Do we walk alone?

(Luke 24: 13-35) – Recently, I read an article about the suffering of Sri Lankan tea workers and the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the country’s poorest people, the plantation workers face more hardships due to their low income. Their jobs have collapsed due to the coronavirus, and there are no additional sources of income for them.

Displaced people and the “Hidden Victims” of the coronavirus

Hundreds, Thousands

Dear Friends for Life: Recent estimates disclose that 79,500,000 people are displaced worldwide. These are people who have fled from persecution, violence and armed conflict. It is the seventh year in a row that the number of displaced people has increased. UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said that “the world has become almost unable to make peace”. Some 13.6 people were newly displaced during the course of 2019. This is the highest increase that UNHCR has seen in its 70-year existence.

I leaned down and kissed my son

Dear Friends for Life: Many individuals in today’s society understand the pain felt by mothers after they have aborted their babies. But what about Post-Abortion Syndrome which affects men? As the body count of unborn babies continues to increase, research shows that more and more fathers are desperately crying out in pain as a result of these abortions. Several weeks ago while browsing google on this topic, I ran across the following article: “My ‘Friend’ Assumed I’d Be Pro Abortion for Cleft Babies Like Mine & He’s Dead Wrong”. This, in turn, resulted in writing on abortion and unborn babies with cleft lip.

ProLifers as Modern Disciples – The India Experience

As I look out the window this morning, the world seems to have a surreal appearance. The feeling I sense in Japan is a quiet calmness before the storm hits. The effect of the Coronavirus pandemic will eventually touch all of us in some way. Hopefully, the world will come to realize the need “to work together” and “to put God back into society.” Without this, life will only continue to get worse.

On New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis calls listening an act of love

Pope Francis said on New Year’s Eve, “It is an act of love to spend time with others, to listen to them and their needs, and to try to see them as Christ sees them.” “We are called to meet others and listen to their life, their cry for help. Listening is already an act of love!”

The Nativity Scene

Every Nativity scene is a “living Gospel,” as Pope Francis says. Looking at the Child in the manger, I try to understand what this means. What is a “living Gospel”? One clear message flowing from the scene is that we must turn and become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 18:1-8, God’s words tell us that to acknowledge the rights and dignity of children is to acknowledge Him and accept His meaning of life. The message clearly implies every child has a universal inalienable right to equal status, equal rights and equal dignity. To deny this is to deny ourselves.

God or Nothing

Dear Friends for Life: In recent months, newspapers, magazines and news reporting have shown worsening trends regard current life issues. The slippery slope is widening and people’s lives are hurting. God is gradually being removed from society, leaving a road of confusion, suffering and hidden guilt in its wake.

The Devil is Smiling: 56 Million Human Homicides and SILENCE

Dear Friends for Life: A serious question lingers among Catholic believers today. Are our Shepherds doing their job? According to Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world, recently stated that among Catholic Republicans, 55% say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases (leaving 45% approval). At the same time, 64% of Catholic Democrats say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The PRC concludes that Catholics often express opinions that are much more in line with the positions of their political parties than with the teachings of their church. Is this a sign that God and the Catholic Church no longer play a primary role in the lives of Baptized Catholics?

“The Devil is Smiling”. Where are our Shepherds??

Abortion’s “slippery slope” continues to expand throughout the world and the crack in the wall gets bigger. The most shocking news took place recently in the United States. The headlines read, “NY governor signs sweeping new abortion law that allows abortions after 24 weeks”. This law, the so-called Reproductive Health Act, permits abortions after 24 weeks and allows abortions at any point in a pregnancy.
.

Wishing you a New Year lit up with joy and happiness!

Pope Francis’s greeting at the beginning of this year is: “Peace be to this house!” Bringing peace is central to the mission of Christ’s disciples. That “peace” is offered to all those men and women who long for peace amid the tragedies and violence that mark human history. The “house” of which Jesus speaks is every family, community, country, and continent, in all their diversity and history. It is first and foremost each individual person, without distinction or discrimination. But it is also our “common home”: the world in which God has placed us and which we are called to care for and cultivate. Together let us work for this Peace in 2019…