Are we really going to bet that we can go back to life as normal without proper coronavirus tracking in place?

Loving our Muslim neighbours is an opportunity and privilege.

OM Hong Kong hosts a Christmas party on 23 December 2011 for Pakistani women and children.

Vatican City, May 8, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- We must learn to let ourselves be consoled by Jesus when we are suffering, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass Friday.

In his homily in the chapel at Casa Santa Marta, May 8, the pope noted it was difficult to accept Christ’s consolation in times of distress. 

Reflecting on the day's Gospel reading, John 14:1-6, which records Jesus’ words to his disciples at the Last Supper, the pope said the Lord recognizes their sadness and seeks to console them.

"It is not easy to allow ourselves to be consoled by the Lord,” he said. “Many times, in bad moments, we are angry with the Lord and we do not let Him come and speak to us like this, with this sweetness, with this closeness, with this meekness, with this truth and with this hope.”

He noted that Jesus’ way of consoling was quite different to telegrams of condolence, which are too formal to console anyone. 

“In this passage of the Gospel we see that the Lord consoles us always in closeness, with the truth and in hope,” he said. “These are the three marks of the Lord's consolation.”

The pope observed that Jesus is always close to us in times of sorrow.

“The Lord consoles in closeness. And He does not use empty words, on the contrary: He prefers silence,” he said, according to a transcript by Vatican News.

He added that Jesus does not offer false comfort:  

“Jesus is true. He doesn't say formal things that are lies: ‘No, don’t worry, everything will pass, nothing will happen, it will pass, things will pass…’ No, it won’t. He is telling the truth. He doesn’t hide the truth.”

The pope explained that Jesus’ consolation always brings hope. 

He said: “He will come and take us by the hand and carry us. He does not say: ‘No, you will not suffer: it is nothing…’ No. He says the truth: ‘I am close to you, this is the truth: it is a bad time, of danger, of death. But do not let your heart be troubled, remain in that peace, that peace which is the basis of all consolation, because I will come and by the hand I will take you where I will be’.”

The pope concluded: “We ask for the grace to learn to let ourselves be consoled by the Lord. The Lord's consolation is true, not deceiving. It is not anesthesia, no. But it is near, it is true and it opens the doors of hope to us.”

After Mass, the pope presided at adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, before leading those watching via livestream in an act of spiritual communion.

The congregation then sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli.”

At the start of Mass, the pope noted that World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day falls on May 8, the anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross.  

Pope Francis said: “We pray for the people who work in these worthy institutions: may the Lord bless their work which does so much good.”

A 20-year-old man, who suffered from addictions and domestic violence, accepted Christ into his life during the OM Mexico July outreach in Huatulco, Oaxaca.

Coatzacoalcos, Mexico :: Logos Hope's crewmembers encourage a youth group to listen to God's call to serve.

Progreso, Mexico :: A stalwart captain who's served on all four vessels reflects on 38 years of incredible experiences for his family at sea.

By living honourable lifestyles, OM workers build trust with local friends and gain opportunities to share Jesus.

Loving our Muslim neighbours is an opportunity and privilege.

Vatican City, May 7, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- It is important for Catholics to remember the whole of salvation history, and our belonging to the people of God’s covenant with Abraham, Pope Francis said at Mass Thursday.

During daily Mass in the chapel of his Vatican residence, the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis reflected on an aspect of the day’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, when St. Paul is invited to speak in the synagogue in Antioch.

Instead of speaking directly about Jesus, the apostle begins by telling the history of salvation, the pope noted May 7.

“What is behind Jesus? There is a story. A story of grace, a story of election, a story of promise. The Lord chose Abraham and went with his people,” he said.

“There is a story of God with his people. And for this reason, when Paul is asked to explain the reason for faith in Jesus Christ, he does not start from Jesus Christ: he begins from history.”

The pope pointed to the first part of the entrance antiphon recited at the start of that Mass: “O God, when you went forth before your people, marching with them and living among them...”

He urged Catholics to remember to “pass down the history of our salvation,” and to ask the Lord to help them have the awareness of being children of Abraham, as the Virgin Mary says in the Magnificat and Zechariah in his Benedictus, canticles which are recited or sung in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Christianity, the pope said, is belonging to the people with whom the Lord made his covenant.

Pope Francis also spoke in his homily about what he thinks Christianity is not.

