The question at hand is: what do we make of America’s schizophrenic natural law pedigree, rejecting but needing Catholic ideas? (And John Locke, history’s most […]
Vatican City, Dec 17, 2017 / 07:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis celebrated his 81st birthday with a pizza party for sick children Sunday, reflecting on the joy of children and the importance that they are raised with the faith.
“The joy of … […]
Houston, Texas, Dec 17, 2017 / 04:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As Texas and Florida continue to rebuild from a devastating hurricane season, the Knights of Columbus are offering $1.4 million to aid the reconstruction of badly damaged churches.
“Getting parish facilities up and running again does not just meet a practical need,” said Knights CEO Carl Anderson.
“The people in the affected areas see the revival of their churches as a spiritual joy and as an important signal of recovery for the larger communities that surround these churches.”
Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas on Aug. 25 and continued over the next five days, killing dozens and causing up to $180 billion in damage. The hurricane is believed to have affected 13 million people.
Not even a month after Harvey hit, Hurricane Irma tore through the Caribbean before making landfall on Sept. 10 and making its way through Georgia and the Carolinas. The hurricane was responsible for at least 134 deaths and caused billions of dollars in damage.
In Texas, $760,000 will be given by the Knights to seven churches to help the parishes rebuild. Another $690,000 will be given to six churches in Florida and Virgin Islands.
“The Knights of Columbus is committed to building up Catholic families and strengthening parish life,” said Anderson. “The effort to restore these much-needed houses of worship is appropriate for the Knights, who are most effective within the local parish structure of prayer and service to others.”
The organization raised $3.8 million for disaster relief following the storms. More than $720,000 was used to fund immediate post-storm assistance, covering food, water and shelter.
Many knights have also volunteered locally to help in their parishes communities following Harvey and Irma.
In addition, the Knights have donated $100,000 to repair and relief efforts in Puerto Rico, which is still struggling to recover after Hurricane Maria hit in September.
Founded by Venerable Father Michael McGivney, the Knights of Columbus began in New Haven, Connecticut in 1882. Today, they have 1.9 million members across the globe.
The Knights, who are the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization, also donated $6.7 million to aid dioceses throughout New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005.
Lahore, Pakistan, Dec 17, 2017 / 03:32 pm (CNA).- At least eight churchgoers were killed and another 30 injured in a double suicide bomber attack at a Methodist church in southwest Pakistan.
The attack on Bethel Memorial Methodist Church came early Su… […]
Vatican City, Dec 17, 2017 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- With Christmas just eight days away, Pope Francis said three simple attitudes can help prepare us to welcome Jesus Christ.
“Saint Paul invites us to prepare for the coming of the Lord by assuming three attitudes: constant joy, persevering prayer and continual thanksgiving,” the Pope said. “Joy, prayer and gratitude are three attitudes that prepare us to live Christmas in an authentic way.”
Pope Francis’ remarks to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square came ahead of the Angelus for Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, which this year coincided with Pope Francis’ 81st birthday, Vatican News reports.
He said the liturgy in recent Sundays has focused on how to be vigilant and how to prepare for the way of the Lord. For Gaudete Sunday, the liturgy invites Christians to joy.
The Pope cited St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, “always be happy.”
“That is to say, always remain in joy, even when things do not go according to our desires,” Francis explained. “Anxieties, difficulties and sufferings permeate our lives, and so many times the reality around us seems to be inhospitable and arid, like the desert in which the voice of John the Baptist resounded, as the Gospel of today recalls.”
John the Baptist’s voice in the desert reveal that Christian joy rests on “the certainty that the desert is inhabited.”
This is Jesus, who in the words of the Prophet Isaiah comes “to bring the good news to the poor, to bind the wounds of broken hearts, to proclaim the freedom of slaves, the release of prisoners, to promulgate the year of grace of the Lord.”
Jesus’ mission in the world consists of “liberation from personal and social sin and the slavery that it produces.”
“He came to earth to give back to men the dignity and freedom of the children of God, which only He can give,” said Pope Francis.
Unceasing prayer helps us enter into relationship with God, the source of true joy.
“The joy of the Christian comes from faith and from the encounter with Jesus Christ, the reason for our happiness,” the Pope continued. “The more we are rooted in Christ, the more we find inner serenity, even in the midst of everyday contradictions.”
The Christian who has met Jesus cannot be “a prophet of misfortune” but must be “a witness and a herald of joy,” said Francis. This is “a joy to share with others; a contagious joy that makes life’s journey less tiring.”
St. Paul also stressed “the grateful love of God,” his generosity, mercy, patience and goodness. Christians are to be “living in an endless state of thanksgiving.”
Pope Francis closed his remarks before the Angelus by entrusting the congregation to the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
“She is ‘the cause of our joy,’ not only because she is the Mother of Jesus, but because she continually leads us to Him,” he said.
After the Angelus, the Pope called for the release of six women religious kidnapped in Iguoriakhi in Nigeria’s southern Edo State.
On Nov. 13 gunmen abducted the sisters, three professed women and three aspirants, from their convent. There have been no claims of responsibility for the crime in a country where kidnapping for ransom has become common.
“I unite my heart to the appeal of the bishops of Nigeria for the liberation of the Sisters of the Eucharistic Heart of Christ,” he said.
“I pray with insistence for them and for all the other persons who find themselves in this painful condition,” he continued, adding “may they all, on the occasion of Christmas, finally return to their homes.”
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2017 / 06:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Journalism must prize truth and reflection over sensationalism and clamor, Pope Francis told journalists on Saturday.
“It is important that the criteria of judgment and information are offe… […]
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2017 / 04:26 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met with the youth of Catholic Action on Saturday as the movement marks its 150th anniversary year.
The pontiff encouraged the young people to meet with the movement’s “g… […]
By divorcing human intimacy from the context for which it was created our secular progressives have reduced it to simply pleasure, or what use to […]
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2017 / 12:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The relics of Christian saints and blesseds deserve special care and their authenticity must be certified by the Church, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has said.
“Relics in the C… […]
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2017 / 03:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus told St. Peter, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.
Gianni Crea, as the ‘clavigero’ – or key keeper &nda… […]
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