All Saints in Nelson has started a community-focused initiative that takes the church outside the building. On Sunday morning, instead of attending their regular church service, the congregation shared breakfast of bacon sandwiches and coffee before being anointed with oil and the words from Matthew 10, “freely you have received, so freely give”. And with Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Service’
Pope outlines template for living faith in secular culture
Monday, September 30th, 2024
On Saturday, Pope Francis laid out a template for living the faith in the deeply secular culture of Belgium. Belgium is consistently rated as one of the world’s most secular societies, but Francis insisted that doesn’t mean we can stop trying to follow our template of service, mission and joy. “We have moved from a Read more
Service – not social prestige – Pope tells bishops and priests
Thursday, September 12th, 2024
In East Timor, a country that is 98% Catholic and where priests are referred to as Amu – meaning ‘lord’, Pope Francis delivered a strong message of service, urging bishops and priests not to seek power or social prestige in their roles. Francis sounded warnings against the dangers of arrogance and power in religious leadership. Read more
Diaconate – women yet to be recognised as equal
Thursday, May 23rd, 2024
“Until the Holy Father has a woman proclaiming the gospel in St Peter’s at a Mass he celebrates, the Church really doesn’t have the right to say women are to be recognised as equal and to be held as equally human to men” said Phyllis Zagano PhD, a Senior Research Associate in Residence at Hofstra Read more
Anointed to serve
Thursday, May 11th, 2023
We are here to crown a King, and we crown a King to serve. What is given today is for the gain of all. For Jesus Christ announced a Kingdom in which the poor and oppressed are freed from the chains of injustice. The blind see. The bruised and broken-hearted are healed. That Kingdom sets Read more
Pope urges Italian Bishops to make parishes schools of service
Monday, September 6th, 2021Pope Francis is urging 20 Italian Bishops to seek ways to revitalize their pastoral care in areas facing depopulation, marginalization, and economic difficulty. The pope is asking Bishops to overcome “nostalgia for the past” and take bold steps to be a consoling presence in places where hardship is abound. Parishes, he added, should become training Read more
Eucharistic foothills
Monday, May 3rd, 2021
One of the buzz-phrases of Catholic theology – cited in virtually every document from the Vatican – is that the liturgy, and especially the Eucharist, is ‘the source and summit’ of the Christian life. The origins of the phrase are complex, but it enters mainstream Catholic discourse with the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy in Read more
Humble service speaks louder than words
Monday, November 11th, 2019
“Holiness transcends denominational boundaries”, said Pope Francis while meeting a delegation of the Salvation Army. The pope was quoting a comment made by former Salvationist leader General Andre Cox during a 2014 papal audience. During the audience, Francis also recalled the first lesson he ever received in ecumenism. He was four years old and met Read more
Pope seems to criticise Cuba regime in visit
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015
Pope Francis appeared to take aim at Cuba’s communist regime in comments at a Mass at Havana’s Revolution Square on Sunday. The Pontiff told the crowd that “service is never ideological”. Speaking in a plaza dominated by a towering portrait of revolutionary Che Guevara, the Pope told the crowd they should “serve people, not ideas”. Read more
Roman Curia set for complete overhaul, not upgrade
Tuesday, October 8th, 2013
Confirmation that Pope Francis intends a complete overhaul of the Roman Curia has been made official following the first meeting of the Council of Cardinals appointed to help the Pope govern the Church. The aim is to emphasise the Curia’s role of service to the universal Church and the local churches “in terms of subsidiarity, Read more