Sixth Easter Sunday – Year A – May 21, 2017

The readings of the Bible impel me to reflect with you upon two things which are interior within us, two things that are mysterious and can be known only in their expression. One is love and the other is the Holy Spirit. Both cannot be really known in themselves; both are made real for us in their activity, in their expression, in their external manifestations that we bring into our lives in our responses to God’s love for us.

Echoing the words of his predecessor, Blessed Pope Paul VI, about the nature of Christ and the Church He founded: "it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a 'sign of contradiction,'" Pope Francis said Wednesday that Jesus "was not one to adapt to the world," but came rather to transform it. Breitbart News has more on Pope Francis' remarks:

Interview with the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill: the Havana's Summit and the new phase of relations between Catholics and Russian Orthodox: today it is necessary to "narrate the Church not as a museum of medieval ideas"

The range of possible issues up for discussion during the May 24 tête-à-tête is vast.

Although Pope Francis said Saturday he will not be seeking to soften U.S. President Donald Trump's policies during their meeting next week, the encounter is doubtless a rare opportunity for a global moral voice to influence a leader who keeps an unusually tight circle of advisors.

The press conference on the return flight from Fatima. Francesco speaks of the apparitions in Herzegovina, and while opening to the first ones he expresses many doubts about the current ones. On Trump: “I do not judge before meeting him.” On Lefebvrians: “Relations are fraternal.” “I never granted clemency in a case of child abuse”.

Most of us, I think, are familiar with the Marian apparitions at Fatima, the 100th anniversary of which we celebrate this year.

If you’re not familiar with them, here’s a brief synopsis:

Francis’ Mass for the canonization of the two visionaries, the first holy children who were not martyrs: “God effects a general mobilization against the indifference that chills our hearts”.

These Must-Know facts about Fatima can turn into a perfect response to the 100th Anniversary celebrations of Fatima.

Fatima’s 100th anniversary gives us yet another chance to do more than just familiarize ourselves with the messages of Fatima. It gives us the opportunity to really take the messages of Our Lady to heart and put them into the practice. Isn’t that what Our Lady of Fatima called for?

The place to start is with the 10 Must-Know Facts on Fatima.

Many people believe that living the Gospel message is unrealistic. Numerous times people have begun a conversation with me using the phrase: “Father, out there in the real world …” Their unspoken assumption is of course that because I am a priest I am somehow not in the real world.