God‘s chastisements are to save us, say Scriptures
Original sin establishes the first relationship between man's sin and punishment. But is suffering only the result of breaking an equilibrium or is there also a positive intervention from God? The Bible takes into account a varied reality, which involves different kinds of divine action. The Old Testament interprets some natural disasters and painful situations as God's punishing interventions. The New Testament also describes a chastening action of God, but reveals definitively that His purpose is always - in respect for human freedom - our salvation.
Service: love for our God and clients
Service, in the broad sense, has a supremely essential role within the economy, and not just in the so-called “service industries.” The virtue of service - relationally, intellectually and theologically - transforms economies for transactional to intelligently loving exchange economies.
Without liberty life is no-longer protected
In the comments of politicians and commentators just as in the reaction of the people, there is the perception that the war against the coronavirus justifies the suspension of civil liberty. It is an old debate that has engaged many philosophers, but the reality is that when power takes away liberty it does not guarantee either safety or life.
Consecration, Calling for all bishops: follow Portugal
The bishops of Portugal and Spain are carrying out an epochal salvific act with the Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We implore all bishops to imitate them today. The Lord is allowing, in His infinite mercy, that we experience first-hand the great fragility of man, of his health, of his economic systems, of his earthly certainties. And He is making it clear to the whole world. This is a great warning, and it would be wrong and a harbinger of disastrous consequences not to accept it.
“Lord, it’s so hard; what do you want me to do? I will make a vow.”
We are at the mercy of fear and panic, so we must seek to understand the language of God by asking him with open and humble hearts: Lord, what do you want me to do? Let’s do something worthwhile: lets make vows. God is speaking to us in an eloquent way. Are you cooped up at home? Then let’s make a vow to dedicate more time to Him on the Lord’s Day. Are we deprived of the Mass? Let’s make a vow to return to Mass when it is celebrated again without being full of pride.
If Ireland is anti-Catholic, the Church is also to blame
The origin of the Irish Church's crisis of credibility is not due to the sexual abuse scandal, but of a moralistic and sentimental conception of faith inculcated in the distant past. And by an educational system that disembodied faith from reality. Catholic writer John Waters describes what took Ireland to secularisation at lightning speed.
Today’s coronavirus crisis means future change
When the coronavirus emergency is over, nothing will ever be the same again. The present crisis reveals the emptiness of ideologies like naturalism and globalism and the disintegration of the European Union; it asks us to reconsider our concept of the common good, the subsidiary function of credit, and the relationship between Church and State. What is happening today should become a reflection on how to reconstruct the world after the crisis. Here is a broad reflection by Msgr. Crepaldi based on the social doctrine of the Church.
- THE INTEGRAL DOCUMENT
Now and after the Coronavirus: what we have learned and how we must start again
This is not just a health emergency, but an event that involves many aspects of personal and social life that call into question the Church's social doctrine. Here are some reflections on the ongoing emergency, and especially what may occur after the coronavirus, written by Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi and undersigned by the Cardinal Van Thuân International Observatory for the Social Doctrine of the Church.
“The virus has exposed the individualist lie; we cannot deprive ourselves of the Mass”
“The pandemic has brought to light the precariousness of the human being and exposed the individualist lie, which has favored the breaking of bonds with the family, with tradition and with God.” The Spanish bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla explained to The Daily Compass why he has decided not to suspend Masses with the faithful: “The Holy Mass is heaven on earth, and without it man loses his soul.” The coronavirus is a blow for “the pride of globalism and our technocratic society,” but also for the Church that now “ought to turn to the decisive questions of human salvation.”
«No to Card. Kung »: Beijing decides who to beatify
Asia‘s Catholic news agency, UcaNews, has denounced the Holy See for failing to open the process of beatification of Cardinal Kung Pinmei in order not to displease Beijing. Meanwhile, dozens of British signatories are petitioning the Holy See for an immediate end to its agreement with China.
Being prepared for death… is what we need
It is being said that anyone who is asking for the celebration of Mass to be reinstated, anyone who is going to church to pray, anyone looking for a priest to ask for confession and the Eucharist, is a selfish person. And yet, whether we are thinking of ourselves, of people dear to us or who are more at risk, what should make us most afraid is not death but rather leaving this world in fear and without being well-prepared for death. Death must not become something taboo for the Church: it is what we most need to hear about, as well as hope for eternal life.
Beyond belief: local police storm Mass
A scene from Communist China took place in Marina di Cerveteri north of Rome. A parish priest surprised by two law enforcement officials is ordered to stop a Eucharistic celebration. What’s the reason? Because there were faithful gathered outside in the churchyard praying at the recommended distance.
