Author: Resa

THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 16, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS OF LOURDES, VIRGIN; SAINT BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE AND SAINT ENGRATIA AND THE EIGHTEEN MARTYRS OF SARAGOSSA

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Third 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 16, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 16, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 16, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 16, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 16, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 7:51-8:1
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 31:3-4, 6, 7, 8, 17, 21
Gospel, John 6:30-35

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/

As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes, Virgin, (Patron Saint of the ill, poor, sheep tenders and those ridiculed for their piety); Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, known as “The Beggar Saint” (He’s Patron Saint of beggars, hobos, the homeless, unmarried men (bachelors), rejects, mental illness, mentally ill people, insanity) and Saint Engratia and the Eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, we humbly pray for the sick, the poor, the homeless and the needy in our world, especially during these incredibly challenging times.🙏

PRAYER: “God, thank you for the abundance of life, relationships, health, comfort, and wealth you have provided, and thank you that even in times of need, despair, and brokenness, you are there. Please, put your arms around children and families in extreme poverty so they feel comfort and hope; meet their needs both physically and spiritually. And, Lord, guide me so I can be your hands and feet pursuing justice for the poor and upholding the cause of the needy”….Amen🙏

SAINT BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS OF LOURDES, VIRGIN: St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844–1879), original name Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, a French saint whose visions led to the founding of the Marian shrine of Lourdes. She was the eldest of nine children born to an impoverished family from Lourdes, France. She was a sickly child who suffered from severe asthma her entire life. While out collecting firewood on February 11, 1858, at the age of 14, Bernadette saw an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a grotto cave on the banks of the Gave River. It was the first of 18 times that the Blessed Mother would appear to her. St. Bernadette faced much controversy and opposition as a result of her visions, including humiliating interrogations from both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Yet, many of the townspeople believed her and gathered at the grotto when she continued to have visits from the Virgin Mary. During one of the visits a hidden spring was shown to St. Bernadette which proved to have miraculous healing power. When Our Lady finally revealed her name to St. Bernadette as the “Immaculate Conception,” the local bishop acknowledged the visions as authentic. As requested by Our Lady of Lourdes, a church was erected at the site of the grotto and spring. Today, Lourdes is one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage shrines in the world. Multitudes have experienced medically documented cures of body and soul from the Lourdes waters.

In 1866, St. Bernadette Soubirous joined the Sisters of Charity at Nevers, taking her perpetual vows in 1878. Her contemporaries admired her humility and the authentic character of her testimony about the appearance of the Blessed Virgin. Neverthless, the Saint had to endure many severe trials during her religious life and exhibited heroic patience in sickness. She realized that the healing spring was not for her, and was fond of saying: “The Blessed Virgin used me as a broom to remove dust. When the work is finished, the broom is placed behind the door and left there.” St. Bernadette died at a convent in Nevers, France, on April 16,1879, at the age of 35. She was canonized in 1933 by Pope Pius XI. Her feast day is April 16th

“Love overcomes, love delights. Those who love the Sacred Heart rejoice. Jesus, my God, I love you above all things.”~ St. Bernadette Soubirous 

PRAYER: Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts on St. Bernadette. Help us to imitate her virtues during our earthly life and enjoy eternal happiness with her in heaven. Amen🙏

SAINT BENEDICT JOSEPH LABRE: Saint Benedict Joseph Labre (1748-1783), a Mendicant, Pilgrim was born in the village of Amettes, near Boulogne in France, on March 26, 1748. He was the eldest of a family of fifteen children. From his earliest years he manifested exceptional piety, and was particularly attracted to the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. His early education was confided to one of his uncles, who was the parish priest of Erin, in view of his future ordination. He was not certain, however, that he was called to the priesthood, and said, It is very beautiful to be a priest, but I fear losing my soul while saving others. He desired the contemplative life and entered the Carthusian Order. But it was not long before his Superiors decided he did not have the vocation to that Order. After making several more requests to enter monasteries where he might serve God according to his heart’s desire, he was finally received in November 1769 by the Cistercians, whom he greatly edified by his silent prayer and communion with God. His happiness, however, proved to be short-lived; he was taken very ill and again his Superiors decided that he was not called to be one of their number. Providence had permitted these events. Upon his recovery, he discovered God’s holy will for him, which was, he wrote, that remaining in the midst of the world, he devoutly visit as a pilgrim the famous places of Christian devotion. With this purpose ever before him, he made solitary pilgrimages to many of the great shrines of Europe, taking with him only a rosary, a crucifix, and a little sack containing his New Testament, the Imitation of Christ and a Breviary. He visited the shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in Italy no fewer than ten times during his life.

One writer tells us that he seemed to have been destined by God to recall to men’s mind the poverty of Christ. He ate nothing but the fragments he received from charity, and never kept any food given him for another day, becoming himself a provider for the poor with his surplus. He slept outdoors as a rule, and esteemed himself happy in suffering hunger, thirst, heat, rain, cold and snow. He was ordinarily regarded as a fool, and was often the brunt of mockery by children and bystanders. No mistreatment could discourage him, since he kept ever before his mind the mortified life of the Master and His Blessed Mother. He loved most of all the Church of Our Lady of the Mountains in Rome. He spent much time in this, his favorite place of devotion, and on Wednesday of Holy Week in the year 1783, when he went to pray, he was taken suddenly ill, and expired while those who attended him in his last moments were saying the invocation of the litany of the dying: Holy Mary, pray for him.

Saint Benedict Joseph Labre ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT ENGRATIA AND THE EIGHTEEN MARTYRS OF SARAGOSSA: Saint Engratia, was a virgin martyr and a native of Portugal. Her father had promised her in marriage to a man of quality in Rousillon, Gaul, and to accompany her there, he sent as her escort for the marriage her uncle Lupercius and a brilliant suite of sixteen other noblemen, as well as a servant named Julie. When they arrived at Saragossa, she learned of the horrible massacre of Christians being carried on at that time, and of the torments they were enduring at the hand of Dacian, who governed that region in the name of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Inspired with a divine heroism, she resolved to attempt to change his dispositions, or if she could not do so, to take part herself in the glory of these generous soldiers of Christ, and mingle her blood with theirs. She obtained an audience with the persecutor. Saying she was moved with compassion for her brethren who, despite their innocence, were being slain without mercy, she asked him, How can you shed the blood of so many persons who have done nothing but adore the true God and despise vain idols? Dacian, hearing her gentle reproaches, immediately had her imprisoned and sought out her companions, whom he also cast into prison. They affirmed at his tribunal that they too were Christians, and all were cruelly scourged. Saint Engratia was subjected to the most cruel and barbarous torments; abandoned in prison, she died of her wounds which festered there. Her death occurred in April of the year 303.

Saint Lupercius, with the seventeen nobles and Julie, had already been decapitated. Dacian, still not satiated with blood, massacred great numbers of other Christians of Saragossa who are honored on November 3rd under the title of the Countless Martyrs of Saragossa. Their bodies were burned with those of several malefactors, imprisoned at the same time, but it is said that the ashes of the martyrs separated and formed a lot apart, called the masse blanche. The relics of Saint Engratia, who was buried by the Christians of Saragossa, have always been held in high honor in Spain, at Saragossa in particular.

