Background Image

...

There Is Another Important Point: Encountering The Poor. If We Step Outside Ourselves We Find Poverty. Today-it Sickens The Heart To Say So-the Discovery Of A Tramp Who Has Died Of The Cold Is Not News. Today What Counts As News Is, Maybe, A Scandal. A Scandal: Ah, That Is News! Today, The Thought That A Great Many Children Do Not Have Food To Eat Is Not News. This Is Serious, This Is Serious! We Cannot Put Up With This! Yet That Is How Things Are. We Cannot Become Starched Christians, Those Over-educated Christians Who Speak Of Theological Matters As They Calmly Sip Their Tea.

-Pope Francis

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

There Is Another Important

Pope Francis

...

There Is Another Important Point: Encountering The Poor. If We Step Outside Ourselves We Find Poverty. Today-it Sickens The Heart To Say So-the Discovery Of A Tramp Who Has Died Of The Cold Is Not News. Today What Counts As News Is, Maybe, A Scandal. A Scandal: Ah, That Is News! Today, The Thought That A Great Many Children Do Not Have Food To Eat Is Not News. This Is Serious, This Is Serious! We Cannot Put Up With This! Yet That Is How Things Are. We Cannot Become Starched Christians, Those Over-educated Christians Who Speak Of Theological Matters As They Calmly Sip Their Tea.

Views: 49243

Topic

More From Pope Francis

The Family Is Where We Are Formed As People. Every Family Is A Brick In The Building Of Society

To Be Saints Is Not A Privilege For A Few, But A Vocation For Everyone.

The Security Of Faith Does Not Make Us Motionless Or Close Us Off, But Sends Us Forth To Bear Witness And To Dialogue With All People.

When I Confess A Couple Who Have Kids, A Married Couple, I Ask, 'how Many Children Do You Have?' Some Get Worried And Think The Priest Will Ask Why I Don't Have More. I Would Make A Second Question, 'do You Play With Your Children?' The Majority Say, 'but Father, I Have No Time. I Work All Day.'

You Can't Provoke, You Can't Insult The Faith Of Others, You Can't Make Fun Of Faith.

Why Is It Taken For Granted That Women Should Earn Less Than Men? No! They Have The Same Rights.

Indifference Towards Those In Need Is Not Acceptable For A Christian.

All Walls Fall. Today, Tomorrow Or In 100 Years, They Will Fall. It's Not A Solution. The Wall Isn't A Solution. In This Moment, Europe Is In Difficult, It's True. We Have To Be Intelligent, And Whoever Comes...that Migrant Flow. It's Not Easy To Find Solutions, But With Dialogue Between Nations They Should Be Found. Walls Are Never Solutions. But Bridges Are, Always, Always.

Let Us Be Renewed By God's Mercy ... And Let Us Become Agents Of This Mercy, Channels Through Which God Can Water The Earth, Protect All Creation And Make Justice And Peace Flourish.

...because With Us What Is Highest Must Be At The Service Of Others.

Confession Is The Sacrament Of The Tenderness Of God, His Way Of Embracing Us.

Wars Shatter So Many Lives. I Think Especially Of Children Robbed Of Their Childhood.

Poverty Is Part Of The Natural Condition And That Is Bad Enough. But My Task Is To Prevent The Aggravation Of This Condition.

The Parish Is The Presence Of The Church In Any Given Territory, An Environment For Hearing God's Word, For Growth In Christian Life, For Dialogue, Proclamation, Charitable Outreach, Worship And Celebration.

Wine Is A Sign Of Happiness, Love And Plenty, How Many Of Our Adolescents And Young People Sense That These Are No Longer Found In Their Homes? How Many Women, Sad And Lonely, Wonder When Love Left, When It Slipped Away From Their Lives? How Many Elderly People Feel Left Out Of Family Celebrations, Cast Aside And Longing Each Day For A Little Love?

Human Self-understanding Changes With Time, And So Also Human Consciousness Deepens.

When I Have A Problem, I Write It Down And Ask St Joseph To Sleep On It

Advent Is A Journey Towards Bethlehem. May We Let Ourselves Be Drawn By The Light Of God Made Man.

The Church Is Likewise Conscious Of The Responsibility Which All Of Us Have For Our World, For The Whole Of Creation, Which We Must Love And Protect. There Is Much That We Can Do To Benefit The Poor, The Needy And Those Who Suffer, And To Favour Justice, Promote Reconciliation And Build Peace. But Before All Else We Need To Keep Alive In Our World The Thirst For The Absolute, And To Counter The Dominance Of A One-dimensional Vision Of The Human Person, A Vision Which Reduces Human Beings To What They Produce And To What They Consume: This Is One Of The Most Insidious Temptations Of Our Time.

We Cannot Be Christians Part-time. If Christ Is At The Center Of Our Lives, He Is Present In All That We Do.

