At his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis reflected on the reading from Saint Matthew's Gospel in which the Lord tells us that we will be judged by the the mercy we show to others.

There is a final push for prayer in the last 24 hours before Christian woman Asia Bibi finds out if she will be hanged in Pakistan. The mother of five has been detained since 2009 and faces the death penalty on alleged blasphemy charges if her final appeal is rejected. Andrew Boyd, from Christian charity Release International, told Premier: "Many people who've been accused of blasphemy have their lives taken by vigilantes anyway, irrespective of what the courts decide. "If the courts decide to revoke the death penalty there's likely to be an uproar in Pakistan. "There are militants who want to see her hanged. "If they go ahead and permit her to be hanged and executed for blasphemy, that's likely to lead to more trouble for Christians."

The Bishop of Paisley, Bishop John Keenan and the Minster of Paisley Abbey, Rev. Alan Birss have joined local author and retired head teacher Tom Higgins to launch a book on the first Catholic school in Paisley. The school was established in October 1816 and was run by a committee of 12 Protestants and 12 Catholics, a cooperation highly untypical of its time and place. Early teaching was provided by two French priests, who had fled to Paisley as refugees from the French Revolution, they also provided private tuition for the offspring of Paisley’s emerging Protestant entrepreneurs, while at the same time undertaking pastoral work among the growing Catholic population. The book will be on sale at St. Mirin’s Cathedral in Paisley and in parishes across the Diocese of Paisley, all profits from the book will go to Mary’s Meals - https://www.marysmeals.org.uk

Are you interested in good Lectio and local spiritual materials? Lectio, a Journal of the Spiritual Life, is the work of Fr Gerry Bogan, Motherwell, and friends following Pope Benedict’s visit to Scotland when he told us what the Church needed not just good management but deeper holiness. The current edition has Bishop Hugh Gilbert’s homily for the Rededication of Pluscarden Abbey, a Personal Pondering on the Mass and a guide on Lectio Divina. To order a copy contact the Editor on columbaviewpark@gmail.com

The theme chosen by Pope Francis for the XV General Assembly of the Ordinary Synod of Bishops taking place in October 2018 will be “Young people, faith and vocational discernment.” A press release from the Vatican on Thursday said the Pope made the choice after consulting, as normal, with Bishops Conferences, the Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris and the Union of Superior Generals, in addition to having listened to the suggestions of the Synod Fathers from the last Synod and the opinion of the XIV Ordinary Council.

Canon Joseph Dow, Parish Priest of Christ the King, Howwood, and Our Lady of Fatima, Lochwinnoch, retires. I want to thank Canon Dow for his years of service to the people of the Diocese of Paisley and wish him every blessing for a happy and peaceful retirement.

Please spare a prayer for all of the clergy who are moving parish tomorrow. We all know how strenuous it can be...you just need to ask these guy's!!

The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses, the rose being one of the flowers used to symbolise the Virgin Mary.  It’s also Mary’s Favourite Prayer.  The favourite prayer of Our Lady is the Hail Mary. Better yet!  The favourite prayer of Our Lady is the most Holy Rosary—a bouquet of fifty roses offered to the Heart of our Heavenly Queen.​​​​​​​

Laurence Rossignol unveiled plans to criminalize those sites that aim to dissuade women from obtaining a “voluntary interruption of pregnancy,” a procedure that is 100 percent state-funded in France during the first 12 weeks of gestation. Offenders will incur prison sentences of up to two years and fines up to 30,000 euro (about $33,650) when the plan becomes law. Rossignol has announced that the government will propose an amendment to a law entitled “Equality and Citizenship” to be examined by the French Senate on October 4. The new offense, called “numerical obstruction,” aims to crack down on what Rossignol calls “manipulation” and “biased information” via the Internet in view of convincing women not to have an abortion.

Women who take the contraceptive pill are more likely to be treated for depression, according to a large study. With these recent findings it's not surprising that this has come to light. Let us remind ourselves of the teachings from Humanae Vitae "Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium..."

At the General Audience on Wednesday, 16 October, in St Peter's Square, the Holy Father spoke about the Church handed down through the centuries, like a river, and the source is and always Christ himself. Thus, the topic of his reflection was the Apostolic nature of the Church, continuing the catechises on the Creed. The following is a translation of the Pope's discourse, which was given in Italian.

October 2016. The Pope Video: That journalists, in carrying out their work, may always be motivated by respect for truth and a strong sense of ethics. For the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer - http://www.popesprayer.net).

Francis' conversion did not happen over night. God had waited for him for twenty-five years and now it was Francis' turn to wait. Francis started to spend more time in prayer. He went off to a cave and wept for his sins. Sometimes God's grace overwhelmed him with joy. But life couldn't just stop for God. "Here is our rule - take nothing on your journey, and take up the cross daily."

The rosary—and, more specifically, Our Lady of the Rosary—is credited with victory in a number of the battles that those feasts celebrate. Chief among these is the Battle of Lepanto (October 7, 1571), in which a Christian fleet defeated a superior Ottoman Muslim fleet and stopped the westward expansion of Islam in the Mediterranean. In honour of the victory, Pope Pius V instituted the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which is still celebrated today as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7). And, in 1883, when Pope Leo XIII officially dedicated the month of October to the Holy Rosary, he made reference to the battle and the feast.

Therese died when she was 24, after having lived as cloistered Carmelite for less than ten years. She never went on missions, never founded a religious order, never performed great works. The only book of hers, published after her death, was an brief edited version of her journal called "Story of a Soul." (Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been published recently.) But within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonised.