The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 401

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller
pope-francis2-300x187

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

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 11 November 2021 to 1 March 2022.

Angelus

General Audiences

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “I invite everyone to make this coming 2nd March, Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting for Peace: let believers dedicate themselves intensively to prayer and fasting. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war.” @Pontifex, 23 February 2022
  • “I would like to appeal to those with political responsibilities to make a serious examination of conscience before God, who is the God of peace and not of war, the Father of all, not just of some, who wants us to be brothers and not enemies. #Ukraine #Peace” @Pontifex, 23 February 2022
  • “The young must dialogue with the old, and the #old with the young. And this bridge will be the transmission of wisdom in humanity, because the elderly are like the roots of the tree, and the young are like the flowers and the fruit. #BlessingOfTheTimes #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex, 23 February 2022
  • ““Let us never grow tired of doing good” (Gal 6:9). Message” @Pontifex, 24 February 2022
  • “On the synodal journey, humility alone can enable us to encounter and listen, to dialogue and discern. #Synod” @Pontifex, 25 February 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 25 February 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 25 February 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 25 February 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 26 February 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 26 February 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 26 February 2022
  • “Я вновь обращаюсь ко всем с призывом провести 2 марта, в Пепельную среду, день молитвы и поста за мир на Украине, чтобы стать ближе к страданиям украинского народа, почувствовать, что все мы братья и сёстры, и молить Бога о прекращении войны. #МолимсяВместе #Украина Image” @Pontifex, 27 February 2022
  • “Знову звертаюся до всіх із закликом провести 2 березня, в Попільну середу, День молитви і посту за мир в Україні, щоби бути поруч із стражданнями українського народу, щоб усім почуватися братами й сестрами та випрошувати в Бога кінець війни. #МолімосяРазом #Україна Image” @Pontifex, 27 February 2022
  • “I renew my invitation for everyone to take part on 2 March, Ash Wednesday, in a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in #Ukraine, in order to be near to the suffering Ukrainian people, to be aware that we are all brothers and sisters, and to implore God for an end to the war. Image” @Pontifex, 27 February 2022
  • “Let us ask ourselves what type of words we use. Words that express care, respect, understanding, closeness, compassion, or do we pollute the world by spreading venom: criticizing, complaining, feeding widespread aggression? #GospeloftheDay (Lk 6,39–46)” @Pontifex, 27 February 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 28 February 2022
  • “#МолімосяРазом #Україна Image” @Pontifex, 28 February 2022
  • “#МолимсяВместе #Украина Image” @Pontifex, 28 February 2022
  • “#МолімосяРазом #Україна Image” @Pontifex, 1 March 2022
  • “#PrayTogether #Ukraine Image” @Pontifex, 1 March 2022
  • “#МолимсяВместе #Украина Image” @Pontifex, 1 March 2022

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Video Stewardship Appeals During Mass
Liturgy

Video Stewardship Appeals During Mass

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

We had our annual Bishop’s Stewardship Appeal today. I was thankful that they played the video on a screen before Mass started, as they have done the last couple of years. Genuinely I’m not too fond of the stewardship video in lieu of homily, which I have experienced. Apparently, only priests and video equipment are ontologically capable of delivering a homily.

There is just so much that annoys me about these appeals. It is not the appeal to money by the diocese that bothers me at all; I have no problem with necessary stewardship. What annoys me is that I feel as if I am treated as a captive audience, “While we got you here for your Sunday obligation, watch this video to appeal to you heart-strings and hopefully your purse-string.” What I hate the most is the “Liturgy of the Envelop Form Filling.” All the details on how to fill it out, the blocks to check, and all the various options.

The production quality of these videos has certainly improved in my limited experience, but if you need slick videos to get people to contribute; there is a more serious problem regarding discipleship that needs to be addressed.

The other part that annoys me is the aesthetics of the whole setup. Whether it is TVs with DVD Players, Projector Screens, etc—it is such an intrusion on the liturgical space. I am always so tempted to make sure the equipment is blessed, that is by dowsing them in a liberal amount of holy water.

