Pope Easter Sunday Mass: Hold fast to faith
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=157758&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
(Vatican Radio) On Easter Sunday morning Pope Francis presided over Mass in St Peter’s Square festooned for the occasion with colourful tulips from Holland.Breaking with tradition the Pope gave an off the cuff homily encouraging Christians to keep the faith despite the wars, sickness and hatred in the world.``The Church never ceases to say, faced with our defeats, our closed and fearful hearts, `stop, the Lord is risen.' But if the Lord is risen, how come these things happen?''He went on to say ``Nobody asks us: `But, are you happy with all that's happening in the world?' Are you willing to go forward','' carrying a cross, as Jesus did?The Pope also noted in his impromptu homily that " in this culture of waste what is not needed is thrown away, discarded, that stone - Jesus - is discarded and is the source of life.And we too, pebbles on the ground, in this land of pain, tragedy, with faith in the Risen Christ we have a wisdom in the midst...
(Vatican Radio) On Easter Sunday morning Pope Francis presided over Mass in St Peter’s Square festooned for the occasion with colourful tulips from Holland.
Breaking with tradition the Pope gave an off the cuff homily encouraging Christians to keep the faith despite the wars, sickness and hatred in the world.
``The Church never ceases to say, faced with our defeats, our closed and fearful hearts, `stop, the Lord is risen.' But if the Lord is risen, how come these things happen?''
He went on to say ``Nobody asks us: `But, are you happy with all that's happening in the world?' Are you willing to go forward','' carrying a cross, as Jesus did?
The Pope also noted in his impromptu homily that " in this culture of waste what is not needed is thrown away, discarded, that stone - Jesus - is discarded and is the source of life.
And we too, pebbles on the ground, in this land of pain, tragedy, with faith in the Risen Christ we have a wisdom in the midst of many calamities.
The wisdom to look beyond and say, "look there is no wall; there is a horizon, there is life, there is joy, there is the cross amidst this ambivalence. Look ahead, do not close in on yourself".
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275461&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275460&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Members of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Bukavu (ASSEPB). / Credit: Radio MotoACI Africa, Apr 28, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Catholic bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have denounced the insecurity and violence in their dioceses.In their collective statement issued Sunday, April 14, the members of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Bukavu (ASSEPB) said: "Insecurity has become endemic, with its trail of killings even in the middle of the day, massacres and kidnappings of peaceful citizens in our towns and villages."ASSEPB members decried "the opening up of most of our territorial entities; the [rebel group] M23s surrounding of the town of Goma supported by Rwanda; and the strategy of paralyzing the economy by isolating and suffocating large and small towns.""Despite the holding of elections, the Congolese state remains weak and ineffective," they further lamented. The Catholic Church leaders faulted the President ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275455&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. / Credit: Charlotte County Sheriff's OfficeCNA Staff, Apr 27, 2024 / 19:18 pm (CNA).A Florida priest who was recently arrested on sex abuse charges was permitted to continue in active ministry for nearly three years after a civil sex abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the diocese in which he serves.Father Leo Riley, age 68, continued to serve as a priest for years after a 2020 sexual abuse lawsuit was filed against him and the Diocese of Venice in Florida. The matter came to the forefront this week after Riley was arrested on several sex abuse charges dating back to his time serving as a priest in Iowa decades ago. The Charlotte County, Florida Sheriff's Office said in a press release that deputies arrested Riley in Port Charlotte on April 24 "on multiple counts of capital sexual battery stemmin...