With love we look out for the other
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Sept. 7 (Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20)
How much responsibility do we have for the behaviour of others? This is a difficult and delicate question — many of us have encountered the self-righteous busybody intent on running the lives of others. Ezekiel addressed a different but related issue: communal versus individual responsibility.
Catholic Church must welcome ‘unconventional couples,’ says top Italian bishop
ROME - The Catholic Church should make “unconventional couples” feel at home instead of making them targets of “de facto discrimination,” the leader of the Italian Bishops Conference and an ally of Pope Francis said this week.
Walking on water, sinking like a stone
Faith isn’t something you ever simply achieve. It’s not something that you ever nail down as a fait accompli. Faith works this way: Some days you walk on water and other days you sink like a stone. Faith invariably gives way to doubt before it again recovers its confidence, then it loses it again.
Polish diplomat raises extradition for Vatican official accused of sex abuse
VATICAN CITY - Poland’s ambassador to the Holy See has forcefully condemned the alleged sexual abuse of children by a Polish-born former archbishop and Vatican diplomat, and said Warsaw is considering a fresh request to extradite Jozef Wesolowski to face trial in his homeland.
Retired Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass with former doctoral students
VATICAN CITY - With "spiritual freshness and joy" despite his physical frailty, retired Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass and met briefly with his former doctoral students at the Vatican Aug. 24.
Vatican says laicized nuncio could stand trial in Dominican Republic
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican denied covering up for a former papal ambassador accused of sexually abusing boys and suggested he might have to stand trial on the charges in the Dominican Republic.
Pope Francis marks Ukrainian Independence Day, prays for peace
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis lamented "tension and conflict" in Ukraine and prayed for "peace and tranquility" there on the country's Independence Day.
Pope Francis appeals to Iraqi president to end crisis
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis wrote to the president of Iraq, calling for an end to the “brutal suffering of Christians and other religious minorities” and urging political leaders to end the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Pope Francis' 2015 World Peace Day message to focus on human trafficking
VATICAN CITY - Human trafficking destroys the lives of millions of children, women and men each year, making it a real threat to peace, the Vatican said as it announced Pope Francis' 2015 World Peace Day message would focus on the phenomenon.
Focus on what is found, not what is lost
Sometimes everything can seem right on the surface while, deep down, nothing is right at all. We see this, for example, in the famous parable in the Gospels about the Prodigal Son and his older brother. By every outward appearance the older brother is doing everything right: He’s perfectly obedient to his father, is at home and is doing everything his father asks of him. And, unlike his younger brother, he’s not wasting his father’s property on prostitutes and partying. He seems a model of generosity and morality.
Peace comes with submitting to God
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Aug. 31 (Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27)
We can perhaps sympathize with Jeremiah. He did not ask for the calling of a prophet — in fact, he was dragged kicking and screaming into his role as God’s mouthpiece.