"Tis the season, a snow artist, and the say what?
Pope."
"Blessed is the season which engages the whole
world in
a conspiracy of love."
~ Hamilton Wright Mabi
The edges of our bodies only
exist in our minds. The
difference between the space inside us and the space
outside us is only a thought. I contain you, you contain
me. Together, we breathe the earth. Consciousness is
the world. Clearly seeing this is the only solution.
Merry Christmas.
~ Fred LaMotte
A stray dog (a shepherd, no
less!) found his way into a
nativity scene and curled up for the night. He was
adopted by a member of the church.
Grace is not part of
consciousness; it is the amount of
light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason.
~ Pope Francis I
"My prayers turn towards a
sacred world we seem to
have forgotten. This prayer sometimes feels as if the
Earth itself were crying through me, imploring us to
remember it at this time of need. Maybe in this
darkening something can be born, a new way of being
that respects all of life, that sustains the whole of
creation. Maybe once again we can remember our love
for the Earth, our reverence for what is sacred within
all of creation, and honor all of its inhabitants. Then
our hearts can open and sense the divine that is all
around us -- our prayers turn into praise. Once again
we can live in an ensouled world that nourishes us
everyday with sacred meaning."
So why does the gospel sound so radical when Pope
Francis speaks? Is it really unexpected
from him? And how did he get to be Man of the Year
without really doing anything, but simply surprising
everyone?
'Who
am I to judge?': The pope's most powerful phrase in 2013
"Francis is saying the church is
a big tent and he has
to be welcoming. It's an incredible change."
For Thomas Reese, a Jesuit
priest like Francis, the
most important words from Francis this year were
written, not spoken.
"Look at the title of his latest
apostolic exhortation.
It's 'the joy of the Gospel,' not the 'the truth of the
Gospel,'" he said.
"He has rebranded the church as
welcoming,
compassionate, a church for the poor as opposed to a
church that nags people and is worried about rules and
regulations," said Reese, author of "Inside the
Vatican."
"The analogy I love to use is
when you go home for
Christmas, what you want is a hug from your mom. You
don't want to be asked about your nose ring, or why
you dyed your hair, or who are you sleeping with now?
He is trying to turn the church into a loving parent,
not a nagging parent."
