Carrying a cross in our pockets can be a beautiful prayer. There are times when we pray with words and times when it is just the silence of our hearts — like St John Vianney who used to say about his prayer in from of the Blessed Sacrament: “I just look at him and he looks at me.”
If Catholic morality in the past seemed so obsessed with preventing sexual sin that it ignored sins of injustice, today “we have gone to the opposite extreme,” seemingly concerned only with how people treat others, not with how they treat the gift of their bodies, the papal preacher said.
Forgiving those who have caused pain or offence is not easy, Pope Francis said. It is a grace that we have to ask for,” because the peace offered by Christ cannot take root in a heart that is incapable of living in fraternity with others and incapable of rebuilding those bonds after being wounded, the pope said
God’s love is never lacking, despite people’s sins and rejection of his presence in their lives, Pope Francis said at a Lenten penance service.
Misunderstanding the generous service and obedience of women religious leads to their being exploited and underappreciated, according to an investigative report in a Vatican magazine. “Sisters are seen as volunteers that one can have available as one wishes, which gives rise to genuine abuses of power,” said a nun identified only as Sister Cecile.
Pope Francis implored artists to “make the deep beauty of God’s love visible” and to create and protect areas of beauty in the world’s teeming cities.
Visiting the sick or home-bound is an art of virtue that deepens your Lenten experience. It’s just one of the many ways we can use Lent to refocus and brush away what may have been preventing us from following Jesus.
The Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) is urging parents to make immediate efforts to ensure school governing bodies (SGBs) make a positive contribution in 2018.
Pope Francis has declared February 23 a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Africa, especially for the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