This got me thinking: How long have these video stewardship appeals been going on? Or really, how long have these appeals been occurring during Mass?

I do wonder if during the silent film era they had the bishop, seminarians, Catholic Charities, and others onscreen with placards? Maybe with music to highlight emotional appeals. Charlie Chaplin to raise money for chaplains.

More likely it was the priest reading a letter from the Bishop and forming a homily around 2 Corinthians “for God loves a cheerful giver.” I would find that more appeal-ing.

They should do these appeals on Ash Wednesday, that would solve the crowds.

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My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel – Luke 6:39-45
Scripture

My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel – Luke 6:39-45

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Luke 6:39–45 ESV – Bible Gateway

In today’s Gospel, Jesus set forth a series of what Peter Kreeft calls comic analogies. Humor often uses the element of surprise or a reversal, and this follows up well considering the Beatitudes and this third part of the Sermon on the Plain. We have, likely, heard these short parables multiple times, and they have become proverbial such that we can miss what quite funny contrasts they are. The blind leading the blind is such a great mental picture, and the idea of a guy with a builder’s plank in his eye taking a splinter out of someone else’s eye seems more Looney Tunes than sacred scripture. We can quickly think of Jesus always being so severe and can miss the playfulness in his preaching at times. On this aspect, I think of the end of G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy:

He never concealed His tears; He showed them plainly on His open face at any daily sight, such as the far sight of His native city. Yet He concealed something. Solemn supermen and imperial diplomatists are proud of restraining their anger. He never restrained His anger. He flung furniture down the front steps of the Temple, and asked men how they expected to escape the damnation of Hell. Yet He restrained something. I say it with reverence; there was in that shattering personality a thread that must be called shyness. There was something that He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray. There was something that He covered constantly by abrupt silence or impetuous isolation. There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth.

This is not simply a case of Jesus telling his listeners to mind their own business because you also have similar or other sins. It is a call to repentance to help out our brother truly. A call to self-knowledge, which is a path to humility. To be aware of our spiritual blindness and how it hinders our lives in giving ourselves to others.

Jesus continues on this theme by comparing the good tree and the bad tree and the fruits they bear. A theme used in the Old Testament and one Jesus uses elsewhere regarding the fruit we should be bearing. The early Christians also used this biblical theme of two ways as a means of instruction in moral conduct.

I partly see this comparison as the full integration of our Christian lives. By building up the virtues through grace and constant practice, we build up that good treasure within our hearts. These virtues will subsequently provide the means for us to act in adverse situations. If we provide ourselves with the toxins of rash judgment, constantly attacking others, and imbibing in various forms of tribalism—we can not help but create evil fruits.

In contrast, St Bede explains:

“A person who has a treasure of patience and of perfect charity in his heart yields excellent fruit; he loves his neighbour and has all the other qualities Jesus teaches; he loves his enemies, does good to him who hates him, blesses him who curses him, prays for him who calumniates him, does not react against him who attacks him or robs him; he gives to those who ask, does not claim what they have stolen from him, wishes not to judge and does not condemn, corrects patiently and affectionately those who err. But the person who has in his heart the treasure of evil does exactly the opposite: he hates his friends, speaks evil of him who loves him and does all the other things condemned by the Lord” (In Lucae Evangelium expositio, 2, 6).

If we are indeed to be a disciple of Jesus, we have to learn our strengths and weaknesses. With Lent upcoming, it provides us with a time of reappraisal in where we are along the path. This discernment is not easy, and with our spiritual blind spots, we can be blind in leading ourselves.

Paragraph 2005 in the Catechism says:

We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved.[1] However, according to the Lord’s words—“Thus you will know them by their fruits”[2]—reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.

