Sunday – Ordinary Time – Week 06 – Year A

Sunday – Ordinary Time – Week 06 – Year A

Some weeks ago, I gave a homily about how Pope Francis wants our parish to be a place of welcome for all people. He wrote, last March, a document called the Joy of Love, and in it he asked us to be accepting of people who have been divorced and remarried or who are struggling with same sex attraction. After Mass, some parishioners asked me whether this mean that the Church was abandoning the truth of our Lord, and it’s a fair question, but the answer is no.

In that document the Pope wrote, “In order to avoid all misunderstanding, I would point out that in no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur.”

The Scripture Readings

Sunday – Easter – Week 5 – Year C – Pope Francis

Sunday – Easter – Week 5 – Year C – Pope Francis

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).

Pope Francis’ homily to teenagers…

Dear young friends, what an enormous responsibility the Lord gives us today! He tells us that the world will recognize the disciples of Jesus by the way they love one another. Love, in other words, is the Christian’s identity card, the only valid “document” identifying us as Christians. It is the only valid document. If this card expires and is not constantly renewed, we stop being witnesses of the Master. So I ask you: Do you wish to say yes to Jesus’ invitation to be his disciples? Do you wish to be his faithful friends? The true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by their genuine love; not some “pie in the sky” love; no, it is a genuine love that shines forth in their way of life. Love is always shown in real actions. Those who are not real and genuine and who speak of love are like characters is a soap opera, some fake love story. Do you want to experience his love? Do you want this love: yes or no? Let us learn from him, for his words are a school of life, a school where we learn to love. This is a task which we must engage in every day: to learn how to love. read more