Learning to be Quick to Listen

And they'll know we are Christians by our love. That verse is one of the strongest memories I have of attending Catholic elementary school. It was a part of a song that we seemed to sing quiet frequently. But the true meaning of the song still resonates with me. Amid all of the rudeness and incivility among and between people of all faiths (and no faith), this is an idea who's time has come again. Do people know that you are a Christian by the way you respond to life's daily trials? Do you set the bar when it comes to acting like Jesus in your workplace? What about the example you set for your children or others who look to you for guidance? The song goes on to say "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord." Another salient point that should be reemphasized at a time when it feels like Christians have been divided in order to be conquered. I am challenging myself to live the words of this song. I am committing to being someone who acts out of love. How tha...

If divorced-and-remarried Catholics should receive communion, as Cardinal Walter Kasper and many of the German bishops suggest, does that mean St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher died for nothing? In his latest column Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver asked this question and pointed to similarities between Cardinal Kasper’s push for allowing remarried Catholics to receive communion and English bishops granting Henry VIII’s “annulment.” “As with those who advocate for communion for the civilly remarried, the English bishops were uncomfortable with embracing divorce and remarriage outright,” he said in his Oct. 19 column. “Instead, they chose to bend the law to the individual circumstances of the case with which they were confronted, and King Henry VIII was granted an ‘annulment’ — on a fraudulent basis and without the sanction of Rome.” The case for Henry VIII’s divorce came from a “strong utilitarian argument”: the king’s personal happiness and the well-being of the country. Simi...

As reported by Yahoo news, "One of the participants in the synod, the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, tweeted earlier this week that Francis had warned the prelates against falling into a "conspiracy" mindset as they discuss how the church can better minister to Catholic families, gays, divorcees and couples in civil unions. But in his briefing to reporters Tuesday, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, didn't quote Pope Francis as making such an explosive and critical admonition. His summary of Francis' remarks was more generic, and a text of Francis' remarks was never provided to the media. Lombardi confirmed Thursday that the pope indeed uttered the words but said he wasn't obliged to make public everything that everyone says." I guess it is all about the clicks even when it comes to the Catholic Church and Pope Francis. Yahoo posted the following story on its news page in order to ramp up the visits to it pages. That is the way the online econ...

The world Synod of Bishops on the family is not a parliament where participants will negotiate or lobby, Pope Francis said, but it must be a place of prayer where bishops speak with courage and open themselves to "God who always surprises us." Opening the first working session of the synod Oct. 5, the pope said the synod's 270 voting members need courage, "pastoral and doctrinal zeal, wisdom, frankness and to keep always before our eyes the good of the church and of families and the supreme law -- the salvation of souls." Arriving about 15 minutes before the session began, Pope Francis welcomed to the synod hall the members, delegates from other Christian communities and the men and women who will serve as experts and observers. The synod is not a convention or a parliament, Pope Francis said, "but an expression of the church; it is the church that walks together to read reality with the eyes of faith and with the heart of God." Synod members must ...