Europe Has Discarded Its Children. A Bit Triumphantly. I Remember That When I Was Studying In One Country The Clinics That Did Abortions Then Prepared Everything To Send It To Cosmetic Factories. Makeup Made With The Blood Of Innocents. And This Was Something To Brag About, Because It Was Progressive.

The Charismatics Confused The Holy Liturgy With A School Of Samba, But Than I Was Converted When I Got To Know Them Better And Saw The Good They Do.

To Follow Jesus Means To Share His Merciful Love For Every Human Being.

The Measure Of The Greatness Of A Society Is Found In The Way It Treats Those Most In Need, Those Who Have Nothing Apart From Their Poverty!

Ask Yourselves This Question: How Often Is Jesus Inside And Knocking At The Door To Be Let Out, To Come Out? And We Do Not Let Him Out Because Of Our Own Need For Security, Because So Often We Are Locked Into Ephemeral Structures That Serve Solely To Make Us Slaves And Not Free Children Of God.

I Don't Live In The Papal Residence. I Live In A Simple Apartment Behind The Vatican Gas Station.

Holy Week Challenges Us To Step Outside Ourselves So As To Attend To The Needs Of Others: Those Who Long For A Sympathetic Ear, Those In Need Of Comfort Or Help. We Should Not Simply Remain In Our Own Secure World, That Of The Ninety-nine Sheep Who Never Strayed From The Fold, But We Should Go Out, With Christ, In Search Of The One Lost Sheep, However Far It May Have Wandered.

We All Need To Improve, To Change For The Better. Lent Helps Us Fight Against Our Faults.

The Person Who Gossips Is A Terrorist Who Drops A Bomb, Destroys, And They Destroy Others.

We Are Impatient, Anxious To See The Whole Picture, But God Lets Us See Things Slowly, Quietly.

If We Live According To The Law "an Eye For An Eye...," We Will Never Escape From The Spiral Of Evil.

Who Am I To Judge A Gay Person?

This Is The Mission Of Every Christian: Lumina Pandit - To Spread The Light And To Tell The World Of God's Love.

Youth Ministry, As Traditionally Organized, Has Also Suffered The Impact Of Social Changes. Young People Often Fail To Find Responses To Their Concerns, Needs, Problems And Hurts In The Usual Structures. As Adults, We Find It Hard To Listen Patiently To Them, To Appreciate Their Concerns, Demands, And To Speak To Them In A Language They Can Understand.

This Is Ideological Colonization. They Colonize People With Ideas That Try To Change Mentalities Or Structures, But This Is Not New. This Was Done By The Dictatorships Of The Last Century.

Peace Is Always Possible But We Have To Seek It. Let Us Pray For Peace.

Children Have A Right To Grow Up In A Family With A Father And A Mother.

The Church Of Rome, The Pope Has Always Said, 'seek Peace.'

In A Family, Parents, Grandparents And Children Feel At Home; No One Is Excluded. If Someone Has A Problem, Even A Serious One, Even If He Brought It Upon Himself, The Rest Of The Family Comes To His Assistance; They Support Him. ... Should The Same Not Happen In Society?

We Are Called To Live Our Baptism Every Day, As New Creatures, Clothed In Christ.

How Many Of Us, Myself Included, Have Lost Our Bearings; We Are No Longer Attentive To The World In Which We Live; We Don’t Care; We Don’t Protect What God Created For Everyone, And We End Up Unable Even To Care For One Another.

Economic Inequality

Art In The Church Fundamentally Exists For Evangelization

All Political Activity Must Serve And Promote The Good Of The Human Person And Be Based On Respect For His Or Her Dignity.

Beware Of Getting Too Comfortable! When We Are Comfortable, It’s Easy To Forget Other People.

Let's Say 'yes' To Life And 'no' To Death.

Let Us Pray For Peace In Africa, Especially In The Central African Republic And In South Sudan.

If One Has The Answers To All The Questions - That Is The Proof That God Is Not With Him. It Means That He Is A False Prophet Using Religion For Himself. The Great Leaders Of The People Of God, Like Moses, Have Always Left Room For Doubt. You Must Leave Room For The Lord, Not For Our Certainties; We Must Be Humble.

The Goods Of The Earth Are Meant For Everyone.

We Ask Ourselves And Each Of Us May Wonder: Does The Lord Feel Truly At Home In My Life? Do We Allow Him To Do A 'cleansing' In Our Hearts And To Drive Out The Idols, Those Attitudes Of Greed, Jealousy, Worldliness, Envy And Hatred, That Habit Of Gossiping And Tearing Down Others?

To All People Of Good Will Who Are Working For Social Justice: Never Tire Of Working For A More Just World, Marked By Greater Solidarity!

Are We Ready To Be Christians Full-time, Showing Our Commitment By Word And Deed?

