s weekend.

CHICAGO - With the poverty on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, Pope Francis' visit to the region in February will be an important opportunity for the Catholic Church "to emphasize the mercy of God that is at the core of the Christian faith."

VATICAN CITY - On a cloudy, damp morning, Pope Francis' voice echoed in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica: "Open the gates of justice." With five strong thrusts, the pope pushed open the Holy Door, a symbol of God's justice, which he said will always be exercised "in the light of his mercy."

Papal bulls are serious, powerful documents that once commanded the kings and queens of Europe. It was a papal bull that started the Crusades.

BANGUI, Central African Republic - Pope Francis ended his visit to the violence-torn Central African Republic with cries for peace and pleas for a mercy that seeks and grants forgiveness.