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FATHER CARLOS LUIS CODORNIÚ, SCJ – Love That Leads Us and Allows Us to Go Beyond the Peripheries

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The Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus established earlier this week a new Formation House in Taipa island. The project was officially inaugurated and blessed last Monday and brought Father Carlos Luis Suárez Codorníu once again to Macau. The Superior General of the Priests of the Sacred Heart introduced the vocational center, whose fundamental purpose is to prepare postulants “so that they can better serve the Church in China”. The new Blessed Juan María de la Cruz Formation House is currently home to four young men, three from Vietnam and one from India, but the number may increase as early as next year, Father Carlos Luis Codorniú told “O Clarim”.

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ANTÓNIO MACHADO, ON THE LIFE OF CARLO ACUTIS – Beacon of Hope and a Role Model for Contemporary Christians

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Pope Leo XIV proclaimed, earlier this month, the first two saints of his papacy, in a historic ceremony at Saint Peter’s Square, including the first saint of the millennial generation. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, two Italian lay young men born nearly a century apart, joined the ranks of Saint Therese of Lisieux and Saint Dominic Savio as saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The Holy Father urged young people around the world to look to the new saints’ testimony of faith as an example. In Portugal, where Saint Carlo’s spiritual legacy is touching more and more hearts, floats bearing the image of the young Italian saint took to the streets of several parishes’ hours after the teenagers’ canonization. António Machado, a deacon who wrote one of the first ever books about Carlo Acutis in the Portuguese language, explains why the Italian teenager, who died of leukemia in 2006, became a mass phenomenon among young people. Acutis, Mr. Machado told “O Clarim”, stands out as beacon of hope and a role model for contemporary Christians. 

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26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) – Live Simply, be Generous, and Never Neglect Those in Need

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No rational person would want to go to hell. The rich man in this parable certainly did not desire hell, but his actions led him there. Most people, however, do want to be rich in this world. In fact, many people would think it irrational not to desire wealth. It is very rare to find a person who chooses to live in simplicity as a means to deeper spiritual fulfillment and as preparation for the riches of Heaven. But one clear message from our Gospel story today is that the life that Lazarus lived on earth was far better than that of the rich man. So which life do you prefer here and now? While it is true that the rich man’s riches were not the exclusive cause of his eternal damnation, it is also true that his riches imposed upon him a temptation toward selfishness and indifference to the needs of others, which ended in his eternal demise.

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OPEN YOUR BIBLE (1) – Prophets, Called by God to Communicate His Perspective on Israel’s Condition and The State of the World

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I begin this series to help us deepen our understanding of the Word of God, the source of the life of the Church. To open our Bible, as Catholics, means to acknowledge that an oral tradition preceded the written word and that the same tradition —the teaching of the Apostles —is treasured by the Church. Although no word can be added to it, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church is challenged to deepen its understanding of the written word and to discover how it can be applied to different contexts and various historical settings. 

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Why Does the Church Sometimes Bless Guns?

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I have a priest cousin who works in a parish near the Army headquarters. He told me that he had just recently been asked to bless, in the absence of the military chaplain at that headquarters, the newly acquired assault rifles and guns in the headquarters’ armory and the soldiers who will be using them. While my priest cousin was amused by it, I was not. The question was simple: Why would the Church bless guns, tools that can kill?

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FAITH AND RESILIENCE AMID NEPAL UNREST – The Witnessing to Faith of Father Silas Bogati

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In statements to the Fides news agency, Catholic Father Silas Bogati speaks of his experience in the recent unrest that rocked Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. Apostolic Administrator of the Vicariate of Nepal since January 2025, Silas Bogati found himself in the middle of the protests because, as soon as he landed at Kathmandu airport after a pastoral trip, due to a lack of transportation, he had to walk to his residence, crossing a city teeming with protesters demanding the removal of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, who would eventually resign. In the process, due to police action, 19 people died and more than 300 were injured. The government imposed a curfew, but given the persistent mobilization, the police resorted to repressive measures, and violence erupted. The protesters then set fire to vehicles in the streets and the homes of prominent politicians.

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25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C – The teachings of the Prudent Manager

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This Sunday, the Gospel presents us with the parable of the unfaithful manager, a story that invites us to reflect on the management of the assets that God has entrusted to us. We can imagine the scene as that of a businessman who discovers that his dishonest manager has been cheating. Faced with the imminent dismissal and the lack of preparation to face the challenges of hard work, the manager seeks out his boss’s creditors, collecting debts for lower amounts, thus making friends for his future. Jesus, in His wisdom, praises the prudence of this manager, stating that the children of this world are more shrewd than the children of light.

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IN THE PURSUIT OF A MEANINGFUL LIFE – Three Essential Signposts for the Journey of Life

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As a theology student, I began to acquire the habit of writing down sayings that I considered relevant for my life as a pilgrim with a thousand destinations plus One: human hopes on earth and Christian hope in heaven, respectively. Hereafter, I wish to share some salient sayings that have helped me on the journey of my life. These sayings – many of them you know, perhaps, are like signposts on the path of the life of pilgrims of hope. They point out the smooth road ahead, the bumpy road, the dangerous curves, the lightened part and the darkened kilometres. My dear co-pilgrims of hope: 

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DEVASTATING FLOODS IN PAKISTAN – Caritas Pakistan Provides Aid to Those Suffering from Floods

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None of Pakistan’s provinces has been spared by the heavy rains and flooding of recent months. It’s safe to say that today, with the entire country flooded, there are approximately four million displaced people in extremely precarious situations. Furthermore, the damage to families and the country’s economy is severe: for example, the floods devastated the province of Punjab, Pakistan’s agricultural heartland, destroying more than 60% of its rice, sugarcane, and cotton crops. More than 900 people lost their lives, thousands are in emergency shelters, and many others have permanently lost their homes and are in urgent need of some form of support, however basic. As always, in situations like this, the elderly, children, and the sick are the most vulnerable. The suffering is daily and widespread. Entire families have been living underwater for several weeks, “now facing the risk of disease and epidemics”. 

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