Once Man Has Lost The Fundamental Orientation Which Unifies His Existence, He Breaks Down Into The Multiplicity Of His Desires; In Refusing To Await The Time Of Promise, His Life-story Disintegrates Into A Myriad Of Unconnected Instants.

Solidarity...is A Structural Value Of The Social Doctrine, As Blessed John Paul Ii Reminded Us.

May The Lord Bless The Family And Strengthen It In This Moment Of Crisis

If You Don’t Learn How To Cry, You Cannot Be A Good Christian. When They Posed This Question To Us – Why Children Suffer, Why This Or That Tragedy Occurs In Life – Our Response Must Be Either Silence Or A Word That Is Born Of Our Tears. Be Courageous, Don’t Be Afraid To Cry.

Poverty Is The Center Of The Gospel.

I Dream Of A Church That Is A Mother And Shepherdess.

If Sadness Comes To You One Day With An Invitation, Tell It You Are Committed To Joy And Will Be Faithful To It Your Whole Life Long.

The Lord Has Redeemed All Of Us, All Of Us, With The Blood Of Christ: All Of Us, Not Just Catholics. Everyone! 'father, The Atheists?' Even The Atheists. Everyone!

Jesus Came To Save Us: Let Us Not Reject This Marvelous Gift!

I Allow Myself To Honor The Man Who Fought In Moments When He Had No Strength To Impose Himself, Until He Managed To Impose Himself. [joseph] Ratzinger. Cardinal Ratzinger Deserves Applause.

The True Strength Of The Christian Is The Power Of Truth And Love, Which Leads To The Renunciation Of All Violence. Faith And Violence Are Incompatible.

Violence And War Lead Only To Death.

Violence And War

We Can Inspire Others Through Witness So That One Grows Together In Communicating. But The Worst Thing Of All Is Religious Proselytism, Which Paralyses: 'i Am Talking With You In Order To Persuade You.' No. Each Person Dialogues, Starting With His And Her Own Identity. The Church Grows By Attracting, Not Proselytizing.

Young People Are Just As Attracted To The Truth As They Are Convenience And Expediency.

We Don't Have To Expect Everything From Those Who Govern Us; That Would Be Juvenile.

There Is No Cross, Big Or Small, In Our Life Which The Lord Does Not Share With Us.

Religious Freedom Is A Fundamental Human Right.

Religious Freedom

We Also Try To Reach Out To People Who Are Far Away, Via Digital Means, The Web And Brief Messaging.

Proselytism Is Solemn Nonsense, It Makes No Sense. We Need To Get To Know Each Other, Listen To Each Other And Improve Our Knowledge Of The World Around Us. Sometimes After A Meeting I Want To Arrange Another One Because New Ideas Are Born And I Discover New Needs. This Is Important: To Get To Know People, Listen, Expand The Circle Of Ideas. The World Is Crisscrossed By Roads That Come Closer Together And Move Apart, But The Important Thing Is That They Lead Towards The Good.

The Church Is A Mother, Not An Entrepreneur.

I Don't Like It When I Hear It Said: 'but These Youth Say Stupid Things!'

For Her Part, The Church Always Works For The Integral Development Of Every Person. In This Sense, She Reiterates That The Common Good Should Not Be Simply An Extra, Simply A Conceptual Scheme Of Inferior Quality Tacked Onto Political Programmes. The Church Encourages Those In Power To Be Truly At The Service Of The Common Good Of Their Peoples.

Each Of Us Has A Vision Of Good And Of Evil. We Have To Encourage People To Move Towards What They Think Is Good... Everyone Has His Own Idea Of Good And Evil And Must Choose To Follow The Good And Fight Evil As He Conceives Them. That Would Be Enough To Make The World A Better Place.

More And More People Work On Sundays As A Consequence Of The Competitiveness Imposed By A Consumer Society.

Competitiveness

Today We Celebrate Earth Day. I Exhort Everyone To See The World Through The Eyes Of God The Creator: The Earth Is An Environment To Be Safeguarded, A Garden To Be Cultivated. The Relationship Of Mankind With Nature Must Not Be Conducted With Greed, Manipulation And Exploitation, But It Must Conserve The Divine Harmony That Exists Between Creatures And Creation Within The Logic Of Respect And Care, So It Can Be Put To The Service Of Our Brothers, Also Of Future Generations.

Today, There Are Those Who Say That Marriage Is Out Of Fashion... They Say That It Is Not Worth Making A Life-long Commitment, Making A Definitive Decision, ‘for Ever’, Because We Do Not Know What Tomorrow Will Bring. I Ask You, Instead, To Be Revolutionaries, I Ask You To Swim Against The Tide; Yes, I Am Asking You To Rebel Against This Culture That Sees Everything As Temporary And That Ultimately Believes You Are Incapable Of Responsibility, That Believes You Are Incapable Of True Love.

We Must Restore Hope To Young People, Help The Old, Be Open To The Future, Spread Love. Be Poor Among The Poor. We Need To Include The Excluded And Preach Peace.

