Quote
“How many times, within the church, do we keep Jesus inside and don’t let him go out. How many times! … This is the most important thing to do if we do not want the waters to stagnate within the church.”
| Pope Francis, emphasizing the need to reach out to “baptized non-Christians,” people who have forgotten or walked away from their faith, in a meeting March 6 with members of the Neocatechumenal Way, which helps members explore the meaning of their baptism and learning to live according to its promises. (Catholic News Service)
In the news
Rustic route to priesthood
SALINA, Kan. – Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York says one of the virtues of rural life is the number of priests who come from country parishes.
The Diocese of Salina would seem to confirm that.
Of its 53 active and retired diocesan priests, 26 grew up in a parish of fewer than 150 families. Of the current seminarian class of 14 men, four are from rural parishes.
Several priests who grew up in rural parishes all spoke to The Register, Salina’s diocesan newspaper, of feeling a closeness to the land, nature and to God that, in turn, opened their hearts to the priesthood.
“There is a natural closeness to dependency on God in the rural setting,” said Father Kerry Ninemire, who grew up in St. Joseph Parish in New Almelo. “Our lives were so dependent on the elements that our minds were often naturally on God.” (CNS)
Saints under 40
St. Mariana de Paredes: Born blessed
St. Mariana de Paredes only lived until her late 20s, but her time on Earth was filled with a powerful devotion to God that is said to have produced miraculous acts.
Mariana was born in Quito, Ecuador, in 1618. Her piety was clear from a very young age and at age 10 she already was professing vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. In time she became a hermitess in her home, where she led a supremely austere life of prayer and fasting and also performed acts of healing.
It is said that when she died in 1645, a white lily blossomed from her blood – thus she became known as the “lily of Quito.” (newadvent.org)