Pope Francis, MD: Using medical metaphors to provoke, explain
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=142990&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
By Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has proven to be a masterof metaphor and, as fall approached, he increasingly turned to the field ofmedicine to make his points.Of course, probably his most famous medical metaphor is hisrepeated description of the church today as a "field hospital."In his 2013 interview with the Jesuit journal La CiviltaCattolica, he said: "I see the church as a field hospital after battle. Itis useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol andabout the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds."At his early morning Mass Sept. 22, he showed that whiletriage might be his specialty, he is familiar with a range of ailments.Speaking about people who have done evil and know it, PopeFrancis said, they live "with a constant itch, with hives that don't leavethem in peace."But his strongest words were about the sins of vanity andpride. "Vanity is like an osteoporosis of the soul: the bones seem goodfrom the outside, but o...
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has proven to be a master
of metaphor and, as fall approached, he increasingly turned to the field of
medicine to make his points.
Of course, probably his most famous medical metaphor is his
repeated description of the church today as a "field hospital."
In his 2013 interview with the Jesuit journal La Civilta
Cattolica, he said: "I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It
is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and
about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds."
At his early morning Mass Sept. 22, he showed that while
triage might be his specialty, he is familiar with a range of ailments.
Speaking about people who have done evil and know it, Pope
Francis said, they live "with a constant itch, with hives that don't leave
them in peace."
But his strongest words were about the sins of vanity and
pride. "Vanity is like an osteoporosis of the soul: the bones seem good
from the outside, but on the inside they are all ruined."
The 79-year-old pope also referred to a medical
ailment -- "rheumatism of the soul" -- during his speech Sept. 16 to
new bishops, many of whom are still in their 40s and 50s.
Talking about the need for and the attractive power of
mercy, Pope Francis said that when people in need sense a merciful person is
passing by, they will reach out. "They are fascinated by (mercy's)
capacity to stop when so many walk on by; to kneel when a certain rheumatism of
the soul keeps many from bending down; to touch wounded flesh when a preference
for everything to be sterile prevails," he said.
Another medical problem afflicting souls diagnosed by Pope
Francis is "spiritual Alzheimer's," a condition that renders some
people incapable of remembering God's love and mercy for them; a clear sign of having
the condition is being unable to show mercy to others.
When a Christian does not recognize his or her own failings,
it is easy to be scandalized by God's mercy toward other sinners, he said in a video
message broadcast Aug. 27 to church leaders from North and South America
meeting in Bogota, Colombia, for a continental congress for the Year of Mercy.
Being shocked, scandalized and judgmental sets in when a person
suffers from "spiritual Alzheimer's," the pope said. The disease is
obvious "when we forget how the Lord has treated us, when we begin to
judge and divide people up" into "groups of good and bad, saints and
sinners."
- - -
Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden.
- - -
Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=274747&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Adoration. / Thoom / Shutterstock.CNA Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Did you know that it is possible to sing a special song of adoration on Holy Thursday and have your soul purified?It's true, and the song is "Tantum Ergo."First, some background...A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove all temporal punishment due to sin.What does this mean?"An indulgence does not confer grace. An indulgence is not a remission of the guilt due to sin. The guilt due to sin is ordinarily taken away by the sacraments of baptism and penance (confession), in which we receive forgiveness for sins through Jesus Christ," the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explains in this helpful Q&A."Although guilt is taken away, and with it the eternal penalty that is due to sin, namely, damnation, the eternal loss of the presence of God, there remain consequences for sins that those who have committed them ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=274737&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Asian elephant. / Credit: Filiz Elaerts / Unsplash (CC0)CNA Newsroom, Mar 27, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).Despite repeated protests from Catholic bishops, wildlife attacks continue to pose a severe threat to the lives and properties of both Catholics and other residents in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. On Wednesday, local media reported significant damage from two elephants in Kerala's Idukki district, alongside a tiger's attack on livestock. This year alone, elephant attacks have resulted in 27 fatalities in the region. Video footage of a Catholic man trampled to death on Feb. 10 made headlines and sparked protests, only to be followed by news of a potential mauling by a tiger of a Catholic woman on her way to Mass four days after the fatal attack. Further fatal elephant tramplings followed the incident.The Catholic Church in Kerala has been leading the charge in urging the government to take decisive action to protect human lives. "The series of shocking ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=274736&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Catholic faithful offer prayers during an Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Mary's Basilica in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad in India on Feb. 14, 2024. / Credit: NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty ImagesBangalore, India, Mar 27, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).A watchdog group that monitors violence committed against Christians in India has released a study documenting 161 such crimes in the first 75 days of 2024.These numbers may underestimate the number of crimes and acts of persecution committed against Christians in India, according to A.C. Michael, a Catholic and coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), which released the report. "These figures are based only on the complaints registered on our toll-free helpline number (1-800-208-4545) to report incidents of anti-Christian violence. The actual numbers will be certainly much more," Michael told CNA on March 27."We feel frustrated that despite documenting and making public the shocking data regularly, there has been no re...