Denver Catholic

3 DENVER CATHOLIC | SEPTEMBER 24-OCTOBER 7, 2016 JENNY KRASKA Director, Colorado Catholic Conference • Election year and legislative updates MARILYN COORS, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Bioethics University of Colorado • Author of "Bioethics Across the Life Span" SPEAKING TRUTH TO THE CULTURE OF MORAL RELATIVISM Don't miss this one-day event featuring nationally- known speakers Saturday, October 22, 2016 St. omas More Catholic Parish 8035 S. Quebec St. Centennial, CO 80112 DR. EDWARD SRI Renowned eologian, Augustine Institute • Truth, Mercy and Confronting the Culture of Moral Relativism TRENT HORN Sta Apologist, Catholic Answers • How to Talk About Tough Moral Issues Gospel of Life 2016 Conference FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER NOW, GO TO: GospelOfLifeCo.org REGISTER NOW! P ope Francis has urged faithful to stop looking at our phones, and instead really encounter and listen to one another. According to Vatican Radio, the pon- ti€ gave this advice during his Sept. 13 morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, as he warned against bad habits that pre- vent us, even within our families, from truly listening to others and empathiz- ing with them. As the Jesuit ponti€ drew inspi- ration from the day's Gospel reading where Jesus brought back from the dead the only son of a widow, Pope Francis highlighted that "an encounter with Jesus overcomes our indi€ erence." He also lamented that often when people meet each other, "each of them is thinking of themselves, they can see the other person but are not looking at him or her, they can hear that person but are not listening to him or her." "An encounter is something di€ erent. It is what today's Gospel proclaims to us: an encounter; an encounter between a man and a woman, between an only living son and an only son who had died; among a joyful crowd because they had encoun- tered Jesus and were following him and a group of people, weeping, accompanying that woman, who had come out from the gate of the city; an encounter between the exit gate and the entry gate. [The sheep- fold]. An encounter that makes us refl ect on our way of interacting with each other." The pope, refl ecting on the Gospel encounter said, we not only see his tenderness but also the fruitfulness of that encounter that restores people and things to their proper place. "We are accustomed to a culture of indi€ erence and we must strive and ask for the grace to create a culture of encounter, of a fruitful encounter, of an encounter that restores to each person his or her own dignity as a child of God, the dignity of a living person. "We are accustomed to this indi€ er- ence," he continued, noting, "when we see the disasters of this world or small things: 'What a shame, poor people, look how they are su€ ering,' and then we carry on. An encounter. And if I don't look, it's not enough to see, no, [we must] look – if I don't stop, if I don't look, if I don't touch, if I don't speak, I cannot have an encounter and I cannot help to build a culture of encounter." The pope stressed to look, listen and meet, rather than just see, hear, and pass by. "Don't just say 'what a shame, poor people,' but allow ourselves to be moved by pity," Pope Francis concluded, stressing, "Draw near, touch and say in the language that comes to each one of us in that moment, the language of the heart: 'Do not weep,' and donate at the very least a drop of life." SOURCE: ZENIT Pope Francis to families: Put away the cell phones and have real encounters Vatican Notes Pope Francis confers confi rmation to Giuseppe Chiolo at the Vatican on Sept. 10. L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO.

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