Beware of following fantasies and false idols, for only God loves us and waits for us like a father. That was Pope Francis’ message at Mass on Thursday morning in the Casa Santa Marta.

The following is Sabrina Quartarone’s third place essay for the 2017 Friars’ Student Writing Awards contest:

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died”— 2 Corinthians 5:14. What does this verse mean and how does it relate to Christian reconciliation?

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feb. 19 (Year A) Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48

The Old and New Testaments speak with a unified voice on so many things.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Thursday morning. In remarks to the faithful following the readings of the day, the Holy Father reflected on the unique and unrepeatable opportunities each day offers to grow in faith and love of God.

VATICAN CITY – Sex should be focused on love, not egotism or pleasure, according to the Vatican.

NAIROBI, Kenya – In the midst of the rusty shanties of Nairobi’s Kibera slums, the Holy Trinity Anglican Church stands out in bright yellow.

KRAKOW, Poland – Young people can show the world love through actions of caring and service to others in a world where even priests are not safe while celebrating Mass, said the president of Caritas Internationalis.

In a recent article in America magazine, Grant Kaplan, commenting on the challenge of the Resurrection, makes this comment: “Unlike previous communities in which the bond among members forges itself through those it excludes and scapegoats, the gratuity of the Resurrection allows for a community shaped by forgiven-forgivers.”

Both the passion and the cross are visceral images for Christians. The cross confirms our identity. It is a sign of both blessing and suffering. It is an essential part of our holy spaces, marking our membership in the community of Christ. Without the passion, there would be no Resurrection, and no Christian faith. Christ died on the cross for us so our sins would be forgiven. It is the cross, and the brokenness of the person who died on it, that are the secret of the Gospels, Oblate Father Ronald Rolheiser writes in his latest book, The Passion and the Cross.

VATICAN CITY – Happiness "is not an 'app' that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update help you become free and great in loving," Pope Francis told thousands of teenagers.

Pope Francis presiding over a Jubilee Mass for Teens in St Peter's Square on Sunday told them "the true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by the genuine love that shines forth in their way of life." He also told the 13 to 16 year olds that although love is the path to happiness, it is not an easy one and requires effort. He also said, happiness has no price.  "It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love."

Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year C) May 1 (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29)

There are two basic approaches to drawing people to a relationship with God and an experience of divine love and mercy. Some anxiously, and usually angrily, place as many obstacles before others as possible. They set conditions that have to be met before someone can belong to the community or dare to approach God. But there is another approach, and that is to place as few obstacles or conditions before people as possible — in short, do everything in one’s power to bring them home.

The famed Jungian writer Robert Johnson makes this observation about falling in love: “To fall in love is to project the most noble and infinitely valuable part of one’s being onto another human being... We have to say that the divinity we see in others is truly there, but we don’t have a right to see it until we have taken away our own projections... Making this fine distinction is the most delicate and difficult task in life.”

The challenge of fighting for what we believe in isn’t necessarily a fight many of us would like to have. If anything, many of us would avoid it and hope for the best.

Sex is not something the Church fears or is trying to control. Sex is not the opposite of prayer and spirituality, it’s not something we grudgingly concede to the young. Sex is not merely the mechanism of reproduction, although there’s no such thing as a full and true understanding of sex that can’t live with our human capacity to make babies.