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If You Don’t Know the Bad News, the Good News is No News – A Meditation on the Coming Year of Mercy Msgr. Charles Pope • September 23, 2015 • As we prepare for the “Year of Mercy” we need to continue to understand that mercy is very good news. However, there is an old saying, “If you don’t know the bad news, the good news is no news.”Sadly, many people today understand mercy in a very detached way, a way that is apart from repentance and a deep knowledge of our sinfulness. Too many people think that mercy means...

He may be the world’s foremost Catholic, but to his fans, Pope Francis is more the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than Pope Benedict XVI. He speaks, and millions listen — whether they are Muslim or Baptist, Hindu or atheist.

September 24, 2015   Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hg 1:1-8 On the first day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius,The word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggaito the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak: Thus says the LORD of hosts: This people says:“The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.”(Then this word of the LORD came through Haggai, the prophet:)Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses,while this...

NEW YORK -- Pope Francis praised American bishops Wednesday for their "generous commitment'" to helping victims of clergy sex abuse, drawing an angry rebuke from advocates who said the bishops acted only under the threat of hundreds of lawsuits. Addressing church leaders in a prayer service at the Washington cathedral, Francis said they had faced the crisis "without fear of self-criticism and at the cost of mortification and great sacrifice."

Msgr. Charles Pope • September 22, 2015 • Today we welcome Pope Francis to the United States. In so doing, we welcome more than just a popular public figure. We welcome someone whom the Lord prays for in a very special manner. Simon Peter and his successors enjoy a special charism to unite us, by the Lord’s prayer and grace. Let’s look at the scriptural foundation of this prayer and charism and see how essential the office of the pope is for us.One day, near the final ascent to Jerusalem, the Lord warned of a fundamental problem that the Church...

The lesbian teacher fired from a Philadelphia-area Catholic school after complaints over her homosexual “marriage” has been invited to the White House to attend the welcoming ceremony for Pope Francis. [Snip] The women, who were already planning to attend papal events in Washington D.C. and the World Meeting of Families, were reportedly “giddy” about the news of their invitation. "Obviously we won't be talking to the pope, but we will be in the vicinity," Winters said of the White House event. "But symbolically, it's a great step forward."

Pope Francis today suggested to reporters during an airborne press conference that he is not a left-winger. “Some people might say some things [I said] sounded slightly more leftish, but that would be a mistake of interpretation,” the Pope said to journalists, according to Time.

September 23, 2015 Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest Reading 1 Ezr 9:5-9 At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness,and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees,stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God. I said: “My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you,O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our headsand our guilt reaches up to heaven.From the time of our fathers even to this daygreat has been our guilt,and for our wicked deeds we have been...

Church officials say that Pope Francis is likely to meet with victims of sexual abuse by priests when he comes to America this week — a sign of continuing turmoil and mistrust among Catholic parishioners following a series of scandals. And when critics call for more transparency and accountability, it’s Cardinal Bernard Law they often point to. Law was forced to resign as bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston after a series of stories by a team of investigative reporters at The Boston Globe found victims and uncovered documents showing that church authorities had protected pedophile priests from prosecution —...

The New York Times' Jennifer Steinhauer celebrated the faith of the fiercely pro-abortion former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on Wednesday, under a laugher of a headline, "At Divisive Moment, Pelosi’s Faith Coexists With Belief in Abortion Rights." The online headline was even "stronger" in silliness: "In Pelosi, Strong Catholic Faith and Abortion Rights Coexist." Steinhauer strove mightily to portray left-wing pro-choice, pro-gay marriage Pelosi as an unconflicted Catholic, despite her position on abortion, considered a mortal sin by the Church but which Pelosi sees as "ancillary to her unwavering faith," according to the Times. Steinhauer portrayed the abortion...

Please excuse the provocative title, and do not misunderstand. Obviously, neither the Pope nor anyone else can change Church doctrine normatively. That is, Church doctrine remains true and unchangeable whatever people--without or within the Church--believe or say. In the same way the teachings of Christ or the Commandments themselves remain true and unchanging. What the Pope can do, however, is to say that Church doctrine has changed or, more to the point, imply by his words or actions that it has. Or he can say or imply that Church doctrine wasn't what most people--including most people in the Church itself...

