http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/poveri/documents/papa-francesco_20200613_messaggio-iv-giornatamondiale-poveri-2020.html

TO PREPARE FOR DEATH IS TO PREPARE FOR LIFE The unavoidable reality of death is one of the great questions which every person must face, sooner or later. Even for those who live in denial, it is the proverbial great elephant in the room. Because everything in us recoils at...

DEVOTION TO THE SAINTS The saints are often an untapped source of love, friendship, help and affection as we make our way through life. The Letter to the Hebrews depicts them as a great cloud of witnesses to Jesus who are all surrounding us and cheering us on, as the...

I DESIRE TO DESIRE TO BE A SAINT Sainthood can seem an unattainable dream when we think of ourselves as candidates. The daily experience of our moral fragility and weakness can appear to put to rest any notion of such an exalted aim. But to accept that is to buy...

Plenary Indulgences in November “An indulgence is the remission in the eyes of God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose culpable element has already been taken away. The Christian faithful who are rightly disposed and observe the definite, prescribed conditions gain this remission through the effective assistance of...

LOVE DEMANDS LOVE  It can seem a strange proposition to command someone to love you. Our experience is that we either fall in love whether we want to or not, or else love blossoms as the result of kinship or other social ties. If someone came up to you and...

During my own missionary globetrotting, I saw that missionaries often met with tension from the local public authorities. This is especially so when they are engaged in works like education, health and the care of the poor. In poorer countries, the state can envy missionary-run schools and hospitals, not just...

ON MISSION TO CAESAR  With his words about Caesar and God, Jesus, the first to do so in history, separated religion from state. It is Christ who commands us to keep these two separate. The state is secular, i.e. it deals with the organization and administration of our earthly affairs,...

Yesterday, 3rd October, Pope Francis went to Assisi in anticipation of today’s feast (4th October) in honour of St. Francis. He did so in order to sign his new Encyclical Letter called “Fratelli Tutti” (which roughly means “We are all Brothers” and is a quote from St. Francis). Fraternity and...

CHRIST ABOVE AND IN CREATION   Jesus berates the religious leaders of his time for failing to produce fruit at the proper time for the “owner of the vineyard”, his heavenly Father. Jesus angrily concludes his words by telling them that they will be dispossessed of the vineyard and it...