Pope Francis has written to the United Nations to encourage this week’s talks at the global organization on crafting a new worldwide treaty to ban nuclear weapons, saying in a letter it is time for the international community to “go beyond” nuclear deterrence.

Writing to the president of the conference, which has been boycotted by many nuclear powers, including the United States,the pontiff says he wants to encourage the some 120 countries taking part in the talks to “work with determination” to eliminate the need for atomic weapons.

O God of all the nations,
the One God who is and was and always will be,
in your providence you willed that your Church
be united to the suffering of your Son.
Look with mercy on your servants
who are persecuted for their faith in you.
Grant them perseverance and courage
to be worthy imitators of Christ.
Bring your wisdom upon leaders of nations
to work for peace among all peoples.
May your Spirit open conversion
for those who contradict your will,
that we may live in harmony.

Whenever I am offering spiritual direction, and the directee laments about a situation, wondering why God has not answered their prayer... I always ask, “How are you praying?” Nine times out of ten the answer comes back with something that sounds like, “I don’t know … I guess I add a petition to my rosary or something.” It is then that I speak to them about “Praying like you mean it!”

St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote,

After the attack in Westminster, Hazrat Mirza Masroor, spiritual leader of the Ahmadi Muslims rejects the violent interpretation of jihad and reintroduces the “dialogue of life” with the other religions.

These days I find I’m more alert to the grief and sorrow around me than I once was. In part it’s a product of my age, of youth giving way. I’m guessing my situation is not that different from many of yours.

In the Lenten season, we are called to reflect on our sins and on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the redemption of those sins. The song Lamb of God, by Twila Paris, provides a powerful focus for our reflection. Twila uses the song to tell the story of Jesus, though in a much abbreviated form. She chooses those parts of the story which capture the love the Father for has for mankind, Jesus’ great sacrifice, and our aspirations for grace and forgiveness.

Many Catholic feasts and traditions have developed over time, but the celebration of Lent goes back to the very beginnings of the Church.

Fr. John Flader, in his book 150 Questions and Answers on the Catholic Faith, explains the origins of Lent, starting with the fact that the word itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for springtime, “lencten.”

In St. John’s Gospel, there is the account of the healing of the man born blind (John 9:1-41). It is the sixth of the seven signs recounted by St. John that announce the fulfillment of the Old Covenant in the New Covenant and the passing away of the old rites, replaced by the grace and sacraments of Jesus Christ. It is also the passage associated with the second of the Scrutinies undergone by the elect (those to be baptized at the Easter Vigil Mass) in the process of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It is the Gospel for this past Sunday.

The Pope spent about three hours in the famous Milan penitentiary. He even took a half an hour “power nap” in the chaplain’s room before the Mass in the park of Monza.

The Feast of the Annunciation marks the day when Mary said “Yes” to God. May today be the day we say “Yes” to Him, too.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux writes that when Saint Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the Mother of God, it was as though the angels in Heaven held their breath waiting for her reply.