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During his September 13 general audience, Pope Francis presented the life of Blessed José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros as an example of the Gospel in action and service to the greater good. The general audience was the latest installment of the pope’s ongoing series on apostolic zeal, which is an opportunity for the faithful to “meet passionate witnesses to the proclamation of the Gospel,” individuals who embodied “the will and also the inner passion to carry the Gospel forward,” according to the pope. Wednesday’s catechism focused on the Venezuelan Hernández, the “people’s doctor,” and was the 20th installment in the series, which opened January 11 with the life of the Apostle Matthew. Hernández was the first Venezuelan layperson to be beatified. Pope Francis also took a moment to speak about the importance Hernández’s mother played in passing down the faith.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255353/pope-francis-highlights-life-of-service-of-venezuelan-blessed-at-general-audience
A federal appeals court panel has unanimously ruled in favor of a Catholic group that said a local government in Michigan violated federal religious freedom law when it blocked the use of the group’s 40-acre property for a Stations of the Cross trail. In 2020 the organization received a 40-acre wooded parcel in Genoa Township in southeast Michigan as a gift from the Diocese of Lansing. CHI planned to create a prayer trail with Stations of the Cross, a Catholic devotion that meditates on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as well as an altar and mural placed in an outdoor grotto formed by the property’s trees. Genoa Township said the prayer path project was the equivalent of a church building and required a special use permit. CHI plans to continue its ongoing lawsuit against Genoa Township over plans to build a small 95-seat eucharistic adoration chapel that the township has rejected.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255352/michigan-township-can-t-ban-catholic-group-s-stations-of-the-cross-court-rules
Archbishop John Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in a Monday statement defended the New Mexico governor’s recent controversial executive order banning the carrying of guns in the state’s most populated county. “The number of gun deaths we witness here is deplorable and tragic. I hope we can come together in New Mexico to address this issue,” the archbishop said. The order, issued by Lujan Grisham on September 7, temporarily suspends the right of citizens to bear arms in public in Bernalillo County, home to New Mexico’s largest city, Albuquerque. Lujan Grisham issued the order following the deaths by shootings of several Albuquerque children in recent months. The order suspended the carrying of guns by citizens for 30 days and was given on the grounds that gun violence in the state constitutes a “public health emergency.” The Albuquerque mayor and police chief have signaled that they will not enforce the gun ban and that they will leave it to state authorities to do so.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255349/new-mexico-bishop-defends-governor-s-controversial-gun-ban
Today, the Church celebrates Saint John Chrysostom, considered the greatest preacher in the history of the Church, and the most prominent Greek father of the Church. In 398, he was forcefully appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, and fast became very popular with his flock through his example of preaching and courage in front of the imperial power, whose corruption and decadence he never shirked from criticizing in public. Chrysostom's many writings, especially homilies and commentaries on the Gospels, still exist and have exerted great influence over the centuries.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-john-chrysostom-362