Good Shepherd Catholic Church - Miami, FL

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus calls believers not only to be servants of his kingdom, as the prophets and Mary were, but also to be his friends, Pope Francis said.

"Friendship is not the fruit of calculation, nor of compulsion, it is born spontaneously when we recognize something of ourselves in the other," he said May 5. "Jesus, in the Bible, tells us that for him we are precisely this: friends, people beloved beyond all merit and expectation, to whom he extends his hand and offers his love, his grace, his word."

Before leading the "Regina Coeli" prayer in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis reflected on the day's Gospel reading from St. John in which Jesus tells the apostles, "I do not call you servants any longer, but friends."

Jesus does not only want to entrust humanity with his mission of salvation, the pope said, "he wants more, something greater that goes beyond goods and plans themselves; it takes friendship."

The pope asked people to think about the beauty of friendship that they experience throughout the course of their lives, from sharing toys as children and confiding secrets to one another as teenagers to exchanging joys and worries as adults and recounting memories together as seniors.

"Let us think a moment of our friends and thank the Lord for them," he said.

In friendship, Jesus "shares what is dearest to him" with humanity, the pope said: "All that he has learned from the Father."

Jesus is invested in his friendship with humanity "even to the point of making himself fragile for us, of placing himself in our hands, without defense or pretense, because he loves us," he said. "The Lord loves us; as a friend he wants our good and he wants us to share in his."

If a friendship is true, it is "so strong that is does not fail even in the face of betrayal," he said, noting that Jesus calls Judas "friend" even after he had been betrayed.

"A true friend does not abandon you, even when you make mistakes: he corrects you, perhaps he reproaches you, but he forgives you and does not abandon you," he said.

After reciting the "Regina Coeli" prayer, the pope asked Christians to pray for Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, "that there may be peace, that dialogue may be strengthened and bear good fruit. No to war, yes to dialogue!"

 

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has appointed Reverend James Mark Beckman, as Bishop of Knoxville. Bishop-elect Beckman is a priest of the Diocese of Nashville, and currently serves as pastor of Saint Henry parish in Nashville, Tennessee. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 7, 2024, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Beckman was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father Beckman was born on October 19, 1962, in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. He graduated from Saint Ambrose College Seminary in Davenport, Iowa, with a bachelor’s degree in history (1984). He attended The Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium where he earned a master’s degree in religious studies (1984-1989). He was ordained to the priesthood on July 13, 1990, for the Diocese of Nashville.  

Bishop-elect Beckman’s assignments after ordination include: associate pastor at Holy Rosary parish in Nashville (1990-1991); teacher, (1990-1996), and then associate principal for pastoral affairs at Father Ryan High School in Nashville (1991-1996); pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Springfield (1996-2002); administrator at Saint Michael Mission parish in Cedar Hill (1996-2002); and pastor at Saint Matthew parish in Franklin (2002-2015). Since 2015, Bishop-elect Beckman has served as pastor of Saint Henry parish in Nashville.

Bishop-elect Beckman’s additional service for the Diocese of Nashville has included: member of the presbyteral council (1993-2003; 2008-2013); member of the diocesan clergy personnel board (1995-2000); director of the diocesan youth office (1996-2002); priests’ vocation advisory council (1998-2000); member of the college of consultors (1993-2003, 2008-2013); dean of the northwest deanery (2001-2002) and central deanery (2008-2013); chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, Council #11925 (2003-2011); state chaplain for the Knights of Columbus (2004-2005); chair of the priest personnel board (2018-present).

The Diocese of Knoxville is comprised of 14,242 square miles in the state of Tennessee and has a total population of 2,538,487, of which 71,274 are Catholic.

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The second World Meeting on Human Fraternity, under the title #BeHuman, takes place on May 10-11 in Rome and Vatican City State and is organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation. Around 30 recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize will participate in the "Roundtable of Peace" and will release a "Charter of Humanity" on fraternal coexistence in this time of uncertainty and fear.

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In its 2024 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) calls for additional sanctions on Iranian authorities and officials amidst new harsh enforcement of mandatory hijab legislation, and urges the Department of State to add five more States to the existing list of 12 Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for their severe violations of religious freedom.

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In an interview with Vatican News, Monsignor Robert Vitillo, Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), discusses how international experts participating in the Consultation in the Vatican, jointly sponsored by the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, will support rights and dignified conditions for workers, and will be an opportunity for effective social change.

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The President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) says the Church in Africa is living in a “new Kairos” moment as the Church continues to grow.