Things From The Heart Don't Have An Explanation.

Let Us Learn To Live With Kindness, To Love Everyone, Even When They Do Not Love Us.

It Is Important To Have Friends We Can Trust. But It Is Essential To Trust The Lord, Who Never Lets Us Down.

Christmas Celebrations Are Often Full Of Sound. It Would Be Good For Us To Make Room For Silence, To Hear The Voice Of Love.

The Thing The Church Needs Most Today Is The Ability To Heal Wounds And To Warm The Hearts Of The Faithful.

Don't Be Afraid To Go To The Sacrament Of Confession, Where You Will Meet Jesus Who Forgives You.

People Have To Struggle To Live And, Frequently, To Live In An Undignified Way. One Cause Of This Situation, In My Opinion, Is In The Our Relationship With Money, And Our Acceptance Of Its Power Over Ourselves And Our Society.

Nurturing And Cherishing Creation Is A Command God Gives Not Only At The Beginning Of History, But To Each Of Us. It Is Part Of His Plan; It Means Causing The World To Grow Responsibly, Transforming It So That It May Be A Garden, A Habitable Place For Everyone.

God Shows Up With Surprises.

May The World Day Of Consecrated Life Be A Timely Occasion To Rediscover The Centrality Of Jesus In Our Lives.

So Let Us Ask Ourselves This Evening, In Adoring Christ Who Is Really Present In The Eucharist: Do I Let Myself Be Transformed By Him? Do I Let The Lord Who Gives Himself To Me, Guide Me To Going Out Ever More From My Little Enclosure, In Order To Give, To Share, To Love Him And Others? Brothers And Sisters, Following, Communion, Sharing. Let Us Pray That Participation In The Eucharist May Always Be An Incentive: To Follow The Lord Every Day, To Be Instruments Of Communion And To Share What We Are With Him And With Our Neighbour. Our Life Will Then Be Truly Fruitful.

Being A Christian Means Renouncing Ourselves, Taking Up The Cross And Carrying It With Jesus. There Is No Other Way.

In Effect, A Selfish And Boundless Thirst For Power And Material Prosperity Leads Both To The Misuse Of Available Natural Resources And To The Exclusion Of The Weak And The Disadvantaged.

Saint John Paul Ii, Pray For Us And Especially For Our Youth.

Today In Many Places We Hear A Call For Greater Security. But Until Exclusion And Inequality In Society And Between Peoples Is Reversed, It Will Be Impossible To Eliminate Violence.

The First Genocide Of The 21st Century Was Against You, The Armenian People.

Breathing Is Made Up Of Two Stages: Inhaling, The Intake Of Air, And Exhaling, The Letting Out Of Air. The Spiritual Life Is Fed, Nourished, By Prayer And Is Expressed Outwardly Through Mission: Inhaling And Exhaling. When We Inhale, By Prayer, We Receive The Fresh Air Of The Holy Spirit.

We Are Far From The So Called 'end Of History,' Since The Conditions For A Sustainable And Peaceful Development Have Not Yet Been Adequately Articulated And Realized.

Although The Life Of A Person Is In A Land Full Of Thorns And Weeds, There Is Always A Space In Which The Good Seed Can Grow. You Have To Trust God.

When We Walk Without The Cross, When We Build Without The Cross And When We Proclaim Christ Without The Cross, We Are Not Disciples Of The Lord. We Are Worldly. We May Be Bishops, Priests, Cardinals, Popes, All Of This, But We Are Not Disciples Of The Lord.

Humanity Needs To See These Gestures Of Peace And To Hear Words Of Hope And Peace!

Work Is Fundamental To The Dignity Of A Person. . . . It Gives One The Ability To Maintain Oneself, One's Family, To Contribute To The Growth Of One's Own Nation.

Become The Word In Body As Well As Spirit.

Sometimes We Are Tempted To Be That Kind Of Christian Who Keeps The Lord’s Wounds At Arm’s Length. Yet Jesus Wants Us To Touch Human Misery, To Touch The Suffering Flesh Of Others. He Hopes That We Will Stop Looking For Those Personal Or Communal Niches Which Shelter Us From The Maelstrom Of Human Misfortune And Instead Enter Into The Reality Of Other People’s Lives And Know The Power Of Tenderness. Whenever We Do So, Our Lives Become Wonderfully Complicated And We Experience Intensely What It Is To Be A People, To Be Part Of A People.

Throwing Away Food Is Like Stealing From The Table Of Those Who Are Poor And Hungry.

Today Too, Amid So Much Darkness, We Need To See The Light Of Hope And To Be Men And Women Who Bring Hope To Others. To Protect Creation, To Protect Every Man And Every Woman, To Look Upon Them With Tenderness And Love, Is To Open Up A Horizon Of Hope; It Is To Let A Shaft Of Light Break Through The Heavy Clouds; It Is To Bring The Warmth Of Hope!

