Previously in this column, I’ve featured the work of Catholic author, radio host and evangelist Jesse Romero (see here and here). Romero, who has an excellent reputation in Catholic circles, graciously provided me with the following update on Father John Corapi (lightly edited by me):

I was told by the superior general of his order (SOLT), Father Peter Marsalek, back in 2016 as we were driving from the airport to speak at a Catholic parish that Father Corapi had reconciled with his order. He’s living the life of a monk in a monastery and has medical problems. He will never speak in public again—by his choice and his superior’s choice as well.

I’m a friend of Father Corapi. He told me he wanted to end his life as a monk and he’s now living out his express desires.

This is where he saw himself in his senior years: full-time prayer and penance.
There are some who say, “What a hypocrite; he didn’t live what he preached.” The Holy Bible makes it very clear that none of us are perfect. We are all sinners in need of God’s mercy.


Psalm 130:3-4, If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it. For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word.

In other words, if God judged all our actions based on strict justice, we would all be going to hell. But God is merciful to those who repent. Father Corapi has repented and lives the life of a monk, praying and doing penance for his sins and the sins of the world.

Virgin most powerful, pray for him.



Update as of April 9, 2025:

Continued below.

I find this passage peculiar, I won’t explain all of it but if you are familiar with it then you know the details.

The man of god was told not to eat or drink anything on his journey but another man, a prophet supposedly told him that an angel had ordered him to feed him some food but he was lying because an angel did not tell him that. After this man gave him some food then the word of the lord came upon him and he indicated that this man of god would die because he didn’t obey god by eating and thus that man was killed by a lion.

I was told he disobeyed god by Christians plain and simple, but how is eating food a cardinal sin deserving death ? It’s not like he robbed a bank. The other man’s role in all this is most peculiar because he lies to him and gets him to eat the food then he says because he ate the food god is going to strike him down. So god gave him this spiritual insight but he himself lied and was a partaker in getting the man to eat the food

The fig tree and the cleansing of the temple are written using a literary device called a “sandwich.”

The day after Palm Sunday is called Fig Monday. Having a day named after a fruit is a delightful bit of Catholic culture arising from St. Mark’s observation that, on the day after Palm Sunday, Christ cursed a fruitless fig tree. It’s such an odd story and yet it fits in just right with the shape of the liturgical year, bringing to a conclusion an ancient and mysterious theme found in the Scriptures.

As St. Mark tells it, the morning after Palm Sunday, Our Lord is hungry, so when he spies a fig tree in the distance he approaches it looking for figs to eat. Even though it isn’t the right season for figs, as everybody well knew. It would be like looking for apples on my tree in St. Louis in January (or flowers in the desert in winter). The tree is obviously fruitless. Our Lord curses it and then proceeds on his way to empty the temple of money-changers.

On the way back, he and his disciples pass the same fig tree, which is now withered. Christ stops under the skeletal branches and begins to teach his disciples about prayer. That’s the end of it. As I said, it’s an eccentric story.

Continued below.

Holy Saturday, however, is different. For most Christians, it is a peaceful time – a day of reflection separating the drama and sorrow of the Passion from the joy of Easter Sunday. On Holy Saturday, there is seemingly not much going on. For the modern Church, it is a quiet time of watching and waiting.

But the traditional teachings of the ancient Church tell a much different story. Something tremendous on a cosmic scale happened on Easter Saturday: Christ’s descent into Hell.

Often called the Harrowing of Hell in English, or the Anastasis in Greek, we find this mysterious event recorded without elaboration in the Apostles’ Creed:

“He descended into Hell.”

It is rumored that Mel Gibson’s follow-up to The Passion of the Christ will attempt to bring this event to the big screen as part of the larger story of the resurrection of Christ. How he will do that is anyone’s guess. But you can bet it will be epic. And probably gruesome.

The harrowing of Hell is mentioned obliquely in Sacred Scripture, most specifically in First Epistle of St. Peter, where the Apostle says:

"Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, in which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison: Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noah, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." [1 Peter 3:18-20]

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This mysterious passage from the Gospel of Matthew is similarly used to support the Harrowing of Hell:

"And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose, And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the holy city, and appeared to many." [Matthew 27:52-53]

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Continued below.

BobRyan said:

first century Christian Apostle Paul did

1 Cor 11:
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

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The first-century Greek-speaking Christians say otherwise. I think they know the meaning of anamnesis better than you.

Psalms 118:26 KJV , Genesis 49:10 KJV
My Interpetation:To Believe Jesus Self-Sacrifice and resurrection being the truth ,Savior, separate-free from sin, holy, healed,cleansed Psalms 1:3 KJV 1 John 5:7-9 KJV
Word Spoken and Written by Reginald Taylor Jr

Trumpism has rewritten history. The EU is apparently guilty of 'freeloading' off the US.
But it's all lies motivated by sheer and utter GREED!

Let me explain. AMERICA has repeatedly shown that Europe is NOT ALLOWED to become a military super-power in their own right! This from the end of WW2, through to the Suez Canal crisis where America sided with the USSR to stop Britain and the EU acting in the Middle East in their own national interests, through to Madeline Albright and even Obama threatening the viability of NATO if the EU ever formed their own Military Industrial Complex. An EU army? "Don't you DARE!" Click on "The EU made Simple" below for more.



So why the nagging to increase military spending - would that not also increase their independence from America? Absolutely not. American domination over NATO has created the divided and 'specialised' EU military policy we see today. This keeps the EU utterly dependent on American air refuelling super-tankers, heavy lift aircraft, and GPS targeting. American policy demands NATO fall into line behind American geopolitical strategic goals. EU - stand back - Uncle Sam is leading this and don't you DARE form your own united command and Military Industrial Complex. Why? Because America pulls NATO's strings. It's about power and control across Europe, and not letting the EU get any ideas of competing.

So how do we explain Obama asking the EU to increase military spend 2% and Trump asking for 5%? The answer? Greed. The 'specialisation' policy has kept the EU dependent on American Made. Look at the image below.
This is on a national basis, but it averages out that the EU buys 64% of all military hardware from America. This is 105 TIMES more than America invests in NATO!

So when JD Vance says "I just hate bailing Europe out again" by all means wince for him in embarrassment - and maybe write to him and ask him to read some history. But don't believe him - because he's drunk the Trump Cool Aid.

On the other hand - maybe that was all a song and dance for show amongst colleagues? Maybe he's also in on 'it'. Maybe he knows.
JD's support for far-right parties in Europe indicates he is fully aware that it is in America's interest to keep the EU divided (sorry - that's 'specialised' according to America's dogma.) It seems they need to MAGA by keeping the EU divided and dependent on American Made.

How many oligarch mates does Trump have in aerospace companies?

Finally, maybe the one good thing from all this with Trump threatening to pull out of NATO and his generally belligerent attitude to trade with old allies, is that maybe this will FORCE the EU to unite.

If they manage to do so, and form their own Military Industrial Complex that one day actually competes with America, you know who to blame.

Always in His Presence said:

Third time saying this. And final attempt.

You have shown NOTHING saying they are pulling one penny out of their multibillion dollars investments.

The very moment you show a linked source saying they are pulling out or diminishing their investment you have a point until then. You have nothing other that a forecast from a third party.

Not sure why that concept is so difficult to understand.

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Most major corporations are going to be revising their guidance and investment planning for the year. That's what this level of uncertainty and the increasing likelihood of a recession will do. In fact, many companies who normally would have provided updated guidance on their earnings calls won't be doing that, because the erratic on again/off again tariffs have made the economic environment so uncertain.

And - again, the OP isn't about a handful of companies who had pledged to invest in U.S. manufacturing 3 weeks ago in a Newsweek article. We're talking about the possibility of a fundamental shift in the safe haven status of the U.S. government, as evidenced in rising bond yields and a falling dollar, and this occurring while equities are also falling.

Do we know for certain that investor sentiment toward the U.S. government as a safe haven is changing? No. But there's certainly good reason to believe that it is. World confidence in U.S. leadership and stability has been shaken. Our leaders are making veiled threats to our neighbors, constantly implementing and then walking back/pausing tariffs, acting like the U.S. is the victim of nearly every other nation in the world - and then, to top it all off, implementing exorbitant "reciprocal" tariffs, which aren't really reciprocal at all. With all of that, are you surprised that the rest of the world might be looking at us crooked, and like we're not dependable anymore?

