Category Archives: Pope Francis

by | October 25, 2015 · 12:23 am

WOOHOO!! The Holy Spirit has again protected God’s truth!

Pope Francis Bible

With a two-thirds majority vote, the more than 200 bishops gathered for the Vatican’s synod on the family (Oct. 4-25, 2015) upheld Church teaching.

This year’s discussion tended to be reduced in Western secular media to two issues: communion for divorced-and-civilly remarried, and Church teaching and pastoral care regarding homosexuality.

Actual topics were much broader, with synod fathers touching on themes such as domestic violence, violence against women, incest and abuse within families, marriage preparation and pornography.

Read the rest @ http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/final-synod-document-strongly-backs-church-teaching-beauty-of-family-life-37584/

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by | October 7, 2015 · 4:43 am

Pray for the Synod on the Family

The Synod of Bishops, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an advisory body for the Pope.

“The synod of bishops is a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet together at fixed times to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman Pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world.” – Catholic Code of Canon Law: Canon 342

Pope Francis has asked us to pray this prayer daily from now until the Synod closes.

Synod prayer - Oct 4 to 25

Below is an excerpt from Pope Francis’ address to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Monday, October 6, 2015.

“The Synod is neither a convention, nor a parlor, nor a parliament or senate, where people make deals and reach compromises. The Synod is rather an Ecclesial expression, i.e., the Church that journeys together to read reality with the eyes of faith and with the heart of God; it is the Church that interrogates herself with regard to her fidelity to the deposit of faith, which does not represent for the Church a museum to view, nor even something merely to safeguard, but is a living source from which the Church shall drink, to satisfy the thirst of, and illuminate, the deposit of life.

“The Synod moves necessarily within the bosom of the Church and of the holy people of God, to which we belong in the quality of shepherds – which is to say, as servants. The Synod also is a protected space in which the Church experiences the action of the Holy Spirit. In the Synod, the Spirit speaks by means of every person’s tongue, who lets himself be guided by the God who always surprises, the God who reveals himself to little ones, who hides from the knowing and intelligent; the God who created the law and the Sabbath for man and not vice versa; by the God, who leaves the 99 sheep to look for the one lost sheep; the God who is always greater than our logic and our calculations.

“Let us remember, however, that the Synod will be a space for the action of the Holy Spirit only if we participants vest ourselves with apostolic courage, evangelical humility and trusting prayer.”

Sources:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P18.HTM
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-full-text-of-remarks-at-synod-opening

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Filed under Catholic Church, Pope Francis, Prayer

by | October 3, 2015 · 11:42 pm

Vatican confirms Pope Francis met with Kim Davis – UPDATED

2015_09 30 Vatican confirms Kim Davis Pope meet

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UPDATE: The Vatican has clarified that Kim Davis did not have a private audience with Pope Francis, but was part of a group who got to see him and say hello before he left.  As per usual, both sides of the political spectrum are over-politicizing Pope Francis.  It appears that Davis’ lawyer over-stated the specifics, perhaps in a bid to claim the pope for their side.  It also appears that those who think the pope is some kind of Leftie were just “devastated” upon hearing that he met with Davis.  Seriously?  How does meeting someone constitute picking sides?  They all remind me of the Pharisees who got bent out of shape with Jesus for talking to sinners.

Source:

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by | October 1, 2015 · 8:20 pm

Did Pope Francis call Jesus a failure?

Well, yes and no. As per usual, the pope haters are spinning a standard homiletic message to suit their agenda, rather than to further the work of God’s people.

Here are his real words, spoken Sept. 24 at Vespers to a group of priests and religious.

We can get caught up measuring the value of our apostolic works by the standards of efficiency, good management and outward success which govern the business world.

Not that these things are unimportant!

We have been entrusted with a great responsibility, and God’s people rightly expect accountability from us.

But the true worth of our apostolate is measured by the value it has in God’s eyes.

To see and evaluate things from God’s perspective calls for constant conversion in the first days and years of our vocation and, need I say, it calls for great humility.

The cross shows us a different way of measuring success.

Ours is to plant the seeds: God sees to the fruits of our labors.

And if at times our efforts and works seem to fail and produce no fruit, we need to remember that we are followers of Jesus… and his life, humanly speaking, ended in failure, in the failure of the cross.

Note: The haters are mis-quoting the last line as “his life . . . ended in failure, in the failure of the cross.” There’s a whole lot of biblical truth in the words they decided to leave out, KWIM?

Foolishness of God is wisdom 1 Cor 1

Read the full text of his beautiful message:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150924_usa-omelia-vespri-nyc.html

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by | September 27, 2015 · 7:49 pm

Religious freedom is essential

Obama and Pope - Little Sisters of the Poor

John Michael Talbot’s Facebook post about Pope Francis’ speech at Independence Hall:

The Pope’s words on Religious Liberty from Philly were just brilliant! He spoke from Independence Hall and the lecturn used by Abraham Lincoln for The Gettysburg Address. Powerful symbols!

He said that religion is not a sub culture of a people, but is inherent in the culture itself! Religious freedom is especially essential in a nation founded on religious freedom for the sake of empowering rather than limiting good religious expressions. How powerful from Independence Hall!

He also challenges those afraid of immigration, not as specific political policies, but as a general moral attitude of humanity. We see people, not just issues and problems. He encourages keeping our respective ethnic traditions alive, but while assimilating properly into the culture we embrace and join.

He spoke wise words on proper globalization that empowers, rather than restricts individual and national rights and diversity. He encouraged us not to be afraid of our ethnic or individual diversity, but learn to celebrate it as a united people of freedom.

