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Someone called my father-in-law, asking which set of Bible readings were were using this week. It's a reasonable question. One set for this fifth Sunday in Lent is Ezekiel 37:12 - 14 ; Romans 8:8 - 11 ; and John 11:1 - 45 . The other, labeled "Fifth Sunday of Lent - Year A Scrutinies," is Jeremiah 31:31 - 33 ; Hebrews 5:7 - 9 ; and John 12:20 - 33 . Having options isn't odd: readings for some Sundays include an abbreviated version — I'm not a big fan of those, since I like hearing Sacred Scripture, and my attention span doesn't time out quite that fast.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Before we discuss St. Therese of Lisieux’s teaching on Purgatory, I want to put that teaching into context. Her teaching is daring. Some of the nuns she lived with in the Carmelite monastery were scandalized by it, thinking it presumptuous. The last thing St. Therese (or I) would want is for people to interpret her teaching in such a way that they thought they could be spiritually lax and still go straight to Heaven. So, As you read about her teaching, keep these things in mind: Therese is a doctor of the Church. The Church has only 35 doctors, four of them women. Now, being a doctor of the Church doesn’t mean she was infallible. But it does mean that the Church especially recommends her spirituality for Christians in any age. Therese is the Doctor of the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood, and her teaching on Purgatory was part of that Little Way. St. Therese was completely orthodox . This follows from #1. What she taught about Purgatory must never be taken to ...