To paraphrase a recent financial analysis which I read: What remains to be seen is if this is a temporary hit, or a more permanent shift. It's more than likely the former, but that doesn't change the fact that there are probably large investors out there who are looking for diversification in other safe havens (gold, the Swiss Franc, ect.). Can you really blame them?

Stephen3141 said:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/13/us/dietrich-bonhoeffer-white-christian-nationalism-debate-cec/index.html

"There will likely be more movies and books about Bonhoeffer. He is honored with a statue in London’s Westminster Abbey, where his likeness stands alongside other Christian martyrs such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. His life is a magnet that draws people from all sorts of religious and political backgrounds.

But there could be a dark twist to his story in the years ahead.

If Bonhoeffer’s example is used to justify more far-right Christian violence in America, that would be another tragedy — and a cruel irony that would stain the legacy of a man who gave up everything to confront a tyrant."

The article makes the good point that the Nazis fully embraced
"Christian Nationalism", yet Bonhoeffer rejected this dysfuntional
understanding of Christianity.

Christian Nationalism, is NOT what Dietrich Bonhoeffer preached.

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No, indeed it isn't.

Most American Evangelicals are ignorant of Bonhoeffer's theology or ethics. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran neo-orthodox pastor and theologian. Lutheranism has a deep and rich intellectual tradition that is frankly beyond the anti-intellectualism of most American Evangelicals. Lutherans aren't Baptists or Presbyterians with strange hymns and kneelers.

Bonhoeffer was also a theological modernist and Christian humanist, and took principled stands on issues related to social justice in general, owing to his theological emphasis upon God's hidden presence in the world of the oppressed and the marginalized. He was also anti-racist and had a generous spirit towards all people of goodwill, not just Christians, but also atheists and non-Christians. If he had lived, he planned to go to India and study at Gandhi's ashram.

He also had positive attitudes toward secularism, believing it represented the truth of the Theology of the Cross breaking into the world in a more profound way, that humanity had 'come of age', and must relate to God in new ways: for Bonhoeffer, like all Lutherans, life itself is sacramental, an opportunity for holy service, no matter how unreligious that life might be. He didn't want Christians to be afraid of secularism, but to see it as a radical call to discipleship without the childish comforts of pietism or religious platituteds, and onward to a maturity that embraces doubt, mystery, and the complexity of the human condition. He would be very much against any kind of "Christian nationalism", indeed, he would see it in very negative terms and would be very disappointed in anybody associating him with that movement.

Maria Billingsley said:

They're not. Innocent families who are Christian are being housed, fed, clothed and protected by Catholic Charities. This is mandated by Jesus Christ of Nazareth Himself.
Blessings.

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If a killer is there he will be removed. Someone has to stand up for the innocent.

FutureAndAHope said:

That, again, is your opinion, not the Word of God. You do not follow the whole of the Word, just a subset.

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (NKJV, Hebrews 6:4-6)​

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A DOG RETURNS TO HIS OWN VOMIT,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” (NKJV, 2 Peter 2:20-22)​

Rev 3:16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.​

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.​

In the above scripture, the Lampstand refers to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is depicted in scripture as seven lamps.



Vesres, which you quote about "not by the will of man", does not mean that man's will plays no part as we see here:

Joh 14:15-16 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ... Joh 14:21-24 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.​

Note the order of receiving the Spirit, we receive the word, we obey the word, the Father (because of this fact) loves us, and then comes and makes a home with us.

Your order is that the Father loves us, makes a home with us, and then we obey the word. But that is not the order Jesus taught. Neither was it taught in the Old Testament.

Job 36:10-12 He also opens their ear to instruction, And commands that they turn from iniquity. If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures. But if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.​

There is a two way Choice not based upon "God's will", but man's. As I stated, all the Early Church Fathers also attested.

1. This expression [of our Lord], “How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not,” (Mat 23:37) set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free [agent] from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey the behests (ad utendum sententia) of God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God. For there is no coercion with God, but a good will [towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He give good counsel to all. And in man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who had yielded obedience might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God, but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice, be not found in possession of the good, and shall receive condign punishment: for God did kindly bestow on them what was good; but they themselves did not diligently keep it, nor deem it something precious, but poured contempt upon His super-eminent goodness. (Irenaeus , Against Heresies - Book 4 Ch 37)​

The verse you quote from John about God's will, I believe is referring to the fact that salvation comes in the way God ordains, not the way man wants it. An idolater makes their own God. A Jew rests on the Law, but salvation comes through Christ, "His way".





