Bill Gates' family goes to Catholic Church

Bill Gates said during an interview:

"The moral systems of religion, I think, are super-important. We’ve raised our kids in a religious way; they’ve gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in. I’ve been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that’s kind of a religious belief. I mean, it’s at least a moral belief." Read full article here...

Met an Atheist Today

Bernie. His name was Bernie. He looked like he is in his late sixties. I sat down in front of him in the library while he was reading the newspaper. He politely greeted me "howdy" and I smiled back. I jokingly asked him if there was any good news today on the paper. He grinned and said it was all the same old stuff. I asked him to watch my laptop as I used the washroom for a couple of minutes. When I came back he asked me if I was a student. I said yes. I told him that I went to the Seminary school. He immediately jumped in and said "Divinity School" with a bit of a surprised look in his face. I said yes, I am studying to become a Catholic Priest. "Crazy" was the next word out of his mouth. I smiled back at him and said yes it is "crazy" out of this world. He went on and said, "very well we are going to have a great conversation, I am an atheist." "Good, let's talk and see maybe I am wrong," was what I said with a bigger smile on my face. We both laughed.

For the next five minutes of so, I sat patiently and listened to his lament. It turned out that he read some philosophy books that confused him. He now professed a belief in the scientific evidence to prove anything. I continued to listen even though I wanted to interject.

At the end, it was more of a confusion on his part than anything else. I challenged him to read St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica. I encouraged him that yes, God is for real. I gave him the basic reasons that the universe is governed by natural law which should point to the One (God) who designed it to be so. A great design must call out to a great designer. A beautiful painting must direct us to the one who painted it. All created nature therefore must lead us to contemplate the Creator of all.

We parted as friends.

First Mass of Pope Francis with English Translation of First Homily

English Translation of the First Homily of Pope Francis:

In these three readings, I see a common element: that of movement. In the first reading, it is the movement of a journey; in the second reading, the movement of building the Church; in the third, in the Gospel, the movement involved in professing the faith. Journeying, building, professing. 

Journeying. 'O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord' (Is 2:5). This is the first thing that God said to Abraham: Walk in my presence and live blamelessly. Journeying: our life is a journey, and when we stop moving, things go wrong. Always journeying, in the presence of the Lord, in the light of the Lord, seeking to live with the blamelessness that God asked of Abraham in his promise.

Building. Building the Church. We speak of stones: stones are solid; but living stones, stones anointed by the Holy Spirit. Building the Church, the Bride of Christ, on the cornerstone that is the Lord himself. This is another kind of movement in our lives: building.

Thirdly, professing. We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not profess Jesus Christ, things go wrong. We may become a charitable NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of the Lord. When we are not walking, we stop moving. When we are not building on the stones, what happens? The same thing that happens to children on the beach when they build sandcastles: everything is swept away, there is no solidity. When we do not profess Jesus Christ, the saying of Léon Bloy comes to mind: 'Anyone who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil.' When we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the devil, a demonic worldliness.

Journeying, building, professing. But things are not so straightforward, because in journeying, building, professing, there can sometimes be jolts, movements that are not properly part of the journey: movements that pull us back.

This Gospel continues with a situation of a particular kind. The same Peter who professed Jesus Christ, now says to him: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let us not speak of the Cross. That has nothing to do with it. I will follow you on other terms, but without the Cross. When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.

My wish is that all of us, after these days of grace, will have the courage, yes, the courage, to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Lord's Cross; to build the Church on the Lord's blood which was poured out on the Cross; and to profess the one glory: Christ crucified. And in this way, the Church will go forward. My prayer for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, will grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ crucified. Amen.