Befana the Housewife, scrubbing her pane,
A new study has found that people who avidly follow their horoscopes are more likely to abandon their commitments and be self-indulgent, especially if they are predicted to have a bad day.
Because Christmas tends to be a "a very noisy holiday", Pope Francis is suggesting that the faithful prepare for the birth of Our Lord with " little silence" so that we can hear how tenderly the Lord speaks to us.
The Belgian Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of allowing terminally-ill children to be euthanized.
"May the Lord make you overflow with love for one another and for all, even as our love does for you. May He strengthen your hearts...At the coming of our Lord Jesus..." -- Thes. 3:12-13 Toy collections, food drives, charity bazaars -- all common activities in communities and parishes during the Christmas season. And they are good. They help fulfill Jesus' mandate to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31).
However, this command of Jesus is subordinate to the one preceding it -- "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind."
Love of neighbor flows from love of God, and love of God is a prerequisite for a charitable action. There is a profound difference between a humanitarian act and an act of charity.
A humanitarian action, admirable as it may be, is limited in potential. Rooted in human compassion and accomplished through human incentive, it goes only as far as the individual's generosity and goodwill carry it.
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