Pope Francis gives his Angelus address June 29, 2023. / Credit: Vatican News. See CNA article for full slideshow.
Vatican City, Aug 13, 2023 / 06:46 am (CNA)..
In times of fear and difficulty, call on Jesus, who has already conquered the powers of evil, Pope Francis said on Sunday.
“The powers of evil that frighten us, that we cannot master, immediately take on smaller proportions with Jesus,” he said, encouraging people to “call on the Lord with faith.”
On Aug. 13, the pope addressed around 15,000 people from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square before reciting the Angelus, a Marian prayer.
His message focused on the day’s Gospel passage, which recalls when Jesus walked on the water of the Lake of Galilee to meet his disciples, who were afraid because their boat was being tossed by wind and waves.
There is, Pope Francis said, “a message behind the walking on the water…”
At the time, large bodies of water, especially during storms, were believed to contain evil powers uncontrollable by man, he explained.
“Now, the disciples found themselves in the middle of the lake when it was dark,” he said. “They are afraid of sinking, of being sucked in by evil. And here comes Jesus, walking on the waters, that is, over the powers of evil, and he says to his disciples: ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’”
He said Jesus is saying the same thing to us today: “‘Do not be afraid. I have put your enemies under my feet’ — not people! — not that type of enemy, but death, sin, the devil…”
Pope Francis also drew attention to the words uttered by St. Peter as he began to sink into the lake while walking on the water toward Jesus.
“Peter walks a little way out on the waters toward Jesus, but then gets frightened. He sinks and then cries out: ‘Lord, save me!’” the pope said.
“This prayer is beautiful,” he added. “It expresses the certainty that the Lord can save us, that he conquers our evil and our fears. I invite you to repeat it now all together, three times: ‘Lord, save me! Lord, save me! Lord, save me!’”
Francis pointed out that after calling on Jesus for help, the second thing the disciples do is welcome him into the boat.
“The Lord knows that the boat of our life, as well as the boat of the Church, is threatened by headwinds, and that the sea on which we sail is often turbulent. The Lord knows,” he said.
“He does not spare us the hard work of sailing, rather — the Gospel highlights — he pushes his disciples to depart. He invites us to face difficulties so they too might become salvific places,” he said. “Jesus conquers them so that they become opportunities to meet him. In fact, in our moments of darkness, he comes to meet us, asking to be welcomed like that night on the lake.”
“So, let us ask ourselves: How do I react when I am afraid, when I have difficulty?” Francis said. “Do I go ahead alone, with my own strength, or do I call on the Lord with faith? And what is my faith like? Do I believe that Christ is stronger than the adversarial waves and winds? But above all: Am I sailing with Jesus? Do I welcome him, make room for him in the boat of my life, never alone, always with Jesus. Do I hand the helm over to him?”
“In the dark crossings, may Mary, mother of Jesus and Star of the Sea, help us to seek the light of Jesus,” he concluded.
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A young woman holds a pro-life sign during a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. / Joseph Portolano/CNA
Washington D.C., Jun 25, 2023 / 06:40 am (CNA).
Marking the first anniversary of Roe being overturned, a group of pro-life leaders rallied hundreds to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Saturday with the message that they were united around the fight for full, legal protection for the unborn from the moment of conception in all 50 states.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told those gathered on a sunny, hot summer day that while she celebrated the 25 states that have passed strong pro-life laws, “we are in fact living in a divided states of America” where “a person’s location determines if they will survive the abortion gauntlet as we did.”
Hawkins said the country must become “an America where every human being is recognized as the unrepeatable person as they are with equal rights and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed, not because of what state their mother resides in or if they are perceived to be convenient or the circumstances of their conception.”
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Hawkins told CNA that pro-life leaders are uniting around the belief “that every human being is a human person at conception” and that the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal justice clauses should be equally applied to persons in the womb.
“At a very minimum if you’re running for federal office, you should be able to acknowledge that abortion is a federal issue,” she said. “We want to see every presidential contender join with us to acknowledge what is so clearly written in the Fourteenth Amendment: that all human beings are human persons and deserve equal protection of our laws.”
Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called the Fourteenth Amendment “one of the most beautiful notes in our national song” and lamented that “when it comes to preborn children we have failed to extend these protections.”
Speaking at a rally in front of of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children.”. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Rose called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children. It is inconceivable that we would selectively deny these rights to one group of human beings solely based on their location: the womb.”
Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence, who recently called on his fellow GOP presidential candidates to join him in backing a “minimum” nationwide 15-week abortion limit, made an appearance at the rally.
