The Church Is Called To

In Confession, Jesus Welcomes Us With All Our Sinfulness, To Give Us A New Heart, Capable Of Loving As He Loves.

I Don't Like To Speak Of Islamic Violence, Because Every Day, When I Browse The Newspapers, I See Violence, Here In Italy... This One Who Has Murdered His Girlfriend, Another Who Has Murdered The Mother-in-law... And These Are Baptized Catholics! There Are Violent Catholics!

Avoiding Pregnancy Is Not An Absolute Evil. In Certain Cases, As In This One, Or In The One I Mentioned Of Blessed Paul Vi, It Was Clear.

Sometimes We Are Tempted To Be That Kind Of Christian Who Keeps The Lord’s Wounds At Arm’s Length. Yet Jesus Wants Us To Touch Human Misery, To Touch The Suffering Flesh Of Others. He Hopes That We Will Stop Looking For Those Personal Or Communal Niches Which Shelter Us From The Maelstrom Of Human Misfortune And Instead Enter Into The Reality Of Other People’s Lives And Know The Power Of Tenderness. Whenever We Do So, Our Lives Become Wonderfully Complicated And We Experience Intensely What It Is To Be A People, To Be Part Of A People.

We Have Created New Idols. The Worship Of The Ancient Golden Calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) Has Returned In A New And Ruthless Guise In The Idolatry Of Money And The Dictatorship Of An Impersonal Economy Lacking A Truly Human Purpose. The Worldwide Crisis Affecting Finance And The Economy Lays Bare Their Imbalances And, Above All, Their Lack Of Real Concern For Human Beings; Man Is Reduced To One Of His Needs Alone: Consumption.