VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Carrying the cross means more than bearing personal suffering — it means stepping into the pain of others and walking beside them, Pope Francis wrote at the start of Holy Week. “To carry the cross of Christ is never in vain,” he wrote in his homily for Palm Sunday Mass in…
Reading 1 Ezekiel 37:21-28 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have come, and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land. I will make them one nation upon the land, in the mountains of Israel, and there shall…
Reading 1 Jeremiah 20:10-13 I hear the whisperings of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!” All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. “Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him.” But the LORD is with me,…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ surprise visit to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray and see ongoing restoration work is a clear sign that his condition is improving, the Vatican press office said. The 88-year-old pope, pushed in a wheelchair by his nurse and using a nasal cannula to deliver supplemental oxygen, entered the basilica…
Reading 1 Genesis 17:3-9 When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him: “My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations. No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations. I will…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Although they postponed their official state visit to the Vatican because of Pope Francis’ health, Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla met privately with the pope April 9, the Vatican press office said. The pope congratulated the royal couple on the 20th anniversary of their wedding and “reciprocated His Majesty’s wishes…