News

From 2017-06-01 to 2017-06-30

Thank you for the beauty that surrounds us everywhere we look:
the multi-colored flowers,
the deep blue of the sky,
the tranquil surface of lakes,
the laughter of children at play,
people strolling in park,
families gathered around picnic tables and
the increased time to spend with family and friends.

As we open our eyes and ears to the landscape of nature and people,
open our hearts to receive all as gift.
Give us that insight to see you as the Divine Artist.
Help us to realize and appreciate that you are laboring
to keep all in existence.
And warm our souls with the awareness of your presence.

Let all the gifts we enjoy this summer
deepen our awareness of you love
so that we may share this with others and enjoy
a summertime of re-creation.

Amen

 

From 2017-05-28 to 2017-06-28

51st WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

worthless weeds. Our minds are always “grinding”, but it is up to us to choose what to feed them (cf. SAINT JOHN CASSIAN, Epistle to Leontius).
I wish to address this message to all those who, whether in their professional work or personal relationships, are like that mill, daily “grinding out” information with the aim of providing rich fare for those with whom they communicate. I would like to encourage everyone to engage in constructive
forms of communication that reject prejudice towards others and foster a culture of encounter, helping all of us to view the world around us with realism and trust.

I am convinced that we have to break the vicious circle of anxiety and stem the spiral of fear resulting from a constant focus on “bad news” (wars,  terrorism, scandals and all sorts of human failure). This has nothing to do with spreading misinformation that would ignore the tragedy of human suffering, nor is it about a naive optimism blind to the scandal of evil. Rather, I propose that all of us work at overcoming that feeling of growing discontent and resignation that can at times generate apathy, fear or the idea that evil has no limits. Moreover, in a communications industry which thinks that good news does not sell, and where the tragedy of human suffering and the mystery of evil easily turn into entertainment, there is always the temptation that our consciences can be dulled or slip into pessimism.

I would like, then, to contribute to the search for an open and creative style of communication that never seeks to glamourize evil but instead to concentrate on solutions and to inspire a positive and responsible approach on the part of its recipients. I ask everyone to offer the people of our time storylines that are at heart “good news”.

Message fron Pope Francis

From 2017-05-24 to 2017-06-30

Eco prayers

Lord, we praise and thank you for the beauty and goodness of creation around us.

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Lord, help us to maintain a reverent attitude towards nature, threatened from all sides today, in such a way that we may restore it completely to the condition of brother/sister and to its role of usefulness to all humankind for the glory of God the Creator.

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Over the past century, we have noticed the diminution of the living diversity of creation and of the health of the ecosystems that support it; Help us Lord, to do our part to stop further decline in the health of our planet by the way we live our lives.