On the occasion of the 40th annual Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, which opened Sunday in the Italian city of Rimini on the theme “Your name was born from what you gaze upon,” Pope Francis sent a message on August 16 through Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, to the Bishop of Rimini, Francesco Lambiasi. The meeting closes later this week.

Foloowing is a ZENIT working translation of the message:

To His Most Reverend Excellency,

Monsignor Francesco Lambiasi, Bishop of Rimini

This Sunday as a community of faith, we continue our walk through Saint Luke’s Gospel. It’s an opportunity for us to re-hear the message of the Lord Jesus and to go deeper in our relationship with him.

In particular, this weekend we hear the Lord say to us: “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.”

Experts are sounding the alarm yet again about the fate of the Dead Sea, and warn that at the current rate of its water depletion and receding shorelines, the Dead Sea will become dead for all intents and purposes in three to four decades.

Despite the repeated warnings about the Dead Sea and its imminent demise and disappearance, the stakeholders do not seem to care or pay much attention to the impeding crisis.

Revelation 12:1–6

Vatican Media’s Editorial Director explains how the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) is being renewed through greater attention to ethics, staff, time management, and the appointment of an external auditor.

The renewal of the Statutes of the IOR represents an important step in the process of adaptation to the highest international standards. More importantly, it signifies a renewed fidelity to the original mission of the Institute for the Works of Religion, also known as the Vatican Bank.

Gospel of 9th August 2019 - Matthew 25: 1-13

Much attention has been given to the "Letter to Priests" that Pope Francis published on August 4, on the 160th anniversary of the death of St. John Marie Vianney, Curé of Ars.

The pope made it clear he wanted to feel close to priests, at a time when they are often "ridiculed and made to feel guilty for crimes they have not committed."

Above all he thanked them for the care they take for the People of God and encouraged them in the face of their possible feelings of "doubt, fear and lack of trust."

Thirteen million Italians have turned to magicians, fortune tellers, and holistic healers. "When we no longer believe in God, we risk believing everything," British writer Gilbert K. Chesterton once said, prophesying that the secularized and atheistic West would allow itself to be manipulated by holy men, gurus, seers and professionals snake oil peddlers.

There is a high mountain we all must climb with Jesus , one where darkness is banished and brilliant light surrounds the three disciples with Jesus. Here we too rest, struggling with another conundrum, but it is one where an answer is given us. Jesus is seen as he truly is, the mystery of God is caught and glimpsed. Peter grapples with what he sees and is inadequate in his response for he is filled with fear, not trauma, but in mystery and wonder of the unknown God.

This weekend at Mass, Catholics and their friends will hear the denunciation of greed by the Lord Jesus contained in Saint Luke’s Gospel. It’s a hard lesson to hear and an even harder one to take at face value and try to live.

Is the Lord Jesus truly calling his disciples to poverty?