FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 23, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT GEORGE, MARTYR AND SAINT ADALBERT OF PRAGUE, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter!

We continue to celebrate and rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this Easter season and always🙏

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN | April 23, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 23, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 23, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 23, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 23, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) | https://youtu.be/vVc782kcDds

Today’s Bible Readings: Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 11:19-26
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 87:1-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel, John 10:22-30

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF APRIL – MONTH OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The month of April is traditionally dedicated to devotion to Jesus in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Catholic Church teaches that the Blessed Sacrament is the real and living presence of Christ—His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—received into our souls with every reception of Holy Communion. Our Eucharistic Lord is the source and summit of our Christian life, the ultimate proof of His infinite love for us.

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL – FOR THE ROLE OF WOMEN: We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognized in every culture, and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world. 🙏

PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏

During this Easter season, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏

On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏

Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT GEORGE, MARTYR AND SAINT ADALBERT OF PRAGUE, BISHOP AND MARTYR: As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint George, Martyr and Saint Adalbert of Prague, Bishop and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and  the  Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, we particularly pray for those with skin diseases and those who are terminally ill and dying. May God in His infinite grace and mercy grant them His divine healing and intervention. We also pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners and for Christians all over the world. We pray for those in the military, Boys Scouts, farmers and field workers, we pray for God’s guidance and protection🙏

SAINT GEORGE, MARTYR: St. George is venerated by the Eastern Church, among the Greeks St. George is called “the Great Martyr” and “standard-.” His feast is kept as a Holy Day of Obligation. His intercession was implored especially in battles, as he is said to have been a soldier. Under the first Norman kings he was chosen as Patron of England, since 800, and Edward III instituted an order of Knighthood in his honor. He belonged to the Roman army, was arrested and, probably, beheaded under Diocletian, c. 303. St. George is one of the “Fourteen Holy Helpers.”

St. George (d. 303 A.D.) was born in Palestine to noble Christian parents. Like his father, he enlisted as a soldier in the Roman army serving under Emperor Diocletian. He was renowned for his bravery and outstanding military prowess, and was a favorite of the Emperor. Many fantastical legends are ascribed to him, however, none are known to be true with any certainty. There are some who suppose that it was St. George who tore down the imperial edicts of persecution when they were first published at Nicomedia. He is generally represented as engaged in combat with a dragon. The most famous legend is St. George and the Dragon, where St. George, after making the Sign of the Cross, saved a king’s daughter from being devoured by a man-eating dragon. St. George killed the elusive dragon, and by this feat persuaded many souls to accept baptism. He also admonished the king, in gratitude for his princess being saved by Christ’s power, to support the cause of the Church. What is known with certainty is that St. George, after confessing and refusing to renounce his faith in Christ, was martyred in Palestine during the Christian persecution of Diocletian. He became a highly venerated saint in antiquity, and many early churches were dedicated in his honor.

The devotion to this holy Martyr, St. George can be traced at least to the 5th century, and it can be proven that the oldest of the churches dedicated to his honor in Constantinople was built by Constantine the Great, then certainly to a much earlier date. He died about the year 303 and is one of the Fourteen Helpers invoked for emergencies or afflictions. St. George is the Patron Saint of many causes and countries including Soldiers; Kinights; Boys Scouts;  Aragon; agricultural workers; farmers; archers; armourers; Beirut; Lebanon; chivalry; horsemen; butchers; Canada; Cappadocia; Catalonia; cavalry; chivalry; Constantinople; Crusaders; England; equestrians; farmers; Ferrara Italy; field hands; field workers; Genoa, Italy; Georgia; Germany; Gozo; Greece; horsemen; horses; husbandmen; Istanbul; knights; Lithuania; Malta; Moscow; Order of the Garter; Palestine; Palestinian Christians; Portugal; riders; saddle makers; saddlers; Teutonic Knights; Venice. He is invoked by sufferers of herpes, leprosy, lepers, skin diseases, skin rashes, syphilis, plague, and snakebites. St. George’s feast day is April 23rd.

