Pope tells sisters the Church needs them, they need the Church
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis told 800 superiors of women's orders from around the world that the Catholic Church needs religious women and that religious women need to be in harmony with the faith and teachings of the Church.
Pope celebrates diversity of popular piety, unity of church
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis celebrated popular piety as a means of transmitting the faith and cultivating it in ordinary Catholics but said such piety must be practiced in communion with the hierarchy in order to maintain the church's unity.
Mary is a mother who helps Christians grow, Pope says at rosary
ROME - Mary is a mother who helps Christians grow, face the difficulties of life and use their freedom to make lasting commitments, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis welcomes Benedict back to Vatican
VATICAN CITY - For the first time in history, the Vatican is home to a pope and a retired pope.
There remains much to be done
Ascension of the Lord (Year C) May 12 (Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53)
Just where did Jesus go when He ascended? In a medieval artistic rendering of the Ascension, Jesus’ feet dangle from under a cloud as the rest of His body disappeared. This definitely represents a literal way of reading the text as well as a spatial understanding of the cosmos. God is ‘“up there” somewhere, and when we die we go either “up there” or “down below’” as the case may be.
The Christian struggle with secularity
We live in a highly secularized culture. Generally this draws one of three reactions from Christians struggling to live out faith in this context.
Mighty winds and little breezes
Elinor had been trying to mend a family relationship but found it ever more broken. She had done all she could think to do, including incessant prayer.
Mexico's soon-to-be-saint recalled for her ministry to poor, sick
GUADALARJARA, Mexico - A shy woman stopped to pray in front of statue of Blessed Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala while visiting the Santa Margarita Hospital. She knew little about the founder of the facility, who will be canonized May 12, but, like many, she had heard stories from hospital patients who say the soon-to-be-saint still walks the halls providing care, attention and miracles to those in need.
Pope tells young to 'swim against the tide; it's good for the heart'
VATICAN CITY - Administering the sacrament of Confirmation to 44 people, including two teenagers from the United States and two from Ireland, Pope Francis encouraged them to "swim against the tide; it's good for the heart."
Support of abortion, euthanasia arise out of the ‘illusions’ of compassion: Collins
TORONTO - The new evangelization isn't about condemning our culture but healing it, Cardinal Thomas Collins told an audience of doctors, nurses and health care ethicists at the annual Cardinal Ambrozic Lecture in Toronto.
God is as near as we wish Him to be
Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year C) May 5 (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29)
What are the basic entry requirements for joining the people of God? This is an age-old question that continues in our own day. In the reading from Acts, we can eavesdrop on a debate that tore the first Christian community apart: does one have to first become fully Jewish, observing all of the elements of the Law, in order to become a follower of Jesus? There were those who interpreted the Law and tradition very strictly and those who were more flexible. The hardliners from Jerusalem had unsettled the community of Antioch and upset the delicate balance between Jewish Christians and gentile converts. Some community members refused to even eat at the same table as gentile Christians. Old ideas die hard, especially those involving separation and difference.