Pope Francis Strikes Again

By John D. O’Brien, S.J.

soulgardeners.com

Pope Francis continues his juggernaut of simple speeches that strike home and make headlines. Earlier this week, in a homily in the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives, he said that if we want to follow Jesus we have to get rid of a culture based on economic well-being and lose our attraction to the “provisional.” These two points strike home prophetically and poignantly, as they seem to be precisely what we prize more and more.

The remarks were based on the well-known Gospel story of the young man who goes away sad after Jesus asks him to give away his possessions and follow him. “Riches are an impediment,” the Pope said, that “do not facilitate our journey towards the Kingdom of God”. He did not let us off pointing fingers at the materially rich: “Each and every one of us has riches,” he said, something that “stops us from getting close to Jesus”. We must identify these by name by thorough and rigorous examination of conscience.

Talking to Normals

By Eric Hanna, S. J.

alifearchitect.wordpress.com

A while ago, I found myself jokingly using a nickname for those people who were not familiar with the Catholic faith: 'normals'. This was a funny way for me to remark on the fact that we as Catholics, and Jesuits in particular, can use a lot of jargon that is unfamiliar to the rest of contemporary society. It was a reminder to myself not to use arcane terminology when simpler words sufficed. However, it got me to thinking.


We believers love to be counter-cultural. If the world moves one way, many of us are inclined to move the other. If you are a believer, I ask you the following question: do you see yourself as normal and the rest of the non-believing or different-believing world as abnormal? Or is it the other way: is the world normal and we ourselves the ones who are different?



That Sinking Feeling

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

(Credit: http://www.wikipaintings.org/)

From the Prophet Jeremiah came words that are somewhat familiar to anyone who reads the Old Testament on a regular basis – words that are never easy to hear. The context is a complicated one. God tells his Prophet to announce to his people that their sin has become so great that he will now inflict great punishment upon them: “Your hurt is incurable … there is no one to uphold your cause … all your lovers have forgotten you” (Jer. 30:12).

This after all is a God of action. He keeps his end of the covenant/bargain, and expects his children to do the same. When they don’t, what else can he do but punish them? What is striking about the passage is that there is also redemption. Once God punishes, and once the people repent, God promises to uphold and protect his people: “I’ll restore the people’s fortunes … I will make them honoured amongst the nations” (Jer. 30:18).