Jeanie Hannaman

By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop Emeritus, Pillars of Faith - When Pope John XXIII opened the Council on 11 October 1962, he announced that “the Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than of severity.” The sentiment sounded generous, yet it revealed a shift: correction would give way to dialogue, severity to leniency, warning to optimism. In that same address he talked about the “prophets of doom who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand,” whereas he saw “a new order of human relations” emerging. The naïve trust that the modern world could be persuaded by gentleness rather than converted by truth became the keynote of his pontificate.

By Fr. Nnamdi Moneme, OMV, Catholic Exchange - My close friend, a devout Catholic, was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer some months ago. She was a woman of strong faith, passionately in love with Jesus and His Mother Mary. She believed that she would be healed by Jesus. Together with her family, we all prayed intensely for her healing even as her health slowly deteriorated... I administered the Sacrament of Anointing to her for the final time in the presence of her grieving family. After the anointing, she looked at me with her customary beautiful smile and said, “Father, I know to Whom I am going.” Her words both edified me and brought tears to my eyes. ...