ALBANO, Italy (CNS) — Christians are not licensed “inspectors of other people’s lives,” but rather disciples who reach out to others, assuring them of God’s love and welcoming them into the community, Pope Francis said. ... “You don’t need to be complicated Christians who elaborate a thousand theories and get lost searching for answers online,” he said. Those who have experienced God’s mercy and are active in parish life must do their best to make sure their churches are places where others can feel God’s mercy and love.
“Unfortunately, it can happen that our communities become extraneous and unattractive to many people,” he said. “Sometimes we give in to the temptation of creating closed groups, intimate spaces among the elect. We think we’re the elect, the elite.”
Always have to remember we were all born with original sin, so we are all equal starting out in life. Evildoers abound. Won’t find perfection in people — churchgoers or not. I do believe belonging to a church makes the struggles in life easier, however.
In other news, paranormal researchers at Trump University have actually managed to pierce the final veil and return this ectoplasmograph of the soul of Fulton Sheen from the after life.
“The greatest influence in writing was G. K. Chesterton who never used a useless word, who saw the value of a paradox, and avoided what was trite.” ― Fulton J. Sheen, Treasure in Clay: The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen
Not enough eye wash in the world... to clear up Klinker’s vulgar verbiage...
Not enough Soul Wash in the world to clean up Fulton Sheen's Fascist loving soul. The fact that you have adopted this pile of spiritual garbage as your patron devil is fitting given your passionate embrace of of today's latter-day Pinochets and Francos.
Please do tell us what could possibly be more vulgar than locking innocent children in cages and denying them medical care.
“Make this experiment whether you believe in God or not. At your first opportunity, stop in a Catholic Church for a visit. You need not believe, as we Catholics do, that Our Lord is really and truly present in the tabernacle. But just sit there for an hour, and within that hour you will experience a surpassing peace the like of which you never before enjoyed in your life. You will ask yourself as a sensationalist once asked me when we made an all-night vigil of adoration in the Basilica of Sacre Coeur in Paris: “What is it that is in that church?” Without voice or argument or thundering demands, you will have an awareness of something before which your spirit trembles — a sense of the Divine.” ― Fulton J. Sheen, The Cries of Jesus From the Cross: A Fulton Sheen Anthology
If only Fulton "Hell Bound" Sheen had been a little more concerned with the cries of the political prisoners, the cries of the mother's of the disappeared, the cries of all of the victims of the brutal fascist dictators throughout the word that he supported. If only he had been a little more concerned about those cries, he might not now be rotting in hell.
A point for those who support today's fascists to ponder......
Livestream this evening of Cardinal Tobin (Archbishop of Newark), " for an evening discussion on the vision of Pope Francis and the present state and future of the American Catholic Church." Starting at 6:30, see below:
Interesting reading this morning, that the Pope says we should all use fewer adjectives and adverbs, that plain nouns are sufficient for clear communication.
Interesting reading this morning, that the Pope says we should all use fewer adjectives and adverbs, that plain nouns are sufficient for clear communication.
Do you think? I wasn’t aware they don’t use adjectives. It’s plain-speaking, for sure, and direct - perhaps more Amish in style, or Plymouth Brethren?
I’ve found it hard so far this morning, just to construct basic sentences for breakfast...even greeting neighbours requires Good morning.
They use adverbs and adjectives but the whole thee and thou thing that the old fashioned Quakers used to do was focussed on keeping their speech simple and plain (ironically, since the custom, which is still practiced by a few Friends, sounds affected to the modern ear).
H'm. When I'm speaking/thinking in French, German or Dutch, my more formal 2nd-person singular forms are always phrased this way so I tend to translate in older English and not worry about it. I see the point you're making, though.
D said that he thought the Pope was saying we should all go back to speaking simply in old Latin.
About an hour ago, Father James Martin posted this message on Twitter:
Dear friends: Today Pope Francis received me for a private 30-minute audience in the Apostolic Palace, where I shared with him the joys and hopes, and the griefs and anxieties, of LGBT Catholics and LGBT people worldwide. I was so grateful to meet with this wonderful pastor. The only other person in the room during our meeting was his translator.
I may not agree with Pope Francis on every issue but I am inspired to see a man grappling with serious questions and with his own preconceptions to do what is right in this world.
With the connection being child sexual abuse, may I just comment on how appalled and furious most Australians are that Malka Leifer got bail yet again, and has been released to her sister’s ‘care’ in Jerusalem instead of coming back to face justice?
The charade has been played for too long, and most of us know there’s cronyism and corruption involved in protecting Leifer; some of it played out in the previous Israeli government. At this holy season, it’s beyond scandalous. Enough is enough.
"He took part enthusiastically in the fighting between warring city states of central Italy, and was eventually captured and held prisoner for a year in the neighboring city of Perugia. During this time he became severely ill. Ransomed by his father, a wealthy cloth merchant, he returned home to Assisi, but he never regained his former health and high spirits. In 1204, on the eve of setting out once more to do battle, he experienced a vision which caused him to abandon his ambitions for military glory and to espouse a life of poverty. It was while Francis was praying before the crucifix in the near derelict church of San Damiano, outside the walls of Assisi, that he heard a voice telling him to ‘rebuild my church’. "
Pope Francis chose that name for himself on purpose, of course. The words of St. Francis provide the opening line, and the title, of Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment Laudato Si' (subtitled "On Care For Our Common Home"):
LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.
2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor.
"Francis has by now made his agenda abundantly clear. Unlike his predecessors, who cracked down on dissent and promoted bishops and cardinals who emphasized fealty to church doctrine, Francis wants an inclusive church that welcomes back into the fold Catholics who felt geographically, pastorally and ideologically alienated. That mission has earned him the enmity of church conservatives, especially in the United States, who feel he is diluting the church’s teaching for the sake of a cheap embrace."
Have just seen this article on the revival of married Catholic clergy (a very old practice from the early Church, that required conduct strict rules).
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49921731 So could we see married priests? Well, they already exist. Some Anglican priests who converted to Catholicism after leaving their churches in protest at the ordination of women have been allowed to continue in their ministries. And Eastern-rite churches also have married priests as a matter of course.
Will be very interesting to follow these discussions.
Today's Gospel is a well-known parable about two men going to pray, and the contrast between them: "Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else."
Pope Francis had a few choice words in his homily on that Gospel at Mass this morning (which also happens to be the day he scheduled for the conclusion of the Synod on the Amazon which has caused much consternation among conservatives):
"Worship of self carries on hypocritically with its rites and 'prayers' – many are Catholics, they profess themselves Catholic, but have forgotten they are Christians and human beings – forgetting the true worship of God which is always expressed in love of one’s neighbour. Even Christians who pray and go to Mass on Sunday are subject to this religion of the self. Let us examine ourselves and see whether we too may think that someone is inferior and can be tossed aside, even if only in our words. Let us pray for the grace not to consider ourselves superior, not to believe that we are alright, not to become cynical and scornful. Let us ask Jesus to heal us of speaking ill and complaining about others, of despising this or that person: these things are displeasing to God."
“Even Christians who pray and go to Mass on Sunday are subject to this religion of the self. Let us examine ourselves and see whether we too may think that someone is inferior and can be tossed aside, even if only in our words. Let us pray for the grace not to consider ourselves superior, not to believe that we are alright, not to become cynical and scornful. Let us ask Jesus to heal us of speaking ill and complaining about others, of despising this or that person: these things are displeasing to God."
Words Important to every persuasion and religion. Pope Francis speaks to all of us.
Another challenge:
https://cnstopstories.com/2019/09/23/show-others-gods-mercy-dont-judge-them-pope-says/