I posted this link on my Facebook page today and now want to share it with my blog readers – a great story from Thailand about the upcoming papal visit: https://www.yahoo.com/news/catholic-nuns-working-non-stop-110000682.html
VATICAN INSIDER: FAITH AND REASON AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION
My guest this weekend and next in the interview segment of “Vatican Insider” is Samuel Gregg, research director at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We spoke when he was in Rome to talk about his latest book, Reason, Faith and the Struggle for Western Civilization. (Acton photos)
Sam talks about the genius of Western civilization with its unique synthesis of reason and faith and we learn that that synthesis is under attack from the East by radical Islam (faith without reason) and from within the West itself by aggressive secularism (reason without faith). He writes that the naïve and increasingly common assumption that reason and faith are incompatible is simply at odds with the facts of history. You will not want to miss that conversation!
IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at http://www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on http://www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: https://www.ewtn.com/radio/audio-archive (write Vatican Insider where it says Search Shows and Episodes)
POPE TO SALVATION ARMY: HUMBLE SERVICE SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS
Pope Francis met with a delegation from the Salvation Army on Friday, and said that holiness is best shown in concrete acts of goodness and solidarity.
By Devin Watkins (vaticannews)
The Salvation Army is both a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organization, whose membership numbers over 1.7 million. Known as Salvationists, members seek to bring salvation and humanitarian relief to people in need.
In his address to the delegation on Friday, Pope Francis expressed his appreciation for “the witness [Salvationists] give to the primacy of discipleship and service to the poor.”
He added that it makes them “a credible sign of evangelical love”.
Humble service
The Pope told the delegation about the first lesson he ever received in ecumenism. When he was four years old, he met several members of the Salvation Army while with his grandmother. “Their example of humble service to the least of our brothers and sisters spoke louder than any words,” he said.
Pope Francis also recalled what the previous director told him when they met in 2014: “Holiness transcends denominational boundaries.” Francis said, “the holiness that shows itself in concrete acts of goodness, solidarity, and healing speaks to the heart and testifies to the authenticity of our discipleship.”
Catholics and Salvationists, said the Pope, can work well together on this basis, cooperating in “a spirit of mutual respect, even in leading a holy life.”
Gratuitous love
Pope Francis said gratuitous love shown to others in acts of service both attracts and convinces. Young people, he noted, need that type of Christian witness, since they often lack positive examples in daily life.
“In a world where selfishness and divisions abound, the noble fragrance of genuine self-giving love can offer a much-needed antidote, and open minds and hearts to the transcendent meaning of our existence,” he said.
Service and solidarity
Finally, the Pope thanked Salvationists for caring for the homeless and marginalized in Rome, as well as for their efforts to fight human trafficking. “Let us remember one another in our prayers and continue to work together to spread God’s love through works of service and solidarity.”
BIDEN, COMMUNION AND POPE FRANCIS
You may recall reading on November 1, 2019 on LifeSiteNews and many other media outlets, secular and not , that “Pro-abortion former Vice President and 2020 Democratic hopeful Joe Biden has commented on a priest recently upholding Catholic teaching by denying him Holy Communion, saying, “It’s not a position that I’ve found anywhere else, including from the Holy Father, who gives me Communion.”
How come no one has followed up by asking Biden to show the world a photo of Pope Francis giving him communion?
I have obviously not been to every Mass that Pope Francis has presided at but when I have been present, he has never given out communion to the faithful. He might give communion to those priests, deacons or acolytes who assist him during Mass, but that is one of the exceptions. He has given communion to First Communicants, that is, both young children going for the first time – last May 6 in Bulgaria, the Pope gave First Holy Communion to 245 children – and adults received into the Church at RCIA at the Easter vigil.
You might want to read this piece by Sandro Magister: Why Pope Francis Doesn’t ive Communion: http://chiesa.espressosrepubblica.it/articolo/1350515bdc4.html?eng=y
Joan's Rome 