Month: May 2016

Apart from every other consideration, the good of children should be the primary concern, and not overshadowed by any ulterior interest or objective. I make this appeal to parents who are separated: "Never ever, take your child hostage! You separated for many problems and reasons. Life gave you this trial, but your children should not… Continue reading Think of the Children

Have the courage to be different. Don't let yourselves get swallowed up by a society of consumption and empty appearances. What is important is the love you share, strengthened and sanctified by grace. You are capable of opting for a more modest and simple celebration in which love takes precedence over everything else. Pope Francis, Amoris… Continue reading Dare To Be Different

Scientific advances today allow us to know beforehand what colour a child's hair will be or what illnesses that may one day suffer, because all the somatic traits of the person are written in his or her genetic code already in the embryonic stage. Yet only the Father, the Creator, fully knows the child; he… Continue reading Truly and Fully Known

...it is clear that the reception of the liturgical reform is an eminently important test for the reception of Vatican II and, especially, of its ecclesiology. The reception of Sacrosanctum Concilium includes reception of the ecclesiology of the liturgical constitution and its ecclesiological consequences; vice verse, the rejection of Sacrosanctum Concilium is a rejection of both the liturgical constitution… Continue reading Reject This, Reject That

The Church is called to cooperate with parents through suitable pastoral initiatives, assisting them in the fulfilment of their educational mission. She must always do this by helping them to appreciate their proper role and to realize that by their reception of the sacrament of marriage they become ministers of their children's education. In educating… Continue reading Ministers of Education

...I would like to stress the fact that, even though significant advances have been made in the recognition of women's rights and their participation in public life, in some countries much remains to be done to promote these rights. Unacceptable customs still need to be eliminated. I think particularly of the shameful ill-treatment to which… Continue reading Craven Acts of Cowardice

We have long thought that simply stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace, we are providing sufficient support to families, strengthening the marriage bond and giving meaning to marital life. We find it difficult to present marriage more as a dynamic path to personal development and fulfilment than as a lifelong… Continue reading Form Not Replace

In speaking of marriage, Jesus refers us to yet another page of Genesis, which, in its second chapter, paints a splendid and detailed portrait of [Adam and Eve]. First, we see the man, who anxiously seeks "a helper fit for him" (vv. 18, 20), capable of alleviating the solitude which he feels amid the animals… Continue reading More Eloquent Than Silence

So in Christ, above all, God's life was made visible to us. We need, however, to affirm that all reality is, both potentially and in fact, a bearer of God's presence and an instrument of divine action on our behalf. A sacramental perspective is one that "sees" the divine in the human and so sees… Continue reading A Sacramental Perspective