PRAYER: Lord, we acclaim Your might and humbly pray. Just as St. George imitated the Lord’s Passion, so let him now come to the aid of our weakness. Amen🙏
 
SAINT ADALBERT OF PRAGUE, BISHOP AND MARTYR: St. Adalbert was the Bishop of Prague and a missionary to the Hungarians, Poles, and Prussians. He was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians to Christianity. St. Adalbert (whose Czech birth name is Vojtech) was born in Bohemia around the year 956 to a family of nobility in the Central European region of Bohemia during the mid-900s. When Vojtech became seriously ill during his childhood, his parents resolved that they would offer their son to God as a priest if their prayers for his survival were granted. Vojtech survived the illness, and his parents sent him to study with Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg, a Benedictine missionary who would later be canonized in his own right. The archbishop gave the young student his own name, Adalbert at confirmation, setting an example that the boy would follow in his own life as a bishop, missionary and monk. The young Adalbert was 25 when his mentor died in 981. He returned to his native Bohemia, where Bishop Deitmar of Prague ordained him a priest two years later. On February 10, 982, only two years after his ordination as a priest and at the age of 26, Adalbert became the Bishop of Prague and entered the city barefoot and determined to make a change in the unruly city noting, “It is easy to wear a miter and carry a crozier but it is a terrible thing to have to give an account of a bishopric to the Judge of the living and the dead.” Although Adalbert could afford comfort and luxury, he lived poorly of his own free will. He was noted for charity, austerity, and zealous service to the Church. He preached the faith to the poor and visited them in their rural village homes as well as in their prison cells. His duty was difficult even in baptized Bohemia, as the pagan creed was deeply embedded in the culture. Adalbert complained of polygamy and idolatry, which still were not unusual among the Czechs. Many of the nobility did not want to be seen worshipping with the peasantry and challenged Adalbert’s work in trying to convert the poor. He had aroused enmity by his efforts to reform the clergy of his diocese and he strongly protested the participation of formally Christian inhabitants in the slave trade.

In 989, thoroughly discouraged, he resigned from his bishop’s cloth and left Prague. He went to Rome and lived as a hermit in St. Alexis Benedictine monastery with his brother, Blessed Radzim Gaudenty. Four years later, in 993, Pope John XV sent him back to Prague as the Bishop with the promised cooperation of civil rulers. Adalbert founded a monastery in Břevnov, near Prague, the first one for men in the Czech lands. Then, Adalbert went to Hungary and baptized King Gesza and his son Stephen. He was then sent to convert the heathen Prussians in what was one of the last strongholds of polytheistic paganism in Europe. Adalbert went to Poland where he was cordially welcomed by Duke Boleslaw Chrobry, who sent soldiers with Adalbert. The bishop and his followers entered Prussian territory near Gdansk and went along the Baltic Sea coast. It was a standard procedure of Christian missionaries to try to chop down sacred oak trees which they had done in many other places. The trees were worshipped and the spirits believed to inhabit the trees were feared for their powers. This was done to demonstrate that no supernatural powers protected the trees from the Christians. When they did not heed warnings to stay away from the sacred oak groves, St. Adalbert was martyred along with his two companions, Benedict and Gaudentius, on the 23rd of April 997 on the Baltic Sea coast between Gdansk and Elblag at the instigation of a pagan priest. Adalbert was impaled with seven spears and decapitated. The bodies were thrown into the river somewhere in the area of the Elbing Canal and the Nogat River. A Polish prince ransomed back St. Adalbert’s body from the pagans, exchanging his remains for their weight in gold. His relics were transferred to the Polish city of Gniezno, and kept in the church known as Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Adalbert.  In April 999, Pope Sylvester II canonized Adalbert as Saint Adalbert of Prague. He’s the Patron Saint of Bohemia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Duchy of Prussia and the Archdiocese of Esztergom in Hungary.

