[Previously Published] Pope Benedict XVI meets Fidel Castro on his visit to Cuba

Pope Benedict met with Cuba's revolutionary icon, Fidel Castro on the last day of his three-day visit to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church's relationship with Cuba.

According to Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, Benedict and Castro conversed for 30 minutes in a "very cordial" atmosphere. Castro told Benedict that he is currently spending most of his time reading and reflecting on the state of the world today. He reportedly questioned Benedict about changes in Church tradition and asked the pope to send him a book to help him reflect.

[Previously Published] New book on Shroud of Turin claims Jesus' resurrection was an illusion

Christians all around the world are about to celebrate Holy Week and Easter; yet a new book by historian Thomas de Wesselow, "The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection" claims The Shroud of Turin, one of the most studied artifacts in history, was really the burial cloth of Christ. He insists that the sight of the shroud misled disciples into believing Jesus had risen from the dead.

Why do we judge others?

Jesus said the following in Matthew 7:1-5:

“Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?"

Then he goes on to say:

"Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?" Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Wow... those last two verses set me straight every time.

Is there a link between spirituality and the brain?

Is there a link between spirituality and the brain? What allows one to have spiritual experiences?

In 1997, researchers James Ashbrook and Carol Rausch Albright broke new ground in the relationship between spirituality and science. In this study, they identified a 'God spot': an area of the brain linked to religious or spiritual experiences. According to Ashbrook and Albright, this 'God spot' is at the epicenter of the brain. It determines one's spirituality and connection to a higher power or omnipotent creator. However, a more recent study in the International Journal of the Psychology of Religion, led by George (Brick) Johnstone, drew another conclusion.

Did Mammy Know Her Worth?

 

“It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.” ― Abraham Lincoln

 

 

Mammy is a woman to which we are all familiar. Did she have a deep and pure awareness of her self-worth? Self-worth is defined as "the opinion you have about yourself and the value you place on yourself." And she is not just a character. To some, she is quite familiar - whether in passing, in our own families/households or even by a similarity we often sense within ourselves.