Pope Francis reflects on the connection between prayer and the communion of saints in his weekly Wednesday audience.

Suffering is never the end in the Christian worldview and, more importantly, the Christian experience.  

The Crucifixion is not just an image of God’s love, but a mirror reflecting our sin back to us, saying, this is the evil you’re capable of.

Remember the jar of expensive, perfumed oil that Mary pours on Jesus’ feet. We know Mary, Martha and Lazarus weren’t rich, and this oil was expensive. They would have been saving it for a special occasion.

Jesus does not condemn the woman caught in adultery, and he does not condemn us. But he challenges her, and he challenges us, to sin no more. 

The freedom we find in Christ can lead us to act on behalf of the marginalized.