SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 10, 2024
MEMORIAL OF SAINT DAMIEN JOSEPH DE VEUSTER OF MOLOKAI, PRIEST; SAINT JOHN OF AVILA, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH; SAINT SOLANGE, VIRGIN AND MARTYR; SAINTS GORDIANUS AND EPIMACHUS, MARTYRS AND SAINT ANTONINUS, BISHOP OF FLORENCE
NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT ~ DAY ONE: Prayed in preparation for Pentecost. Beginning today, Friday, May 10, 2024 (link below)
Greetings beloved family and Happy Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter!
May God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this season of Easter🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN | May 10, 2024” |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 10, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | May 10, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 10, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 10, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter, May 10, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 18:9-18
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 47:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel, John 16:20-23
NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: Prayed in preparation for Pentecost. Beginning today, Friday, May 10, 2024 (link below): Novena to the Holy Spirit for the Seven Gifts | EWTN | The novena – May 10-18, 2024 | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-to-the-holy-spirit-for-the-seven-gifts-309
[This Novena begins on the day after the Solemnity of the Ascension, Friday of the 6th Week of Easter, even if the Solemnity of the Ascension is transferred to the 7th Sunday.]
NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Prayed in preparation for Pentecost
DAY ONE: Friday, May 10, 2024, 6th Week of Easter
Holy Spirit! Lord of Light! From Your clear celestial height, Your pure beaming radiance give!
The Holy Spirit
Only one thing is important — eternal salvation. Only one thing, therefore, is to be feared–sin? Sin is the result of ignorance, weakness, and indifference The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Light, of Strength, and of Love. With His sevenfold gifts He enlightens the mind, strengthens the will, and inflames the heart with love of God. To ensure our salvation we ought to invoke the Divine Spirit daily, for ‘The Spirit helpeth our infirmity. We know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself asketh for us.’
Prayer
Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit, and hast given us forgiveness all sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen🙏
Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE; Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace, O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, ‘Speak Lord for Your servant heareth.’ Amen🙏
PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before ascending into heaven, did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen🙏
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Let us pray: O God, Who did instruct the hearts of Thy faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit,grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation,through Christ, our Lord. Amen🙏
Novena to the Holy Spirit: Prayed in preparation for Pentecost (link below)
Novena to the Holy Spirit for the Seven Gifts | EWTN | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-to-the-holy-spirit-for-the-seven-gifts-309
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF MAY: MONTH OF OUR LADY: In addition to the myriad feast days honoring Our Lady under her many titles and virtues, the entire month of May is especially given to her praise. In the words of Pope Paul VI, May is “a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God … For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.”
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF MAY – FOR THE FORMATION OF RELIGIOUS AND SEMINARIANS: We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.🙏
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 DAMIEN JOSEPH DE VEUSTER OF MOLOKAI, PRIEST; SAINT JOHN OF AVILA, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH; SAINT SOLANGE, VIRGIN AND MARTYR; SAINTS GORDIANUS AND EPIMACHUS, MARTYRS AND SAINT ANTONINUS, BISHOP OF FLORENCE ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 10TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai, Priest; Saint John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church; Saint Solange, Virgin and Martyr; St. Antoninus, Bishop of Florence and Saints Gordianus and Epimachus, Martyrs. Through the intercession of the Saints, we humbly pray for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world. We also pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, for the sick and dying, for the poor and needy and Christians all over the world.🙏
SAINT DAMIEN JOSEPH DE VEUSTER OF MOLOKAI, PRIEST: St. Damien de Veuster (1840–1889), also known as St. Damien of Molokai. He was born Jozef De Veuster on January 3, 1840. St. Damien was a Roman Catholic Priest from Belgium belonging to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious institute. He was recognized for his ministry, which he led from 1873 until his death in 1889, in the Kingdom of Hawaii for people with leprosy (Hansen’s disease), who lived in government-mandated medical quarantine in a settlement on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokai. St. Damien had a special devotion to St. Francis Xavier and desired, like him, to be a missionary. His desire was fulfilled when he was sent to minister in Hawaii in place of his brother, a religious of the same congregation, who was assigned to go but was unable due to illness. The island was suffering from an influx of unknown diseases brought by foreigners, among them Hansen’s disease (leprosy). The island of Molokai became quarantined as a leper colony, and all lepers were forcibly exiled there. The local bishop believed that the people living on the island, numbering over 800 at the time, needed a priest. Yet, the bishop knew that ministering to a people of this contagious and deadly disease would be a death sentence for the priest who went. The bishop asked for priests to volunteer to serve in Molokai. After serving in Hawaii for nine years, Fr. Damien was the first to volunteer. He began his ministry to the lepers in 1873. He built a church on the island and did much to improve the morale and joy among the people. The young priest worked hard to better the living conditions of the people both physically and spiritually. He administered basic medical care to them and built shelters, dug graves, erected a water supply, created a village, and built a primitive hospital.