A pleasing illustration of this attitude is found in the reply of St. Joan of Arc to a question posed as a trap by her ecclesiastical judges: “Asked if she knew that she was in God’s grace, she replied: ‘If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there.’ ”[3]

Sources

  1. Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1533–1534.↩︎  ↩
  2. Mt 7:20.↩︎  ↩
  3. Acts of the trial of St. Joan of Arc.  ↩
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conversion

Thankful to be able to be thankful

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

“The fact that I, myself, have become a Catholic is not in itself particularly relevant; I don’t want people to look at me, but rather to look where I am looking, to see the One on whom my gaze rests.” Holy Ordway, “Apologetics and the Christian Imagination”

I recently read this in her book and it annoyed me that I am not quite as humble as that, even if I desire the same end.

With that said, here is my story as released today on the Coming Home Network’s site.

This is a longer-form version of my conversion story I wrote up before appearing on The Journey Home. Thankful for their editing help and suggestions.

Coming Home Network – Conversion Story

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The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 400

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller
pope-francis2-300x187

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 10 February 2022 to 22 February 2022.

Angelus

Apostolic Letter

General Audiences

Letters

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “Closeness is a precious balm that provides support and consolation to the sick in their suffering. As Christians, we experience that closeness as a sign of the love of Jesus Christ, the Good Samaritan, who draws near with compassion to every man and woman.” @Pontifex, 10 February 2022
  • “Our Christian way of looking at others refuses to see them as a burden or a problem, but rather as brothers and sisters to be helped and protected.” @Pontifex, 11 February 2022
  • “Today is #WorldDayOfTheSick. #LetsPrayTogether for our sick brothers and sisters, their families, for health and pastoral workers, and for all those who care for them.” @Pontifex, 11 February 2022
  • “Discover the meaning of life by coming to the aid of those who suffer, understanding their anguish and bringing relief.” @Pontifex, 12 February 2022
  • “Child soldiers are robbed of their childhood, their innocence, their future, and often of their very lives. Each one of them is a cry raised to God that accuses the adults who put weapons in their little hands. #RedHandDay” @Pontifex, 12 February 2022
  • “The news coming out of Ukraine is very worrying. I entrust to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, and to the conscience of political leaders, every effort on behalf of peace. #PrayTogether” @Pontifex, 13 February 2022
  • “The Beatitudes declare that those who are poor, who lack many goods, are blessed, or happy. This poverty is also an attitude toward the meaning of life: Jesus’ disciples do not believe they possess it or know everything already. Rather, they know they must learn every day.” @Pontifex, 13 February 2022
  • “Faith is born and reborn: not from a duty, not from something to be done, but from a gaze of love to be welcomed. Christian life thus becomes beautiful, if it is not based on our abilities and our plans, but rather on God’s gaze.” @Pontifex, 14 February 2022
  • “May the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, witnesses of a Christianity still united and full of zeal for the preaching of the Gospel, help us to persevere on our journey by fostering our fraternal communion in the name of Jesus.” @Pontifex, 14 February 2022
  • ““In old age they will still bear fruit” (Psalms 92:15). I have chosen this theme for the Second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, to be held on 24 July 2022, to promote dialogue among the generations, especially between grandparents and grandchildren. @LaityFamilyLife” @Pontifex, 15 February 2022
  • “The #elderly should be cared for like a treasure of humanity: they are our wisdom, our memory. It is crucial that grandchildren remain close to their grandparents, who are like roots from which they draw the sap of human and spiritual values. @LaityFamilyLife” @Pontifex, 15 February 2022
  • “It is very important to bring together the wisdom of the #elderly and the enthusiasm of the young. The encounter between grandparents and grandchildren is key, especially in this moment of economic and social crisis that humanity is undergoing. @LaityFamilyLife” @Pontifex, 15 February 2022
  • “I encourage you to ask for the intercession of Saint Joseph precisely at the most difficult times in your life. Where our mistakes become a scandal, let us ask Saint Joseph to give us the courage to speak the truth, ask for forgiveness, and humbly begin again. #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex, 16 February 2022
  • “Fraternal love is a gymnasium of the spirit, where day by day we measure ourselves and test our spiritual life.” @Pontifex, 17 February 2022
  • “Dear priests, these are the signposts that point the way to appreciating and rekindling missionary zeal: closeness to God, to the Bishop, to brother priests, and to the people entrusted to your care. Event” @Pontifex, 17 February 2022
  • “Our love for God and neighbor is our passport to heaven. Our earthly possessions are dust that scatters, but the love we share – in our families, at work, in the Church, and in the world – will save us, for it will endure forever.” @Pontifex, 18 February 2022
  • “The Church is a family of brothers and sisters with one Father, who gave us Jesus as our brother, to help us understand how much He loves fraternity. In fact, he wants all humanity to become one universal family. #FrattelliTutti” @Pontifex, 19 February 2022
  • “With the Spirit of Jesus, we can respond to evil with good, we can love those who do us harm. This is what Christians do. How sad it is, when people and populations proud to be Christians see others as enemies and think to wage war against each other!” @Pontifex, 20 February 2022
  • “Turning the other cheek is not the withdrawal of the loser, but the action of one who has a greater inner strength, who defeats evil with good, who opens up a breach in the heart of the enemy, unmasking the absurdity of his hatred. It is dictated not by calculation, but by love.” @Pontifex, 20 February 2022
  • “Pessimism and complaining are not Christian. We were not made to be downcast, but to look up to heaven.” @Pontifex, 21 February 2022
  • “I have chosen as theme for the next World Day of Migrants and Refugees “Building the future with migrants and refugees”, a future according to God’s plan, which we are all called to contribute to. #WDMR2022 @Pontifex, 22 February 2022

