Catholic Fire

The importance of leading a balanced life. This is what Pope Francis talked about as he started off a new series of catechesis,  in his weekly general audience. He explained that dedicating time to celebration, work and prayer are all needed to appreciate a healthy family life. POPE FRANCIS "It's a masterpiece of simplicity. It's beautiful because it's not artificial or fake. Rather it has the potential to incorporate all the aspects of true life.” Balancing these three elements will be one of the central themes of the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which the Pope will attend at the end of September. The Pope emphasized that despite a societal obsession with economic profit,  celebration and prayer are needed to reflect on one's life and to reflect on God. POPE FRANCIS "We are made in the image and likeness of God, who is not a slave to work, but the Lord of work!  God asks us to break away from the obsession of economic profit, whic...

How can the Church improve its approach to the family and all the modern day challenges it faces? This question is breaking down to a series of different topics that were discussed during day two of the Synod on the Family. LANGUAGE A big one, is language. The words used by the Church, should be inviting and not outright condemning. FR. THOMAS ROSICA Vatican Spokesperson "To label people as you are living in sin, you are intrinsically disordered and you have a contraceptive mentality does not help in bringing people to Christ and helping them embrace the teachings of the Church.” GRADUALITY Another major point was the law of graduality, which underscores the unique path people take in their search for God. For some people it's immediate, with others it's a process. CARD.VINCENT NICHOLS Archbishop of Westminster (UK) "It permits and encourages people, all of us, to take one step at a time in our search for holiness in our lives.” OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE ...

Thirteen married couples will speak on their experiences during the Synod. They come from various countries such as Australia, Italy, Chile, Rwanda, the Philippines and Brazil. Among the themes that the couples will discuss are the day to day struggles of a family, educating children and relationships. Ron and Mavis have already shared the experience of their 55 year marriage. MAVIS & ROMANO PIROLA "Most couples cohabitate before marriage and there's a whole difficult pastoral questions around the divorced and remarried. These are issues that hopefully will be discussed at the Synod.” To prevent broken marriages, one of the ingredients is a good preparation during the time of courtship. It is one of the issues that will be addressed during the Synod thanks to these experts. LUCIA & PEPPINO PETRARCA "It's about showing youth the value of the body and sexuality to help them understand that "forever” is not impossible. That the indissolubility...