St. Damien insisted that the lepers should be accorded the same respect, kindness, and courtesy that was due to all God’s children. And he treated each of them with respect, diligently, washing and bandaging them. St. Damien lived and ministered at the Kalaupapa leper colony for 15 years, fully knowing that this decision would eventually cause him to contract and die of the horribly mutilating disease. In 1885, the saintly man contracted leprosy, but he did not let that interfere with his working habits. He continued to aid the sick in their needs and changed forever the manner in which those with leprosy were viewed. St. Damian died of leprosy on April 15, 1889 at the age of 49. At the time of his death St. Damien was aided in his work by three priests and three Franciscan sisters. He became known as a “martyr of charity” and the “Apostle to the Lepers.” He’s the Patron Saint of People with Leprosy. He was beatified on June 4, 1995, by Pope John Paul II, who called him a “Servant of Humanity.” Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009 during the Year of Priests. He’s the Patron Saint of People with Leprosy. His feast day is May 10th.
PRAYER: God, light and Shepherd of souls, you established Blessed Damien as Priest in Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the Faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen. Saint Damien de Veuster of Molokai🙏
SAINT JOHN OF AVILA, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. John of Avila (1499 – 1569) was a Spanish priest, preacher, scholastic author, and religious mystic. He is called the “Apostle of Andalusia”, for his extensive ministry in that region. St. John of Avila was born on January 6, 1499 at Almodóvar del Campo, Kingdom of Toledo, Crown of Castile in Spain. St. John was sent at the age of 14 to the University of Salamanca to study law. He later moved to Alcala, where he studied philosophy and theology before his ordination as a diocesan priest. After John’s parents died and left him as their sole heir to a considerable fortune, he distributed his money to the poor. In 1527, he traveled to Seville, hoping to become a missionary in Mexico. The archbishop of that city persuaded him to stay and spread the faith in Andalusia. During nine years of work there, he developed a reputation as an engaging preacher, a perceptive spiritual director, and a wise confessor. Because John was not afraid to denounce vice in high places, he was investigated by the Inquisition but was cleared in 1533. He later worked in Cordoba and then in Granada, where he organized the University of Baeza, the first of several colleges run by diocesan priests who dedicated themselves to teaching and giving spiritual direction to young people.
St. John of Avila was friends with and influenced Saints Francis Borgia, Ignatius of Loyola, John of God, John of the Cross, Peter of Alcantara, Teresa of Avila and Ven. Louis of Granada. St. John of Avila worked closely with members of the Society of Jesus and helped their growth within Spain and its colonies. St. John’s mystical writings have been translated into several languages. He died on May 10, 1569 (aged 70) at Montilla, Kingdom of Córdoba, Crown of Castile. He was Beatified on November 12, 1893 by Pope Leo XIII and Canonized on May 31, 1970 by Pope Paul VI. He was declared a doctor of the Church on October 7, 2012. He’s the Patron Saint of Andalusia, Spain, Spanish Secular Clergy St. John of Avila’s liturgical feast is celebrated on May 10th
QUOTES OF SAINT JOHN OF AVILA:
“Turn yourself round like a piece of clay and say to the Lord: I am clay, and You, Lord, the potter. Make of me what You will.”
“Withdraw your heart from the world before God takes your body from it.”
