Mass and Sacraments: What we can learn from an American bishop
“We must preach the eternal life found in Jesus Christ.” All the more so in these hard times when people are in need of “hope and consolation.” The death of two of his priest friends due to coronavirus inspired Bishop Peter Baldacchino’s decision to restore the celebration of public Masses in his diocese of Las Cruces. His reasons should serve as a guideline.
More than 100 NGOs lead the assault on innocent life
An open letter from over 100 powerful national and international NGOs (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty, CGIL, etc.) petitioned European governments to authorise abortions over the internet or telephone and to send abortion pills to take at home. In this very same period, several children's associations, including Save the Children, have asked the EU to treat "reproductive health" as a priority during the ongoing pandemic. In brief "human" rights for all, but not for the unborn.
Celebrating Mass is an act of full obedience
It is not a loophole to circumvent the law. Celebrating Mass in this time of crisis is actually an act of full obedience. It is about practicing epikeia, a virtue cited inappropriately to discern communion for the divorced and remarried, but which instead may be perfectly applied to Masses currently prohibited during coronavirus pandemic.
What will poor countries do if the “rich” ones get sick?
Even in the midst of the pandemic Oxfam hasn’t changed its tune: it is asking rich countries to help poor countries fight the coronavirus. But the NGO doesn’t ask why poor countries are poor. The answer lies in the tribalism, corruption and violence of their ruling classes. It would do better to ask them for the necessary funds.
The Discernment needed to judge chastisement and conversion
The phenomenon of the coronavirus has provoked considerable online discussion on the theme of the chastisement of God, to which prophecies have been associated and examples of saintly bishops. How are we to judge this matter? By means of a true discernment, which seeks conversion, by using two factors: the exercise of the episcopal ministry as a depository of “charism certain of the truth” and the recognition by the faithful of the holiness of their bishops. Today something similar would not be possible with regard to Covid-19 because if a diocesan bishop spoke like Gregory the Great or Charles Borromeo he would end up in the media grinder. And so if there are chastisements, we bring them to Christ to ask that His wounds heal us, not only from our sins but also from Covid-19.
«We will only have peace and prosperity if we place God at the forefront»
Sister Emmanuel Maillard, a resident of Medjugorje and a great apostle of the Blessed Mother, explains to The Daily Compass the significance of an epidemic that is forcing “a world that believed it was invulnerable” to its knees; the evils of quarantine and what we should hold tight for our own good; the trial permitted as “a sign of love from a Father who desires the salvation of his children;” the journey of the pious women to the tomb of Jesus, although forbidden by “the police of that epoch;” the mystery of Mary as co-redemptrex and the full of significance of suffering. Finally, she reveals the only way to put an end to the virus.
Hope: in ourselves and in our exchanges with others and God
Hope is the most ethereal of all virtues. Few of us understand it well. But the virtue of hope has positive ramifications on a free, trusting and cooperative human economy.
Yes, Christ is truly risen and we are witnesses of this.
We too are there with the three women going to the tomb before dawn to anoint the lifeless body of Jesus. Their loving concern is our concern too. With them we discover that the large tombstone has been rolled away and that the body is no longer there. “He is not here”, the angel proclaims, pointing to the empty tomb and the winding cloth on the ground. Death no longer has power over him. We publish the homily of Saint pope John Paul II at the Easter Vigil, 22 April 2000, as a help to live the meaning of Easter.
Turin Shroud unexpected Easter extension
On Holy Saturday, the Archbishop of Turin, Msgr. Cesare Nosiglia will lead a liturgy of prayer before the Shroud, in a live broadcast. In this period of suffering and loneliness, we all need to feel reached by the light of the Resurrection. That's why the news has filled enthusiasts of the revered relic with more than just joy.
Chastisements of God, correction of children is mercy
Saint Thomas Aquinas observes that man lives by relating on three levels: with himself, with society, and with God. His sin provokes a triple punishment: “one from himself, which is the remorse of conscience; another from men; a third from God”. But the primary intention of God is neither a punitive nor a vengeful outburst, but simply that we may be converted so that we may turn to him.
COVID-19 is a call for the conversion of individuals and nations
Christianity has always addressed both individuals and nations. Abortion, euthanasia, the destruction of human embryos, divorce, homosexual adoptions: these are the "structures of sin" described by St. John Paul II. Together they form a deposit of individual sins that become social evils. This is why it is critical the Church goes back to preaching about conversion. And not just the conversion of man, but of society as well.
The virus that nullified five centuries of materialism
COVID-19 has been isolated and it has been discovered that it is so small that it is nearly invisible. And yet it has upended our existence. For five hundred years it has been claimed the only things that exist are those which our senses can perceive. Everything else is superstition. We now know we’ve been lied to and that empiricists, Enlightenment, materialists and romantics were wrong.
