Ability to listen

During the opening mass of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis spoke about listening:

“The gift of that ability to listen, sincerely and prayerfully, as free as possible from prejudice and conditioning, will help us to be part of those situations which the People of God experience. Listening to God, so that with him we can listen to the cry of the people; listening to our people, so that we can breathe in with them the desire to which God calls us. This disposition protects us from the temptation of falling into moralistic or elitist postures, and it protects us from the lure of abstract ideologies that never touch the realities of our people.”

Respect life

The Catholic bishops of Ireland appealed to parliamentarians not to legalise euthanasia:

“Our legislators are currently engaged in discussing the legalisation of assisted suicide. This is presented by some as a way of respecting the autonomy of a person for whom life has become unbearable. In reality, it is an abdication of the responsibility of society to support people who are terminally ill and their families, in living the final days and weeks of life as fully and richly as possible. From our knowledge of what has happened in other jurisdictions, it is also clear to us that the availability of assisted suicide is very quickly extended to include people with all kinds of life-limiting conditions, including intellectual disability, whose continued existence is perceived to be a burden on society.”

The truest reform

Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino in a letter on the occasion of the feast of St Francis, wrote that “today, too, most surely, there are things that must be repaired, renewed and improved. You are called to reflect on this. Yet I am certain that you also agree on the fact that the greatest urgency, the truest reform is that of making Jesus our passion, our love, our everything. The world, without knowing it, is awaiting a Church that proclaims and announces his holy name with new vigour.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)