“Christianity is a doctrine, yes, but not only,” he stated. “Christianity is not just an ethic. Yes, indeed, it has moral principles,” but it is not just having an ethical viewpoint.

Francis went on to say that Christianity is also more than an exclusionary vision of an “‘elite’ of people chosen for the truth.” He criticized when this attitude comes into the Church as a belief in the damnation of others.

It is good to be a moral people, he said, but “Christianity is belonging to a people, to a people freely chosen by God.”

“If we do not have this awareness of belonging to a people we would be ideological Christians,” he said.

The pope explained that this is why, in order to speak about Jesus, St. Paul starts by explaining “from the beginning, from belonging to a people.”

He warned that when Christians lose the sense of belonging to the people of God’s covenant, they often fall into “partialities,” whether dogmatic, moral, or elitist.

Francis called this “the most dangerous deviation” Christians can fall into today.

Before Mass, Pope Francis noted that he had received a letter from a group of artists, thanking him for remembering them in prayer in April.

He added that he “would like to ask the Lord to bless them because artists make us understand what beauty is and without beauty the Gospel cannot be understood.”

“Let’s pray for artists again,” he urged.

After Mass, the pope concluded the livestream with Eucharistic adoration, benediction, and the Marian antiphon “Regina coeli.”

Vatican City, May 8, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- We must learn to let ourselves be consoled by Jesus when we are suffering, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass Friday.

In his homily in the chapel at Casa Santa Marta, May 8, the pope noted it was difficult to accept Christ’s consolation in times of distress. 

Reflecting on the day's Gospel reading, John 14:1-6, which records Jesus’ words to his disciples at the Last Supper, the pope said the Lord recognizes their sadness and seeks to console them.

"It is not easy to allow ourselves to be consoled by the Lord,” he said. “Many times, in bad moments, we are angry with the Lord and we do not let Him come and speak to us like this, with this sweetness, with this closeness, with this meekness, with this truth and with this hope.”

He noted that Jesus’ way of consoling was quite different to telegrams of condolence, which are too formal to console anyone. 

“In this passage of the Gospel we see that the Lord consoles us always in closeness, with the truth and in hope,” he said. “These are the three marks of the Lord's consolation.”

The pope observed that Jesus is always close to us in times of sorrow.

“The Lord consoles in closeness. And He does not use empty words, on the contrary: He prefers silence,” he said, according to a transcript by Vatican News.

He added that Jesus does not offer false comfort:  

“Jesus is true. He doesn't say formal things that are lies: ‘No, don’t worry, everything will pass, nothing will happen, it will pass, things will pass…’ No, it won’t. He is telling the truth. He doesn’t hide the truth.”

The pope explained that Jesus’ consolation always brings hope. 

He said: “He will come and take us by the hand and carry us. He does not say: ‘No, you will not suffer: it is nothing…’ No. He says the truth: ‘I am close to you, this is the truth: it is a bad time, of danger, of death. But do not let your heart be troubled, remain in that peace, that peace which is the basis of all consolation, because I will come and by the hand I will take you where I will be’.”

The pope concluded: “We ask for the grace to learn to let ourselves be consoled by the Lord. The Lord's consolation is true, not deceiving. It is not anesthesia, no. But it is near, it is true and it opens the doors of hope to us.”

After Mass, the pope presided at adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, before leading those watching via livestream in an act of spiritual communion.

The congregation then sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli.”

At the start of Mass, the pope noted that World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day falls on May 8, the anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross.  

Pope Francis said: “We pray for the people who work in these worthy institutions: may the Lord bless their work which does so much good.”

OM Ireland's Creative Arts Team and a group from the US lead a week-long tour into schools and a kids’ club in a housing estate.

To present the true meaning of Christmas, OM Ireland’s creative arts team performs a multimedia production in schools, churches and community centres around Ireland.

Various OM ministries partner with the Irish Evangelistic Band to share the good news at Ireland's National Ploughing Championship.

Brandy and her daughter Alexia (USA) went to Ireland for a two-week outreach and left impacted just as much as they'd impacted others.

Teams all over Australia connect with their Muslim neighbours and share God’s love.

Loving our Muslim neighbours is an opportunity and privilege.

OM Ukraine team gets excited about church planting in a northern Odessa province after participating in a Bus4Life outreach in the area.

Compiled by: Antigoni Markitani

Compiled by: Antigoni Markitani

A Fin24 reader looking to invest in a living annuity, was shocked to find that she would have to pay fees of up to R110 000 per annum. She wants to know if there are other options. An investment expert responds.

