My Catholic Life

On Sunday, during his Angelus, Pope Francis prayed for peace in the Ukraine. He and two children then released two doves over St. Peter’s square in a symbolic gesture for peace. The two doves were immediately and quite ferociously attacked by a seagull and a crow. The peace doves managed to escape their attackers and fly away. This is not the first time a dove released from the window of the Vatican has met with such an assault. There was a seagull attack on a peace dove released from the window of the Vatican almost exactly a year ago. January is the traditional month when peace is promoted by the Vatican. The ritual of setting doves free from the balcony in January for world peace originated with Pope John Paul II in 2005. There are often mishaps with the doves, even including their flying back into the window and having to be coaxed back out. Apparently obstacles, and threats to their life, are nothing new for a peace dove. Which is significant. There are many obstacles and threats...

The lips of an adulteress drip with honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, as sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, to the nether world her steps attain; lest you see before you the road to life, her paths will ramble, you know not where. Pr 5:3-6 When most people hear the word adultery they think of the sex thing. That a married person went out and had sex with someone other than their spouse. It does happen that way. In the bible adultery is used to describe the unfaithfulness of the people of God. It’s synonyms are unfaithfulness, disloyalty, infidelity, falseness, treachery, betrayal, deceitfulness, faithlessness, breaking faith. When you have experienced the impact of adultery you come to the realization that the sex thing was the end result but the real thing was something else and that it doesn’t occur just within marriage. It doesn’t come about through sex, it comes about through words. Unfaithfulness is when s...