Learning to be Quick to Listen

“Bangui is today the spiritual capital of the world,” Pope Francis said as he opened the Holy Door of Bangui’s cathedral on Sunday--the first time a Pope has opened a Holy Door outside Rome. Pope Francis proclaimed: “We all pray for peace, mercy, reconciliation, pardon, love. Throughout the Central African Republic and in all the nations of the world which suffer war, let us pray for peace. And together we all pray for love and peace. We pray together.” The Pope opened the Holy Door in the Central African Republic’s capital before the beginning of Sunday Mass Nov. 29. The Jubilee of Mercy does not begin until Dec. 8, but Pope Francis decided to open the Holy Door in the cathedral of Bangui as a sign of prayer and solidarity with the country. The Central African Republic is an active warzone following the December 2012 uprising which led to the overthrow of the president. About 6,000 people have died in the conflict, with several thousands more displaced. The rite of the opening o...

I urge you to continue to pray for the families of the victims who lost their lives in the terrorist attack in Paris. Once again we see what humankind can do with something that God ordained. Religion is not about murder. The focus should be on God. The teachings of Jesus Christ when he lived among us are still true today. Love God with all of your heart. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Instead of trying to look for differences, lets find the commonalities. Collectively we can solve many of the world's problems by taking the time to get to know others that may be a little different from us. All of the victims killed by the suicide bombers were created by God. Why would God be happy with you if you are killing his creation? Before you condemn someone, kneel and pray with them. Your entire perspective will change.

A week after the 65th anniversary of Father Emil J. Kapaun's capture in North Korea, the bishop of Wichita, Kansas, formally presented a report on the Army chaplain's life, virtues and fame of holiness to the Congregation for Saints' Causes. Bishop Carl A. Kemme of Wichita and a small delegation from the diocese met Nov. 9 with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the congregation, and other officials to hand over the 1,066 report known as a "positio." During the Korean War, Father Kapaun, a priest of the Wichita diocese, and other members of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, were captured by Chinese troops in North Korea Nov. 2, 1950. The priest died in a North Korean prison camp May 23, 1951. President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor posthumously to the war-hero priest in a White House ceremony in 2013, but the men who were imprisoned with Father Kapaun and the faithful of the Diocese of Wichita had been honoring him long before that. "Sin...

Are you trying to get more out of Mass than you have in the past? Try keeping a journal. You can list the readings from the Bible and look them up later. You can jot down questions for your pastor or deacon and email them for the answers. You can also write down your thoughts about the entire experience by spending a little time at the end of Mass. So what is the point? All of this journaling will help you to deepen your faith. Taking the message of Sunday into the work week can help you become the person God created you to be. And it all starts with making a few notes at Mass and using those notes to live a more Christ-like life. Try it out.

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...