From a summary of a conversation on The Good Catholic Life, a Boston-area radio program yesterday: God never wants evil to happen in the world. When a modern Cain kills his brother, God grieves. We can’t imagine what it’s like to lose one child like three families did yesterday. God lost three children. The only way to stop what happened yesterday was for God to eliminate human freedom. The risk of allowing love is that we can use free will... Read more
God be with those who suffer because of yesterday’s attack at the Boston marathon. What was to be a day of achievement and celebration became one marked by death and destruction, pain and fear. Thanks be to God for the hope, even here. As Cardinal O’Malley put it: In the midst of the darkness of this tragedy we turn to the light of Jesus Christ, the light that was evident in the lives of people who immediately turned to help... Read more
It is the only thing that matters. That was the message Archbishop Charles J. Chaput delivered in an address in Philadelphia: We’re all called to martyrdom. That’s what the word martyr means: It’s the Greek word for “witness.” We may or may not ever suffer personally for our love of Jesus Christ, but we’re all called to be witnesses. In proclaiming the Year of Faith, Benedict XVI wrote: “By faith, across the centuries, men and women of all ages, whose... Read more
With Pope Benedict XVI in the background praying for us, I figure we have a novel opportunity to review a master teacher’s reflections. So much of what Pope Frances is screaming from the rooftops, albeit tenderly, Pope Benedict XVI talked at some length about. B16 knew we needed another voice to more fully get our attention, to bring us to Christ. In December 2011, B16 talked about Jesus as the meaning of our lives, as the Grace of our lives,... Read more
You know how Pope Francis keeps repeating himself? How he keeps talking about the mercy of God and pleading with the world to go to our tender, loving Father? On Divine Mercy Sunday at high noon Mass in Washington, D.C., Archbishop Joseph Augustine DiNoia, O.P. ran with this clear theme — so needed by the world — of the early pontificate of Pope Francis, upping the urgency. His entire homily can be read here. But reading it does not fully... Read more
This first annual “Leave the Abortion Industry Day” sure is around some powerful feasts — yesterday’s Divine Mercy and today’s Annunciation. I interviewed Abby Johnson about this outgrowth of a ministry for abortion workers who want to get out of the industry she’s founded here. Johnson is the former Planned Parenthood director who authored a book about her experience and has become a popular pro-life speaker. As we discussed, she’s not seeking to run a pro-life speakers bureau, she’s not... Read more
She devoted herself totally to God, by the grace of almighty God, for our redemption. And you and I, we’re called to do the same. She — the woman who bore our Savior in her womb and watched His walk and Him die — will walk with us. From Vatican Council II: Embracing God’s salvific will with a full heart and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work... Read more
I think silence. I think Silent Night. I think of the continuity between Christmas and Easter. And I remember we must get on with being missionary people, already. Which, of course, is only made possible done in prayer, with the grace only God’s peaceful, merciful love can provide. Read more
comes from experiencing God’s mercy. Once again, Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square, on the Sunday after Easter, speaks of Divine mercy. It is the message the world is desperate to hear. Which is why he keeps repeating himself. More from the Vatican Radio translation: Peace be with you. These words – he said – are not a simple greeting: they are a gift – the precious gift that Christ offered to his disciples after he rose from the dead.... Read more
I’m not always a Christian video kinda gal, but can you watch this and not want to be this kid with the old-school Polaroid? Read more
Kathryn Lopez
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