Catholic News 2
NEW YORK (AP) -- Lululemon Athletica is having a Zen moment. After two tough years, the company known for yoga wear is enjoying a rebound in sales and CEO Laurent Potdevin is optimistic that Lululemon can keep the momentum going....
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi Kurdish forces say they have retaken five villages east of the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in an operation launched early Sunday....
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Robert and Gwen Arceneaux endured a sleepless night Sunday after noticing floodwater creeping into their home - in a neighborhood that had never seen water before....
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The black man whose killing by police touched off rioting in Milwaukee was shot by a black officer after turning toward him with a gun in his hand, the police chief said Sunday, as Wisconsin's governor put the National Guard on standby against any further violence on the city's mostly black north side....
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Eric Marques walks down a steep labyrinth of dark alleyways on this hillside slum long controlled by drug gangs and off-limits to outsiders....
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Ryan Lochte and three other American swimmers were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday by thieves posing as police officers who stopped their taxi and took their money and belongings, the U.S. Olympic Committee said....
NEW YORK (AP) -- The daylight slaying of a mosque leader and his associate set off fear and anguish Sunday among Bangladeshi Muslims in a New York City neighborhood, with some saying the killings appear to be an anti-Muslim hate crime. But police said there is no evidence so far to support that....
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Wisconsin's governor put the National Guard on standby Sunday in case of another outbreak of violence in Milwaukee, after a deadly police shooting touched off a night of arson and rock-throwing in a mostly black neighborhood....
LIVINGSTON, La. (AP) -- In high-water vehicles, boats and helicopters, emergency crews worked Sunday to rescue scores of south Louisiana residents from deadly flooding as the governor warned that it was "not over."...
Vatican City, Aug 14, 2016 / 03:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church does not need “cold or lukewarm Christians” who are held back by fear, Pope Francis said Sunday; it needs Christians who are on fire with the Holy Spirit and committed to proclaiming the Gospel, even if it costs them their lives.The Church needs “passionate missionaries, consumed by zeal to bring the consoling Word of Jesus and his grace to everyone,” the Pope said during his weekly Angelus address. “This is the fire of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If the Church does not receive this fire, or allow it to enter, it becomes a cold or lukewarm Church, incapable of giving life, since it is made of cold or lukewarm Christians.”The Pope expressed his admiration for the many priests, consecrated, and lay faithful, “who, throughout the world, are dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel with great love and loyalty, often even at the cost of their lives.&rdqu...
Vatican City, Aug 14, 2016 / 03:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church does not need “cold or lukewarm Christians” who are held back by fear, Pope Francis said Sunday; it needs Christians who are on fire with the Holy Spirit and committed to proclaiming the Gospel, even if it costs them their lives.
The Church needs “passionate missionaries, consumed by zeal to bring the consoling Word of Jesus and his grace to everyone,” the Pope said during his weekly Angelus address.
“This is the fire of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If the Church does not receive this fire, or allow it to enter, it becomes a cold or lukewarm Church, incapable of giving life, since it is made of cold or lukewarm Christians.”
The Pope expressed his admiration for the many priests, consecrated, and lay faithful, “who, throughout the world, are dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel with great love and loyalty, often even at the cost of their lives.”
Pope Francis delivered his Aug. 14 address to the crowds who had gathered in St. Peter's Square for the weekly Angelus.
In his address before reciting the Marian prayer, the pontiff reflected on the themes of the day's Gospel reading, specifically on Jesus' words: “I have come to set the earth on fire.” He explained how the fire about which Jesus speaks is that of the “Holy Spirit, the living and working presence in us from the day of our Baptism.”
This fire is a “creative force which purifies and renews,” as it burns away every human misery, egoism, and sin, he said. “It transforms us from within, regenerates us, and makes us capable of love.”
“Jesus wants the Holy Spirit to burn like fire in our hearts, because it is only from the heart that the fire of Divine love can strengthen and advance the Kingdom of God,” he said.
By opening ourselves completely to the Holy Spirit, we will be given the the “courage and zeal to proclaim to everyone Jesus, and his consoling message of mercy and salvation.”
The Holy Spirit keeps the Church from being “held back by fear and calculations” or becoming accustomed to staying within secure confines, Pope Francis said.
“The Apostolic courage which the Holy Spirit ignites in us as a fire helps us overcome walls and barriers, makes us creative,” and spurs us along “unexplored or uncomfortable paths, offering hope to those we meet.”
“We are called to become ever more a community of persons who are guided and transformed by the Holy Spirit,” the pontiff said.
Speaking off the cuff, Pope Francis said the fire of the Holy Spirit brings us to those who suffer from various miseries and problems, including migrants and refugees.
Now more than ever there is a need for priests, consecrated men and women, and lay faithful, the Pope said, “who, throughout the world, are dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel with great love and loyalty, often even at the cost of their lives.”
“Their exemplary witness reminds us that the Church does not need bureaucrats or meticulous officials,” Pope Francis said. Rather, it needs “passionate missionaries, consumed by zeal to bring the consoling Word of Jesus and his grace to everyone.”
“This is the fire of the Holy Spirit,” the pontiff said, again going off script. “If the Church does not receive this fire, or allow it to enter, it becomes a cold or only Church, incapable of giving life, since it is made of cold or lukewarm Christians.”
The Pope encouraged those present to take five minutes to ask themselves whether their own hearts are cold or lukewarm, and if they are capable of receiving this fire of the Holy Spirit.
Concluding his address, Pope Francis appealed to the Virgin Mary's intercession that the Holy Spirit might pour on all believers the “Divine fire which ignites hearts, and helps us be in solidarity with the joys and sufferings of our brothers and sisters.”
Finally, the Pope remembered the “martyr of charity,” Saint Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast is Aug. 14. “May he teach us to live the fire of love for God and for the other.”
