Among the biggest of the pieces that dropped in the major Papal interview with Noticieros Televisa’s long-time Vaticanologist, Valentina Alazraki, was the one about Pope Francis’s knowledge of the character and proclivities of his old […]
Vatican City, May 29, 2019 / 04:16 am (CNA).- The Holy Spirit is what gives power, life, and dynamism to evangelization, not good rhetorical skills, Pope Francis said Wednesday.
According to St. Luke – Pope Francis said – the words of men become effective not thanks to rhetoric, but thanks to the Holy Spirit, “which has the power to purify the word, to make it the bearer of life.”
The Holy Spirit is what makes the Bible different from a written history, he said at the general audience May 29. The Holy Spirit “helps us to make that word a seed of holiness, a seed of life, to be effective.”
“When the Spirit visits the human word it becomes dynamic, like ‘dynamite,’ that is, capable of lighting hearts and blowing up patterns, resistances and walls of division, opening up new paths and expanding the boundaries of God’s people,” he emphasized.
After a months-long series of reflections on the Our Father, Pope Francis shifted gears into a course of catecheses on the Acts of the Apostles.
This book of the Bible, written by St. Luke the Evangelist, recounts what happens following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the pope said.
“The narrative plot of the Acts of the Apostles starts right here,” he said, “from the overabundance of the life of the Risen One transfused into his Church.”
The Acts of the Apostles, he explained, tells of “the journey of the Gospel in the world and shows us the marvelous union between the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that inaugurates the time of evangelization.”
Contrary to what might be imagined, he said the protagonists of the Acts of the Apostles are not the apostles, but “the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.”
Pope Francis reflected on the “the promise of the Father,” communicated to the apostles through Jesus: that “John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.”
“The baptism in the Holy Spirit, in fact, is the experience that allows us to enter into a personal communion with God and to participate in his universal salvific will,” he said.
“There is therefore no struggle to earn or merit the gift of God,” he added. “Everything is given for free and in due time. The Lord gives everything for free, freely. Salvation is not bought, you do not pay, it is a free gift.”
Francis also underlined that the apostles gathered in the upper room, together with Mary and other women, to pray with “perseverance.”
“In fact, it is through prayer that one overcomes loneliness, temptation, suspicion and opens one’s heart to communion,” he said.
“We also ask the Lord for patience in waiting for his steps,” he stated, “to not want to ‘manufacture’ his work and to remain docile by praying, invoking the Spirit and cultivating the art of ecclesial communion.”
Philadelphia, Pa., May 29, 2019 / 03:10 am (CNA).- Pro-life Democrats not only have a place within the Democratic Party today, but can act as a bridge in society during a time of intense polarization, said a leader in the movement.
“Really I thi… […]
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Warsaw, Poland, May 28, 2019 / 06:44 pm (CNA).- May is ordination month in many dioceses, but the ordination of Fr. Michal Los, FDP, a member of the Orionine Fathers, was far from your typical ordination.
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Chicago, Ill., May 28, 2019 / 06:24 pm (CNA).- The Catholic bishops of Illinois criticized a push to pass a bill enshrining abortion in state law in the final days of the legislative session, without hearings or the public release of a final text.
The… […]
Paris, France, May 28, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The French Senate on Monday passed a bill on the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris, the city’s cathedral, adding a clause that it must be rebuilt as it was before last month’s fire which destroyed its roof and spire.
The Senate approved the bill May 27, mandating that the rebuilding be faithful to Notre-Dame’s “last known visual state.”
The government of president Emmanuel Macron had begun an architectural competition to submit a variety of suggestions for the restoration. Macron had called for “an inventive reconstruction” of the cathedral.
The Senate also removed from the bill a clause allowing the government to override planning, environmental and heritage protection, and public tenders regulations, which would have hastened the rebuilding.
It modified a tax break, allowing donations for reconstruction made from April 15, the day of the fire, to be tax-deductible. An earlier version of the bill had allowed only donations made from April 16.
The modifications of the bill made by the Senate mean that it must be reconciled with a version passed earlier by the National Assembly before it can become law.
Since the adoption of the 1905 law on separation of church and state, which formalized laïcité, a strict form of public secularism, religious buildings in France have been property of the state.
A fire broke out in the cathedral shortly before 7 pm April 15. The roof and the spire, which dated to the 19th century, were destroyed. Shortly after midnight April 16, firefighters announced that the cathedral’s main structure had been preserved from collapse.
The major religious and artistic treasures of the cathedral were removed as the fire began, including a relic of the crown of thorns.
Originally built between the twelfth through fourteenth centuries, the landmark cathedral in the French capital is one of the most recognizable churches in the world, receiving more than 12 million visitors each year.
The cathedral was undergoing some restorative work at the time the fire broke out, though it is unknown if the fire originated in the area of the work.
Officials had been in the process of a massive fundraising effort to renovate the cathedral against centuries of decay, pollution, and an inundation of visitors. French conservationists and the archdiocese announced in 2017 that the renovations needed for the building’s structural integrity could cost as much as $112 million to complete.
Washington D.C., May 28, 2019 / 05:19 pm (CNA).- While hazardous weather continues to affect the Midwest, the US bishops have mourned for those killed by the storms.
Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, chairman of the US bishops’ domestic justice committee, issued a statement May 24 encouraging people to help the victims by prayer and donations.
“I am profoundly saddened by the loss of life and the damage caused by the tornadoes and storms throughout the Midwest and related regions these past few days,” he said.
“A call is made to all for prayers for the victims and their grieving families and communities. Further, now is the time to offer assistance to those facing this great loss,” he further added.
In the past week, tornadoes and heavy storms have hit several Midwest states, including Ohio, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, and Iowa. According to the Dewane, the storm has affected millions of residents and killed several people.
“As of this writing, millions of people in at least seven states have been affected by the powerful winds, rainfall and rising water levels caused by these conditions. Seven people have been killed in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma,” he said.
One of the heavily damaged areas was Missouri, where a tornado touched down in Golden City last Wednesday. It has killed three people, injured nearly two dozen, and cut power to thousands. Missouri’s capital, Jackson City, was badly affected. The tornado damaged several buildings, including a school.
“There was a lot of devastation throughout the state,” Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, according to NPR. “We were very fortunate last night that we didn’t have more injuries than what we had, and we didn’t have more fatalities across the state.”
The New York Times reported that over the past 11 days, eight tornadoes have occurred in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. In Ohio alone, at least 40 houses were damaged or destroyed, and one death has been reported.
Catholic Charities in Central and Northern Missouri has launched a 2019 tornado and flood relief fund to help support those affected by the weather. Dewane encouraged families to donate to the organization.
“Further, now is the time to offer assistance to those facing this great loss. We are grateful that Catholic Charities and other organizations are in place working to provide for emergency needs and to help rebuild,” he said.
There is a widespread impression that science and faith don’t go together. Recent studies, in fact, have shown that this is the most common reason given by young people who abandon their faith. The idea, […]
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