May The Santo Niño Continue To Bless The Philippines And May He Sustain The Christians Of This Great Nation In Their Vocation To Be Witnesses And Missionaries Of The Joy Of The Gospel, In Asia And In The Whole World.

God Never Gives Someone A Gift They Are Not Capable Of Receiving. If He Gives Us The Gift Of Christmas, It Is Because We All Have The Ability To Understand And Receive It.

The Lord Always Grants More Than What He Has Been Asked: You Ask Him To Remember You, And He Brings You Into His Kingdom!

All It Takes Is One Good Person To Restore Hope.

Lord Jesus, Make Us Capable Of Loving As You Love.

A Way Has To Be Found To Enable Everyone To Benefit From The Fruits Of The Earth, And Not Simply To Close The Gap Between The Affluent And Those Who Must Be Satisfied With The Crumbs Falling From The Table, But Above All To Satisfy The Demands Of Justice, Fairness And Respect For Every Human Being.

...men And Women Are Sacrificed To The Idols Of Profit And Consumption: It Is The "culture Of Waste." If You Break A Computer It Is A Tragedy, But Poverty, The Needs, The Dramas Of So Many People End Up Becoming The Norm.

There Is Another Temptation Which We Must Especially Guard Against: The Simplistic Reductionism Which Sees Only Good Or Evil; Or, If You Will, The Righteous And Sinners. The Contemporary World, With Its Open Wounds Which Affect So Many Of Our Brothers And Sisters, Demands That We Confront Every Form Of Polarization Which Would Divide It Into These Two Camps.

Go, Do Not Be Afraid And Serve

For Every Christian, The Proclamation And Witnessing Of The Gospel Are Never An Isolated Act. This Is Important. For Every Christian The Proclamation And Witnessing Of The Gospel Are Never An Isolated Or Group Act, And No Evangelizers Acts, As Paul Vi Reminded Very Well, "on The Strength Of A Personal Inspiration, But In Union With The Mission Of The Church And In Her Name"

There Is An Ideological Colonization We Have To Be Careful Of That Tries To Destroy The Family.

You Can't Govern Without Loving The People And Without Humility!

Certainly, Possessions, Money, And Power Can Give A Momentary Thrill, The Illusion Of Being Happy, But They End Up Possessing Us And Making Us Always Want To Have More, Never Satisfied. ‘put On Christ’ In Your Life, Place Your Trust In Him, And You Will Never Be Disappointed!

The Obsession With Economic Profit And Technical Efficiency Puts The Human Rhythms Of Life At Risk.

The Church Does Not Need Apologists Of Its Causes Nor Crusaders Of Its Battles, But Sowers Humble And Confident Of The Truth, Who ... Trust Of Its Power

Jesuits Make A Vow Of Obedience To The Pope. But If The Pope Is A Jesuit, Perhaps He Has To Make A Vow Of Obedience To The General Of The Jesuits! I Don’t Know How To Resolve This … I Feel A Jesuit In My Spirituality; In The Spirituality Of The Exercises, The Spirituality Deep In My Heart.

In Confession, Jesus Welcomes Us With All Our Sinfulness, To Give Us A New Heart, Capable Of Loving As He Loves.

American Catholics Are Committed To Building A Society Which Is Truly Tolerant And Inclusive, To Safeguarding The Rights Of Individuals And Communities, And To Rejecting Every Form Of Unjust Discrimination. With Countless Other People Of Good Will, They Are Likewise Concerned That Efforts To Build A Just And Wisely Ordered Society Respect Their Deepest Concerns And Their Right To Religious Liberty.

We Cannot Insist Only On Issues Related To Abortion, Gay Marriage And The Use Of Contraceptive Methods. The Teaching Of The Church, For That Matter, Is Clear And I Am A Son Of The Church, But It Is Not Necessary To Talk About These Issues All The Time.

If I Speak Of Islamic Violence, I Must Speak Of Catholic Violence.

We Cannot Be Tepid Disciples. The Church Needs Our Courage In Order To Give Witness To Truth.

How Can It Be That It Is Not A News Item When An Elderly Homeless Person Dies Of Exposure, But It Is News When The Stock Market Loses Two Points? This Is A Case Of Exclusion.

Economic Inequality

The Moral Problem Of Abortion Is Of A Pre Religious Nature Because The Genetic Code Is Written In A Person At The Moment Of Conception. A Human Being Is There. I Separate The Topic Of Abortion From Any Specifically Religious Notions. It Is A Scientific Problem. Not To Allow The Further Development Of A Being Which Already Has All The Genetic Code Of A Human Being Is Not Ethical. The Right To Life Is The First Among Human Rights. To Abort A Child Is To Kill Someone Who Cannot Defend Himself.

There Is A Danger That Threatens Everyone In The Church, All Of Us. The Danger Of Worldliness. It Leads Us To Vanity, Arrogance And Pride.