A Thousand Moons

The iPhone offers a highly polished user experience, but iOS does have some quirks that you might find irritating. Our quick tips can help you shut down some of the biggest culprits.

IT'S the day after May Day and perhaps you’re feeling you’ve missed out on a good, sweaty Scottish pagan spring ritual of the type done particularly well at Beltane on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill, though not in a year of quarantine. Never fear. There are still ways of channelling the fertility rites of spring, the chief one being, of course, the folk horror classic The Wicker Man. Put on a goat mask, get in touch with your inner Wicker – or even Wicca – and revel in a bit of self-isolation

SPONSORED EDITORIAL

Joblessness now stands at the most since the Great Depression era of the 1930s after the coronavirus pandemic brought the US economy to a standstill.

Once the coronavirus pandemic is over, the tourism industry will probably find that older, more affluent travellers are more hesitant to do so.

The Black Business Council stood by Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane and South Africa's Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment policy.

OM sees God working in the lives of a few of the thousands of asylum seekers in Austria.

A Crimean Tatar man shares how he gained courage and learnt vital truths through reading Into the Den of the Infidels, produced by OM EAST.

ANDY MURRAY will swap a tennis racket for a games controller when he takes part in a virtual Madrid Open later this month.

WHILE almost every athlete has been affected by the global shutdown of sport, it is perhaps the old and the young who are feeling it the most.

Against the backdrop of the global corona crisis and a collapse in flight operations, the Supervisory Board today set the important course for the development of the airport company after commissioning BER.

James Morton's pave rustique recipe will likely become a lockdown favourite, says Ella Walker.

A group of Costa Ricans visit a local church in an indigenous region of the country and bring encouragement by serving.

During an outreach in the indigenous region of Costa Rica, a participant blesses a local believer by washing his feet and praying for his family.

WHEN we eventually emerge from lockdown the first thing most people will want to do is hug their nearest and dearest, but for some they will be running to their hair stylist to sort out the unruly mass of top of their head.

Farmfoods, a Scottish family business, has served the nation for over 60 years - and has never faltered in selling the finest farm  produce the country has to offer.

Having car insurance is a legal requirement for motorists, but whether it’s valid or not depends on how accurate the current information your insurance company holds is.

MARC Mazoyer is getting ready for the week ahead. He’s made soup, and a loaf of bread, and roasted a chicken and he’s thinking about what he’ll do with the food over the next few days. Some of the chicken can go into a dahl, and maybe a risotto, and he might make some quesadillas with it too. And the leftovers can go into a caesar salad. This is how Marc keeps physically well. But it’s how he keeps mentally well too.

"If we are serious about planting churches among the least reached as how we do mission, we must always be willing to question, reconsider and reform our paradigms," says Shaun Rossi.

"How can we honour these 'mothers and fathers' [of OM]," asks David Greenlee. "Inclusion is one way, encouraging their ongoing participation, not forgetting them in our concern."

"Everyone in the kingdom of God is essential to the mission that He has called us to," I'Ching says. "Unfortunately, while we may profess this, often we don’t practise it."

“Enough is enough,” said one Edinburgh resident, about the scene of desolation in Princes Street Gardens. Following this year’s bigger-than-ever Christmas Market and Hogmanay celebrations, the mudbath left after the festive village was dismantled is disgraceful. I’m tempted to say it looks as if a herd of belted galloways has run amok, but that would be unfair. Cattle don’t make half as much midden as the city’s annual cash-cow.

During the present crisis, many more of us are turning to Grow Your Own. This lets us enjoy much fresher and tastier veg than from a weekly shop, especially if that languishes in the fridge for days. And we won’t be relying on imports that could become less accessible.

Women's Under-17 teams gathered in Nyon for a friendly tournament this week, with associations welcoming UEFA's drive to give young players chances for further development.

WITH the usual proviso that nothing, but nothing, in sport is in any way important when human lives are at stake due to coronavirus, nevertheless I do think it is time for some realism to surface in rugby – and other sports I could name.

Organize your phone, tablet, and computer with these quick and easy tips from productivity expert Jill Duffy. Investing just a little time here at the beginning of the year could make a big difference for all of 2020.

The Scottish Labour Party, I think it’s fair to say, hasn’t had a good decade.

What do professional golfers do in this coronavirus-induced hiatus?