You don’t need Jesus… You want only saints. Right?

Sheena George

 “You don’t need Jesus… you want only saints. Right?” asked our parish priest in  Mumbai who was dejected by the poor response to the feast of Sacred Heart of Jesus. His disappointment was not without reasons: only a handful of people – not even one-tenth of  2000-strong Catholic population in the area -- turned up for the feast last week. The church should have been full. When he looked at the empty benches, he became more melancholic. 

The savagery of ecumenical purges in Iraq, Syria, Egypt: Christians being wiped out

  Jerry Johnson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, played a clip of Egyptian television’s coverage of a Christian who was beheaded at a conference of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox church leaders in Washington recently.

Satan, that odious mountebank, is cheating us when we judge others.

Sheena George

 We are good at judging others. We mean most of us, Christians. We get some kind of pleasure in prosecution of others through judgments. Inevitably, most of the time, nay all the the time, we go wrong while making judgments.

Pope Francis stops car to bless young disabled woman

  Pope Francis stopped the car that was transporting him to see a young disabled woman and her family on the side of the road during his June 21 pastoral visit to the region of Calabria in southern Italy.
 A video posted online by a family in the southern Italian region of Calabria depicts the encounter with the Holy Father. The Pope passed by the highway near the family’s house as he returned from Cassano allo Jonio, where he spoke out against the mafia.
 The family members waited with banners reading, 'Please Pope stop here to see an angel who has been waiting for you', and 'Please come and bless little Roberta'. When the Pope saw their signs, he asked for his car to stop, and immediately went to greet and bless the people, according to Vatican’s news.va.
 Once the vehicle stopped, the Holy Father descended, approached the woman, who was laying on a moving stretcher, blessed her, kissed her and greeted her family and the children around her.
 The young woman – Roberta – is disabled and cannot travel far from her home, because she is dependent upon a machine to breathe. Her family voiced their gratitude to the Holy Father on Facebook. “I still can't believe it, thank you Holy Father...I thank the Pope for having given us a moment of great joy,” her sister, Pamela, wrote.
 “Today we can say that Christ stopped in Sibari in the vestments of Pope Francis,” added Ivan Vania, a friend who helped make the posters calling the Pope’s attention.

Don’t store up your wealth in this world

Thomas Mathew Vattakunnel

 If you keep all your savings in the bank or stock markets, will it help you? Jesus says it’s meaningless. Bible gives clear answers. It’s not worth storing up wealth in this world, which is a short period.

Vatican slams excessive speculation in financial markets

'Speculation in food prices is a scandal which seriously compromises access to food on the part of the poorest members'

'Don’t try to prevent your son or daughter from selecting this vocation...'

ON A WING AND A PRAYER
 Sabu Aruthottiyil of King Jesus Ministries, Kerala, India, is one my of favourite evangelists who regularly comes on Shalom TV, a Christian charismatic channel. He recently spoke succinctly and pithily about the vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life. In a nutshell, his message was “don’t try to prevent your son or daughter from selecting the vocation to the priesthood or religious life.”

Many people claim to be in Church but have only one foot inside

  Who offers the best critique of the Catholic Church? It’s none other than Pope Francis himself. He never misses an opportunity to punch holes in the ivory towers in the church. He calls a spade a spade and comes down on the misdemeanors and felonies in the church.

Bulgaria beggar donates thousands to church, treated as saint

Vessela Sergueva, AFP

  SOFIA: A 100-year-old beggar in a threadbare coat, "Grandpa" Dobri, is already celebrated as a saint in Bulgaria - a symbol of goodness in a country ravaged by poverty and corruption.

You’re not your kid’s friend or master... you’re just a guardian of this gift from God. By Simmy Joshy

CHRISTIAN WAY OF PARENTING

 “My daughter is like a friend to me,” my friend once told me. “We’re friends. I don’t treat her as a daughter.”
  Fine. But there’s something beyond all that. You must be a guardian of your kid. This principle must come first. Friendship and other things can come later.