I Love Tango, And I Used To Dance When I Was Young.

Today Everything Comes Under The Laws Of Competition And The Survival Of The Fittest, Where The Powerful Feed Upon The Powerless. As A Consequence, Masses Of People Find Themselves Excluded And Marginalized: Without Work, Without Possibilities, Without Any Means Of Escape.

We Are All Sinners. We Are Called To A Conversion Of Heart

Giving Primacy To God Means Having The Courage To Say ‘no’ To Evil, ‘no’ To Violence, ‘no’ To Oppression, To Live A Life In Service Of Others And Which Fosters Lawfulness And The Common Good. When A Person Discovers God, The True Treasure, He Abandons A Selfish Lifestyle And Seeks To Share With Others The Charity Which Comes From God. He Who Becomes A Friend Of God, Loves His Brothers And Sisters, Commits Himself To Safeguarding Their Life And Their Health, And Also To Respecting The Environment And Nature.

I Believe In God - Not In A Catholic God; There Is No Catholic God. There Is God, And I Believe In Jesus Christ, His Incarnation. Jesus Is My Teacher And My Pastor, But God, The Father, Abba, Is The Light And The Creator. This Is My Being.

Lord, Help Us To Live The Virtue Of Generosity, To Love Without Limits.

When I Was A Seminarian, I Was Dazzled By A Girl I Met At An Uncle’s Wedding. I Was Surprised By Her Beauty, Her Intellectual Brilliance… And, Well, I Was Bowled Over For Quite A While.

If Jesus Is To Become The Center Of Our Life, We Need To Spend Time In His Presence, Before The Tabernacle.

If Money And Material Things Become The Center Of Our Lives, They Seize Us And Make Us Slaves.

The Church Is Or Should Go Back To Being A Community Of God's People, And Priests, Pastors And Bishops, Who Have The Care Of Souls, Are At The Service Of The People Of God.

The Joy Of The Gospel Is For All People: No One Can Be Excluded.

To Protect Creation, To Protect Every Man And Every Woman, To Look Upon Them With Tenderness And Love Is To Open Up A Horizon Of Hope.

I Had The Habit Of Not Accepting Prizes Or Honors, But Always, Not Out Of Humility, But Because I Don't Like Them.

A Friendship With A Woman Is Not A Sin. (it's) A Friendship. A Romantic Relationship With A Woman Who Is Not Your Wife, That Is A Sin.

Romantic Relationship

Can We Who Have Had The Joy Of Knowing That We Are Not Orphans, That We Have A Father, Be Indifferent To This City Which Asks Of Us, Perhaps Even Unwittingly, Without Being Aware Of It, A Hope That Will Help It Look To The Future With Greater Confidence And Serenity? We Cannot Remain Indifferent. . . . Words Without Witness Are Hot Air. Words Do Not Suffice. It Must Be The True Witness That Paul Speaks Of.

This Visit Is Meant To Express My Closeness To Our Brothers And Sisters Who Endured The Suffering, Loss And Devastation Caused By Typhoon Yolanda. Together With Many People Throughout The World, I Have Admired The Heroic Strength, Faith And Resilience Demonstrated By So Many Filipinos In The Face Of This Natural Disaster, And So Many Others.

I See The Church As A Field Hospital After Battle. It Is Useless To Ask A Seriously Injured Person If He Has High Cholesterol And About The Level Of His Blood Sugars. You Have To Heal His Wounds. Then We Can Talk About Everything Else.

Since God Created The World, He Also Created Reality.

We Who Are Christians, Members Of God’s Family, Are Called To Go Out To The Needy And To Serve Them.

Unfortunately, What Is Thrown Away Is Not Only Food And Dispensable Objects, But Often Human Beings Themselves, Who Are Discarded As 'unnecessary.' For Example, It Is Frightful Even To Think There Are Children, Victims Of Abortion, Who Will Never See The Light Of Day; Children Being Used As Soldiers, Abused And Killed In Armed Conflicts; And Children Being Bought And Sold In That Terrible Form Of Modern Slavery Which Is Human Trafficking, Which Is A Crime Against Humanity.

Take Care Of Brothers And Sisters Who Are Weaker ... The Elderly, The Sick, The Hungry, The Homeless And Strangers, Because We Will Be Judged On This.

Yet Only When We Come To Understand, In The Light Of The Cross, The Evil We Are Capable Of, And Have Even Been A Part Of, Can We Experience True Remorse And True Repentance.

Brothers And Sisters, Good Evening. You All Know That The Duty Of The Conclave Was To Give A Bishop To Rome. It Seems That My Brother Cardinals Have Gone Almost To The Ends Of The Earth To Get Him... But Here We Are.

Concealing Or Denying Evil Is Like Allowing A Wound To Keep Bleeding Without Bandaging It.

