COLLECTION OF CATHOLIC PRAYERS ETC.
Too often when we think about the Church Fathers, we consider them as men who benefited the Church only academically. I have heard many say that the Fathers lived during a time completely different from our own and, therefore, have little to do with us. This is not the case. Just look to the three…
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis urged Christians to examine their consciences in Lent by comparing their daily lives to the hardships faced by migrants, calling it a way to grow in empathy and discover God’s call to compassion. “It would be a good Lenten exercise for us to compare our daily life with that…
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A well-loved and revered priest and seminary theologian left the priesthood during the early years of my seminary formation because of gravely scandalous relationships. His departure and the scandal involved left many of us, his students, devastated, confused, and discouraged. Someone quipped about him, “He knows theology and scripture well, but he probably did not…
A river used to separate the Conventual Templo de San Francisco from the colonial center of Puebla. The center was Spanish. On the church’s side lived the indigenous population. Today, that river is no longer visible. A multilane thoroughfare teems with buses and non-stop traffic. All manner of street entertainers and eager windshield washers wait…
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Reading 1 Sirach 2:1-11 My son, when you come to serve the LORD, stand in justice and fear, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, incline your ear and receive the word of understanding, undisturbed in time of adversity. Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not; thus will…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A light drizzle finally let up as hundreds of faithful headed to St. Peter’s Square to pray the rosary for Pope Francis on the 11th day of his hospitalization for double pneumonia. The wet black cobblestones shone from the bright lights illuminating the fountains and the front of the square where…
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ condition has shown a slight improvement, which, however, is still critical, the Vatican said. “There were no episodes of asthmatic respiratory crisis” Feb. 24, the Vatican said in its evening medical bulletin, and “some laboratory tests improved.” He is still on supplemental oxygen through a nasal cannula, “albeit with…
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There are two radically different kinds of belief. One is the willingness to belief without sufficient investigation. It is a form of belief that is not supported by reason. People who are gullible or superstitious fall into this category. On the other hand, there is belief that is indeed supported by reason and is affirmed…
Reading 1 Sirach 1:1-10 All wisdom comes from the LORD and with him it remains forever, and is before all time The sand of the seashore, the drops of rain, the days of eternity: who can number these? Heaven’s height, earth’s breadth, the depths of the abyss: who can explore these? Before all things else…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ condition remained “critical” the evening of Feb. 23, his doctors said, with blood tests showing “initial, mild renal insufficiency, at present under control.” The pope has had “no further respiratory crisis since last night,” said the medical bulletin published by the Vatican, but it said he was continuing to…