Sunday Meditation by Fr. Tom Collins

Defend us, St. Michael against the
wiles of the evil one. 

Editor's note: I received this email and article from Fr. Tom a few days ago and offer it as a Sunday meditation. All of us need to strive against the sins of greed and envy and the temptations to indifference and lack of charity. 

I especially want to highlight the quote Father offers from a bishop's homily. We need one another. To let ourselves be consumed by hate is to attack our very selves. "Pray for your enemy; do good to those who hate you." Let us pray today for our poor, divided country - that through the intercession of Our Lady, our land will be healed.

New Cardinals: Many have Profiles of Union with the Poor

I'm reading a back issue (I'm always behind) of Inside the Vatican (February 2014) with profiles of the men raised to Cardinal by Pope Francis. Very interesting reading. None were from the U.S. (I think we should cheer.) and many were from poor countries that never had a cardinal before. A number of the men come from modest backgrounds. Also, the orthodoxy of several was particularly noted by the writers. An interesting side note is that the Vatican didn't give these men a heads up. One found out from a woman in the congregation where he was officiating Confirmation. He said, like the apostles on Easter Sunday, he didn't believe it until he read it on the Vatican website. Another said the nunciature is usually notified a few days ahead of the announcement, but they'd heard nothing. The first cardinal from Ouagadougou thought it was a joke. 

Click on the Inside the Vatican link above to read the article.

I'll just give a few highlights that really encouraged me: