The anchors of The Today Show were aflutter. Habitual viewers of this morning program are aware that over-excitement has become the primary disposition of the anchors and the rotating cast of meteorologists/journalists/pop culture icons charged with reporting upon Twitter trends. In this particular case, the excitement was not facilitated by Will and Kate’s New York sojourn and their meeting with Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Rather, The Today Show was covering Pope Francis’ recent comments (which it turns out he never made) about the salvation of pets.

Of course, those of us who watch this program each morning know that Pope Francis is a frequent topic of conversation among those reporting from the heart of Rockefeller Center. Every speech that he gives, every homily that he preaches, each interview he conducts becomes a source of new information about the role of the Church in the modern world. The significance of Pope Francis…

(CNS/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY — When Pope Francis met before Christmas with Vatican employees, mostly lay people with families, he asked them to do 10 things. The list sounded remarkably like suggestions for New Year’s resolutions:

— “Take care of your spiritual life, your relationship with God, because this is the backbone of everything we do and everything we are.”

— “Take care of your family life, giving your children and loved ones not just money, but most of all your time, attention and love.”

— “Take care of your relationships with others, transforming your faith into life and your words into good works, especially on behalf of the needy.”

— “Be careful how you speak, purify your tongue of offensive words, vulgarity and worldly decadence.”

— “Heal wounds of the heart with the oil of forgiveness, forgiving those who have hurt us and medicating the wounds we have caused…

Here are the highlights of Pope Francis’ message for today’s World Day of Peace:

The “Life of Communion” vs. Exploitation:

Since we are by nature relational beings, meant to find fulfilment through interpersonal relationships inspired by justice and love, it is fundamental for our human development that our dignity, freedom and autonomy be acknowledged and respected. Tragically, the growing scourge of man’s exploitation by man gravely damages the life of communion and our calling to forge interpersonal relations marked by respect, justice and love. This abominable phenomenon, which leads to contempt for the fundamental rights of others and to the suppression of their freedom and dignity, takes many forms. I would like briefly to consider these, so that, in the light of God’s word, we can consider all men and women “no longer slaves, but brothers and sisters”.

One Human Family vs. Sin:

Tragically, between the first creation…

Millennial editor Robert Christian is quoted in a new International Business Times article by Zoe Mintz on Pope Francis. He was asked, “Does Pope Francis live up to the hype?”

“He absolutely lives up to the hype. Francis’ message is not that he’s perfect — it’s that this is who he is: a guy who cares deeply about the poor and vulnerable, who tries to live simply, who tries to build his life around his love of God and others. People can see with their own eyes this is true, and that’s why he is connecting with them.”

The full article can be read here.

Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig has a new article on “eternity disrupting time itself” and the revolutionary nature of Christianity, which is rooted in the astonishing event we celebrate each Christmas. She writes:

Christianity is at all times concerned with the poorest, the most vulnerable, the most oppressed; it is permanently interested in reversing this order, in aiming at and accomplishing the unexpected. Christmas, the moment when time is invaded by eternity, is the moment when the reversal of all oppression becomes not possible but necessary. The unlikeliest upsets of order become, in the moment of Christmas, the beginning of Christianity itself, and remain essential to its character.

The full article can be read here.

Oi this woman. I wanna smack her and give her a hug at the same time. People are so messed up when it comes to sex!!

So many red flags here to address, we’ll just have to list them all:

There is a difference between abstinence and chastity. Abstinence is saying no to sex. Chastity is saying YES to God’s plan for sex. Teaching kids to say no to sex without adequate explanation or guidance is the same thing as saying “Don’t Smoke, Because I Said So”. Why would any child take you seriously?

The only way abstinence pledges will work is if the person making the pledge “gets” the whole picture. A ten-year-old especially today would be unlikely to “get it” because of Comprehensive Sexual Education (from here on out referred to as CSE) which is so far removed from chastity education it ain’t funny. That’s why we…

The Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life of Georgetown University had its second event for young Catholic professionals, Resisting the Throwaway Culture: Pope Francis’ Message on Human Life and Dignity. This Salt and Light Gathering featured the anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J. (who was famously played by Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking) and Kim Daniels, a founder and director of Catholic Voices USA, who recently was a spokesperson for the president of the USCCB. John Carr, the director of the Initiative, provided the opening remarks and led the discussion. Here are the highlights (in the easily digestible form of tweets):