Saint Engratia and the Eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa ~ Pray for us🙏

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 Third Week of Easter | USCCB |

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 6:30-35

“It was not Moses, but my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven”

The crowd said to Jesus: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

In today’s Gospel reading, people asked Jesus, ‘What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do?’ This is immediately after Jesus had done the work of feeding a large crowd with five barley loaves and two fish. Here was a work that was a sign for those with eyes to see. This work pointed beyond itself to Jesus’ true identity. His feeding of the crowd with bread and fish was a sign that Jesus was ‘the bread of life’ in the language of today’s Gospel reading. The real significance of Jesus’ miraculous work of the crowd lay in what it has to say about who Jesus is for all those who believe in Him. The crowd who were fed would become hungry again, however, Jesus remains the bread of life for all who come to him, not just during His public ministry, but for all future generations who will come to Him as risen Lord. Jesus is our Bread of Life today. The promise He makes in today’s Gospel reading is made to each one of us, ‘those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never thirst’. The risen Lord promises to satisfy the deepest hungers and thirsts in our heart, the hunger and thirst for love, for forgiveness, for justice, for peace, for communion, for life to the full. There is a sense in which those deeper hungers and thirsts will only be fully satisfied at the heavenly banquet in the kingdom of God. However, Jesus’ promises pertains not just to the ultimate future but also to the present. Here and now, in our own place and time, He is bread of life for all who believe in Him and for all who come to Him. We encounter the Lord as Bread of Life in a special way at the Eucharist, yet the Lord’s invitation to come to Him as Bread of Life is not limited to the Eucharist. He is our daily bread of life, in every place and time.

Our first reading today is a continuation of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, after he had spoken courageously and fearlessly before all the assembled people who were all against him. Those people had hardened and closed their hearts and minds against the Lord and His words, and even though St. Stephen had spoken with great wisdom and eloquence, explaining to them in vain about the works of the Lord in His salvation of the whole world. St. Stephen spoke at length about how God had been with His people, guiding and empowering them, despite their many rebellions and refusals to follow Him faithfully. God continued to patiently lead them by hand through His many prophets, messengers and appointed leaders, who helped them all to remain faithful to Him, and which culminated in the sending and arrival of His own Beloved Son, the One to be the Saviour of all. Yet, as St. Stephen pointed out, the people had rejected the great grace of God, His patient love and salvation, persecuting the very One Whom God had sent to help and save them. They crucified the Lord, persecuted His servants and disciples, and tried to stop the works of God being done, harassing the disciples at every turn of the way, like what they had done with St. Stephen himself. Yet, the Lord was still being patient with the people, and through St. Stephen, despite seemingly futile, He was still trying to reach out to them and convince them to believe in Him. This did not happen though, and those people persecuted St. Stephen, whom they punished and stoned to death, a punishment that was reserved for blasphemers and sinners. Yet, despite being the righteous one, St. Stephen, like that of the Lord Himself before him, forgave all of his persecutors and murderers. According to the Gospel, St. Stephen is stoned to death by those who found his preaching offensive. St. Stephen’s way of dying is portrayed in a manner that would call to mind how Jesus died. As Jesus on the cross prayed, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit’, St. Stephen prays to the risen Jesus, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit’. As Jesus on the cross prayed, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’, St. Stephen prays to the risen Jesus, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’. In other words, Luke presents Stephen as having the same relationship with Jesus that Jesus has with his heavenly Father. We are all called to have the same relationship with Jesus that Jesus has with His Father. Jesus’ intimate relationship with God His Father is to be the model of our relationship with Jesus.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all presented with the continuation of the story of the martyrdom of the very first martyr of the Church, namely that of St. Stephen the protomartyr. This faithful man of God had to endure the persecutions, stubborn rejection and refusal by all the enemies of the Lord in hardening their hearts and in stubbornly refusing to embrace God’s truth and Good News in the person of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. We are also reminded of the Lord Who is our Bread of Life, the One and only Source of our Hope and Life, the One Whom we should focus our attention and efforts upon. This reminds us that as long as we centre our lives upon the Lord, then we shall have nothing to worry about, and we should not be concerned about how we will turn out to be, because the Lord Himself is with us, guiding us and strengthening us. We are also reminded that we have to be ever courageous and committed as the holy people of God, not to be easily swayed by the temptations of the world, by the many pressures, trials and challenges present all around us. All those things may lead us to give up on our efforts and struggles to do God’s will, but as St. Stephen has shown us, through his fearless efforts and his perseverance despite the many trials and oppositions he faced, all of us should also be strengthened and encouraged in our own lives and dedication as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people. We cannot be idle and ignorant of our calling and missions as those whom God had called and chosen. To each one of us God has entrusted the responsibilities and the missions to proclaim His truth and salvation to the nations. The question now is, what are we then going to do in fulfilling our missions and calling in life? Are we going to embrace God’s call and follow Him in His path, doing what He has called on us to do, so that in each and every moments of our lives we will continue to live our lives with the right actions and convictions, with the strong and enduring desire to walk in God’s path without losing focus and hope on His promises and truth. Let us all ever be worthy of God in all things, and do our best so that our every actions, words and deeds, our whole lives may glorify the Lord, now and always. May God in His infinite grace and mercy be with us all and may He grant us His grace and bless our actions and strengthen each and every one of us so that we may always ever be courageous to do His will, and be His witnesses wherever we are, and in whatever opportunities we receive. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My Eucharistic Lord, You are the Bread of Life. You are all that I desire in life. Give me the grace of understanding, dear Lord, so that I can come to believe all that You have revealed about the Most Holy Eucharist. I do believe, my God. Help my unbelief. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes, Virgin, Saint Benedict Joseph Labre and Saint Engratia and the Eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe, joyous and grace-filled Third Week of Easter🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 15, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT PATERNUS (PADARN), BISHOP AND SAINTS BASILISSA AND ANASTASIA, MARTYRS AND SAINT HUNNA, THE HOLY WASHERWOMAN

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Monday of the Third 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 15, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 15, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 15, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 15, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 15, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Monday, April 15, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 6:8-15
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30
Gospel, John 6:22-29

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/

As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Paternus (Padarn), Bishop; Saints Basilissa and Anastasia, Martyrs, and we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Hunna, Known as “the Holy Washerwoman”. Through the  intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, for persecuted christians and the conversion of sinners and for Christians all over the world.🙏

