Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • March 9, 2018 11 1260 Ocean Springs Road, Ocean Springs, MS 39564 Ph: 228-818-0650 For more information, contact Jody Ellis Stoddard, Executive Director or email her at gardensED@BlueHarborSL.com Web Address: www.gardensseniorliving.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheGardensSeniorLivingOceanSprings Vatican Letter From page 10 “He did not limit himself to showing us the way to encounter God, a path we can walk on our own by being obedient to his words and by imitating his exam- ple,” but instead opened the door to freedom and pointed to himself as the way. This path, the letter said, “is not merely an interior journey at the margins of our relationships with others and with the created world,” but consists of a “new and living way” that Jesus inaugurated for mankind in his own flesh. “Therefore, Christ is Savior in as much as he assumed the entirety of our humanity and lived a fully human life in communion with his Father and with oth- ers.” Salvation is through the Church, the Body of Christ The letter reaffirmed that the place where humanity receives the salvation of Jesus “is the Church,” begin- ning with baptism and continuing through the other sacraments. “Both the individualistic and the merely interior visions of salvation contradict the sacramental econo- my through which God wants to save the human per- son,” the letter said. Salvation cannot be achieved by one’s own indi- vidual efforts alone, as neo-Pelagian thought would argue, but is instead found “in the relationships that are born from the incarnate Son of God and that form the communion of the Church,” the letter said. Likewise, it stressed that the grace of God leads us to concrete relationships that Christ himself formed, and of which the Church is an image. Salvation, then, “does not consist in the self-realiza- tion of the isolated individual, nor in an interior fusion of the individual with the divine,” but rather means being incorporated “into a communion of persons that participates in the communion of the Trinity.” While Gnosticism has a negative view of creation, seeing it as a limitation of man’s freedom and therefore implying that salvation means freeing oneself from the body and concrete human relationships, true salvation offered by Christ includes the sanctification of the body, the letter said. With the sacraments, “Christians are able to live faithful to the flesh of Christ and, as a result, in fidelity to the kind of relationships that he gave us,” the letter said, explaining that under this rationale, care for those who are suffering is especially important, particularly through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The letter closed urging Christians to advance in announcing the “joy and light of the Gospel,” while also establishing a “sincere and constructive dialogue” with those from other religions, believing that God can lead all men of goodwill toward salvation in Christ. “Total salvation of the body and of the soul is the final destiny to which God calls all of humanity,” it said, and urged believers to look forward to the coming of Christ, who will “change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.” Papal advisers focus on reducing cost, accelerating response to abuse VATICAN CITY ( CNA/EWTN News ) -- In their lat- est round of meetings, Pope Francis’ Council of Cardi- nals discussed several key topics related to episcopal conferences, the need to lower costs inside the Vatican, and efforts to speed up procedures dealing with cases of abuse. This week’s meetings took place Feb. 26-28 at the Vatican. All members were present except for Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, who is in Australia facing charges of past sexual abuse. Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo arrived late due to weather. As usual, Pope Francis was present for all sessions apart from Wednesday morning, when he holds the weekly general audience. According to a Feb. 28 Vatican communique, the Council of Cardinals -- made up of nine prelates from around the world who advise the Pope on matters of Church governance and reform -- focused specifically on the theological statue of episcopal conferences. The cardinals based their discussion on Evangelii Gaudium 32, which states that “Excessive central- ization, rather than proving helpful, complicates the Church’s life and her missionary outreach.” In this spirit, it was suggested that John Paul II’s 1998 motu propio “Apostolos Suos” on the theological and judicial nature of episcopal conferences be re-read, thinking of “the healthy decentralization” of which Pope Francis often speaks. Discussion also touched on human resources and keeping an eye on containing costs within the Vatican. Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich spoke on the topic of human resources and presented the ongoing work of the Council for the Economy, which falls un- der the umbrella of the wider Secretariat for the Economy. Specifically, the coun- cil is currently studying proposals to outline the skills of a “control-room” of-sorts for human re- sources. According to the Vati- can communique, Marx in his presentation also referred to the “positive prog- ress” being made in the area of presenting the Vatican balance sheets, of maintaining costs and reducing the Holy See’s deficit. In this regard, he said the council has decided to draw up guidelines for the institutions of the Holy See, aimed at reducing cost. Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawlowski also spoke dur- ing the meeting about the progress of the third depart- ment of the Secretariat of State, which is tasked with managing the Pope’s diplomatic corps, who are sta- tioned throughout the world. The department, headed by Pawlowski, is named “Section for the Diplomatic Staff.” Though he’s not a member of the Pope’s advisory council, Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the dicastery for Integral Human Development, was also present to give an update on the progress of his office and its ac- tivities. Specific mention was made of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the cardinals discussing different options to accelerate the process for handling cases of the sexual abuse of minors that come their way. Other topics discussed were the Congregations for Oriental Churches and the Evangelization of Peoples. The next round of meetings for the Council of Car- dinals is set to take place in Rome April 23-25. Pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the Diocese of Biloxi by visiting www.invisiblemonastery.com