Pope: Don’t pretend to be sinless; preaching Gospel demands humility

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When boasting of having Jesus Christ as one’s savior, people shouldn’t pretend they aren’t guilty of sin, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.
The sincere and humble admission of one’s weaknesses, of having “a sliver of Satan in my flesh,” shows that the power of salvation comes from God, not oneself, [...]

Funeral Mass for developmentally disabled daughter

Q. We are the parents of a 51-year-old daughter who has been profoundly retarded since birth. We are life-long, baptized Catholics, as are our daughter and her brothers. We are currently making end-of-life plans (buying cemetery plots, etc.) and are wondering what funeral arrangements we should make for our daughter.

She has not received any sacraments since baptism, is not able to attend Mass on a regular basis and, of course, has not received the Eucharist. Should there be a funeral Mass and/or a burial service for her, conducted by a Catholic priest? (If so, it would be attended only by family members and not open to the public. She has lived outside the home, in a special facility in another city, since she was 16.) She will be buried with us in our family plot. (Des Moines, Iowa)

Wealth obscures power of God’s word, free gift of salvation, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A church that is rich and lacking in praise for the Lord is an old, lifeless church that neglects the true treasure of God’s free gift of grace and salvation, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.
“Proclaiming the Gospel must take the road of poverty,” the pope said at Mass June [...]

Why would God allow a tornado? Ending of the Lord’s Prayer

Q. I am a lifelong Catholic, and I find myself having a crisis of faith. The age-old question, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to innocent people?” becomes harder and harder to answer in the wake of so many natural disasters. An atheist said to me recently, “If your God is all-powerful and all-loving, as you say he is, he could have stopped the Oklahoma tornado with a mere thought. Why didn’t he?” How do I answer that? (Columbus, Ohio)

Q. I have been asked many times why Catholics end the Lord’s Prayer with “deliver us from evil,” while Protestants continue on with “for thine is the kingdom,” etc. Is it because the additional phrase was not said by Christ when he taught the prayer to the apostles? (North Myrtle Beach, S.C.)

Imagine that God is speaking

Imagine that God is speaking to you directly. What would he say?

I believe that God wants you to grow in his love. He would tell you to decide to live in his joy. You honor God best when you make a decision to live joyfully because of the knowledge of his love. In John 15:11 we read, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”

The suffering deserve our prayers, not our analysis, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Those who suffer are brothers and sisters Catholics must pray for, not cases to be analyzed or examples to be used in debates, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.
The Christian response to those who are suffering must be to “pray for them. They must enter into my heart, they must [...]

Why don’t people bow their heads at Jesus’ name anymore?

Q. Could you please tell me why Catholics no longer bow their head at the name of Jesus? I seem to be the only one still doing that — even the priests don’t. When and why did this stop? (Ocean City, N.J.)

Eucharist nourishes, sustains and should transform people, pope says

ROME (CNS) — In the Eucharist, Jesus makes himself the food that nourishes and sustains Catholics, even when the road gets rough, Pope Francis said before leading a Corpus Christi procession through the streets of Rome.

Mass and participation in Corpus Christi processions are times for Catholics to reflect on how they follow Jesus and, particularly, what the Eucharist means to them, the pope said at Mass May 30 to celebrate the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Pope Francis: What have you done to make the church holy, welcoming?

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — All Catholics must ask themselves what they personally have done lately to build up the holiness of the church and ensure people feel welcomed and loved in it, Pope Francis said.

“The church is the great family of children of God,” he said. “Certainly it has human aspects from the members who comprise it, pastors and faithful. They have defects, imperfections, sins. Even the pope has them — and he has many — but what is beautiful is that when we become aware that we are sinners, we find the mercy of God. God always forgives. Don’t forget this. God always forgives.”

Pope Francis’ prayer intentions for June

General intention: “That a culture of dialogue, listening, and mutual respect may prevail among peoples.”

Mission intention: “That where secularization is strongest, Christian communities may effectively promote a new evangelization.”