Pope Francis has decided to say no to allowing married priests and women deacons. He was considering married priests and women deacons in the first place because our current system cannot provide priests to the people who live in the vast area of the Amazon. This leaves these people without access to the sacraments. The people who want to bring Pope Francis down were foaming at the mouth over the possibility of him allowing married priests and women deacons. According... Read more
Daughter of Charity Sister André Randon turned 116 yesterday. From Church Pop: Daughter of Charity Sister André Randon turned 116 in February. She is the oldest person in Europe and the second-oldest person in the world. 117-year-old Japanese woman Kane Tanaka is the only person to surpass her in age. Born Lucile Randon on Feb. 11, 1904, Sr. André converted to Catholicism at age 19. At age 25, she began caring for elderly and orphans at a French hospital. She... Read more
I pray for the persecuted church on a regular basis. But I usually do not pray for the people who are doing the persecuting. Likewise, I pray for the poor, the victims of violence and injustice, but I do not pray for the murderers, rapists, liars and swindlers. That is a mistake. The truth of it is that this life is very short, and when it ends, we no longer have the chance to turn things around. If a person... Read more
Bed sores, it turns out, will heal. My Mama’s life force is something to be reckoned with. For the umpty-dump time, she was supposed to die. But she didn’t. I wrote about her bed sores a couple of weeks ago. If you need to be brought up to speed, you can read about it here. She had slid down into silent staring. She had a sore on her back, and she was refusing food. Everyone thought that she would be... Read more
Bernie Madoff, creator of the biggest Ponzi scheme in American history, is asking for an early release from prison. The reason? His doctors say that he will be dead in 18 months. According to a story in The Washington Post, Madoff is “is in the end stages of kidney disease, must use a wheelchair and is in need of round-the-clock care.” Madoff’s attorneys are advancing the argument that keeping Madoff in prison would not bring back the money he... Read more
China arrested the doctors who tried to warn them about the coronavirus. People in China are being subjected to draconian governmental efforts to stop a virus that the government arrested doctors for identifying and trying to stop early on. People have died because the Chinese government, like all totalitarian states, demands that those in responsibility lie in order to support government-sponsored fantasies. Here, in three news stories, is the tale of one of the Chinese doctors who were arrested... Read more
Whenever things go bad, the go even worse for women and girls. Muslim extremists in Nigeria, who call themselves Boko Haram single out Christian girls for some of the worst persecution. Read more
Pope Francis’ prayer intention for February is that we “hear the cry of the migrants.” I think it’s important to remember that Scripture calls us to help the migrant throughout the Old Testament. It is a repeated admonition from God. Also, we should remember that the Holy Family themselves had to flee an unjust and murderous government and were themselves migrants. From Vatican News: The full text of Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention: Migrants are often victims of criminal human smuggling and... Read more
My yoke is light, Jesus tells us. St Paul seemed to interpret that, at least in part, to refer to a lifting of the weight of the law and the beginning of salvation by grace. St Paul had been, in his own words, “a Pharisee’s Pharisee.” He said that he had striven all his life to follow every single rule that constituted the Law of the Old Covenant. He was one of the rule-making class who spun out additional rules... Read more
God is with us. In our daily lives. In our suffering. In our fears. In our joys. Throughout our lives from conception until we go home to Him, He is with us. And He is love. Read more
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