THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 18th, 2014
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Liturgical texts here
“SO why do you Catholics call priests “Fr.” when Jesus expressly forbids it?” That’s the question I am frequently asked when discussing Catholic beliefs with evangelical Christians.
THE NOW WORD ON MASS READINGS
for March 17th, 2014
Monday of the Second Week of Lent
St. Patrick’s Day
Liturgical texts here
AS I read today’s first reading and Psalm, I was immediately moved to pray it with you as a prayer of repentance for this generation. (I want to make a comment on today’s Gospel by looking at the Pope’s controversial words, “Who am I to judge?”, but in a separate writing for my general readership. It is posted here. If you are not subscribed to my Spiritual Food for Thought writings, you can be by clicking here.)
And so, together, let us beg God’s mercy upon our world for the sins of our times, for refusing to hear the prophets He has sent us—chief among them the Holy Fathers and Mary, Our Mother… by praying with our hearts today’s Mass readings:
THEY are words that, just a little under a year later, continue to echo throughout the Church and the world: “Who am I to judge?” They were Pope Francis’ response to a question posed to him regarding the “gay lobby” in the Church. Those words have become a battle cry: first, for those who wish to justify homosexual practice; second, for those wish to justify their moral relativism; and third, for those who wish to justify their assumption that Pope Francis is one notch short of the Antichrist.
This little quip of Pope Francis’ is actually a paraphrase of St. Paul’s words in the Letter of St. James, who wrote: “Who then are you to judge your neighbor?” [1]cf. Jam 4:12 The Pope’s words are now being splattered on t-shirts, fast becoming a motto gone viral…
Footnotes
| ↑1 | cf. Jam 4:12 |
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