Thursday, March 28, 2024

Pope, looking strong, issues lengthy marching orders to priests during Holy Thursday Mass

 


Spy Wednesday: Who was Judas and why did he do it?

 

James Martin, S.J.May 29, 2006

"The Kiss of Judas," by Giotto

Last month’s bombshell release of the Gospel of Judas had some Christians wondering if the familiar story of Good Friday needed some updating. The fragmentary text, probably dating from the second or third century, depicts Jesus asking Judas to betray him. In doing so, Jesus says that Judas, a close friend, will exceed the other apostles. That explanation, to put it mildly, is not the traditional one. The leather-bound manuscript, discovered in the Egyptian desert in the 1970’s, seems authentic. Written in Coptic on both sides of 13 sheets of crumbling papyrus, the document was made public by the National Geographic Society in conjunction with a television program and a new book on the provenance and significance of the text. [See the article in this issue by Pheme Perkins for a detailed analysis of the document.]

But will the Gospel of Judas change Christian understanding of Judas’s role in the passion narratives?

Probably not.

Feel like you ‘failed’ Lent? God is still close to you.

 

Christine LenahanMarch 27, 2024

Photo via iStock

“The first mistake is never the one that ruins you,” writes James Clear in his bestselling self-help book Atomic Habits, “It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.”

Now, say what you might about the new-age gospel of self-help, but in this case Clear is right. When we create small changes, over time they compound to make large-scale transformations. With this in mind, I approached the Lenten season with great hope. It will only take a few days, I thought, and then my Lenten promise—to text 40 people, one person a day, and tell them I am grateful for them—will be a fully formed habit of gratitude. A promise that I hoped would connect me to my friends and family, remind me of the love in my life and draw me closer to God seemed like a sound way to spend 40 days. 

Rather than Void

Rather than Void

A Holy Thursday Reflection

In mid-March, four months after my father died, my son got married. My father had been in declining health for a few years, during which time my mother took on the role of full-time caretaker (as a lifelong partner might be expected to). Resisting entreaties to accept regular outside help, she also stubbornly and preemptively ruled out any kind of travel, even for a grandson’s wedding. That she was able to be present after all made everyone happy, including her. The ceremony was joyous, the reception a party for the ages: a happy marriage, if you will, of Russian-Jewish and Italian-Catholic tradition. But the reality of what allowed my mother to be in attendance—and the fact that she was attending on her own—was never far from the surface of things.  

Religious life worldwide facing serious decline

 

26 March 2024, The Tablet

Religious life worldwide facing serious decline

The traditional model for religious life worldwide will need to change if orders are to be viable for the long term, according to senior Religious. 

“The current model of religious life is not sustainable,” Sr Bonnie MacLellan, General Superior of the Sisters of St Joseph of San Marie, has said as she outlined how the number of religious in Canada has dropped over 80 per cent since the 1960s.

Speaking to members of the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland about the current experience of consecrated life in Canada, she said it is a reality “shared with religious institutes in all of the developed world”.

In 1975 in Canada the number of Religious was 55,180. In 2022, the number was 9,293 and women Religious make up 83 per cent of the total.

Editorial: Excommunication in Louisiana lays bare Catholic Church's hypocrisy

 

Clerical vestments hang on rack.

Editorial: Excommunication in Louisiana lays bare Catholic Church's hypocrisy

Texas is escalating efforts to criminalize migrants, says Bishop Seitz

 

ishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, is seen Feb. 26, 2019, at the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Seitz spoke of a "broader, brutal, historical project in Texas to criminalize and police people who migrate" during a lecture March 18 at Fairfield University. (OSV News/David Agren)

Texas is escalating efforts to criminalize migrants, says Bishop Seitz