The Weekly Francis – Volume 182 – 28 June 2017

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Jun 282017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 22 June 2017 to 28 June 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Homilies

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Let us not be distracted by the false wisdom of this world, but to follow Jesus as the one sure guide who gives meaning to our life.” @Pontifex 22 June 2017
  • “Go forth and reach out to all people at the margins of society! Go there and be the Church, with the strength of the Holy Spirit.” @Pontifex 23 June 2017
  • “Mercy warms the heart and makes it sensitive to the needs of brothers and sisters with sharing and participation.” @Pontifex 24 June 2017
  • “Each one of us is precious; each one of us is irreplaceable in God’s eyes.” @Pontifex 25 June 2017
  • “I repeat the firm condemnation of every form of torture and call on everyone to work for its abolishment and support victims and families.” @Pontifex 26 June 2017
  • “Sharpen your gaze in order to see the signs God shows us in reality.” @Pontifex 27 June 2017
  • “God looks with love upon every one of us.” @Pontifex 28 June 2017

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Putting off Adoration

 Liturgy  1 Response »
Jun 222017
 

Going to Eucharistic Adoration is something I always mean to get around to, but usually don’t. Part of it is logistics. I remember once calling the closest parish to get the PIN code to access to chapel. I think I was asked more questions than when I filled out my security clearance. Not belonging to that parish I think prevented that from coming to fruition.

Then I called another parish with perpetual adoration and I just needed someone to vouch for me, which my parish priest did. So I have been going there off and on, although the parish is not really close or usually on my route. One funny aspect is their keypad to gain entrance. The buttons for the four digits used are quite obvious because of the ware on the buttons. So even when I forgot the code, the digits needed were rather obvious.

Last week on the Feast of Corpus Christi my parish was having sign ups for Adoration before and after Mass. So I signed up for a weekly time slot at night. So this will get me to do regularly what I wanted to get into the habit of doing. So I went at the appointed time to the chapel I had never been to which is across from the main church and next to the historic church where I go to Latin Mass. The chapel is built into a center used by the parish and is a good sized circular room on the “corner” of the building.

I was happy to see about a dozen people there at night and that there was a beautiful monstrance. No security code to enter to gain access, but the chapel is not open 24/7. What surprised me the most is how fast an hour went by. There is something just so wonderful about praying and reading in His Eucharistic presence.

I’ve been going to this parish since my wife died and while I have been going to the historic church and the cemetary behind it, I had no idea the adjacent building contained a chapel. I though it was all parish offices. Doh!

Another thing I accidentally discovered was that the parish where I go to morning Mass at had Adoration before Morning Mass. Getting to Mass early in the morning was already difficult enough and I tended to arrive a minute or two before Mass started. Getting there earlier one day and seeing the Monstrance it finally dawned on me that they did this everyday. So now I wake up a little earlier to at least get in on tail end of Adoration and to sing the Tantum Ergo. That would be a whole ten minutes earlier I now wake up – proving I must really love Jesus if I am going to wake up a whole ten minutes earlier.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 181 – 21 June 2017

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Jun 212017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 27 May 2017 to 21 June 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Angelus

General Audiences

Homilies

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Everyone’s existence is tied to that of others: life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions.” @Pontifex 15 June 2017
  • “Love requires a creative, concrete response. Good intentions are not enough. The other is not a statistic, but a person to take care of.” @Pontifex 16 June 2017
  • “Care for the environment is always a social concern as well. Let us hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” @Pontifex 17 June 2017
  • “Jesus was broken; he is broken for us. This is the Eucharist. And he asks us to give ourselves, to break ourselves, as it were, for others.” @Pontifex 18 June 2017
  • “None of us is an island, autonomous and independent from others. We can only build the future by standing together, including everyone.” @Pontifex 19 June 2017
  • “The personal encounter with refugees dispels fears and distorted ideologies and becomes a factor for growth in humanity. @M_RSection” @Pontifex 20 June 2017
  • “We must not turn our backs on the new forms of poverty and marginalization that prevent people from living a life of dignity.” @Pontifex 21 June 2017

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The Wrong Section

 eBook  No Responses »
Jun 202017
 

A couple of weeks ago, I took my 12-year-old daughter to the town library in search of something to read. When I asked the librarian in charge of the YA section to recommend something without suicide or sex, she said, without hostility but quite firmly that we were in the wrong section.

She goes on to review For Steam and Country: Book One of the Adventures of Baron von Monocle.

I am currently reading this book and greatly enjoying it. More and more my source of books is often independently published ones. The publishing gatekeepers, for the most part, seem to want to promote preachy SJW tracts disguised as novels.

