The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.
Sample Page
Pope Francis blessed a special Easter basket during a private audience with Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and his family at the Vatican April 11.
In Russia’s war on Ukraine, “the forces of evil” are clearly at work, leading to “abominable” attacks on innocent people and widescale destruction of their homes, Pope Francis said.
Jesus obeyed the most challenging of commandments: to love one’s enemies; and he invites humanity to do the same by breaking a vicious cycle of evil, sorrow and hatred with love and forgiveness, Pope Francis said on Palm Sunday.
Francisco Moran said it was God’s will that motivated him as a 23-year-old working as an elementary school teacher’s aide in Navarro County to stand before thousands of people in Rio de Janeiro and publicly commit to pursuing a vocation in the priesthood. Seven years into his assignment to the Redemptoris Mater seminary in war-torn Ukraine, Moran sat in a dining hall at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and similarly said, “If it’s His will for me to go back, then with His will I’ll go back.”
Many of us want to grow in holiness and draw closer to God. Our perception of our personal holiness or closeness to God often revolves around how many prayers we say, how many spiritual books we read, how often we attend church, how often we receive the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance, or whether we are good parents or good people. Yes, these are excellent steps toward holiness and closeness to God, and I encourage and recommend that we all practice them.
The Catholic Diocese of Dallas has announced Tom and Sue Merkel will serve as the chairs for the 12th Annual Bishop’s Invitational Golf Tournament to be held Sept. 19, 2022 at the TPC Four Seasons Resort in Las Colinas. In addition, the diocese announced that CHRISTUS Health has renewed its Title Sponsorship for the tournament.
The old adage that there is strength in numbers holds true for the Diocese of Dallas Synod.
The Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1980, declared in a book of prose that “the Scriptures constitute the common good of believers, agnostics, and atheists.” For Milosz, whose life was scarred by the Nazi and Communist takeovers of his native land, the moral authority and literary beauty of the Bible was a refuge against the lethal and banal propaganda spewed forth from those godless governments and armies, even though he could not bring himself to believe in God.
Christians who truly imitate Jesus are more inclined to forgive and be merciful than those who, under the pretense of holiness, point fingers and condemn others, Pope Francis said.