Pope Francis

Saturday 24 February 2024

Thursday 22 February 2024

Sintra blog: Fleet Foxes - in the morning solstice version cove...

Sintra blog: Fleet Foxes - in the morning solstice version cove...: "Despite its billing – “a very lonely solstice” – this live stream doesn’t start lonely at all. Dressed all in white, a masked, socia...

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Sintra blog: Robert Wyatt - the age of self, 1985

Sintra blog: Robert Wyatt - the age of self, 1985:   "the targets he has chosen are slippery, ambiguous ones; the treacherous duplicity of political language, the lies that democracy d...

Sintra blog: Genesis - the carpet crawlers, 1974

Sintra blog: Genesis - the carpet crawlers, 1974: "The Genesis song, whose lyrics were written by Peter Gabriel, has a dense, religious imagery leading to considerable discussion over...

Tuesday 10 August 2021

They are people

Nearness, compassion and tenderness

No one should be lost

Do not be afraid!

May he help everyone

Open, capable of great initiatives, generous, compassionate in comforting anxieties and steadfast in strengthening hopes

The lesson learned from the recent pandemic is the awareness that we are a global community, all in the same boat

Sunday 8 August 2021

The secret of life: we come to possess it only by giving it away

The fullness of life and of joy is found by giving oneself for our brothers and sisters, with openness, welcoming and goodness

We need to heal the damaged relationships that are essential to supporting us and the entire fabric of life

Let us not abandon the simple prayers we learned in our families as children that we preserve in our memories and hearts

You are precious and unique in His eyes

God does not give up

Reciprocal trust, reconciliation and peace

A living relationship

Only the love can transform our life and set us free from the vicious circles of disappointment, anger and constant complaint

Great numbers of children continue to live in inhuman situations, exploited, maltreated, enslaved, refugees

Saturday 7 August 2021

Even death trembles when a Christian prays

We grow in faith inasmuch as we learn to pray

Peace be with you!

He lifts us back up after our falls

Mercy is made tangible, it becomes closeness, service, care for those in difficulty

Let us be renewed by the peace, forgiveness and wounds of the merciful Jesus

Let us not live a one-way faith, a faith that receives but does not give. Having received mercy, let us now become merciful

The wounds of Jesus are open channels between him and us, shedding mercy upon our misery

Thursday 15 July 2021

In our failings He sees children to help up; in our misery He sees children in need of His merciful love

Peacemakers and witnesses of hope

The feast of salvation

The first way to pray for someone is to speak to God about him or her

Only together can we build a more just and health world

Defending fundamental human rights

Never lose hope

To find Christ means to discover peace in our hearts

Too many wars and too much violence in the world!

Where there was death, now there is life

If on this night you are experiencing an hour of darkness, a day that has not yet dawned, a light dimmed or a dream shattered, open your heart with amazement to the message

He invites us to overcome barriers, banish prejudices and draw near to those around us every day in order to rediscover the grace of everyday life

He walks beside you each day, in every situation you are experiencing, in every trial you have to endure, in your deepest hopes and dreams

It is always possible to begin anew, because there is a new life that God can awaken in us in spite of all our failures

The disarmed and disarming power of love

In those gashes, we recognize our emptiness, our shortcomings

The cross expresses love, service, unreserved self-giving

A gift

The power of the cross