You are twisting the plain, and obvious meaning of the scripture. Again, I will quote the plain scripture.

For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. (NKJV, 1 Timothy 4:10)​

​

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (NKJV, 1John 2:2)​

Your doctrine is not supported by the "whole of scripture", nor by the Earliest Church Fathers. If it is causing people to walk away from God, you need to be serious and sober about what you teach.

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I am rarely impressed but you speak the truth here, so I will follow you as your comments follow what it actually written in the bible!

Blessings and ill catch you later.

RileyG said:

I agree with you.

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He can have a text of the homily and expound on it. The way it’s delivered makes all the difference as well. I have researched it and have not come up with anything yet. So all we have is the parishioner’s view at this point. But if he was comparing Trump to Satan it was wholly inappropriate.

Ganley’s post quickly gained traction, drawing over a million views and reigniting debates about politics in the pulpit. Ganley emphasized that while he respects Jesuits and their intellectual contributions, partisan rhetoric from the altar crosses a line.

“Honestly, I’m fine with leftie Jesuits,” he wrote. “They are necessary, and they have a charism. But raw, nasty partisan political speeches from the Altar that compare the President of the United States to Satan? Beyond the pale. Not going to bring people closer to salvation.”

Ganley did not name the church or the priest involved but revealed that he eventually attended Mass at Our Lady of Victory on McArthur Boulevard.

The Archdiocese of Washington has not issued an official response to the incident.

This episode comes amid a broader conversation on the intersection of faith and politics in the Catholic Church. Recent episcopal appointments, including the appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as the new Archbishop of Washington, DC, have drawn attention. McElroy, a vocal critic of Trump’s immigration policies, took over after Cardinal Wilton Gregory’s retirement earlier this year.

In recognition of today's observance of Palm Sunday, and an invitation to all from our risen, living Savior and King.

A few points of symbolism and prophecies fulfilled in regards to Jesus' triumphal arrival in Jerusalem (celebrated today) - shortly before His betrayal, trial, execution and resurrection.

Little did the multitudes know that day that His ultimate triumph would be performed upon a cross.

Note key words and phrases that tie the following Scriptures together (an incredible phenomena of the interwoven nature of the Bible revealed times beyond counting from cover to cover) - to one beautiful Savior (the perfect Passover Lamb) - recorded over a span of thousands of years between them:

"Hosanna" (Hebrew for "Save now I beseech Thee"), "Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord", "Maranatha", lamb, palm branches and... a donkey!

Ancient prophecies:

Written ~ 1000 years before Jesus' arrival and sung at the observance of the Passover according to Jewish tradition (celebrating the original Passover in Egypt ~ 500 years prior):

Psalm 118:25 KJV
" *Save now, I beseech thee*, *O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee*, send now prosperity. *Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord*: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord."

Written ~ 500 years later and another 500 years before the arrival of Jesus:

Zechariah 9:9 NIV
"Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and *riding on a donkey*,
on a *colt, the foal of a donkey.* "

Fulfilled ~ 30 A.D. :

Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem (6 days before the observance of the Passover on Nisan 10 — the same date the Israelites were to bring “lambs without blemish” into their homes for the coming sacrifice at the original Passover):

Matthew 21:8-9 KJV
"And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down *branches from the trees*, and strawed them in the way.

And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, *"Hosanna to the son of David*: *Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord*; *Hosanna* in the highest."*

Matthew 23:39 KJV
"For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, *"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."*

Mark 11:8-10 KJV
"And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down *branches off the trees*, and strawed them in the way."

"And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, *"Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord*:
Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, *that cometh in the name of the Lord*: *Hosanna in the highest.*"

Luke 19:37-38 KJV
"And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

Saying, *"Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord*: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest."

John 12:12-13 KJV
"On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

Took *branches of palm trees*, and went forth to meet him, and cried, *"Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord."*

AND SO NOW ~ 2000 years later - after His sacrifice for mankind - and after multitudes saved through FAITH in HIM then and unto this present day - and into the future - and finally unto THE GREAT DAY OF THE LORD:

Revelation 7:9-10 KJV
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the *Lamb*, clothed with white robes, and *palms* in their hands;

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our *God* which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the *Lamb*."

HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST INDEED!

Christ's invitation TODAY to ALL - to receive HIM in - as your personal SAVIOR and LORD:

Revelation 22:16-21 KJV

"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."

"And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so...

*COME LORD JESUS*."

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

AND WE CRY MARANATHA! (Aramaic for "Our Lord Come")

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sarsaparilla

Here today and gone tomorrow
Life is short, not know when ending
Sometimes laughter, sometimes sorrow
Circumstances now are pending

No one knows when their last day be
Could be soon or be far away
It be good to now be ready
Know for sure your faith it not sway

Jesus calls us to obey Him
Die to sin and follow His ways
Obey Him and His commandments
Do what He says all of our days

Death come knocking at our doorway
Any moment of any day
Hurricanes, and floods, and fires
Many lives now do expire

Wars and riots, those who murder
Land eruptions, storms that swirl
Helicopters, planes that flying
Falling, falling, people dying

Take not for granted other days
Repent of your sins, don’t delay
And follow Jesus where He leads
Obey His word, and others feed

Live now each day as it be last
And follow Jesus, not your past
Surrender your life now to Him
And let your light now not go dim

Be His witness, share His gospel
Be a friend, be hospitable
Love each other, not be jealous
Treat each other as good fellows

An Original Work / April 13, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

tonychanyt said:

NIV:

Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the LORD.​

The Hebrew word did not necessarily mean 'stack'.

Berean Standard Bible:

and set them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before the LORD.​

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The table wasn't very big

Exodus 25:23-30

2 rows of 6 (in a spread out sense) would take up a lot of space and more than bread was put on this table. Although the references can be ambiguous unleaven or leaven and stacks or rows in practice it feels fairly conclusive. Just google image bread of presence. All are flat bread in stacks.

Dave Darling said:

Hi everyone, I was just thinking about this- something may be about to come. There is a scripture- "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." -2 Peter 3:9

If God is not willing that any should perish then why does it happen? There is an answer! Do you have any ideas?

Thanks!

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The answer is not hard to find. People go down the broad and spacious road that leads to hell because they want to. They like the roomy path that leads to hell so they choose it. God warns them, he tells them of the danger ahead. They don't care, they like the easy way. So, despite God's expressed desire that they come to repentance and walk the narrow and difficult path that leads to heaven and eternal life with Jesus Christ, they choose the comfortable and easy way that leads to hell.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people —
(1 Timothy 2:1)

Tissot's paintings and commentaries—based on the Bible and the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich—can help us walk closer with Our Lord during Holy Week.​

Continued below.

There was one joke image added, it looked like an X wing from one of those early gaming systems.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — As the “face of the poor” in the U.S. changes and their needs evolve, a new office on Capitol Hill in Washington for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will “anchor” the organization’s advocacy on behalf of the poor and homeless, its national leader said.

“Seniors, women, single parents and the displaced middle class have become a larger part of the more than 5 million people SVdP USA serves every year. As the world evolves, so do the needs of the poor,” said John A. Berry, national president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s National Council of the United States.

He made the comments at the ribbon-cutting and blessing of the organization’s new national office near the U.S. Capitol. Its headquarters are in St. Louis.

“This unique direct relationship we have with our neighbors in need gives us a perspective and a view from the reality of the poor that we will be able to share with policymakers and like-minded nonprofits and other organizations. The new D.C. office will anchor that advocacy work,” Berry said April 4.

‘A fire that lights the world’​

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The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy issued a decree updating the Church’s norms governing Mass intentions and stipends, emphasizing both proper spiritual understanding and practical solutions for modern pastoral challenges.

Pope Francis approved the document — published so far only in Italian — on Palm Sunday, April 13. It will take effect on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025.

The decree, which replaces the 1991 instruction Mos Iugiter, maintains Canon 945 of the Code of Canon Law, affirming that priests may receive offerings for celebrating Mass according to specific intentions, while introducing significant provisions for “collective intentions.”

According to the updated norms, bishops’ conferences or provincial councils may now permit priests to accept multiple offerings from different donors for a single Mass with a “collective intention,” but only when all donors have been explicitly informed and freely consented.

Continued below.