PRAYER: Almighty and eternal God, who gave your holy Church blessed John of Avila as Doctor, grant that what he taught when moved by the divine Spirit may always stay firm in our hearts; and, as by your gift we embrace him as our patron, may we also have him as our defender to entreat your mercy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. St. John of Avila ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT SOLANGE, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Solange (died May 10, 880) was a Frankish shepherdess born to poor vineyard workers, but devout family in the town of Villemont, near Bourges, France. She was a locally venerated Christian Saint and cephalophore, whose cult is restricted to Sainte-Solange, Cher. Saint Solange was the patron of the traditional Province of Berry, of which Cher is a part. St. Solange consecrated her virginity at the age of seven, the young virgin shepherdess took a personal vow of chastity, devoting herself to God alone. When she said her prayers in the field, a star shone over her head. Reported to have the gift of healing, especially of animals, according to some, her mere presence cured the sick and exorcised devils.
Her beauty attracted the lustful attention of a noble in Poitiers, Bernard, son of the Count of Poitiers, who was her landlord. He murdered her for resisting his sexual advances. The son of the count of Poitiers was highly taken with the beauty and popularity of St. Solange and approached her when she was tending to her sheep, but she rejected his suit. He argued with her to no avail, and so he decided to abduct her. At night, he came and kidnapped St. Solange, but she struggled so violently that she fell from his horse while he was crossing a stream. Her abductor grew enraged, pursued her and beheaded her with his sword. According to the fully-developed legend, St. Solange’s severed head invoked three times the Holy Name of Jesus, and like Saint Denis and other saints in Gaulish territories, St. Solange picked up her head in her own hands and walked with it as far as the church of Saint-Martin in the village of Saint-Martin-du-Crot (which now bears the name of Sainte-Solange, the only commune in France to bear this name), and the head preaching to the people, only dropping truly dead there. Immediately, a cult surrounding her grew up. Many miraculous cures were attributed to her intercession. In 1281, an altar was erected in her honor at that church, and it preserved her severed head as a relic and began to call itself the church of St. Solange, while a nearby field where she had prayed began to be referred to as the “Field of St. Solange”. It was a habit of the locals, in times of great stress, to form a procession through Bourges with the reliquary head before them and to invoke her against drought. St. Solange is the Patron Saint of Berry, France; Bourges, France; children; drought relief; for rain; rape victims; shepherdesses and shepherds. St. Solange’s feast day is May 10th
PRAYER: God, You showed heavenly gifts on St. Solange. Help us to imitate her virtues during our earthly life and enjoy eternal happiness with her in heaven… Amen. Saint Solange, Virgin and Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINTS GORDIANUS AND EPIMACHUS, MARTYRS: Sts. Gordianus (also known as Gordian) and Epimachus were Roman Martyrs. St. Gordianus was a Roman judge who converted to Christianity by a Holy Priest, whom Julian The Apostate would have liked him to condemn. He was tortured and finally beheaded. Saint Gordian was Martyred towards 360 A.D., and was buried in the Crypt on the Via Latina where already lay the remains of the Martyr Saint Epimachus (+ 250 A.D), brought from Alexandria. The two saints gave their name to the cemetery of Sts. Gordianus and Epimachus. They are jointly Venerated by The Catholic Church with a Feast Day of May 10th in The Tridentine Calendar. There are Churches Dedicated to the Saints in: Aitrach, Germany; Legau, Germany; Merazhofen, Germany; Pleß, Germany; Stöttwang, Germany; Unterroth, Germany; Blevio, Italy. Relics of both Saints were owned by Kempten Abbey in Bavaria.
Saints Gordianus and Epimachus, Martyrs ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT ANTONINUS, BISHOP OF FLORENCE: Original name Antonino Pierozzi, or Antonino de’ Forciglioni, Antonino also spelled Antonio, (born March 1, 1389, Florence – died May 2, 1459, Florence; canonized 1523; feast day May 10 – please refer to May 2nd Saint post for details). An archbishop of Florence who is regarded as one of the founders of modern moral theology and Christian social ethics. He was a member of the Dominican Order. In the exercise of his pastoral charge he showed great charity. He died in 1459.