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Archdiocese gets $20.3 million federal funding

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor John J. McDermott, as Bishop of Burlington. Bishop-elect McDermott is a priest of the Diocese of Burlington, and currently serves as the Diocesan Administrator. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 6, 2024, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect McDermott was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Monsignor McDermott was born March 19, 1963, in New Jersey. He attended Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina. Bishop-elect McDermott earned a master’s in divinity and a master’s degree in theology and scripture from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, as well as a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (2004). Monsignor McDermott was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Burlington on June 3, 1989.

Bishop-elect McDermott’s assignments after ordination include: parochial vicar at Saint Augustine parish in Montpelier (1989-1992); parochial vicar at Saint Mark parish in Burlington, and chaplain at Rice Memorial High School in South Burlington (1992-1996); pastor at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, and chaplain at Middlebury College in Middlebury (1996-2001); and the Catholic Center at the University of Vermont-Burlington (2001-2015). Since 2015, Bishop-elect McDermott has served as the administrator of Christ the King-Saint Anthony parish in Burlington.

Bishop-elect McDermott’s priestly ministry has included service on a number of committees and boards, including the diocesan finance council, the diocesan administrative board, and the board of trustees for St. Michael’s College in Colchester. He has also served the Diocese of Burlington as vice chancellor (2004-2005); chancellor (2005-2006); vicar general and moderator of the curia (2006-present); apostolic administrator during sede vacante (2014); and diocesan administrator during sede vacante (2023).

The Diocese of Burlington is comprised of 9,135 square miles in the state of Vermont and has a total population of 645,570 of which 100,000 are Catholic.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The spiritual practice of reparation "may be somewhat forgotten or wrongly judged obsolete" today, but it is essential for the promotion of justice and healing, including on behalf of those who have suffered abuse in the church, Pope Francis said.

With a sincere commitment to reparation, the hope is that even "if the irreparable cannot be completely repaired, love can always be reborn, making the wound bearable," the pope said.

Pope Francis met May 4 with participants in a conference marking the 350th anniversary of the 17th-century apparitions of Jesus to French St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, which included his call to promote devotion to his sacred heart and to make acts of reparation or penance for the times people have not recognized Christ's love.

Reparation is a concept found throughout the Bible, the pope said. "In the Old Testament, it takes on a social dimension of compensation for evil committed," being a matter of justice such as returning something that had been stolen or repairing something that was damaged.

"In the New Testament, however, it takes the form of a spiritual process, within the framework of the redemption brought about by Christ," the pope said. "Reparation is fully manifested in the sacrifice of the cross. The novelty here is that it reveals the Lord's mercy toward the sinner."

"Reparation therefore contributes to people's reconciliation between themselves, but also to reconciliation with God, because the wrong done to our neighbor is also an offense to God," he said.

In the Book of Sirach, the pope said, the author asks, "Do not the tears of the widow fall down the cheeks of God?"

"Dear friends," he said, "how many tears still flow down God's cheeks while our world experiences so much abuse against the dignity of the person, even within the people of God," the church.

The title of the conference in Rome was "Repairing the Irreparable," which Pope Francis said was an invitation "to hope that every wound can be healed, however deep it may be."

"Full reparation at times seems impossible, such as when goods or loved ones are definitively lost, or when certain situations have become irreversible," he said. "But the intention to make amends and to do so in a concrete way is essential for the process of reconciliation and the return to peace in the heart."

Reparation as a spiritual practice, the pope said, must include "recognizing oneself as guilty and asking for forgiveness," because it is from an "honest acknowledgment of the wrong done to one's brother or sister, and from the profound and sincere sentiment that love has been harmed, that the desire to make amends arises."

The explicit request for forgiveness "reopens dialogue and manifests the will to re-establish the bond of fraternal charity," he said. And a commitment to reparation -- "even a beginning of reparation or simply the will to make amends -- guarantees the authenticity of the request for forgiveness, it expresses its depth, its sincerity, it touches the heart of the other, bringing consolation and inspiring the other to accept the request for forgiveness."

Jesus' request to St. Margaret Mary for acts of reparation for the offenses caused by the sins of humanity indicate that "these acts consoled his heart," the pope said. And if they consoled his heart, "this means that reparation can also console the heart of every wounded person."

Pope Francis prayed that the conference would renew and strengthen "the meaning of this beautiful practice of the reparation to the sacred heart of Jesus" and that it would find "its rightful place in the penitential journey of each baptized person in the church."

 

Some 200 participants are to gather in Rome on May 16-18 for the international conference “Putting our lives on the line” organized by the Vatican and the French Embassy to the Holy See ahead of the Paris Olympic Games.

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