“We have started down the path of a disposable culture,” Pope Francis said in a May 16 address to four new ambassadors to the Holy See. In his remarks to the new envoys, the Pope spoke about injustice in the world economy, and especially in a socio-economic system in which “human beings themselves are nowadays considered as consumer goods which can be used and thrown away.”

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The eternal damnation of unrepentant sinners has long been the cause of no small amount of anguish among both Christians and unbelievers. Some may wonder how a loving God could allow people to suffer eternal punishment. Others may worry that they have not done enough to bring the good news to friends and strangers alike.

I recently completed a graduate course in character education in which we were required to carry out an "action project." For my project I chose to use character-based sex education to try to instill in my younger sister and her friend the self-respect, self-control, and courage needed to lead moral, fulfilling, and healthy lives.

A retreat for young adults and their mothers to celebrate the relationship that continues to nurture us

In Scripture, knowledge and knowing have connotations that don’t make knowledge seem like a promising gift of the Holy Spirit. One thing that makes knowledge an unlikely gift in the eyes of some in our sex-obsessed culture is the fact that “to know” has, in Scripture, a distinctly intimate connotation, as in “Adam knew his wife.” So, to some, it seems at first blush like somebody made a mistake somewhere in listing it as a gift of confirmation, since it might more fittingly be attributed to the sacrament of marriage.

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replies, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense,” says the other. “There is no life after delivery. What would that life be?” “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths.”

Why are we instructed to believe in a book that contains things we would view in today’s society as morally wrong? There is a distinction here between believing in the Bible and believing in the God that is revealed in the Bible through Jesus Christ. As Catholics, we affirm that the Bible contains sacred scripture, which was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but that “in sacred scripture, God speaks through human beings in human fashion.” (Dei Verbum, Vatican II) Read more here.

On Wednesday 24 April 2013, Pope Francis continues his catechesis on the Year of Faith: “No one knows the day or hour when Christ will return; so we are called to be prepared for that encounter. That means learning to recognize the signs of His presence, keeping the faith alive through prayer and the Sacraments. We have to be vigilant so as to not fall asleep. We don't want to be sleeping Christians. We must be vigilant and not forget God.”

Pacem in Terris, Pope John XXIII's signature encyclical, was issued 50 years ago.

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The Holy Father has identified ‘ecclesiastical narcissism’ as the fundamental illness the Church needs to address.