SAINT PATERNUS (PADARN), BISHOP: St. Paternus (482-565), also known as Pair or Padarn, Bishop of Avranches lived in the fifth-sixth centuries. He built a monastery in  Vannes and is considered one of the seven founding saints of Brittany. He was known for his preaching, charity and mortifications. St. Paternus was born around the year 482, at Poitiers. His mother gave his father, also named Paternus, permission to leave the family and go to Ireland where he lived and died as a holy recluse. St. Paternus was inspired by his father’s example of piety and decided to enter a monastery. St. Paternus emulated his example and embraced monastic life in the diocese of Poitiers. He joined the monks at the abbey of Ansion. In his zeal and desire to attain the perfection of Christian virtue, he went to Wales where he founded a monastery called Lian-patern-vaur (The Church of the great Paternus). His father was still living at this time and St. Paternus visited him in Ireland. He was soon called back to his first monastery of Ansion. After a few years, he and another monk named Scubilion (later St. Scubilion) after receiving permission from the Bishop, retired to a remote area where there were many Druids. They embraced a hermit’s life in the forest of Scicy, forest of the diocese of Coutances near the sea, they embraced an austere anchorite’s life resembling that of Angels more than of men. Here he converted a number of idolaters and was able to bring them many idolaters to the Faith and extended his apostolic labors as far as Bayeux, with several priest as his fellow laborers. Paternus was able to convince the people there to tear down a pagan temple, which had been held in great veneration by the ancient Gauls. An abbot of that region who knew of him recommended Paternus to the bishop of Coutances, who ordained him a deacon and then a priest in 512. He and Saint Scubilion then evangelized the western coasts and established several monasteries, of which he was the abbot general. Many miracles honored his apostolate among the pagan populations.

At an advanced age St. Paternus was consecrated Bishop of Avranches by Bishop Germanus of Rouen. While his former companion, Saint Scubilion, had become abbot of a monastery founded by the two missionaries. St. Paternus shepherded his flock for thirteen years before he fell ill and he felt his end was near, and he sent to his dear friend to come and assist him in his last illness. But the same fate had befallen St. Scubilion, who for his part had sent a messenger to St. Paternus. The two hermit-missionaries, Sts Paternus and Scubilion, each of whom had become the spiritual father of many, departed this life on the same day, April 16, 565, the thirteenth year of the pontificate of Saint Paternus. They were afterwards buried on the same day in the church of the monastery of Scicy, a region they had evangelized together, which is now the parish of the Church of St. Pair (Paternus). Apart from in Wales and Brittany, St. Paternus is also venerated in some regions of England, especially in the West Country (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset) where his name was included in the early calendars of a number of churches. The relics of St. Paternus, along with the relics of St. Gaud are found in his church, the Church of St. Pair in Scicy.

Reflection. God richly blesses the friendships of those who love and fear Him, for He Himself is its source and the bond which unites.

PRAYER: God, You made St. Paternus an outstanding exemplar of Divine love and the Faith that conquers the world, and added him to the roll of saintly pastors. Grant by his intercession that we may persevere in Faith and love and become sharers of his glory. Amen. Holy Father Paternus, pray to God for us!🙏
 
SAINTS BASILISSA AND ANASTASIA, MARTYRS: Saints Basilissa and Anastasia (died 68 AD) are early Christian martyrs of Rome, put to death during the reign of Nero. They were among the first converts to Christianity in the 1st century after Christ. They were noble Roman women, who were converted to the Christian Faith by Saints Peter and Paul. The Holy Women Martyrs Basilissa (Vasilissa) and Anastasia lived in Rome where they were converted to Christianity by the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. They devoted themselves to the service of the Lord. Sts. Basilissa and Anastasia were described as “Roman matrons of high rank and great wealth”. They were disciples of and might have been baptized by the apostles Peter and Paul and might have given them “honorable burials” after Peter and Paul’s martyrdom in Rome on the same day in 67 AD. The location of the two tombs eventually became St. Peter’s Basilica and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

According to history, when the emperor Nero (54-68) persecuted Christians and gave them over to torture and execution, Saints Basilissa and Anastasia took the bodies of the holy martyrs and gave them reverent burial. They recovered the remains of martyred Christians including the remains of Sts. Peter and Paul for burial. The burials might have exposed Sts Basilissa and Anastasia to more persecution, and they were arrested for collecting the relics of and burying the bodies of other martyred Christians. Rumors of this reached Nero, as a result, they were arrested, tortured but refused to forsake Christianity. Saints Basilissa and Anastasia were locked up in prison. They subjected them to cruel tortures but the holy martyrs remained unyielding, they refused to recant their Christian faith and bravely confessed their faith in Christ the Savior. By Nero’s command, they were beheaded with the sword (+ ca. 68AD) after being tortured, including scourged with whips, having their tongues torn out, their skins scraped with hooks, being burned with fire, and their breasts and feet cut off. Their relics are at Santa Maria della Pace Church in Rome. Their feast day is April 15, are venerated by both the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, and are honored as the Patron Saints of tailors. A statue of Basilissa is among the statues that line the colonnade overlooking St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

PRAYER: Lord, hear our prayers, which we offer on the commemoration of Saints Basilissa and Anastasia, Holy Martyrs. May we be inspired by their humility and sacrifices. Through their teachings and intercession, may we faithfully serve You all the days of our lives… Amen. Saints Basilissa and Anastasia ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT HUNNA, THE HOLY WASHERWOMAN: St. Hunna, Known as “the Holy Washerwoman”, was a 7th century noblewoman who cared for and bathed the poor of Strasbourg, France. St. Hunna (d. 679 A.D.) was born in Alsace, France. She was the virtuous daughter of a duke, and she married a similarly virtuous nobleman and aristocrat, Huno of Hunnaweyer. St. Hunna and her husband did not indulge in unnecessary luxuries according to their high state in life, and instead detached themselves from their riches by opening their home to the poor and assisting them in their need. St. Deodatus, a bishop who resigned from his See, came to live with the holy couple for a time. St. Hunna and her husband greatly profited from his religious instruction and grew in sanctity as a result. When Hunna bore a son, she named him after St. Deodatus. This child, raised by such holy parents, later joined a monastery and also became a saint. After her husband’s death Hunna continued to spend her life serving the poor, especially women. No task was too menial for her. She tended to the poor and the sick and regularly, including their laundry and mending, even to the point of exhaustion. For this she was nicknamed the “Holy Washerwoman.” She also gave away her wealth and property to build churches and monasteries. So many miracles were attributed to her that Pope Leo X canonized her in 1520. St. Hunna is the Patron Saint of laundresses and her feast day is April 15th.

PRAYER: Lord God, You showered heavenly gifts and humility on St. Hunna. Help us to imitate her virtues during our earthly life and enjoy eternal happiness with her in heaven. 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, Monday of the Third Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 6:22-29

“Do not work for food that perishes but for food that endures for eternal life”

“[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.] The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus presents Himself as the only one who can truly satisfy the deeper, spiritual, hunger in our lives. Jesus makes a distinction between food that cannot last and food that endures to eternal life. He had just fed the people in the wilderness with bread and fish; He was very aware that people’s physical hunger needed to be satisfied. As the people continued to look for more of this physical food, Jesus called on them to look for food that endures to eternal life, food that satisfies the deepest hunger in our lives. Jesus has come not just to give people physical food but to give them the spiritual food of God’s presence, God’s life and God’s Spirit. The Gospel reminds us that, while the physical and material is vital because we are physical and material beings, our searching must not stop at the physical and the material. There is a great deal more to life than the satisfaction of our physical needs. We have deeper, spiritual hungers and thirsts as well that we need to attend to if we are to live a truly balanced life and be at peace within ourselves. In the Gospel reading Jesus offers Himself to us as the one who offers us the food that endures to eternal life. We cannot ignore our physical hunger; when we are hungry, we eat. We can ignore those deeper hungers which Jesus alone can satisfy. This is why He draws attention so strongly in today’s Gospel to the importance of working for the food that endures to eternal life. Our Lord Jesus can satisfy the deepest hungers and thirsts in our hearts. Our seeking must ultimately be directed towards Him; it cannot stop at or be satisfied with anything less.