Reforming The Social Structures Which Perpetuate Poverty And The Exclusion Of The Poor First Requires A Conversion Of Mind And Heart.

Injustice And Oppression

Let Jesus Preach To You, And And Let Jesus Heal You. We Are All Wounded. Everyone.

Jesus Teaches Us To Put The Needs Of The Poor Ahead Of Our Own, Our Needs, Even If Legitimate, Will Never Be So Urgent As Those Of The Poor, Who Lack The Necessities Of Life.

Jesus Is God But He Humbled Himself To Walk With Us. He Is Our Friend, Our Brother.

Religion Has The Right To Express Its Opinion In The Service Of The People, But God In Creation Has Set Us Free: It Is Not Possible To Interfere Spiritually In The Life Of A Person.

I Know Married Catholics In A Second Union Who Go To Church, Who Go To Church Once Or Twice A Year And Say I Want Communion, As If Joining In Communion Were An Award. It's A Work Towards Integration, All Doors Are Open, But We Cannot Say, 'from Here On They Can Have Communion.'

And With The Grace Of Baptism And Of Eucharistic Communion I Can Become An Instrument Of God's Mercy, Of That Beautiful Mercy Of God.

If We Wish To Follow Christ Closely, We Cannot Choose An Easy, Quiet Life. It Will Be A Demanding Life, But Full Of Joy.

Trade Unions Have Been An Essential Force For Social Change, Without Which A Semblance Of A Decent And Humane Society Is Impossible Under Capitalism.

Do Not Be Afraid Of Confession!

The World Is Polarized. The Middle Class Becomes Smaller. The Polarization Makes The Difference Between Rich And The Poor Big. This Is True.

As Your Captain, I'm Going To Push You To Not Fall Back On Defense, But To Play Offense, And To Play Our Match -- The Gospel, Together.

It Is No Easy Task To Overcome The Bitter Legacy Of Injustices, Hostility And Mistrust Left By The Conflict. It Can Only Be Done By Overcoming Evil With Good.

Overcoming Evil

As The Son Of An Immigrant Family, I Am Happy To Be A Guest In U.s, Which Was Largely Built By Such Families.

It Does Not Render Justice To The Victims, But Rather Fosters Vengeance.

It's Not A Problem That We're Sinners; It's A Problem That We Aren't Ashamed Of Our Sin And Don't Seek Forgiveness.

Do Not Be Afraid To Help One Another. The Devil Is Looking For Rivalry, Division, Gangs. Keep Working To Make Progress ... I Have Seen How Pain Does Not Stifle The Hope Deep Within The Human Heart And How Life Goes On, Finding New Strength Even In The Midst Of Difficulties.

Human Trafficking Is A Crime Against Humanity. We Must Unite Our Efforts To Free The Victims And Stop This Increasingly Aggressive Crime Which Threatens Not Only Individuals But The Basic Values Of Society.

Human Trafficking

I Am A Sinner. This Is The Most Accurate Definition. It Is Not A Figure Of Speech, A Literary Genre. I Am A Sinner.

We Are All Jars Of Clay, Fragile And Poor, Yet We Carry Within Us An Immense Treasure.

We Have To Find A New Balance; Otherwise Even The Moral Edifice Of The Church Is Likely To Fall Like A House Of Cards, Losing The Freshness And Fragrance Of The Gospel.

The Pope Loves Everyone, Rich And Poor Alike, But The Pope Has The Duty, In Christ's Name, To Remind The Rich To Help The Poor, To Respect Them, To Promote Them.

I See Clearly That The Thing The Church Needs Most Today Is The Ability To Heal Wounds And To Warm The Hearts Of The Faithful; It Needs Nearness, Proximity. I See The Church As A Field Hospital After Battle... The Church Sometimes Has Locked Itself Up In Small Things, In Small-minded Rules. The Most Important Thing Is The First Proclamation: Jesus Christ Has Saved You.

The Process Of Healing Also Needs To Include The Pursuit Of Truth, Not For The Sake Of Opening Old Wounds, But Rather As A Necessary Means Of Promoting Justice, Healing And Unity.

When We Give Help To The Poor, We Are Not Doing The Work Of Aid Agencies 'in A Christian Way'. Those Are Good, It Is A Decent Thing To Do - Aid Work Is Good And Quite Human - But It Is Not Christian Poverty, Which St. Paul Desires Of Us And Preaches To Us. Christian Poverty Is That I Give Of My Own, And Not Of That Which Is Left Over - I Give Even That, Which I Need For Myself, To The Poor Person, Because I Know That He Enriches Me. Why Does The Poor Person Enrich Me? Because Jesus Himself Told Us That He Is In The Poor Person.

This Is What Marriage Is All About - Man And Woman Walking Together, Wherein The Husband Helps His Wife To Become Ever More A Woman, And Wherein The Woman Has The Task Of Helping Her Husband To Become Ever More A Man.