“As writer Walker Percy cracked about vapid contemporary Christian novelists, they’ve sold their birthright for “a pot of message.” Unfortunately this is also now true of secular writers. I wouldn’t mind message fiction as much if there was actually craft in the storytelling, instead the story is subservient to the “message”.

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Symbolic Figure

 Humor  3 Responses »
Jun 152017
 

Father Arturo Sosa Abascal, the superior general of the Jesuit order, suggested that the devil is a “symbolic figure,” in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

“We have formed symbolic figures such as the devil to express evil,” Father Sosa said. He added evil can also be a product of one’s social environment, saying that “there are people who act because they are in an environment where it is difficult to act to the contrary.” Source

A spokesman for Fr. Sosa said his comments must be read in context and that Fr. Sosa believes what the Church teaches. Fair enough.

This prompted Archbiship Chaput to write a column Sympathy for the devil.

Kolakowski saw that we can’t fully understand our culture unless we take the devil seriously. The devil and evil are constants at work in human history and in the struggles of every human soul. And note that Kolakowski (unlike some of our own Catholic leaders who should know better) was not using the word “devil” as a symbol of the darkness in our own hearts, or a metaphor for the bad things that happen in the world.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 180 – 14 June 2017

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Jun 142017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 30 April 2017 to 14 June 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Daily Homilies (fervorinos)

Letters

Regina Cæli

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak, but of the strong.” @Pontifex 8 June 2017
  • “Each one of us, as a living member of the Body of Christ, is called to work for unity and peace.” @Pontifex 9 June 2017
  • “Life can survive only because of the generosity of other lives.” @Pontifex 10 June 2017
  • “The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity invites us to be a leaven of communion, consolation and mercy.” @Pontifex 11 June 2017
  • “The Church shines forth when she is missionary, welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means and rich in love.” @Pontifex 12 June 2017
  • “In his passion, Jesus took upon himself all our suffering. He knows the meaning of pain, he understands and comforts us, giving us strength.” @Pontifex 13 June 2017
  • “There is much need of prayer and penitence to implore the grace of conversion and an end to the many wars throughout the world.” @Pontifex 14 June 2017

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Book Review – Joan of the Everglades

 Book Review  No Responses »
Jun 122017
 

Some years ago David Athey sent me his first book Danny Gospel, which I reviewed here. Almost a decade has past and I can still remember that book vividly. As a constant reader books usually get lost in the fiction fog for me over time.

So when he wrote to tell me his third book was available I immediately bought it. Joan of the Everglades.

He described it as “comedy-thriller with a nod to Chesterton.”

Joan Dior is an edgy teen artist who finds a corpse in a Florida lagoon, vows to find the killer, and becomes the target of a billionaire and his death cult who believe they have regrown the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

Joan and her best friend, Mia, along with their two guy friends, Dontey and Rico, get drawn into the middle of the Everglades and must battle not only the cult but also giant pythons, alligators, and a Komodo dragon … during a killer storm … while methane gas bursts into hellish flames all around them. Good times. Everyone will probably die. Unless . .

His first novel reminded me of Flannery O’Connor, but his latest brings me more to the mind of Walker Percy with a dose of C.S. Lewis style allegory. As a comedy I was amused throughout, especially with the “Dear reader” notes intertwined. It works quite well as a thriller as the story briskly moves along and surprised me several times along the way. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

My only complaint is that as it moved to the final chapters dealing with Joan and Mia, I was wondering about the reactions of the characters setup in the first half dealing with spiritual welfare. Although thinking back, maybe this was a feature – not a bug in that there is a very connected point to this setup.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 179 – 07 June 2017

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Jun 072017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 8 May 2017 to 7 June 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

Daily Homilies (fervorinos)

Homilies

Messages

Regina Cæli

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “I thank God for parents who strive to live in love and keep moving forward, even if they fall many times along the way.” @Pontifex 1 June 2017
  • “Through the darkness of today’s conflicts, every one of us can become a bright candle, a reminder that light will overcome darkness.” @Pontifex 2 June 2017
  • “Let us promote with courage all necessary means to protect the lives of our children.” @Pontifex 3 June 2017
  • “Let us allow ourselves to be humbly led by the Holy Spirit in order to avoid taking the wrong road and closing our hearts.” @Pontifex 4 June 2017
  • “We must never forget that the natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity and the responsibility of everyone.” @Pontifex 5 June 2017
  • “Let’s always remember that our faith is concrete: the Word became flesh, not an idea!” @Pontifex 6 June 2017
  • “The Church needs everyday saints, those of ordinary life carried out with coherence.” @Pontifex 7 June 2017

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Fabio to play the Pope in Sharknado 5

 Humor, Punditry  1 Response »
Jun 012017
 

On Thursday, the NBCUniversal cabler unveiled the fifth edition will be titled Sharknado 5: Global Swarming. The tagline is also Trump-inspired: “Make America bait again.”

Both stem from a social initiative launched in April to crowd-source ideas for titles and taglines from users via Facebook.

Syfy has also revealed the guest cast on tap for Sharknado 5, which includes model Fabio playing the pope (sorry, Jude Law). Musician and actress Charo will portray the Queen of England, and Chris Kattan is set as the English prime minister.

Other guest stars include Tony Hawk, Clay Aiken, Olivia Newton, Bret Michaels, Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Greg Louganis, Tom Daley, Porsha Williams (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Dan Fogler and Game of Thrones’ Ross Mullan. Today hosts Al Roker, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb will appear as themselves.

Reality keeps intruding on writing satire.

Now all they need in this movie is someone playing President Trump to round it out.

Donald Trump withdrawing from Paris agreement will be like slapping the Pope in the face, Vatican says

A withdrawal “would not only be a disaster but completely unscientific,” said Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, head of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which has hosted numerous international conferences on climate change. “Saying that we need to rely on coal and oil is like saying that the earth is not round. It is an absurdity dictated by the need to make money.”

Well at least we have not met peek strawmen.

Then Mark Shea posted Trump Flips Off Francis, Trumpian Catholics Cheer. For Christmas I am thinking of setting Mark a set of fine brushes, because I have stopped reading what he writes since everything is broad brush. I love Mark like a brother and miss his podcast being five days a week. Still posts like this, as if a campaign promise Trump made was anything about flipping off the Pope. Plus even if you accept climate change, or whatever they call it this week, – this toothless accord does nothing but increase bureaucracy and make people feel good. The whole outcry over this to my skeptical mind is more about virtue signalling than actually addressing what they say they care about. But I guess I am just not falling in line with jet-setting yacht-owning environmentalist warriors.

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The Weekly Francis – Volume 178 – 31 May 2017

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May 312017
 

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This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 16 April 2017 to 31 May 2017.

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of the Holy Father’s writings, speeches, etc which I also post at Jimmy Akin’s blog.

General Audiences

Letters

Regina Cæli

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “God makes His most beautiful flowers grow among the driest stones.” @Pontifex 18 May 2017
  • “Let us seek to always hold high the “tone” of our life, remembering the goal and glory for which we exist, work, struggle and suffer.” @Pontifex 19 May 2017
  • “Peace must be built on justice, on integral human development, on respect for human rights, on the protection of creation.” @Pontifex 20 May 2017
  • “Mary teaches us to place our hope in God even when all seems without meaning, even when He seems hidden.” @Pontifex 21 May 2017
  • “We are called to live not as one without others, above or against others, but with and for others.” @Pontifex 22 May 2017
  • “Dialogue allows us to plan for a future in common. Through dialogue we build peace, taking care of everyone.” @Pontifex 23 May 2017
  • “讓我們與中國天主教徒一同祈禱，將我們託付於聖母瑪利亞，好使我們有足夠的恩寵藉著耐心和愛去克服一切困難。” @Pontifex 24 May 2017
  • “Let us pray with Catholics in China, entrusting ourselves to Mary, for the grace to endure patiently and overcome challenges with love.” @Pontifex 24 May 2017
  • “With the Ascension of Jesus, we participate in the fullness of life with God. Let us carry this in our hearts in our daily lives.” @Pontifex 25 May 2017
  • “The future of our societies requires concrete action in favor of life on the part of everyone and especially institutions.” @Pontifex 26 May 2017
  • “Let us pray for our Coptic brethren in Egypt who were killed because they did not want to renounce the faith.” @Pontifex 27 May 2017
  • “I encourage everyone to engage in constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice towards others and foster hope and trust today.” @Pontifex 28 May 2017
  • “The motherly presence of Mary reminds us that God never tires of lowering himself in mercy over humanity.” @Pontifex 29 May 2017
  • “Christian joy comes from the Holy Spirit, who gives us true freedom and the gift of bringing Jesus to our brothers and sisters.” @Pontifex 30 May 2017
  • “Let us learn from the strong and helpful faith of our Mother Mary in order to become living signs of God’s mercy.” @Pontifex 31 May 2017

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