In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Stephen, one of the first seven holy Deacons of the Church, appointed to assist in the works and mission of the Church, was confronted by those who opposed the Lord and His teachings, as they debated about the things which St. Stephen has been proclaiming and teaching to the people, regarding the truth and the Good News of the Lord, as well as His Resurrection from the dead. St. Stephen spoke with great wisdom, courage and strength despite all the challenges and the plotting against him. His opponents even bribed people to give false testimonies and accusations against St. Stephen, twisting the truth and the words that the Lord Himself has spoken, accusing St. Stephen for spreading the teachings of the Lord Jesus among the people. Those people were trying hard to drive the sentiments of the assembly and the members of the Sanhedrin to go against St. Stephen, with efforts and attempts to discredit the servant of God and to persecute him. However, no matter whatever accusations and falsehoods they tried to blame on him, St. Stephen, empowered, strengthened and guided by the Holy Spirit, full of the Wisdom of God, broke through all of their arguments and wicked falsehoods, and he refuted all of their nonsense arguments and lies. As mentioned in the first reading today, St. Stephen’s face appeared before all the assembled people like as if the face of an Angel, a manifestation of the great strength, power and Wisdom that the Lord has bestowed upon Him through the Holy Spirit. As mentioned, this was one proof of how the Lord never abandoned His faithful ones in their hour of need.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are reminded of our calling as Christians to be the disciples and followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Risen Messiah, and to proclaim His Resurrection, His truth and love to all the people of all the nations. We are also reminded that in doing our mission and calling, in our ministry and life as Christians, there may be hurdles, trials and obstacles facing us, and yet we have to stay strong and devout in faith, and we should not lose faith and hope because the Lord is and has always, and will always ever be with us, journeying with us by our side. All of us are reminded that we all should stay by the Lord and remain truly faithful to Him, and to trust always in His guidance and providence for us. We must believe in Him and follow Him, even if things in life go against us, and that is what we are being reminded this day. Let us therefore by the examples showed by the faithful servants of God, the many saints and martyrs who have gone before us, especially that of St. Stephen and all the Saints we celebrate today. Let us all be inspired by their trust and faith in the Lord, and their humility and willingness to allow the Lord to lead them in the right path, as they carried out their ministry faithfully. Let us all be inspired and strengthened by them, be courageous and strong in our faith. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, be with us all and may He bless us all in our every good endeavours, efforts and works, always. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My most glorious Lord, You are the Food that is eternal. You are the Food for everlasting life. Give me the wisdom I need, dear Lord, to turn my eyes from the passing and least important things of this world and to turn, instead, to that which is eternal. May I keep my eyes upon You and be nourished by my faith in You. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Paternus (Padarn); Saints Basilissa and Anastasia and Saint Hunna, the Holy Washerwoman ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe, joyous, and grace-filled Third Week of Easter🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR B)

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 14, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINTS TIBURTIUS, VALERIAN AND MAXIMUS, MARTYRS; SAINT BENEZET; SAINT LIDWINA OF SCHIEDAM, VIRGIN AND BLESSED PETER GONZÁLEZ, PRIEST

Greetings beloved family and Happy Sunday of the Third 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 14, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 14, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 14, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 14, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 14, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Third Sunday of Easter (Year B), April 14, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 4:2, 4, 7-8, 9
Gospel, Luke 24:35-48
Reading 2, First John 2:1-5

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/

As we enter into the celebration of the Third Sunday of Easter, all of us are reminded yet again of the very reason why we celebrate joyfully during this time and season of Easter. We are reminded that particularly during this time of Easter, all of us should focus our attention on the Risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who has won for us such a great victory through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, and then through His glorious Resurrection from the dead. Through all of that, Christ our Lord and Saviour has opened for us the pathway to eternal life, the road to eternal glory and true joy with Him. We are no longer separated and sundered from the love and compassion of God, and we have been brought closer once again to God.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Third Sunday of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 24:35–48

“Thus it was written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day”

“The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

In today’s Gospel reading, two disciples had a wonderful experience of the risen Lord while they were making their sad journey home from Jerusalem to Emmaus in the aftermath of Jesus’ crucifixion. They were joined by a stranger. However, when this stranger broke the word of God with them, their hearts began to burn. They didn’t want to let go of their travel companion. When they reached their home village, they asked him to stay with them. It was at table in their home as the stranger took bread, broke it and gave it to them that they finally recognized him as Jesus, whose death they had just been mourning. They ran back to the city which they had been glad to leave earlier in the day. They had a story to tell, the story of the Lord’s coming to them in Word and Eucharist. They needed to tell this story to the other disciples and that is how our Gospel reading begins, ‘The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognized Him in the breaking of bread’. According to the Gospel reading, it was while the two disciples were telling their faith story and the others were engaging with it that the risen Lord appeared to the whole group in person. The two disciples’ sharing of their faith story with others created a space for the risen Lord to come and stand among them all. Whenever we have the freedom and the courage to share something of our faith story with others, we too will be creating an opening for the risen Lord to stand among us and touch our lives. Yet, the Gospel reading also acknowledges the struggle we sometimes have to really believe that the Lord is risen and that He is standing among us. According to the Gospel reading, when the risen Lord stood among the disciples, offering them the gift of His peace, they were in a ‘state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost’. Jesus had to ask them, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts’. Alarm, fright, agitation, doubt – these were the initial responses of the disciples to the presence of the risen Lord in their midst. The Gospel reading goes on to say that even after the risen Lord showed them His hands and His feet, His wounds that spoke of His love for them and for all, ‘their joy was so great that they could not believe it’. Even when fear and doubt gave way to joy, they still could not believe that the Jesus was powerfully alive in their midst. We have no difficulty believing that Jesus was crucified. Many of us have crucifixes or crosses in our homes or on our persons. However, we can struggle to believe that Jesus is risen, that He stands among us as risen Lord. It is sometimes not as easy to believe in the risen Jesus as in the crucified Jesus. In that regard, we are no different to the first disciples. Today’s Gospel reading suggests that Easter faith often grows in the midst of doubt and questions. Believing in the risen Lord is a journey that different people travel at different paces. Yet, what matters is our attitude, our openness to the various ways that the risen Lord may choose to come to us and touch our lives.

