Baptism

  The Emperor, amused by the whispers of a new faith, commanded  Genesius to create his greatest satire yet: a play to mock the Christians.  Genesius, ever the loyal servant of his art and his Emperor, accepted the commission. It was just another role, another mask to wear. To perfect his mockery,  Genesius delved into the world he meant to ridicule. He studied the Christian's texts and learned their rituals, not with an open heart, but with the sharp eye of a satirist searching for flaws to exploit on stage. The night of the performance arrived. Before the Emperor and all his court, Genesius was magnificent, His parody was sharp, his timing impeccable. The theatre echoed with laughter. Then came the climax: the mock baptism. As the stage water touched his brow and the hol l ow words were spoken, a light, unseen by any other, pierced Genesius’ s soul. The satire crumbled, the character dissolved, and for a silent monument stage, only the man rem...

 Jerusalem is the final destination where Jesus, at his last Passover, must die and rise again and thus bring his mission of salvation to fulfilment. From that moment, after that “firm decision” Jesus aimed straight for his goal and in addition said clearly to the people he met and who asked to follow him what the conditions were: to have no permanent dwelling place; to know how to be detached from human affections and not to give in to nostalgia for the past. Jesus, however, also told his disciples to precede him on the way to Jerusalem and to announce his arrival, but not to impose anything: if the disciples did not find a readiness to welcome him, they should go ahead, they should move on. Jesus never imposes, Jesus is humble, Jesus invites. If you want to, come. The humility of Jesus is like this: he is always inviting but never imposing. All of this gives us food for thought. It tells us, for example, of the importance which the conscience had for Jesus too: listening in his h...

  Ballad of Genesius https://elevenlabs.io/music/songs/RRBuULudZUseHEGYRoJg

  Pope Leo’s pleasant surprise regarding France https://aleteia.org/2025/09/26/pope-leos-pleasant-surprise-regarding-france/ In a book-length interview published on September 18 in Spanish, Pope Leo XIV revealed that he had been particularly struck by the number of catechumens in France. In his first interview since his election, published in a book released on September 18 in Spanish, Leo XIV discusses many topics and reveals some of the directions his pontificate will take. But when he brought up a very specific subject — catechumens — he spoke of a specific country: France. In his answers in “Leo XIV, Citizen of the World, Missionary of the XXI Century,” Leo XIV specifically mentioned the situation of the Church in that country, referring to his audience on July 29 with 600 young catechumens — people seeking baptism — in France. He describes as "very interesting" the phenomenon of the rise of catechumens in a country “which for a period of time was considered one of the...