Daily Archives: March 15, 2013

Your Presence

by

4

Your presence is all around me,
And Your glory shines forth
From even the smallest of Your creation.

If I were to feel Your effects all day long
I would live in tears,
Rejoicing with tearful gladness,
And weeping, conscious of my desert.

So I avert my gaze from these flowers of love
That I may carry on
Keeping my feet anchored on earth,
Though my soul would have me take flight
And keep company with the angels.

My spirit strains upward
As over and above all
I reach for You in humility of heart,
Worn out by Your mercies,
Never tiring in Your consolation.

Come Holy Spirit!
Make Your home in me
With customary gentleness.

Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

I Can’t Help It |Blogs | NCRegister.com

by

NPR did a pretty even-handed job yesterday of discussing the complaints that Pope Francis, when he was Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina, was somehow involved in atrocities during the Dirty War, or that he didn’t  do enough.  Host Audie Cornish says (emphasis mine):

Some human rights activists argue that his silence hurt investigations in the Dirty War’s aftermath, while other accounts reveal that the Pope took major risks to save the persecuted.

A few things that NPR didn’t mention:  One activist who has “argued” (not proven) that his silence hurt investigation is one Horacio Verbitsky, author of the book El Silencio.  Verbistky was a leftist guerrilla commander who shot people, so, yeah, he should know about atrocities.

They also didn’t mention that other accounts that “reveal” that he took major risks include Amnesty International, who, according to a source in this CNN report, cleared Bergoglio of any wrongdoing.  NPR did interview Michael Warren, Buenos Aires bureau chief for the Associated Press, who said that

Adolfo Perez Esquivel … won the Nobel Peace Prize for his Argentine human rights work. And he said Bergoglio was no accomplice of the dictatorship.

So, a B-minus job, NPR.  You had to listen closely to hear how shaky are the accusations against Bergoglio, but it was a reassuring story in general.

via I Can’t Help It |Blogs | NCRegister.com.

VIS news – Holy See Press Office: POPE FRANCIS TO CARDINALS: LIKE GOOD WINE THAT IMPROVES WITH AGE, LET US OLD FOLKS GIVE YOUTH THE WISDOM OF LIFE

by

VIS news – Holy See Press Office: POPE FRANCIS TO CARDINALS: LIKE GOOD WINE THAT IMPROVES WITH AGE, LET US OLD FOLKS GIVE YOUTH THE WISDOM OF LIFE.

Friday, March 15, 2013

POPE FRANCIS TO CARDINALS: LIKE GOOD WINE THAT IMPROVES WITH AGE, LET US OLD FOLKS GIVE YOUTH THE WISDOM OF LIFE

Vatican City, 15 March 2013 (VIS) – “Courage, dear brothers! Probably half of us are in our old age. Old age, they say, is the seat of wisdom. The old ones have the wisdom that they have earned from walking through life. Like old Simeon and Anna at the temple whose wisdom allowed them to recognize Jesus. Let us give with wisdom to the youth: like good wine that improves with age, let us give the youth the wisdom of our lives.”……
“Let us never give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day. Do not give in to pessimism and discouragement. We have the firm certainty that the Holy Spirit gives the Church with His mighty breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The Christian truth is attractive and persuasive because it responds to the deep needs of human existence, convincingly announcing that Chirst is the only Saviour of the whole person and of all persons. This announcement is as valid today as it was at the beginning of Christianity when there was a great missionary expansion of the Gospel.
“Now,” he finished, “return to your Sees to continue your ministry enriched by the experience of these days that have been so full of faith and ecclesial communion. This unique and incomparable experience has allowed us to understand in depth the beauty of ecclesial reality, which is a reflection of the splendour of the Risen Christ. One day we’ll look upon that beautiful face of the Risen Christ.”