In order to cut through His disciples’ fears and doubts the risen Lord showed them His hands and His feet – His wounds. These were the wounds of love; He had suffered for them, and for all; He had died that they, and all of us, might have life to the full. In showing them His wounds, the Lord finally broke through to them. Luke says, ‘their joy was so great that they could not believe it’. The Lord’s wounds can break through to all of us when his other approaches to us fail. Perhaps that is why Good Friday continues to speak to so many people. Our own sharing of our wounds, the sharing of our pain, can also build bridges to others. When we are at their most vulnerable, we often draw others to ourselves. When members of our family become ill, we are drawn to gather around them in a supportive, loving way. In attending to them, we are attending to the Lord. The Lord continues to reach out to us through the wounds of others, because such wounds are, in a very real sense, His own wounds. The coming of the risen Lord to the disciples was for them a profound experience of forgiveness, ‘Peace be with you’. It was also a moment of mission, as the risen Lord sent them out to proclaim to others the forgiveness they had received. The risen Lord comes to us too to assure us that we are loved and forgiven and to send us out as ambassadors of His forgiving, reconciling, love to others.  

In our first reading this Sunday from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter was speaking to the people who were gathered at Jerusalem during the time of the Pentecost, which was fifty days from the Passover and Resurrection of the Lord. It was at that occasion which the Lord sent the Holy Spirit upon all the disciples who were gathered there in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit strengthened and encouraged the Apostles and the other disciples, who were once fearful and afraid of the repercussions and reactions from the Jewish authorities that they spent most of their time in hiding, so that they no longer feared the sufferings and punishments of the world. The Holy Spirit empowered them and gave them the ability to stand up against the oppressions and oppositions to their efforts, and proclaim faithfully the truth as St. Peter had done. St. Peter spoke vigorously and in great spirit about the many things which the Lord had done for His people, in all that He had endured for the salvation of the whole world, in the sufferings and trials that He had to endure and bore through His Cross, but one which He willingly took up because He truly loves each and every one of us and He wanted to reach out to us, loving and caring for us, providing us with the means to find the path towards our salvation. The Lord has loved us all of us from the very beginning, and He desired that each and every one of us should be reconciled to Him, finding our way back to Him and be reunited to Him through His ever generous mercy and love. By His Cross, He has led us all to freedom from our sins, liberating us from the tyranny of sin, evil and death. However, as many of the people rejected Him and refused to listen to Him, or to embrace the generous offer of mercy which He has given to them. The Lord was arrested, punished and condemned to death for the sins and wickedness of the people, and yet, He continued to show us all His mercy, forgiving us all of our sins, as He asked the Heavenly Father to forgive those who have betrayed, abandoned, and condemned Him to death. His intentions for us all have always been really clear. He wants to be reconciled with us, and He wants us to be able to find our way back to Him, and that was why, He entrusted His Apostles and the other disciples with the important mission to proclaim His salvation to the whole world, just as St. Peter had done before all the assembled people, and the many other works that he and the other Apostles and disciples had done.

Our second reading today from the Epistle of St. John, is a reminder from the St. John the Apostle of the salvation which the Lord Jesus, Our Saviour has brought upon us, by His actions and selfless sacrifice on the Cross as mentioned. Again this same truth and fact have been reinforced to us, to remind us all that we have the obligation and calling to follow the Lord in all things, and in everything that we say and do in our lives. We cannot be truly good and faithful Christians, and we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers unless we truly embody what we believe and profess in our faith, in all of our every words, actions and deeds, just as we are expected to. Essentially, we must be truly sincere in believing and committing ourselves in following God and His path.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, the Third Sunday of Easter, all of us are reminded that we are all the people whom the Lord had loved and redeemed from sin, and by our common baptism, all of us have been made partakers of the New and Eternal Covenant that He had sealed by His own Most Precious Blood. We are again being constantly reminded of what we believe in the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our God and Saviour, Whose glorious Resurrection and triumphant victory over sin and death are the sources of our great joy and celebration during this whole entire season and time of Easter. On this day we heard this reminder yet again because of just how central the Resurrection is to our entire Christian faith. Without believing in the Resurrection, one cannot truly call himself or herself as a Christian, and without the Resurrection, there is no use of believing in Christ because if Christ has not conquered death, then all of us would have succumbed to destruction and death, to eternal damnation and despair. Let us all hence be ever courageous and committed in serving the Lord in all things and in the best way we can do, so that like the Apostles and disciples of the Lord before us, our holy predecessors, we may also be inspirational and dedicated in our lives, in our actions to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters, proclaiming the Risen Lord, His Good News and salvation to all, so that more may come to believe in our Lord and Saviour, and come to seek the Lord and to be reconciled with Him. Through all of us and our commitment to Him, we may indeed make more people to realise the depth of their sins and wickedness, so that they may open their hearts and minds to welcome the Lord into themselves, allowing Him to transform us all to be good and worthy children of the Light, the Light of His salvation. May the Risen Lord continue to bless us all in all of our good efforts and endeavours, and may He continue to guide us through our journey in life, in all the struggles and in enduring the many trials and challenges that we may encounter in our journey, now and forevermore. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the Risen Lord, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, continue to guide us all and give us the strength and courage to proclaim His truth and Resurrection to the world. Amen 🙏

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINTS TIBURTIUS, VALERIAN AND MAXIMUS, MARTYRS; SAINT BENEZET; SAINT LIDWINA OF SCHIEDAM, VIRGIN AND BLESSED PETER GONZÁLEZ, PRIEST, APRIL 14, 2024:

As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, on this third Sunday of Easter, we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, three Christian Martyrs who were buried on April 14th. They are known by their inclusion in the Acts of St. Cecilia. Saint Benezet (Little Benedict), he’s Patron Saint of Avignon; bachelors; bridge-builders. Blessed Peter Gonzalez, Priest, Dominican protector of captives and sailors, he’s Patron Saint of sailors and Saint Lydwina of Schiedam, Virgin (Lydwine, Lydwid, Lidwid, Liduina of Schiedam), she is the Patron Saint of those with chronic pain, chronically ill, ice skaters and town of Schiedam. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, the Church, for persecuted christians and the conversion of sinners and for Christians all over the world.🙏

SAINTS TIBURTIUS, VALERIAN AND MAXIMUS, MARTYRS: Saints Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, three Christian Roman Martyrs of the 2nd and 3rd century, who were buried in the cemetery of Praetextatus on April 14th. They are known by their inclusion in the Acts of St. Cecilia, a mid-fifth-century Acts of the Martyrs. According to the Acts, Valerian was Cecilia’s husband, Tiburtius his brother, and Maximus a Roman soldier or official who died with them. As Valerian and Tiburtius refused to worship the pagan gods (the supposed protectors of Rome’s earthly glory and wealth), they were executed. Their courage and composure in the face of death was so remarkable that it converted their guard, Maximus. After professing Christianity, he too suffered martyrdom. The three were buried by the grieving Cecilia, and a little later she herself was sentenced.

