from time to time, I am asked to publish one of my homilies…… from the Fifth Sunday in Lent
Eight years ago when Pope Benedict inherited the chair of Peter, the sense was that the cardinals had voted to continue the papacy of John Paul II. Continuity was the catch phrase. It what make the verse from Isaiah stand out: “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!” (Isaiah 43:18) Continue reading
In today’s first reading from Isaiah, we hear
Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! (Isaiah 43)
Pope Francis – Jesuit with a Franciscan spirit – may well represent a new category of religious sense in the public square. But that is no reason to forego some of the classic inter-religious jokes. Here is one from Fr. Tom Reese, SJ Continue reading
Fr. Tom Reese, SJ on the reports re: Pope Francis and “dirty war” in Argentina http://ow.ly/j5g4G
John Allen (CNN and NCR reporter) has an insightful article on 4 challenges facing Pope Francis – great read: http://ow.ly/j5fCj
You can hear the reasons from Pope Francis himself:
Why St Francis of Assisi? Pope:”Francis was “the man of the poor. The man of peace……who wanted a poor church.”
Several days ago I mentioned that there would be lots of things written about Pope Francis and St. Francis of Assisi in the coming days – and that I was impressed that a writer for a news outlet would be daunting enough to try and produce something which included information about St. Francis. It is a complex task (as I hinted) and it is inevitable that things won’t be exactly correct. Even though I did list a short bibliography of recent books about St. Francis, someone contacted me and said that I should not criticize, especially since I had not written anything about St. Francis. So, I sent them the list of my posts – the same one I am posting here. I hope it is helpful, enlightening, and inspiring. Continue reading
People are surprised to learn that the Early Rule of the friars instructed the brothers not to own pets – as well they were not to ride horses. These rules are only partly about poverty; they encouraged friars not to treat animals as objects or possessions. And, in the case of horseback riding, his rule distanced the friars from the proud world of chivalry. Later in his life when sickness compelled him to ride, Francis always preferred a donkey.
In his own writings, Francis does not adopt images from his experience of nature, rather he took those images from Scripture. In the five passages outside the Rules where he mentions animals, only once does he go beyond the imagery from Scripture, and it is to hold up animals as an example of obedience to God. Continue reading
John Allen, longtime Vatican reporter: “The real winner of the 2013 conclave was St Francis of Assisi:” http://ow.ly/j0HbM We live in hope!
With the election of Pope Francis there seems to be a surge in wanting to know more about St. Francis of Assisi. There certainly is no lack of written material, scholarly, popular, and in between. There is also a lot of marginal material out there. Here is a list of readable and approachable books for the inquiring minds – and no it in no way approaches completeness. Someone suggested that there is a new biography of St. Francis printed every year. I am not sure that is strictly true, but it sure seems like it. Continue reading
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