Of course, he hopes to confirm and strengthen the traditional family in his visit to Philly. Without mentioning hot button issues that have so divided us, he speaks to the more essential core values that can solve most of them with love and truth in Christ.

This Pope cannot be politically pigeon holed! He confounds the molds of Progressive or Conservative, Democrat and Republican, or Libertarian and Socialist for that matter! But he unites us all in a most simple common love of others as we love ourselves, which is the golden rule of many religions, not the least of which is Catholic Christianity. He makes me proud to be Catholic! I pray that all of us, believer and unbeliever, Christian and non Christian, Catholic and non Catholic to embrace his spirit and words, both of which he gets from Jesus.

He ended with an off script impromptu recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. This was a fitting conclusion to his words on Religious Freedom that was personal and powerful!

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by | September 26, 2015 · 11:29 pm

Why Americans Misunderstand Pope Francis

The following is excerpted from “Why Americans Misunderstand Pope Francis” By Jose Mena | December 24, 2013

In most of the early reactions to Pope Francis’ papacy, one finds the severely confused notion that Catholic social teaching is readily reducible to American political categories. The problem is that these categories are totally inapplicable—if not wholly alien—to the majesty that is the corpus of Catholic social teaching.

It strikes me that few Catholics today are willing to place their Catholicism first and their party allegiance second. Catholics ought to religiously submit their intellect and will to Church teachings in all cases, and not just in those instances in which Church teaching happens to accord with that of one’s favorite politician.

Pope - Dem GOP Jesus

That Pope Francis manages to preach his critiques of the modern Western way of life in a spirit of Christlike joy and compassion is itself a minor miracle. His attitude reflects the ultimate truth that what the Catholic Church is in the business of doing with its social teaching is to proclaim a particularly vivid, compelling, intellectually rigorous, and genuinely beautiful account of what the human person is and what is good for the human person to pursue.

We Catholics must approach this account with humility and grace, and discard whatever cultural and intellectual presuppositions do not concord with this beauty and rigor. We must commit ourselves first to Christ and His Church, clear-eyed and reverently, and trust that they will not lead us astray.

This is the rule that I try to follow:

  • If I feel that the Holy Father is criticizing something I hold dear, perhaps I should examine exactly why it is that I value that so highly, instead of leaping immediately to a passionate critique of the Holy Father’s words.
  • If, on the contrary, I feel that the Holy Father is endorsing a particular political conviction of mine, I should be immediately skeptical of my comfortable interpretation, and careful that what I want to believe to be true is actually fully justified under Catholic thought.
  • And when I do find good reason to disagree with what a pope or a cardinal is saying—and I grant that there are plenty of cases where this holds—, I should do so in a tone and attitude of utter respect and admiration for the intellectual work done by the Church and Her bishops.

Read the original @ https://ethikapolitika.org/2013/12/24/americans-misunderstand-pope-francis/

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by | September 25, 2015 · 10:27 pm

Unspinning the pope … again (and again and again)

The false quotation below began circulating the internet sometime around December 2014. Allegedly, it is a summary of what he said at Mass on Sunday, May 22, 2013. But, as so often happens with this pope, the actual message was quite different from what the person who made the graphic claimed it was.

Pope Francis - false quotation

This pope is very much about walking the walk, not just talking the talk.  We cannot spread the Good News to non-believers if we only talk to fellow believers and we cannot fulfill our God-given duties to serve if we only hang out with people who don’t need anything.

Let me parse the false statement in the graphic and line it up, bit by bit, with what Pope Francis actually said on May 22, 2013.

GRAPHIC: “It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person.”

POPE FRANCIS, May 22, 2013: “The Lord created us in His image and likeness. … He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil.  The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ.”

GRAPHIC: “In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual but not religious. It is not necessary to go to church and give money – for many, nature can be a church.”

POPE FRANCIS, May 22, 2013: “If we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

GRAPHIC: “Some of the best people in history did not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in His name.”

POPE FRANCIS, May 22, 2013: “This ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war. … To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”

The text in the graphic above resembles the pope’s actual message about as much as a stinking pile of road kill resembles the living, breathing animal it once was.  But, as Honest Abe once said …

Lincoln internet quotation

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by | September 24, 2015 · 5:14 pm

Three popes

September 24, 2015: This evening Pope Francis will not be dining with politicians. He’s going to break bread with the homeless.

Three popes

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Filed under Pope Benedict, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II

by | September 24, 2015 · 4:57 pm

Air Punch!! Pope Francis does it sooo much better than Captain Zero! LOL

2015_09 23 Pope Francis visits Little Sisters of the Poor

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by | September 24, 2015 · 2:15 pm

Backhanded compliments

There’s been lots of commentary about President Obama’s guest list for his White House “Greet The Pope” do.

Mike Huckabee: “When you invite the head of the Catholic Church — the pope — you should treat him as an honored guest. It is not a time to embarrass him by inviting people who have been very outspoken in their criticism of the Church. It’s like hosting a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and setting up an open bar or it’s like inviting the prime minister of India — who is a Hindu — and serving ribeye steak. There are some things you just don’t do. It’s called manners.”

Franklin Graham: “Is there no end to the lengths the president will go in order to push his sinful agenda? This is disgraceful and obviously inappropriate.”

Todd Starnes: “Just a few weeks ago they had the King of Saudi Arabia drop by for a howdy-do. I wonder how many Muslim feminists and LGBT activists were invited to that get-together?”

CtH: “Dear President Bozo, God can do passive-aggressive too, you know. This photo is going viral and you sooooo deserve it. ::snork::”

2015_09 23 Pope and Horned Obama

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