The three martyrs were traditionally honoured with a joint feast day on 14 April, as shown in the Tridentine Calendar. The 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar removed this celebration, since the only thing really known about them is the historical fact of their burial in the Catacombs of Praetextatus. However, it allowed them to be honoured in local calendars. The 2001 decree of promulgation of the revised Roman Martyrology declared: “In accordance with the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on the Sacred Liturgy, ‘the accounts of martyrdom or the lives of the saints are to accord with the facts of history’ (art. 92 c), the names of saints included in the Martyrology and their notices have to be subjected more carefully than before to the judgement of historical study.” Accordingly, the revised Roman Martyrology now merely states, under 14 April: “At Rome, in the cemetery of Praetextatus on the Appian Way, Saints Tiburtius, Valerian and Maximus, martyrs.’ The Eastern Orthodox Church honors them together with Saint Cecilia on November 22nd.

PRAYER: Almighty God, for Whom holy Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus uplifted their testimony, grant, we beseech Thee, unto all whosoever call the same to solemn memory, grace to imitate the example of their godly courage. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end… Amen🙏

SAINT BENEZET, THE BRIDGE BUILDER: St Benezet, the Bridge Builder, also known as “Little Benedict” (c 1163-1184). St Benezet is also known as Benezet of Hermillon, Benedict, Bennet, Benet, Benoit, Little Benedict the Bridge Builder. Born in c 1163 at Hermillon, Savoy, France and died in 1184. He is a Shepherd, Mystic, miracle-worker, Founder of the Fratres Pontifices – the Bridge-Building Brotherhood, he was the builder who instigated and directed the building of the Pont d’Avignon and founder of the tradition of the bridge building brotherhood. St Benezet, the Bridge Builder, was born somewhere in the countryside of eastern or northeastern France. As he grew up he tended his mother’s sheep. Though uneducated and unskilled, gentle Benedict was a quiet, devout youth, thoughtful of others. One day in 1177, while the sun was in eclipse, Benezet heard a voice, he believed was Jesus, commanding him three times to go to Avignon, where the Rhone current was especially swift and to build a bridge there. He was also told that Angels would watch over his flocks in his absence. He obeyed the Divine order, without delay and reported immediately to the Bishop of Avignon. Naturally, the Bishop was hesitant about accepting the word of the frail teenager. But little Benezet lifted a massive stone to begin the work and announced that it would be the start of the foundation. This would become the Pont Saint-Bénézet. Thus he succeeded in convincing the Bishop that the construction of the bridge would be an act of true Christian charity. Permission was granted and the youth set about his task.   According to the legend, there were shouts of “Miracle! Miracle!” when Bénézet had lifted and laid that first huge stone.   Eighteen miracles occurred in total during the project – the blind had their vision restored, the deaf could hear again, cripples could walk and hunchbacks had their backs straightened. For the next seven years St. Benedict worked hard on the project and around 1181 he won support for his project from wealthy sponsors who formed themselves into a Bridge Brotherhood to fund its construction. This was a religious association active during the 12th and 13th centuries and begun in Avignon but by it’s inspiration, it spread across Europe and whose purpose was building bridges, especially to assist pilgrims. It was customary for a bishop to grant indulgences to those who, by money or labour, contributed to the construction of a bridge. They also maintained and/or built hospices at the chief fords of the principal rivers, besides building bridges and looking after ferries. The Brotherhood consisted of three branches– knights, clergy and artisans, where the knights usually had contributed most of the funds and were sometimes called donati, the clergy were usually monks who represented the church and the artisans were the workers who actually built the bridges. Sisters are sometimes mentioned as belonging to the same association.   In addition to the construction of bridges, the brotherhood often attended to the lodging and care of pilgrims and travellers and the collection of alms, in this area, the sisters were most active.

In 1184, sadly, young Benezet died, some four years before the great stone bridge at Avignon was completed. The wonders that occurred during the bridge’s erection and the miracles wrought at the Bridge Builder’s tomb convinced the people of Avignon that the young man was a Saint and he was referred to as such as early at 1237.  They, therefore, built a Chapel on the “Bridge of St Benezet” to enshrine his relics. There the body was venerated until 1669, when floodwaters carried away a large segment of the bridge. His remains were rescued from the flood and on examination, were found to be incorrupt.   Now they repose in the local church of St Didier. Understandably, bridge builders adopted little Benedict as their Patron Saint. The remains of the bridge still remain a pilgrimage site. St Benezet’s bridge has another claim to fame – it achieved worldwide fame through its commemoration by the song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” (“On the Bridge of Avignon”). One can build in a figurative as well as a literal sense. Bishops, the pope in particular, are often called “pontiffs”, a title derived from the Latin word for “builder of bridges”. Building bridges between God and mankind is their special calling. Our Lord Himself was a “pontiff” in the sense that He made his Cross a bridge, on which souls could enter heaven.  The beatitude “Blessed are the peacemakers” promises heaven to those who work for reconciliation, that is, “build bridges”. Some persons labour to raise walls, or “iron curtains” to divide mankind.   Others labour to tear down the walls that divide, straighten the paths that connect, bridge the crevices that separate people. Surely they come close to fulfilling the great commandment to love our neighbour as oneself. St Benezet was one such. He promoted the unity of God’s children. St. Benezet is the Patron Saint of Avignon; bachelors; bridge-builders and construction workers. His body is incorrupt.

Little St Benezet ~ Pray for us!🙏

SAINT LIDWINA OF SCHIEDAM, VIRGIN: St. Lydwina of Schiedam, Virgin (Lydwine, Lydwid, Lidwid, Liduina of Schiedam) (1380-1433) was a Dutch mystic who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. St. Lidwina is thought to be one of the first documented cases of multiple sclerosis. She is the Patron Saint of those with chronic pain, chronically ill, ice skaters and town of Schiedam. St. Lidwina was born into a poor country family of Holland in 1380. At an early age, she prayed to the Mother of God and experienced visions of incredible religious images. When she was 15, she went ice-skating with some friends and fell. She broke a rib from this fall, but gangrene continued to consume her body. No medical professional could diagnose her injury, and this began her martyrdom.

As the gangrene spread throughout her body, she became permanently paralyzed. Pieces of her body even fell off, and she suffered from external bleeding. Despite these medical complications, Saint Lidwina never gave up on her faith in God. She engaged in constant prayer and commitment in her faith to God. She continued to experience great pain for the rest of her life, but she was rewarded with visions of faith from God. She died in 1433 at age 53. She was canonized by Pope Leo XII in 1890. Today, she serves as an inspiration for chronically-ill patients and those with multiple sclerosis.

