Listening to the Holy Spirit
In an interview, Sister Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, said:
“There can be no synod without a spiritual journey. It is truly a journey of listening to the Holy Spirit. Throughout history, the Holy Spirit has been creative and the Church is rich in diversity of experiences, of communities. After Vatican II, there was the emergence – thanks to the Holy Spirit – of new communities. The entire people of God in all its diversity is invited to participate [in the synod]. Consultation takes place through dioceses, episcopal conferences, but also through consecrated life, lay movements and new recognised communities.”
Seeing elderly
In his Angelus address last Sunday, Pope Francis said:
“How do we see our grandparents and elderly persons? When was the last time we visited or phoned an elderly person to show our closeness and to benefit from what they have to tell us? I worry when I see people in constant motion, too caught up in their own affairs to have time for a glance, a greeting or a hug. I worry about a society where individuals are simply part of a nameless crowd, where we no longer look up and recognise one another. Our grandparents, who nourished our lives, now hunger for our love; they long for our closeness.”
No comparison
French bishops approved the government’s decision to make the ‘green pass’ mandatory to access to certain public spaces and events. They called any comparison to the Holocaust “a confusion of thought”, adding that “the Shoah represents an absolute horror from which our political conduct must be judged, and [must] not become a toy for the benefit of any cause”. They added that anti-COVID vaccines are “the medical response to deal with an epidemic which risks paralysing economic life but, above all, social life and exchanges of affection and friendship”.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)