WASHINGTON -- Pope Francis’ efforts to bring reform in the Catholic Church are meeting resistance in some Church circles, according to one panelist at an Aug. 31 online forum sponsored by Georgetown University’s Office of the Vice President for Global Engagement.

Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 12 (Year C) Acts 13:14, 43-52; Psalm 100; Revelation 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30

New ideas nearly always provoke controversy, resistance and even violence. This applies in all areas of human activity, but nowhere is it more prevalent than in religion.

It smacks us in the face pretty much every day — that sluggish, sinking-in-the-quicksand sensation of knowing what we should be doing, but not doing it.

There is always resistance to the surprises of the Spirit, but it’s the Spirit who continues to lead the Church forward. That was Pope Francis’ message at Mass on Thursday at the Santa Marta chapel as he reflected on the reading about division and resistance within the early Church in Jerusalem.