Religion
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Love sets us free
Today’s readings: 2 Sam. 12,7-10.13; Galatians 2,16.19-21; Luke 7,36-8,3. Today we live in what is commonly defined a secular age. Charles Taylor, a Canadian and Catholic philosopher, has written extensively about this in his renowned classic. For...
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Finding your place
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote that for him, there is only one worthwhile joy: the feeling you get from cooperating rightfully within the big picture of things, from taking our place within the great jigsaw puzzle of life. Joy and meaning come...
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Quotes and news
While conceding that “the word ‘commandment’ isn’t fashionable”, Pope Francis said the Ten Commandments expand, rather than limit, human freedom. He was speaking by video link during an activity in Milan’s Cathedral Square organised by the...
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Pope laments gay lobby and corruption in Vatican
Pope Francis has acknowledged the existence of a gay lobby and a stream of corruption in the Vatican, according to reports in Catholic media not denied by the Vatican. The Pope made the remarks last week in Spanish during a private meeting with...
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Life is beautiful
Today’s readings: 1Kings 17,17-24; Galatians 1,11-19; Luke 7, 11-17. If religion does not enhance life’s beauty and its meaning, then we would be better off without it. Even in religion there are cliches that do not convince. Religion deals with...
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The eternal flame
Our way of life outside God’s kingdom can be awfully unbalanced, verging on the comical. It does not entail living like a hermit or much meditation to observe the absurdity of what goes on around us. Let’s take our body. Big multinational...
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Quotes and news
Speaking in the House of Lords, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby expressed his opposition to legislation that would recognise same-sex marriage: “It (proposed legislation to recognise same-sex marriage) confuses marriage and weddings. …It...
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Redeeming presence
Today’s readings: Genesis 14, 18-20; 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26; Lk 9, 11-17. Christ did not institute the Eucharist for us to keep under lock and key. His presence in the world as projected ‘eucharistically’ in the form of eating, signifies...
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Still stunning the Church
It’s not a perfect benchmark. However, since Franklin D Roosevelt, it has been taken to be the test of a government’s commitment for a whole legislature. Faced by the Great Depression in 1930s, in his first 100 days in office, Roosevelt passed 15...
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Quotes and news
Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, both from Ireland, took different positions regarding the granting or refusing of Communion to politicians who vote for the proposed abortion legislation. Mgr Martin of Armagh, Primate of All...
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Pope goes on foot
Pope Francis has again broken with the practice of his predecessors, walking the full length of an annual 1.6-kilometre procession from one Roman basilica to another. The 76-year-old Pontiff, who walks with a slight limp because of apparent lower...
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Prophet’s words and acts
Scholars around the Muslim world were alarmed five years ago by news reports that Turkey planned a new, possibly heretical compilation of the Prophet Mohammad’s sayings that might scrap those it thought were out of date. Turkish religious leaders...
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Pointing to the mystery
Today’s readings: Proverbs 8, 22-31; Romans 5, 1-5; John 16, 12-15. The major claims on God made by Christianity in its early centuries provoked controversy and violence, and eventually led to the Council of Nicaea convened by the Roman Emperor...
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Same-sex marriage and child adoption
The issue of legalising same-sex marriage has made headline news globally. Same-sex couples are legally recognised in many countries including France, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, New Zealand and...
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Quotes and news
It is estimated that about 1,500 Christians had to escape for their lives after their village, Chak 31, in the Pakistani province of Punjab was attacked by residents of the nearby Muslim village of Chak 30. The attack happened after the Christians...
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Unending story
Today’s readings: Acts 2, 1-11; 1 Cor. 12, 3-7.12-13; John 20, 19-23. Living behind closed doors was not what the Church was meant to be. The Spirit promised and given was to lead the Church out towards the whole truth, which at different points in...
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Accompaniment by the Lord in our daily life
Amid the multitude of little things to be done and important decisions to be taken, being aware of what is happening in our deeper self and how the Lord is accompanying us in our daily life is a source of inspiration and strength. This awareness...
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Quotes and news
Eight hundred 15th-century martyrs were canonised by Pope Francis last Sunday. The martyrs’ names are not known and they are called the ‘martyrs of Otranto’ in Italy. In 1480 they were beheaded by the forces of the Ottoman empire when they refused...
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Jesus scholar Vermes dies
Géza Vermes, a translator of the Dead Sea Scrolls and renowned for books exploring the Jewish background of Jesus, has died aged 88. He died on Wednesday, David Ariel, president of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, said. Vermes had...
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Venerating Our Lady at Fatima
The Catholic faithful gathered at the Shrine of Fatima, Portugal, on Sunday and yesterday, to celebrate the 96th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima. Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Orani João Tempesta, of St Sebastian of Rio...