A Study in Contrast and Paradox: The Pope’s Thursday Schedule Msgr. Charles Pope • September 21, 2015 • 0 Comments CREDIT: Jaclyn Lippelmann, The Catholic StandardOn Thursday morning, Pope Francis will speak at a joint session of Congress. Shortly thereafter he will journey to a nearby center of Catholic Charities. In so doing, he will be meeting very different groups of people: politicians, and the poor, legislators and the less fortunate.There is in these visits a powerful contrast. But not all things are as they appear for not as man sees does God see. Let’s consider both.The day will begin...

Pope Francis doesn’t hate you. But he does hate your lifestyle, your country, and the economic principles upon which your life is built. Today, the Holy Father will come to America, the nation which personifies all the evils he sees in the world, the country that is the obvious target of his invective and condemnation. As he condemns capitalism and consumerism, denounces things like air conditioning and private automobiles, and condemns people who, by overconsumption, engage in what he calls social and racial oppression, he’s talking about you. You know that, right? Yesterday he was in Cuba, where he had...

September 22, 2015   Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 EzR 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 King Darius issued an order to the officialsof West-of-Euphrates:“Let the governor and the elders of the Jewscontinue the work on that house of God;they are to rebuild it on its former site.I also issue this decreeconcerning your dealing with these elders of the Jewsin the rebuilding of that house of God:From the royal revenue, the taxes of West-of-Euphrates,let these men be repaid for their expenses, in full and without delay.I, Darius, have issued this decree;let it be carefully executed.” The elders...

The Apostolic and Evangelical Journeys of Jesus, Writ Large! A Reflection on the Biblical Roots of a Papal Visit Msgr. Charles Pope • September 20, 2015 • In the papal visit soon to unfold in this country we see writ large a process and pattern established by Jesus Himself. In this blog post we will look especially at the process of preparation and see that it is quite directly connected to the way in which Jesus operated.To many readers of the gospel, who overlook the details, it could seem that Jesus and the Twelve just wandered about in a haphazard...

September 21, 2015 Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist Reading 1 Eph 4:1-7, 11-13 Brothers and sisters:I, a prisoner for the Lord,urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,with all humility and gentleness, with patience,bearing with one another through love,striving to preserve the unity of the Spiritthrough the bond of peace:one Body and one Spirit,as you were also called to the one hope of your call;one Lord, one faith, one baptism;one God and Father of all,who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of...

Msgr. Charles Pope • September 19, 2015 • In today’s gospel, the Lord Jesus is asking a crucial question. The word crucial here is selected carefully. It comes from the Latin cruces, meaning “cross.” Indeed, looming over this entire gospel is the Cross. Jesus makes the second prediction of His passion, death, and resurrection. It is in the context of this teaching that the Lord asks the “crucial” question of us: What is most central in our life? Let’s look at this gospel in five stages. I. The Processional Picture – The gospel text opens this way: Jesus and his...

Pope Arrives in Cuba, Speaks of Church’s Need for Freedom, Means, Space Cuba, September 19, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Kathleen Naab Pope Francis arrived this afternoon in Cuba, giving the first of his official addresses for this nine-day apostolic visit that will also bring him to the United States. He referenced the opening of relations between his two host countries and affirmed that the world "needs reconciliation," as we live what he has referred to a handful of times as a Third World War being fought in pieces. The Holy Father was greeted with fanfare and a brisk breeze as he spent...

September 20, 2015 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Wis 2:12, 17-20 The wicked say:Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;he sets himself against our doings,reproaches us for transgressions of the lawand charges us with violations of our training.Let us see whether his words be true;let us find out what will happen to him.For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend himand deliver him from the hand of his foes.With revilement and torture let us put the just one to the testthat we may have proof of his gentlenessand...

A few days ago, I wrote about some of the guests who had been invited to the White House reception in honor of Pope Francis. President Obama and Pope Francis may be sympatico on climate change, capitalism, and other far-left issues, but when it comes to the teachings of the Catholic Church, they don't agree on much. The president will put this to the test, because he has invited a pro-abortion nun, a gay bishop, and a transgender female to the White House to meet the pontiff. Pope Francis has shown himself to be tolerant, but isn't this a...