PRAYER: Lord, we devoutly recall the sufferings of St. Lidwina. Give success to our joyful prayers and grant us also constancy in our Faith. Amen🙏

BLESSED PETER GONZÁLEZ, PRIEST: Bl. Peter González (1190 – 15 April 1246), sometimes referred to as Pedro González Telmo, Saint Telmo, or Saint Elmo, was a Castilian Dominican friar and priest, born in 1190 in Frómista, Palencia, Kingdom of Castile and Leon. St. Peter Gonzales, Dominican protector of captives and sailors. He preached a campaign against the Moors, and then cared for the captured Muslims and sailors. Saint Paul had a conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Many years later, the same proved true for Peter Gonzalez, who triumphantly rode his horse into the Spanish city of Astorga in the 13th century to take up an important post at the cathedral. The animal stumbled and fell, leaving Peter in the mud and onlookers amused.

Humbled, Peter reevaluated his motivations—his bishop-uncle had secured the cathedral post for him—and started down a new path. He became a Dominican priest and proved to be a most effective preacher. He spent much of his time as court chaplain, and attempted to exert positive influence on the behavior of members of the court. After King Ferdinand III and his troops defeated the Moors at Cordoba, Peter was successful in restraining the soldiers from pillaging, and persuaded the king to treat the defeated Moors with compassion.

After retiring from the court, Peter devoted the remainder of his life to preaching in northwest Spain. Having developed a special mission to Spanish and Portuguese seamen, he is considered their patron. He is the Patron Saint of Sailor. Bl. Peter Gonzalez died in 1246 and was beatified in on December 13, 1741, Rome, Papal States, Pope Benedict XIV.

Blessed Peter González ~ Pray for us 🙏

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🙏

Let us pray:

My revealing Lord, You showed Yourself to Your disciples not only physically but spiritually, revealing Your very essence to them interiorly. Please bestow this gift upon me, dear Lord. May I come to know You and believe in You with all my heart. As I do, please use me as an instrument of Your mercy to others. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saints Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus; Saint Benezet; Saint Peter Gonzales and Saint Lydwina of Schiedam ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe, joyous, and grace-filled third Sunday of Easter and week🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 13, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT MARTIN I, POPE AND MARTYR; SAINT HERMENEGILD, MARTYR AND BLESSED MARGARET OF CASTELLO, RELIGIOUS

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Saturday of the Second 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 13, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 13, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 13, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 13, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 13, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Saturday, April 13, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 6:1-7
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19
Gospel, John 6:16-21

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/

As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Martin I, Pope and Martyr and defender of Church doctrine; Saint Hermenegild, Martyr, who was converted from Arianism to Chalcedonian Christianity and Blessed Margaret of Castello, Religious (Patron Saint of Pro-life movements, against poverty, and of the disabled, handicapped, blind people and unwanted). Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, for persecuted christians and the conversion of sinners and for all Christians. We ask for the grace to pray for those who hurt us, frustrate us, or persecute us as St. Martin I, one of the last popes to be martyred, did for his persecutors.

SAINT MARTIN I, POPE AND MARTYR: St. Martin I, was Pope, Martyr and defender of Church doctrine. Saint Martin I, pope from 649 to 653 and died of abuse and starvation in 655 as a result of his defense of the church against heresy. He was the last pope to be martyred for defending the faith. Saint Martin I was considered a man of great intelligence, piety, and charity. A member of Roman clergy, St. Martin was sent to Constantinople. Upon the death of Pope Theodore he was elected to succeed him, in the year 649. In the following October he held a Council in the Lateran Church in which he condemned the leaders of the heresy of the Monothelites, a modification of that of the Eutychians. A document emanating from the Emperor Constans was also censured. This incensed the Emperor, and he sent Olympus, his chamberlain, to Italy with orders to cause the Pope to be put to death, or to send him to the East as a prisoner. An attempt on the Saint’s life in the Church of St. Mary Major was miraculously frustrated. Olympus now bcame reconciled to the Pope and went over to Sicily.

The Emperor then sent Calliopas and Pellurus to Rome, with orders to seize St. Martin. The Pope, who lay sick, was seized, carried down the Tiber at midnight, and conveyed to the East. After three months he arrived at the island of Naxos, where his guards kept him a whole year and subjected him to many indignities. In 654, Martin reached Constantinople, and for three months he was confined in a dungeon. His suffering were extreme, but like St. Stephen, he hoped that his persecutors would be brought to repentance. He was banished to Chersonesus in 655, while a terrible famine raged in that region. In his exile, Martin’s sorrow was the greater because he regarded the Church as having abandoned him by electing a new Pope. Nonetheless, he prayed constantly for his successor, Eugene I. Martin died in 656, and is the last Pope to be venerated as a Martyr.

Quotes of Saint Martin I, Pope and Martyr:

“The Lord is near. Why then am I anxious? I put my hope indeed in his mercies that the Lord will not delay to bring my course to an end in whatever way he has commanded.”

“If anyone in word and mind does not properly and truly confess according to the holy Fathers all even to the last portion that which has been handed down and preached in the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church of God…let him be anathema.”

“If anyone does not in accord with the Holy Fathers acknowledge the holy and ever virgin and immaculate Mary was really and truly the Mother of God, inasmuch as she, in the fullness of time,and without seed, conceived by the Holy Spirit, God in the Word Himself, who before all time was born of God the Father, and without loss of integrity brought Him forth, and after His birth preserved her virginity inviolate, let him be condemned.”

PRAYER: Almighty God, help us to bear worldly adversities with an unconquerable spirit. For You did not let St. Martin Your Pope and Martyr be terrified by threats or conquered by pains. Amen🙏

SAINT HERMENEGILD, MARTYR: St.  Hermenegild was converted from Arianism to Chalcedonian Christianity. When St. Hermenegild refused to accept Arianism he was tortured and subsequently beheaded on April 13 in the year 586. Leovigild, Arian King of the Visigoths, had two sons, Hermenegild and Recared, who were reigning conjointly with him. All were Arians, but Hermenegild married a zealous Catholic, the daughter of Sigebert, King of France, and by her holy example was converted to the faith. His father, on hearing the news, denounced him as a traitor, and marched to seize his person. Hermenegild tried to rally the Catholics of Spain in his defense, but they were too weak to make any stand; and after a two years’ fruitless struggle, Hermenegild surrendered on the assurance of a free pardon. Once he was safely in the royal camp, the king had him loaded with fetters and cast into a foul dungeon at Seville. Tortures and bribes were in turn employed to shake his faith, but Hermenegild wrote to his father that he regarded the crown as nothing, and preferred to lose scepter and life rather than betray the truth of God. At length, on Easter night, an Arian bishop entered his cell, and promised him his father’s pardon if he would receive Communion from his hands. Hermenegild indignantly rejected the offer, and knelt with joy for his death-stroke, praying for his persecutors. The same night a light streaming from his cell told the Christians keeping vigil nearby that the martyr had won his crown and was celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord with the Saints in glory.

King Leovigild, on his death-bed, was changed interiorly. He had been witness to the miracles that had occurred after his son’s cruel death, and he told his son and successor Recared to seek out Saint Leander, whom he himself had persecuted. Recared should follow Hermenegild’s example, said the king, and be received by the bishop into the Church. Recared did so; and although his father himself had not had the courage to renounce the false faith publicly, after his father’s death the new king labored so earnestly for the extirpation of Arianism that he brought over the whole nation of the Visigoths to the Church. Nor is it to be wondered, says Saint Gregory, that he came thus to be a preacher of the true faith, since he was the brother of a martyr, whose merits helped him to bring so many into the haven of God’s Church. St. Hermenegild was beheaded on April 13, 586. He is the Patron Saint of Converts, Seville, Spain.

