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From   The Gospel of John   (2003) directed by Philip Saville Today's Gospel, John 10:11-18 [1:19 - 2:30] Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.   The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.   The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.   I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,     just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.     I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.   For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.   No one takes   it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I

Vatican II can be properly understood only as being in continuity with the church's millennial traditions, not as a radical break with the past . Pope Benedict Man likes to be in control, even of God. Of course,  most of us would deny trying to box in the Almighty because we realize how ridiculous this sounds.  Yet because we really do not like to change, we end up resisting even God.  We like our comfort zone. We especially don't like the rug ripped from under us and that is usually how God must most often snag our attention. God is not stagnant. He is not the God of the past, but God of the present,  alive, a dynamic powerhouse seeking to heal, transform and draw us ever closer to His heart. This week I was wondering why so many Traditionalists are against Vatican II, labelling all the popes which came after as illegitimate and even heretics, especially Pope Francis. When I researched the question, an insightful homily popped up by Pope Francis from May 29,

The Crucifixion of St Peter , Caravaggio, 1600-01 Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Populo, Rome [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)  Gospel   Matthew 16:21-27  (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition: Canada)     From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.   And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”   But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themse

I'm Laura Paxton and I am free. I am free to play, to create, to express myself, to explore my world. I am freer to think and to reason and daydream than I ever have before. I read more. I have meaningful work that I enjoy very much. I wake up each day with the joy of purpose before me. Only about five years ago, I existed in a cramped, dark apartment where I had given up on life, agoraphobic, eating mostly chocolate bars for sustenance and playing online scrabble all day long to keep my mind off the pain trapped deep inside. How did I end up there? Let's face it... I'm autistic. I'm bipolar. I've lived on the dangerous edges of life. I've been raped,  survived a near fatal suicide attempt, was almost successfully murdered and lived homeless at times in my teens. Over the course of my life, I've also been taken advantage of, tricked and abused because of my poor judgment, (which was poorer than most people's to begin with,

Thanks to  Irmo Francis Valeza SJ  for the link to the video on his Facebook. The original is on  Rome Reports . Today is the tenth anniversary of my starting as editor of  Misyon , the magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines. I was very happy to start on the feast day of St Thérèse of Lisieux, whom I 're-discovered' about twenty years ago. I had read  Story of a Soul  as a young seminarian - my dentist from childhood, the late Dr Éadbhard O’Brien-Moran, gave me a copy when I was entering the Columbans in 1961 - but didn't find it particularly appealing, maybe because of the style of writing. Continue here .