PRAYER: Eternal God, you blessed Saint Antoninus with a marvelous gift of counsel. By the help of his prayers, while we walk in the darkness of this life, may we learn from the light of Christ all that we ought to do. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen🙏
PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of Easter, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, we pray for their health, safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those who have no one to care for them and those who are terminally ill, we pray for God’s Divine healing upon them. 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 soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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. We pray for Vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life. We particularly pray for all Youths and all Seminarians, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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, Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ John 16:20-23
“No one will take your joy away from you”
“Jesus said to His disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name He will give you.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is again speaking in the setting of the last supper, the night before He was crucified. He is aware that His disciples are in great distress at the prospect of His leaving them. Jesus compares their suffering to that of a woman in childbirth. The pain of childbirth is for the mother the prelude to the birth of new life. Her suffering heralds the joy of looking upon her new born child for the first time. In a similar way, Jesus is saying, the suffering of His disciples is the prelude to the joy of new life. Their sorrow at Jesus’ departure will very quickly give way to their joy at His coming back to them again as risen Lord and through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is referring here to the joy of Easter. It is more than just ordinary human happiness, which, inevitably, passes away. The joy Jesus speaks about endures. As Jesus says to His disciples in the Gospel reading, it is a joy that ‘no one shall take from you’. This is the joy we are all invited to savour in this Easter season and, indeed, every day of our lives. It is a joy which is the fruit of our relationship with the Lord, a sharing in the Lord’s own joy. It comes from the conviction that the risen Lord is with us, is among us and is within us. It flows from the experience of His great love, a love that is stronger than sin, stronger than death, a love that shines brightly in every darkness. When St. Paul wrote his letter to the church in Philippi from a Roman prison he is full of this Easter joy, in spite of his grim situation. His joy flows from his total conviction that, as he states in that letter, ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’. In times of deep sorrow it can be hard to envisage times of joy. Yet, the Gospel reading today suggests that sorrow is not destined to have the last word. Jesus says to His disciples and to all of us, ‘Your sorrow will turn into joy’. ‘The Lord is risen’, and because we live in the presence of the risen Lord, we know that life is stronger than death, and joy will triumph over sorrow. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the risen Lord, and St. Paul speaks of joy as the fruit of that Spirit. This joy is the deep-seated joy which comes from knowing that we can do all things in the risen Lord who strengthens us.
In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul and his continued ministry and journey is recounted to us, as he went on to the region of Achaia in what is now modern day Greece. Back then, he had encountered significant persecutions and hardships, had been plotted on and arrested on several occasions, attacked by his opponents and enemies, and was left almost dead in some of those instances. But God was with St. Paul and his companions, and we heard in our reading today that the Lord continued to encourage and strengthen St. Paul as he continued his missionary work. In Achaia, St. Paul would encounter even more opposition and challenges to his mission, as the local Jewish community, likely siding with the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin against St. Paul and the Christian missionaries, plotted to have him arrested and punished. They made all sorts of false accusations against him, much like how the Lord himself was treated when He was rejected, persecuted, arrested and eventually condemned to death. St. Paul suffered similar persecution, but fortunately the Roman governor was not convinced by the Jewish community and did not arrest St. Paul. St. Paul was free then to continue with his mission there and elsewhere.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the joy that will come to us as disciples and followers of our Lord, even if we may have to encounter hardships, trials and challenges along the way. We must realise that as we walk along this path shown to us by God, we are never alone, and God will always be with us, guiding us and strengthening us on our way, helping to get through whatever persecutions and oppositions that we may have to endure as we continue to be faithful and dedicated Christians, in each and every days of our lives. Let us all continue to commit ourselves to the Lord in our own ways, and endeavour to live actively our Christian faith from now on. We should no longer be just idle onlookers or to be on standby mode anymore. As Christians we are all expected to follow the Lord faithfully and to spend our effort and time to glorify Him more and more each days, now and always. May the Risen Lord, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, our most loving God and Good Shepherd, be with us always, be with His Church, and may the Holy Spirit be our inspiration, strength and guide. May the Lord bless our every works and good efforts for His greater glory, and may He help us all to persevere through all the hardships and challenges that we may have to face in this world. May He, the One and only True God, shine the light of His truth and love to the whole of this darkened world. And may God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and bless us all and strengthen us that we too may do great things like what the saints had done, for the glory of God and the salvation of all people. Amen🙏
Let us pray:
My glorious Lord, You endured Your passion with perfect virtue. You never wavered from fulfilling the will of the Father, and the fruit of Your perseverance was the glory of the Resurrection. Please help me to patiently endure the crosses in my life and give me hope to see that from them You will bring forth the good fruit of eternal joy. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Damien Joseph de Veuster of Molokai; Saint John of Avila; Saint Solange; Saint Antoninus and Saints Gordianus and Epimachus ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all and for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Have a blessed, safe and grace-filled Sixth Week of Easter and relaxing weekend!🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