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My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel – Luke 6:27-39
Scripture

My Reflection on Sunday’s Gospel – Luke 6:27-39

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Luke 6:27–38 ESV – Love Your Enemies – “But I say to you – Bible Gateway

This segment of the Gospel of Luke is the second of three parts of the Sermon on the Plain as divided up in the Lectionary. The reversals of the beatitudes continue on in also reversing worldly and individualist claims. We desire mercy for ourselves but are less prone to give mercy to others. Jesus points out this aspect out in The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew where a servant is forgiven an unrepayable debt, yet refuses to forgive a small debt to a fellow servant. In Luke the theme of mercy is constant and as St. Pope John Paul II points out in (Dives in Misericordia, Rich in Mercy), Luke’s Gospel “has earned the title of ‘the Gospel of mercy.’’

Today’s Gospel reading can be too easily dismissed as something unobtainable in everyday life. Something more aspirational than a guide to life. In reality, we should read this as something Peter Kreeft calls Jesus-Shock. We should be astonished by this as much as the original audience heard this. Jesus points out at the start concerning those who will “hear.” That listening is more than just taking in words, but making them active in your life.

Ultimately Jesus is calling us to love as he loves. To forgive as he forgives. To love and not to expect anything in return for it. What Jesus says in verse 31 is often called the Golden Rule, “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” This has been elevated from the Silver Rule that we can find in multiple cultures to not do things to others that you would hate. A rule still focused on ourselves in a “go along to get along” prudential aspect. Jesus’ love is preemptive and does not wait for others to act, as our love should also be. St. John of the Cross wrote, “Where there is no love, put love and you will find love.”

In his commentary on this passage, Peter Kreeft points out how literalism can reduce our morality to a series of steps to be justified. The Pharisees literally declared how many steps you could walk on the Sabbath. So how do we take in these hard sayings and live them?

Peter Kreeft:

In today’s passage, we must be ready in our hearts to do all these radical deeds of love that Jesus speaks of literally if that is the most loving thing to do. Jesus is not exaggerating.

He is not asking us to check our reason at the church door. He gave us reason, and he expects us to use it. He also gave us agape love, and he expects us to use that too.

