COLLECTION OF CATHOLIC PRAYERS ETC.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ condition showed “further slight improvement” in the previous 24 hours, the Vatican said in its evening medical bulletin Feb. 26. The “mild renal insufficiency” previously noted in the pope’s condition “has receded,” the bulletin said, and the results of a CT scan performed Feb. 24 showed a “normal evolution”…
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Reading 1 Sirach 4:11-19 Wisdom breathes life into her children and admonishes those who seek her. He who loves her loves life; those who seek her will be embraced by the Lord. He who holds her fast inherits glory; wherever he dwells, the LORD bestows blessings. Those who serve her serve the Holy One; those…
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I could have killed you! That was Israel’s great warrior and future king, David, yelling from a hilltop across the valley at King Saul. After David defeated the giant Goliath and went on a string of military victories, King Saul, the main beneficiary of David’s success, became jealous and wanted David dead. Despite all this,…
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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