Pope Francis acknowledged the serious shortage of priests in remote areas of the Amazon, but he insisted not all avenues have been exhausted to address the issue.

On a recent Sunday, I was able to experience Mass at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium although I was hundreds of miles away in Florida.

Pope Francis said he dreams of an Amazon region where the rights of the poor and indigenous are respected, local cultures are preserved, nature is protected, and the Catholic Church is present and active with “Amazonian features.”

I often think that the small actions, the little kindnesses, are the ones that touch your heart in a special way.

A funeral Mass for Mercy Sister Annella Martin will be offered at 10 a.m. on Feb. 15 in McAuley Chapel at Mercy Medical Center. Sister Annella died Feb. 6. She was 90 and had served at Mercy Medical Center for nearly 50 years.