“As we celebrate this anniversary, let us here resolve that we will work and we will pray as never before to advance the cause of life in the laws of the land in every state in America. That we will support women in crisis pregnancies with resources and support for their care, for the unborn, and for the newborn as never before,” Pence said.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
“We stand for the babies and their unalienable right to life,” he said, pledging that he and his family “will never rest and never relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the land.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-life America, shared words of advice for the growing list of 2024 presidential candidates: “Get your act together. Figure out what you’re for and advance it. Don’t wait,” she urged.
“We have consensus in this country,” she added. “Start with that and be the president you’re called to be in justice and love for moms and justice and love for their babies.” Consistent Gallup polling shows that the majority of Americans would prefer to limit abortion to the first three months of pregnancy.
There were many young people in the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial, including Katriel Nyman, a 17-year-old from Washington state who is with Students for Life Tri-Cities. She told CNA that it was “really encouraging to see a bunch of people who believe in rights from conception.”
She said she’d “like to see more pro-lifers continue to persevere through this” post-Dobbs fight because “even if abortion isn’t legal in your state, you should be fighting for the rights of infants that are soon to be born in other states.”
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, holds a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that reads “We have dignified the children of Adam,” at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023. Lauretta Brown/CNA
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, held a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that read “We have dignified the children of Adam.”
She told CNA that she wanted to make her voice heard as a Muslim who believes, based on her faith, that abortion is wrong in most cases. She said many Muslims followers feel, as she does, that life begins “in the first couple weeks after conception.”
Munshi said that in the year since the Dobbs decision, “a lot of people that I know who don’t have strong opinions on abortion have been coming out either in favor or against” abortion. She sees it as valuable that there’s more discourse about the abortion issue and people are “coming to more conclusions for themselves as opposed to maybe rhetoric that they’ve seen in the news or rhetoric that they feel has been a part of their political platform.”
Jessica Newell, a Catholic student who is interning with Live Action and entering her third year at Coastal Carolina University, told CNA that “it’s so important for people who are indoctrinated by this culture to learn the truth about biology and the truth about God and that they’re made in the image of God.”
She emphasized that the pro-life movement still has so much to do and part of that work is “letting people know that they’re loved, that is a big step in changing the culture to a culture of life.”
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stands alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stood at the rally alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, and a sign which read “Babies survive abortions. I am one of them.”
“This was a very personal thing for Roe to be overturned,” she told CNA, “It is a day that we can celebrate, but it has not been a chance to pause, take our breath, it has been a time of continuing to hit the ground running.”
In her work heading the Abortion Survivors Network, Ohden said that since the Dobbs decision she’s heard from “more women than ever reaching out to us after their chemical abortions have failed.” She said it’s important to reach moms who are vulnerable to chemical abortions which make up the majority of abortions in the country.
Ohden said that since Dobbs the pro-life movement “has continued to be the side that is providing resources and support whether it’s in communities, at the state level, pushing for federal policy that supports mothers and children and families in a greater way.”
Her daughter Olivia said it was “amazing” to be at the rally with her mom and called the issue an emotional one because “people like my mom should be protected no matter who they are, where they are.”
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Following his release, Bishop David O’Connell (third from left) joined Father Jean Felicien, Monsignor Thomas N. Gervasio, and Monsignor Sam Sirianni at their hotel in Rome. / Credit: TrentonMonitor.com staff photo
CNA Staff, Jan 9, 2024 / 17:40 pm (CNA).
Bishop David M. O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, was released from a hospital in Rome on Tuesday, five days after suffering a heart attack, a spokesman for the diocese said.
He was taken to Santo Spirito hospital last Thursday, where he had surgery to open the completely blocked left anterior descending artery, which is the largest cardiac artery in the body, according to the diocese. The type of heart attack the bishop sustained is known as a “widowmaker.”
O’Connell, 68, told other diocesan officials by email that he feels “very lucky” to have gotten medical care quickly after the heart attack, according to TrentonMonitor.com, the news website for the diocese, which consists of four counties in central New Jersey.
Bishop David O’Connell after his release from the hospital. Credit: TrentonMonitor.com staff photo
“He also gratefully acknowledged that he has received hundreds of get well wishes from throughout the diocese and the wider Church. He again thanked everyone for their support and prayers,” TrentonMonitor.com reported Tuesday.
O’Connell grew up not far from Philadelphia. He is a member of the Congregation of the Mission, which is more commonly known as the Vincentians, after its founder, St. Vincent de Paul.
He served as president of The Catholic University of America from 1998 to 2010. He has served as bishop of Trenton since 2010.
In December 2014, O’Connell had the lower part of his left leg amputated because of recurring infections caused by diabetes.
The bishop went to Italy recently to lead a pilgrimage of 20 priests and two lay diocesan staff members to holy sites in Rome and Assisi.
He plans to return to New Jersey later this week with the other pilgrims and there continue his recovery and rehabilitation.
Jesus saves. Praise the Lord.