tvc.dsj.org | February 20, 2018
IN THE CHURCH
7
Lent is Time to Become Aware of False Prophets, Cold Hearts, Pope Says
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY – Catholics should
use the season of Lent to look for signs
and symptoms of being under the spell
of false prophets and of living with
cold, selfish and hateful hearts, Pope
Francis said.
Together with “the often bitter
medicine of the truth,” the church – as
mother and teacher – offers people “the
soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving
and fasting,” the pope said in his mes-
sage for Lent, which began February 14
for Latin-rite Catholics.
The pope also invited all non-Cath-
olics who are disturbed by the increas-
ing injustice, inertia and indifference in
the world, to “join us then in raising our
plea to God in fasting and in offering
whatever you can to our brothers and
sisters in need.”
The pope’s Lenten message, which
was released at the Vatican February 6,
looked at Jesus’ apocalyptic discourse
to the disciples on the Mount of Olives,
warning them of the many signs and
calamities that will signal the end of
time and the coming of the son of man.
Titled, “Because of the increase of
evildoing, the love of many will grow
cold” (Mt. 24:12), the papal message
echoes Jesus’ caution against the ex-
ternal enemies of false prophets and
deceit, and the internal dangers of
selfishness, greed and a lack of love.
Today’s false prophets, the pope
wrote, “can appear as ‘snake charmers,’
who manipulate human emotions in
order to enslave others and lead them
where they would have them go.”
So many of God’s children, he wrote,
are: “mesmerized by momentary plea-
sures, mistaking them for true happi-
ness;” enchanted by money’s illusion,
“which only makes them slaves to prof-
it and petty interests;” and convinced
they are autonomous and “sufficient
unto themselves, and end up entrapped
by loneliness!”
“False prophets can also be ‘char-
latans,’ who offer easy and immediate
solutions to suffering that soon prove
utterly useless,” he wrote. People can
be trapped by the allure of drugs,
“disposable relationships,” easy, but
dishonest gains as well as “virtual,”
but ultimately meaningless relation-
ships, he wrote.
“These swindlers, in peddling
things that have no real value, rob
people of all that is most precious: dig-
nity, freedom and the ability to love,”
the message said.
The pope asked people to examine
their heart to see “if we are falling prey
to the lies of these false prophets” and
to learn to look at things more closely,
“beneath the surface,” and recognize
that what comes from God is life-giving
and leaves “a good and lasting mark on
our hearts.”
Sisters from Minnesota Catholic Schools
Play on Separate Olympic Teams
By Matthew Davis
Catholic News Service
ST. PAUL, Min n. (CNS) – Few
schools can claim an Olympic athlete
among their alumni base. Even fewer
schools have more than one, especially
from the same family. But Hill-Murray
High School in Maplewood and Saint
Odilia School in Shoreview – both
Catholic schools – are proud to make
this claim. That’s because Hannah
and Marissa Brandt, graduates of both
schools, play on women’s Olympic ice
hockey teams competing in this year’s
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Han-
nah Brandt, a recent standout with
the University of Minnesota women’s
hockey team, is a forward for the U.S.
Olympic team, which defeated Finland
3-1 on February 11 and will play Olym-
pic Athletes from Russia February 13.
Marissa Brandt, who was adopted as a
baby from South Korea, used her birth
Christians also need to look for any
signs that their love for God and others
has started to dim or grow cold, the
pope said.
Greed for money is a major red flag,
he wrote, because it is the “root of all
evil” and soon leads to a rejection of
God and his peace.
“All this leads to violence against
anyone we think is a threat to our
own ‘certainties’: the unborn child, the
elderly and infirm, the migrant, the for-
eigner among us, or our neighbor who
does not live up to our expectations,”
the pope wrote.
Another sign of love turned cold is
the problem of pollution, he said, which
causes creation to become poisoned by
waste, “discarded out of carelessness or
selfishness.”
The polluted oceans unfortunately
also become a burial ground for count-
less victims of forced migration and
“the heavens, which in God’s plan,
were created to sing his praises,” are
slashed by machinery that rain down
instruments of death, he wrote.
Whole communities, he said, also
can show signs of a cold lack of love
wherever there is selfish sloth, sterile
pessimism, the temptation to become
isolated, constant internal fighting and
a “worldly mentality that makes us
concerned only for appearances, and
thus lessens our missionary zeal.”
The remedy for these ills can be
strengthened during Lent with prayer,
almsgiving and fasting, he wrote.
Praying more enables “our hearts
to root out our secret lies and forms
of self-deception, and then to find the
consolation God offers,” he said in his
message.
“Almsgiving sets us free from greed
and helps us to regard our neighbor as
a brother or sister,” it said.
Urging people to make charitable
giving and assistance a genuine part
of their everyday life, he asked that
people look at every request for help
as a request from God himself. Look
at almsgiving as being part of God’s
generous and providential plan, and
helping his children in need.
Finally, “fasting weakens our ten-
dency to violence; it disarms us and
becomes an important opportunity
for growth,” he said, while also letting
people feel what it must be like for
those who struggle to survive.
It also “expresses our own spiritual
hunger and thirst for life in God. Fast-
ing wakes us up. It makes us more
attentive to God and our neighbor,” he
wrote, and “revives our desire to obey
God, who alone is capable of satisfying
our hunger.”
The pope also reminded people to
take part in the “24 Hours for the Lord”
initiative March 9-10 in which many
dioceses will have at least one church
open for 24 hours, offering Eucharistic
Adoration and the Sacrament of Rec-
onciliation.
If you are a Homeowner 62+ you
may be Entitled to More Money!
Reverse Mortgage Lending
Limit is NOW $679,650!
Hannah Brandt poses with her adopted sister
Marissa, left, on Christmas day in 2017 at the
family home in Saint Paul, Minn. The Catholic
siblings participated in the 2018 Winter Olym-
pics on separate ice hockey teams. Hannah
Brandt played for the U.S. and Marissa Brandt
for the combined Koreas. (CNS photo/Adam
Bettcher, Reuters)
name, Park-Yoon Jung, for the Olympics
and plays defense for the combined
Koreas, which lost 8-0 to Switzerland
February 10. Hill-Murray and Saint
Odilia recognized the sisters’ achieve-
ments in the weeks leading up to the
games. The Saint Odilia school office
has a display of the Brandts’ successes.
Also, our Jumbo Reverse Mortgage
may offer you more money than
a FHA reverse mortgage!
CALL Me! I’m Local.
408.297.0000
Dan Casagrande, Harvard MBA
www.ReverseManDan.com
Borrower must maintain property as primary residence and remain current on
property taxes and insurance.
Dan Casagrande, NMLS ID 561104. Synergy One Lending, Inc. d/b/a/ ReƟrement Funding
SoluƟons NMLS 1025894. Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the
California ResidenƟal Mortgage Lending Act – California License 4131356. Borrower must
maintain property as primary residence and remain current on property taxes and
insurance. These materials are not from HUD or FHA and the document was not
approved by HUD, FHA or any Government Agency.