PRAYER: God, You bestowed the crown of martyrdom on St. Adalbert, Your Bishop, who was animated by zeal for souls. By his intercession, grant that pastors may not be without their flocks’ obedience nor flocks without their pastor’s care. Amen🙏

PRAYER INTENTIONS: We thank God for blessing us all with the gift of His precious son, may we be saved by the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! May the Lord grant us His grace as we continue to serve Him in spirit and in truth during this Easter Season. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying. We particularly pray for sick children, those who are sick with convulsive disorder, mental illness, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. May God restore them to good health and grant them His Divine healing and intervention. May our Mother Mary comfort them, may the Angels and Saints watch over them and may the Holy Spirit guide them in peace and comfort during this challenging time. We pray for the safety and well-being of us all and our families, for peace, love and unity in our families, our marriages and our divided and conflicted world. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in peace with our Lord Jesus Christ Amen. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. For vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 10:22-30

“The Father and I are one”

“The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus speaks as the good shepherd who looks after each member of His flock and keeps them all united to Himself. He defends the members of His flock in times of danger, He stands up against the thieves and robbers who intend to do harm to the flock. He is the good shepherd who is prepared to put His life on the line for His flock. Jesus says that ‘they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me’. It is a very reassuring promise for all of us. He is declaring there that if we do our best to keep following Him, if we keep on trying to listen to His voice, He will keep us faithful to Himself. He will not allow the forces that are hostile to our relationship with Him to get the better of us. Just as shepherd will not allow any of His flock to be stolen, because He is so protective of them, the Lord will not allow us to fall away from Him, because He is so protective of us, as long as we want to remain a member of his flock and do not deliberately walk away from Him. The Gospel reading suggests that just as a shepherd holds His flock together, it is the Lord who holds the church together, the community of His followers. His investment in us will always be greater than our investment in Him. We are being reminded that the life of the church and the quality of our own personal relationship with the Lord is not all down to us. Yes, we have a role to play; we have to listen to His voice and endeavour to go where he leads. Yet, His work on our behalf is always more significant than our work on His behalf.

In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, one of the most attractive characters in the New Testament mentioned is Barnabas. Barnabas was a nick name; it meant ‘Son of Encouragement’. He had a reputation for encouraging people. That is very evident from today’s reading. When something new was happening in the city of Antioch, when pagans were coming to believe in Jesus as well as Jews, Barnabas was sent down from Jerusalem to look at what was happening. He liked what he saw and gave them all great encouragement, urging them all to remain faithful to the Lord. He immediately went off to Tarsus to look for Saul, or Paul, who had recently come to faith in Christ and Barnabas encouraged him to go to Antioch and support this new development there. Paul went on to become a leading member of the church in Antioch. Barnabas was what we would call today, an enabler or facilitator. That is part of the calling of each one of us. We are called to encourage one another in the faith, to help one another to grow in our relationship with the Lord, to enable one another to be faithful. That ministry of mutual encouragement was very important in the early church and is just as important today.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are reminded of the call and responsibilities that each and every one of us have as Christians in proclaiming the truth of God to more and more people around us, to all those who have not yet heard of Him and those who have yet to know Him. All of us are called to be the bearers of God’s truth and love to the world, through our every words, actions and deeds. All of us ought to proclaim our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord, and everything that He had done for us, in bringing us all out of the darkness and into the light, in saving us all from the threat of eternal damnation and death by freeing us from our sins. As Christians, each and every one of us are called and reminded to be good and faithful missionaries through our lives and our good examples. Let us all be inspired by the good examples of the Saints we celebrate today, especially St. Athanasius, Holy servant of God, our role model and most courageous defender of the Christian faith. Let us all be good role models and inspirations to one another as well, through our every words, actions and deeds, so that we may inspire more and more people to be ever more committed to the Lord and to follow Him. That is our calling and that is what we should be doing in our daily lives as those who truly believe in the Lord. May the Lord, our Saviour and Good Shepherd, be our guide and help and may He empower us all to be like His servants, like St. Athanasius, St. Antoninus and others in their faith and commitment. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, be with us always, and may He grant us His grace and strengthen us that we will remain faithful and true to our calling, and be courageous in proclaiming our faith in our respective lives, now and always and may God bless our every good works and efforts, for the greater glory of His Name. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My mysterious and hidden Lord, You speak to me day and night and continually reveal Your love to me. Help me to learn to listen to You so that I may grow deep in faith and may truly become Your follower in every way. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint George, Martyr and Saint Adalbert of Prague, Bishop and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, and praying for His Divine Mercy and Grace, for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful Fourth Week of Easter 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