As St. Thomas Aquinas points out:

“Holy Scripture needs to be understood in the light of the example of Christ and the saints. Christ did not offer the other cheek to be struck in the house of Annas (Jn 18:22f), nor did St Paul when, as we are told in the Acts of the Apostles, he was beaten in Philippi (Acts 16:22f). Therefore, we should not take it that Christ literally meant that you should offer the other cheek to someone to hit you; what he was referring to was your interior disposition; that is, if necessary we should be ready not to be intolerant of anyone who hurts us, and we should be ready to put up with this kind of treatment, or worse than that. That was how the Lord acted when he surrendered his body to death” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Comm. on St John, 18, 37).

Again, the lives of the saints are an authentic interpretation of scripture. This aspect of mercy to others is so important that Jesus made it part of his prayer, the Our Father.

The last part of today’s passage is one that it seems everybody knows, but few understand. Usually, only the first part “Judge not, and you will not be judged” is referenced as a rebuke to Christians. There are also many times when we deserve such a rebuke. Still, when used to represent a defense of moral relativism, it loses all meaning. This statement parallels the follow-on statement “condemn not, and you will not be condemned” to tease out the meaning. In the Vatican II document, Gaudium et spes, it says:

“God alone is the judge and the searcher of hearts; he forbids us to pass judgment on the inner guilt of others” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 28).

We have no competence to judge the inner guilt of others. Often it is also the case that we can’t even judge our inner guilt regarding what we have done. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians wrote about not caring about others judging him and that he does not even judge himself. This does not mean that he did not examine his conscience, but ultimately, God alone truly understands us. Knowing our inability to truly judge ourselves and sift out all our motivations, we should see how morally dangerous it is to assign inner guilt to others.

One last point about this being used as a defense of moral relativism. Jesus commands us to forgive others.

As Brant Pitre points out:

You can’t forgive if someone has not done something wrong. So the very language of forgiveness presupposes absolute moral standards. Jesus is not a relativist. He’s a Jew. And he knows that there are commandments of God, and that to break those commandments is sinful, and to abide by those commandments is righteous. So, in context, the notion of forgiving someone else clearly presupposes right and wrong and the ability to judge actions; meaning, the ability to judge whether an action is right or wrong and in need of forgiveness or not.

References

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The Price of Truth, Titus Brandsma – Book Review
Book Review

The Price of Truth, Titus Brandsma – Book Review

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

I knew very little about Blessed Titus Brandsma, other than that he died in a concentration camp in Dachau. Recently I watched an online seminar about him and was intrigued to find out more.

His whole backstory is so interesting. He was born in the Netherlands in a strong Catholic family with five children. His brother would also become a priest and two of his sisters entered religious life. He always suffered ill health and was not destined to help out his father on the farm. Even with his intellectual gifts, because of his health, it was a trial to be ordained. His first name was Anno, but when he entered religious life he took on the name of Titus (his father’s name).

His years working to be ordained an O. Carm priest and his subsequent years are themselves interesting. This was a man who poured himself out for others. He was always working on something and teaching and helping others. His career was also quite varied as a teacher, University President, and journalist. One of his goals was to translate all of St. Teresa of Avila’s writing into the Dutch language. Truly loved by those around him including non-Catholics in this primarily Protestant country. He was so well known and loved that you could simply write his name on an envelope, and it would be delivered to him. There are a lot of great stories detailing these years including a rather humorous encounter with Pope Pius XII.

His work as a journalist and the ties he made with Catholic journalists made him a good point man to talk with the heads of Catholic newspapers. Especially when the Nazis were demanding that they directly print their propaganda. He had an official role in this from the country’s bishops, and his commitment can be seen in two quotes of his.

“We Catholic journalists must keep in mind that our contributions must be positive, constructive. This is what God requires of those who work for the Catholic cause. Secondly, we must unfailingly practice charity, which is the Lord’s desire. Love must shine through the peaceful tone of the Catholic press.”

“Should the Catholic press abandon this ideal of being a weapon of truth, its very existence would make no sense either for us journalists, or for the Church. It would become worthless. Its steadfast witness to the truth alone constitutes its power and its glory.”

