03 August 2021

• Pope Francis to Medjugorje Youth Festival: Christ Frees Us ‘From the Seduction of Idols’...
  In a message to the Medjugorje Youth Festival on Monday, Pope Francis told young Catholics that Christ’s loving gaze can free them from attraction to idols. “Have the courage to live your youth by entrusting yourselves to the Lord and setting out on a journey with him,” the pope said Aug. 2.
• 10 ways you might be letting the devil slip in without even realizing it...
  God is the ultimate power, so the devil need not be feared, but he should be always be avoided for our own spiritual well-being. Hearing people say, “It’s no big deal,” is music to the devil’s ears. He likes to work undercover to ensnare people in his traps. Here are 10 things considered harmless by many that are ways that the devil has slipped into the culture.
• How two friends decided to share Olympic gold in Tokyo...
  Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar agreed to share a gold medal at the Tokyo Games on Sunday in a competition settled not by clearing the top height but with a subtle nod. In a huddle with track officials, the high jumpers were given the option to settle the tie with a jump-off. Barshim had a better idea: How about two golds?
• Life lessons from Simone Biles: Throw stones or give thanks?
  Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from Olympic competition this year has certainly generated a great deal of heated discussion, with some public commentators praising her for her courage and others describing her as a selfish quitter. From my experience in psychology, I know it is very hard to determine exactly what is going on in another person’s mind and heart...
• With Rome’s blessing, Switzerland’s Bishop Charles Morerod appoints lay people to be his regional “vicars”...
  A small ecclesial revolution is currently taking place in the Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg (LGF) in Switzerland. But it likely would not have come about so soon without COVID-19 as a detonator."The pandemic has precipitated a situation that I expected to see in 20 or 30 years: empty churches, to which many of the faithful do not return, and a Catholicism that often no longer 'tells' people anything," explains Bishop Charles Morerod, leader of this mostly Francophone diocese of just over 700,000 members.