But You Too, Help One Another: Help One Another Always. One Another. In This Way, By Helping One Another, We Will Do Some Good.

This Is Important: To Get To Know People, Listen, Expand The Circle Of Ideas. The World Is Crisscrossed By Roads That Come Closer Together And Move Apart, But The Important Thing Is That They Lead Towards The Good.

If God, In The Christmas Mystery, Reveals Himself Not As One Who Remains On High And Dominates The Universe, But As The One Who Bends Down, Descends To The Little And Poor Earth, It Means That, To Be Like Him, We Should Not Put Ourselves Above Others, But Indeed Lower Ourselves, Place Ourselves At The Service Of Others, Become Small With The Small And Poor With The Poor. It Is Regrettable To See A Christian Who Does Not Want To Lower Himself, Who Does Not Want To Serve. A Christian Who Struts About Is Ugly: This Is Not Christian, It Is Pagan.

We Must Always Walk In The Presence Of The Lord, In The Light Of The Lord, Always Trying To Live In An Irreprehensible Way.

The Church Encourages Those In Power To Be Truly At The Service Of The Common Good Of Their Peoples. She Urges Financial Leaders To Take Account Of Ethics And Solidarity. And Why Should They Not Turn To God To Draw Inspiration From His Designs? In This Way, A New Political And Economic Mindset Would Arise That Would Help To Transform The Absolute Dichotomy Between The Economic And Social Spheres Into A Healthy Symbiosis.

I Don’t Know If It Is All (man’s Fault) But The Majority Is, For The Most Part, It Is Man Who Continuously Slaps Down Nature.

The Holy Spirit, In The Variety Of His Gifts, Unites Us And Enables Us To Contribute To The Building Up Of The Church In Holiness. In This Great Work, Each Of Us Has A Part To Play; Each Of Us, As A "living Stone", Is Needed For The Growth And The Beauty Of God's Holy Temple. Let Us Ask The Lord To Help Us To Take An Ever More Active Part In The Church's Life And Mission, Guided By The Holy Spirit And With Jesus As Our Cornerstone.

Worshipping Is Stripping Ourselves Of Our Idols, Even The Most Hidden Ones, And Choosing The Lord As The Centre, As The Highway Of Our Lives.

Agape, The Love Of Each One Of Us For The Other, From The Closest To The Furthest, Is In Fact The Only Way That Jesus Has Given Us To Find The Way Of Salvation And Of The Beatitudes.

Love Makes Us Similar, It Creates Equality, It Breaks Down Walls And Eliminates Distances. God Did This With Us.

The Cry Of A Baby Is God's Voice: Never Drive Them Away From The Church!

Each Person, And Every People Hungers And Thirsts For Peace; Therefore, It Is Necessary And Urgent To Build Peace!

Hunger And Thirst

From The Peak Of Chimborazo (volcano) To The Pacific Coast, From The Amazon Rainforest To The Galapagos Islands, May You Never Lose The Ability To Thank God For What He Has Done And Is Doing For You, May You Never Lose The Ability To Protect What Is Small And Simple, To Care For Your Children And Your Elderly, To Have Confidence In The Young, And To Be Constantly Struck By The Nobility Of Your People And The Singular Beauty Of Your Country.

The Mexican People, You Cannot Explain This Wealth, This History, This Joy, The Capacity To Celebrate Amid These Tragedies That You Have Asked About. I Can Say Another Thing, That This Unity, That This People Has Managed Not To Fail, Not To End With So Many Wars, Things, Things That Are Happening Now.

True Love Does Not Pay Attention To The Evil It Suffers. It Rejoices In Doing Good.

It Is Now, More Than Ever, Necessary That Political Leaders Be Outstanding For Honesty, Integrity And Commitment To The Common Good. Thus Will They Be Able To Marshal The Moral Resources Needed To Face The Demands Of The Present, And To Pass On To Coming Generations A Society Of Authentic Justice, Solidarity And Peace.

Everyone Is Called, Everyone Is Sent Out… The Call Of God Can Reach Us On The Assembly Line And In The Office, In The Supermarket And In The Stairwell, I.e., In The Places Of Everyday Life.

It Is Not Possible To Go Backwards. We Must Go Forward. Always Forward.

A Man Who Does Not Know How To Have A Relationship Of Friendship With A Woman - I'm Not Talking About Misogynists, Who Are Sick - Well, He's A Man Who Is Missing Something.

Christ Leads Us To Go Out From Ourselves More And More, To Give Ourselves And To Serve Others.

Jesus Teaches Us Another Way: Go Out. Go Out And Share Your Testimony, Go Out And Interact With Your Brothers, Go Out And Share, Go Out And Ask. Become The Word In Body As Well As Spirit.

Human Life Must Always Be Defended From Its Beginning In The Womb And Must Be Recognised As A Gift Of God That Guarantees The Future Of Humanity.

Trending Author

Kristen Johnston

Category