Pope Francis to host ‘spiritual retreat’ for leaders of war-torn South Sudan

Vatican City, Sep 17, 2017 / 09:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis spoke about the limitless love of God, and how it leads him to forgive us time and time again; something we must strive to do for others, no matter how many times they’ve sinned against us.

“The forgiveness of God is a sign of his overwhelming love for each of us; it is the love that leaves us free to move away, like the prodigal son, but that awaits our return every day; it is the enterprising love of the shepherd for the lost sheep; it is the tenderness that welcomes every sinner who knocks at his door.”

“Heavenly Father, our father, is full and full of love and wants to offer it to us, but he cannot do it if we close our hearts to love for others,” the Pope said Sept. 17.

Continuing, Francis pointed out how Jesus teaches us this in the Our Father, when he directly links the forgiveness we ask of God with the forgiveness we give to our brothers and sisters in the words: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

In his Angelus address Sunday Pope Francis reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from Matthew, where St. Peter asks Christ: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?”

To Peter, seven already seems like the maximum amount of times we should forgive the same person, Francis said. And maybe to us it seems like twice is already a lot.

But Christ’s response is that we must forgive seven times seventy times, “that is to say always. You always have to forgive,” he said. Christ confirms this by telling a parable, the Pope continued, a parable which shows “the inconsistency of the one who was forgiven before and then refuses to forgive.”

The king in the parable is a generous man who when his servant begs for forgiveness of a large debt he has compassion on him and forgives him.

The servant on the other hand refuses to forgive a much smaller debt of a fellow servant and “behaves in a ruthless way,” having him thrown in prison.

“The incoherent attitude of this servant is also ours when we refuse forgiveness to our brothers,” the Pope said. “While the king of the parable is the image of God who loves us with a love so abundant of mercy from embracing us, loving us and forgiving us continually.”

“Since our Baptism God has forgiven us, remitting an insoluble debt: original sin. But that’s the first time. Then, with unlimited mercy, He forgives us all the faults as soon as we show even a little sign of repentance,” the Pope said. “God is so merciful.”

When we are tempted to behave as the servant did toward his fellow servant, closing off our hearts to those who have offended us and come to apologize, we must remember the words of the Heavenly Father, he stated.

He told the ruthless servant: “I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?”

“Anyone who has experienced the joy, peace, and inner freedom that comes from being forgiven can open themselves to the possibility of forgiving in turn,” he noted.

Concluding, Francis turned to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who he said “helps us to be more and more aware of the gratuitousness and greatness of the forgiveness received from God.”

May she help us to become as “merciful as He is, the good Father: slow to anger and great in love.”

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Washington D.C., Dec 26, 2018 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- A Washington, DC council of the Knights of Columbus has invited two U.S. senators to join them in charitable service, after those senators objected to a federal judicial nominee’s membership in the organization.

The Patrick Cardinal O’Boyle Council 11302 of the Knights of Columbus published this week an open letter to Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA), addressing the senators’ recent objections to social and political positions affiliated with the Knights of Columbus.

The letter said the council had “read about statements which expressed the fear that the Knights of Columbus held many extreme beliefs. It is our great pleasure to assure you that this fear is not grounded in any truth. The Knights of Columbus in general, and O’Boyle Council in particular are dedicated to the three fundamental principles of charity, unity, and fraternity.”

The council, local to Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, said that in recent months it had “worked with local parishes including St Peter’s (House-side Catholic church) and St Joseph’s (Senate-side Catholic church) to raise funds and give away over $4,000 worth of coats to neighborhood children, collect soda and beer can tabs to donate to the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute which helps the developmentally disabled, and collect diapers and other supplies for new mothers in need.”

“Over the course of the past year we donated an ultrasound machine to a clinic, picked up trash around Nationals Park, and donated supplies to a local school. We do all this as well as social gatherings and spiritual events.”

The letter was published in response to reports that Hirono and Harris had challenged the Knights of Columbus membership of Brian C. Buescher, an Omaha lawyer nominated for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska.

The senators said the group’s positions on to same-sex marriage and abortion could interfere with Buescher’s ability to fairly judge federal cases.

In written questions sent Dec. 5, Hirono said that “the Knights of Columbus has taken a number of extreme positions,” among them supporting campaigns to ban same-sex marriage. Hirono asked whether Buescher would quit the organization if confirmed, “to avoid any appearance of bias.”

In her written questions, Harris called the Knights of Columbus  “an all-male society” and asked if the judicial nominee was aware that the group “opposed a woman’s right to choose” and “marriage equality.”

Buescher, who has been a member of the Knights since he was 18 years old, said in his response that if confirmed as a federal judge, he would follow established rules regarding conflicts of interest, and that he would not seek to advance personal opinions, but would make rulings in accord with the judicial precedents established by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I would be bound by precedent of the United States Supreme Court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and would not be guided by statements made by others,” Buescher said.

The local Knights’ letter invited the senators to join the group at its February Polar Plunge, during which participants will jump into cold water to raise money for the D.C. Special Olympics.

“We hope this list of activities help to assure you that we are simply a group aiming to do God’s work while building friendships,” the letter said.

Kathleen Blomquist, national spokesperson for the Knights of Columbus, told CNA Dec. 21 that the senators’ questions regarding the Knights of Columbus were discouraging.

“We were extremely disappointed to see that one’s commitment to Catholic principles through membership in the Knights of Columbus – a charitable organization that adheres to and promotes Catholic teachings – would be viewed as a disqualifier from public service in this day and age” Blomquist told CNA.

The local council’s letter concluded by inviting Catholic men on the senatorial staff of Harris and Hirono to consider joining the Knights of Columbus.

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Vatican City, May 2, 2018 / 04:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis said that it is not possible to have a relationship with God if we are attached to sin and the devil, encouraging Christians to cut those ties and re-proclaim their faith … […]