Here and Now with Francis 1/30/16 (sin, corruption, repentance, forgiveness, mercy, mystery, reason, Christianity)

By

From the homily
“Today I want to emphasize only one thing,” the Pope concluded. “There is a moment where the attitude of sin, or a moment where our situation is so secure and we see well and we have so much power” that sin “stops” and becomes “corruption.” And “one of the ugliest things” about corruption is that the one who becomes corrupt thinks he has “no need for forgiveness.” [...] “Today, let us offer a prayer for the Church, beginning with ourselves, for the Pope, for the Bishops, for the priests, for consecrated men and women, for the lay faithful: ‘Lord, save us, save us from corruption. We are sinners, yes, O Lord, all of us, but [let us] never [become] corrupt!’ Let us ask for this grace.” [link]
From the address
Therefore, mercy constitutes the architrave that supports the life of the Church: the first truth of the Church, in fact, is the love of Christ. [...] This attention to the works of mercy is important: they are not a devotion. It is the concreteness of how Christians must carry forward the spirit of mercy. [...] There is a cognitive and unifying relation in faith and in charity with the mystery of Love, which is God Himself. And, although God remains a mystery in Himself, God’s effective mercy became in Jesus affective mercy, He having made Himself man for the salvation of men. [...] The adherence of faith to the person of Christ implies both an act of reason as well as a moral answer to His gift. In this regard, I thank you for all the commitment and responsibility you exercise in treating cases of abuse of minors by clergymen. [...] Unity and pluri-formity are the seal of a Church that, moved by the Spirit, is able to set out with a sure and faithful step towards those ends that the Risen Lord indicates to her in the course of history. [full text]

Popular posts from this blog

Front Matter (Preface) The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

By Anonymous
Image
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Verily, verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John xii,24 Preface I N STARTING out on the life of my hero, Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov, I feel somewhat at a loss. By this I mean that, although I refer to Alexei (Alyosha) as my hero, I am well aware that he is by no means a great man, and this leads me to anticipate such obvious questions as: “What is so remarkable about your Alexei Karamazov that you should choose him as your hero? What exactly did he accomplish? Who has heard of him and what is he famous for? And why should I, the reader, spend time learning the facts of his life?” The last question is the fateful one because all I can answer is: “You may find that out for yourself from the novel.” But what if they read the novel and are still unconvinced that my Alexei is a remarkable man? I say this because I sadly anticip...
Read more

Library Booklist (H:cSt)

By
Image
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison   Anna Christie, The Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill   The Chosen by Chaim Potok   Dissolution by C. J.  Sansom   Richard II by William Shakespeare   The Reef by Edith Wharton   The Fifth Son by Elie Wiesel   Meet Mr. Mullner by P. G. Wodehouse
Read more

Library Booklist (H:cStb2)

By
Image
Dostoevsky by Nicholas Berdyaev   The Inklings by Humphrey Carpenter   The Guggenheim's: The American Life by John Davis   The Prime of Life by Simone de Beauvoir   Bernadette of Lourdes by Rene Laurentin   Lives of the Artists by Vasari   The Wandering Scholars by Helen Waddell   One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty
Read more