It was in sounding out the publishers of Catholic newspapers that he was arrested and jailed. He would truly show his sanctity in how lived his life moving from one place of confinement, to another, and ultimately Dachau. Despite the severe beatings he received, and even medical experimentation on him, his love of Christ never left him and he imaged it for others. He made friends and helped all those around him. I am only giving a small sample of highlights of his story, there is just so much more to him. I love that he was continuing to write in prison and was writing in between the lines of a book in small lettering since this was all he had available to him.

When he was arrested he was unable to bring his rosary with him. A Protestant he met in prison made one for him. This or another makeshift rosary was given to him, he, in turn, gave to the women that administered the lethal injection that killed him. She would go on to give witness to him during the process of beautification. “I Killed a Saint”.

He was the first of the WWII martyrs that were beautified. Recently the Vatican approved a miracle that will probably lead to his canonization. Michael Driscoll, an O. Carm priest was cured of stage 4 cancer from his intercession after someone gave him a small piece of Brandsma’s black suit.

Blessed Titus Brandsma’s story should be more well known and this book is an excellent introduction to his life.

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Providence Blue – Quick Review
Book ReviewPunditry

Providence Blue – Quick Review

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

Providence Blue: A Fantasy Quest by David Pinault.

At his typewriter in little Cross Plains, Texas, Robert E. Howard created big characters—Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, Conan the Barbarian—who shaped the art of fantasy fiction for generations. But Howard would never know it. On June 11, 1936, at the age of thirty, he shot himself outside his country home. Why would he do it, and where could death have taken him?

Providence Blue imagines the strange underworld journey of Howard after his suicide, through Texas flatlands, ancient Egyptian ruins, and New England city gutters. Meanwhile, as his girlfriend Novalyne Price investigates what caused the tragedy, she is led to Providence, Rhode Island, home of the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, where she makes a terrifying, life-changing discovery.

In Providence decades later, aging grad student Joseph Bonaventure struggles to finish his dissertation on Lovecraft. When he and a young librarian, Fay O’Connell, chance upon some of the author’s lost papers, this breakthrough locks both of them in a web of black magic, occult conspiracy, and dark cosmic forces—and ties them intimately to the fate of Robert E. Howard. Alongside a cast of Providence characters, including a local priest and a stray Chihuahua, Joseph and Fay join a supernatural quest for good against evil, heaven against hell, the Lamb of God against the horrors of oblivion.

I was hoping this book would bear up to its premise. This novel was a lot of fun as the story involves and goes on to include other historical actors. In some ways it reminded me of Tim Power’s novel, taking historical characters and weaving a story or them. This is not as slavish to historical details of a Power’s novel, but there is a feeling of having history explained with a rather wild key. There is a comic sensibility regarding what happens to some of the characters while still making the situations seem real. I like that the characters are taken seriously in the bizarre situations involved, truly anchoring the story. I enjoyed this immensely.

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Peter Kreeft’s “Jesus-Shock”
Book Review

Peter Kreeft’s “Jesus-Shock”

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller

I recently finished Peter Kreeft’s “Jesus-Shock.”

When I read Wisdom and Wonder꞉ How Peter Kreeft Shaped the Next Generation of Catholics this was one of the books frequently mentioned by others.

Peter Kreeft’s diagnosis is spot on in that one of our sins is that we have made Christianity boring. We are complicit in our complacency. Our lack of wonder and joy shows that we don’t know Jesus. We are fighting about the little things instead of proclaiming the great things.

Kreeft writes that Jesus was never boring and his wonderful chapter detailing so many instances of Jesus-Shock in the Gospel points this out. There was constant astonishment regarding him wherever he went. There were no neutral reactions regarding those who met him.

Kreeft has such a great ability when it comes to a turn of phrase and his eloquence helps you stop and think. For me to stop and pray and wonder and rejoice.

A small sample of what I highlighted:

God appeared to Job, but not to the three friends (42:5). And He said that the three had not “spoken rightly” of Him, but Job had (42:7). Why? Because Job had practiced God’s presence: he prayed. He alone talked to God as present even though he did not feel that presence. The three “friends” were deists. Most theists are deists most of the time, in practice if not in theory. They practice the absence of God instead of the presence of God.

