Learning to be Quick to Listen

Scripture itself draws a distinction between two categories of wrongdoing, referring to "sin which is mortal " and "sin which is not mortal" ( 1 John 5 : 16 − 17 ). The latter is what the Church calls venial or pardonable sin, which wounds our relationship with God but doesn't sever it. To understand what tips the scales and makes a sin mortal—or deadly—we must look to three essential criteria, as reiterated by St. John Paul II: the sin must be of grave matter, committed with full knowledge, and done with deliberate consent. These conditions are critical because they speak to the degree of harm to our soul and the deliberate nature of the choice. For instance, some acts, like murder, are considered intrinsically grave and mortal by their very nature. If we know an action is seriously wrong and freely choose it, we’ve effectively chosen that sin over God, a choice that radically changes our fundamental orientation away from Him. A common misconception that St. ...

After California priest Father Thomas Baker finished a grueling triathlon in Hawaii, he acknowledged that parts of the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike race and a 26.2-mile marathon were tough. That's when, he said later, he "used the rosary, my mantras and the faces of all those praying for me to help me move forward." The 53-year-old pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Lancaster conquered a windy course in Kona, Hawaii, during the October 13 Ironman World Championship and crossed the finish line with a time of 13:33:36. Fellow 82-year-old competitor, Sister Madonna Buder, a member of the Sisters for Christian Community from Spokane -- and 20-year veteran of the Ironman World Championships -- thinks Father Baker is the first Catholic priest to cross the finish line in Kona. Since Ironman officials do not track that type of data they were not able to confirm it. Sister Buder qualified for Kona this year by completing in Ironman Canada in August, becoming the oldest woman to comp...

I thought the reading from the Original Testament today was very interesting. The reading from Jeremiah certainly is closely linked to the Year of the Priest, as recently proclaimed by Pope Benedict. The message to the Church is very clear. I am sure as priests prepared their sermons for Mass, they took special care to heed the message. The scripture focuses on bad leadership but also followership. On the surface, it is clear but can we dig deeper? What about our leaders who are not commenting on worldly things? What about those that avoid the difficult topics from the pulpit? What about those that divide the world into the spiritual and earthly? Do they not also intend to "destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture"? Are we as followers called by God to be "shepherds over them who will care for them"? Are you allowing yourself to be led down the wrong path? Are you part of the flock that is being scattered? The devil loves it when we do his work for him. The Churc...