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The Weekly Francis

The Weekly Francis – Volume 399

by Jeffrey Miller
written by Jeffrey Miller
pope-francis2-300x187

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

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 29 January 2022 to 9 February 2022.

Angelus

General Audiences

Homilies

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “I thank all those who act in the conviction that we can live in harmony and peace, conscious of the need for a more fraternal world, inasmuch as all of us are creatures of God: brothers and sisters. #HumanFraternityDay” @Pontifex, 4 February 2022
  • “The path of fraternity is long and challenging, yet it is the anchor of salvation for humanity. Let us counter times of darkness and mindsets of conflict with fraternity. @alimamaltayeb #HumanFraternityDayvatican.vaVideo Message of His Holiness Pope Francis to mark the Second International Day of Human Fraternity” @Pontifex, 4 February 2022
  • “God’s grace is offered to everyone; and many who are the least on this earth will be the first in heaven (cf. Mk 10:31).” @Pontifex, 5 February 2022
  • “The other one, happened here in Italy, in Monferrato: John, a Ghanaian boy, 25 years old, a migrant, fell ill with a terrible cancer and wanted to go back home to embrace his father before dying. The whole village took up a collection so that he could die in his father’s arms.” @Pontifex, 6 February 2022
  • “Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. This practice, unfortunately widespread in various regions of the world, demeans the dignity of women and gravely undermines their physical integrity.” @Pontifex, 6 February 2022
  • “The Lord climbs into the boat of our lives when we have nothing to offer Him; to enter our voids and fill them with His presence; to make use of our miseries to proclaim His mercy. #GospeloftheDay (Lk 5, 1–11)” @Pontifex, 6 February 2022
  • “Often, like Peter in the #GospeloftheDay (Lk 5, 1–11), we experience the disappointment of trying so hard and not seeing the desired results. But it is precisely that empty boat, the symbol of our incapacity, that becomes the pulpit from which Jesus proclaims the Word.” @Pontifex, 6 February 2022
  • “Amid so much bad news, there are good things. Today I would like to mention two: one, in Morocco, where an entire people worked to save a child, Rayan. thank you to these people for their witness.” @Pontifex, 6 February 2022
  • “Oggi si celebra la Giornata internazionale contro le mutilazioni genitali femminili. Questa pratica, purtroppo diffusa in diverse regioni del mondo, umilia la dignità della donna e attenta gravemente alla sua integrità fisica.” @Pontifex, 6 February 2022
  • “The crisis of faith, in our lives and in our societies, has to do with the eclipse of desire for God, with the habit of being content to live from day to day, without ever asking what God really wants from us. We have forgotten to lift our eyes to heaven.” @Pontifex, 7 February 2022
  • “To caress an elderly person expresses the same hope as caressing a child, because the beginning of life and the end are always a mystery, a mystery that should be respected, accompanied, cared for, loved.” @Pontifex, 9 February 2022
  • “Human trafficking is violence! The violence suffered by every woman and girl is an open wound on the body of Christ, on the body of all humanity, a deep wound that affects every one of us too. #PrayAgainstTraffickingvatican.va Video Message of the Holy Father to the participants in the World Day of Prayer, Reflection and…” @Pontifex, 9 February 2022
  • “Today, Feast of Saint Bakhita, #LetsPrayTogether for the victims of human trafficking, a crime that primarily affects women and girls. Let’s work together for an economy of care and to eliminate all inequalities. #PrayAgainstTrafficking” @Pontifex, 9 February 2022
  • “It makes no sense to accumulate if one day we will die. What we must accumulate is love, and the ability to share, the ability not to remain indifferent when faced with the needs of others. #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex, 9 February 2022
  • “Let us continue to implore the God of peace that tensions and threats of war be overcome through serious dialogue. Let’s not forget: war is madness!” @Pontifex, 9 February 2022

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