PRAYER: O God, You taught blessed Hermenegild, Your martyr, to value the kingdom of Heaven more than an earthly throne; grant, we pray you, that, following his example, we may despise all transitory things and seek those that are eternal… Amen🙏

BLESSED MARGARET OF CASTELLO, RELIGIOUS: Bl. Margaret of Castello (1287–1320) was an Italian Roman Catholic and professed member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. She was born 1287 at Castello della Metola, Papal States to noble Italian parents who were awaiting the birth of the child of their dreams. Instead, they bore a daughter who was blind, dwarfed, lame, and hunchbacked. Bl. Margaret’s parents were horrified by the physical appearance of their newborn child, so they hid her and kept her existence secret. A servant had her baptized and named her Margaret, meaning, “Pearl.” When she was six years of age she was nearly discovered, so that her father confined her to a cell inside the wall of a church with her necessities given through a window. The parish priest took it upon himself to educate Margaret. She lived in this way until age sixteen, when her parents took her on pilgrimage to a shrine famous for miraculous healings. There they prayed earnestly for their daughter to be cured of her deformities, which they loathed. When no cure came, her parents abandoned her in the streets and returned home, never to see her again.

Bl. Margaret begged for food and was helped by the town’s poor who took turns sheltering her in their homes. Nuns later offered her a home at their convent but soon came to detest her presence and cast her out, prompting the town’s poor to once again take her in and care for her. But she met with Dominican friars and was accepted as a secular member in their third order; she became a Dominican Tertiary and took up the work of serving the sick, dying, and imprisoned. She started a school for children to teach them in the faith and often took care of children while their parents were out at work. Bl. Margaret was known for her great joy, sanctity, and profound mystical experiences. She died at the age of 33 on April 13, 1320 at Città di Castello, Papal States and hundreds of miracles were credited to her intercession both before and after her death. Her body is incorrupt. Bl. Margaret’s holiness was apparent to all in her life that people lobbied for her to be buried in the local church which was an honor reserved for few – this was a clear demonstration people believed in her holiness. Her beatification received approval from Pope Paul V on 19 October 19, 1609 at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Papal States. Pope Francis later declared her a s
Saint through equipollent canonization on April  24, 2021 at Apostolic Palace, Vatican City. She is the Patron Saint of Pro-life movements, against poverty, and of the disabled, handicapped, blind people and unwanted. Her feast day is April 13th.

Blessed Margaret of Castello, Religious ~ Pray for us🙏

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, Saturday of the Second Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 6:16-21

“They saw Jesus, walking on the sea”

“When it was evening, the disciples of Jesus went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But He said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” They wanted to take Him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Lord came to His disciples as they were struggling with a strong wind and a rough sea and brought them to a safe haven. At the end of yesterday’s Gospel reading, Jesus, having fed the multitude in the wilderness, withdrew to the mountain by Himself. The evangelist, John, suggests that Jesus needed to be alone with God the Father who had sent Him into the world. While Jesus was alone, the disciples set out to cross the sea of Galilee without Jesus. In His absence they found themselves struggling with a strong wind and a rough sea. Even after evening had given way to night they had rowed only three to four miles. They seemed lost without Jesus. It was then that they saw Jesus coming towards them, speaking words of reassurance, ‘It is I. Do not be afraid’. Almost immediately, they arrived at their destination that they had just been struggling to reach. The Gospel reading is suggesting that if we are to reach our destination, we cannot do it on our own. We need the Lord’s help. A little later in this same Gospel, Jesus will say to His disciples, ‘those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing’. The Gospel reading is suggesting to us that on our own journey, our journey of faith, we depend on the Lord to reach our destination. We depend on Him especially when the wind is against us and the waters of life get stormy. Today’s Gospel reading assures us that the Lord comes to us in those difficult and threatening moments. If we are open to His coming and receptive to His presence we will move on through the storms that come our way and reach our destination. The Lord’s presence to us and our awareness of His presence always makes the journey to the other side, the far shore, seem that bit shorter. Like Saint Paul, we can find ourselves saying, ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’.

Our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows some tension in the church of Jerusalem. Something of a storm was brewing in this young church, which became the mother church, because it was from the church in Jerusalem that the other churches were founded. The Hellenists, Greek speaking believers, were complaining about the Hebrews, Aramaic speaking believers, because the Hellenists felt that their widows were not being as well provided for as the widows of the Hebrews. The leaders of the Jerusalem church, the Twelve, realized that this problem would not be resolved unless they drew other members of the church into this ministry of providing for all the widows and the other vulnerable people in the church. The Twelve could not do everything; they had to prioritize. They declared to the other members of the church that as the leaders they should be devoting themselves to prayer and to the service of God’s word. As a result, they invited the members of the church to choose people of wisdom and of the Spirit who could attend to this important work of providing for the most vulnerable. Seven suitable people were chosen, allowing the Twelve to focus on what was important in their calling. Here at the very early days of the church we have a good example of how the church must function in every age. No one group within the church can do everything. There is a need for different groups of people to take responsibility for different ministries. This is how the Spirit continues to shape the life of the church. There will always be the kind of tensions or storms within the church that we find in today’s first reading. However, such stormy moments can be times of grace, opportunities for the Spirit in work in new ways in the church. As the Lord came to His disciples as they were struggling with a strong wind and a rough sea and brought them to a safe haven, so is the Lord always with His church in the various storms that will assail it. His presence at the heart of the storm can help to ensure that moments of crisis in the church can also be times of new life.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all called to continue following the Lord, to be faithful to Him and His commandments, doing our best to serve Him and to walk in the path that He has shown us so that each and every one of us may come to His Holy Presence and be fully reconciled and reunited with Him. The Lord has sent His Holy Spirit to strengthen to guide us all within His Church, to help and lead us down the right path as He continued to lead us through the path of righteousness, helping and guiding us in our Christian living and existence to be the beacons of His light and truth, to be the bearers of His love and compassion into this world, and therefore, all of us as Christians should spend our time and effort in doing what the Lord has called on all of us to do. Each and every one of us should follow the good examples set by our holy predecessors, the saints and the followers of the Lord as presented to us in our Sacred Scriptures. May the Risen Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey of faith through life, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may continue to strive and persevere through the many challenges and trials that we may have to endure as faithful disciples and followers of the Lord. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and be with us always and may He bless our every efforts and endeavours, our every good works for the greater glory of His Name. May all of us have a most blessed and wonderful Easter season, have a most fruitful time in our obedience to the Lord. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

Jesus, my Redeemer, I thank You for coming into this world to save us. Thank You for the gift of the Redemption of the world. When I am tempted to fear and turn my eyes to the difficulties of the world, give me the grace I need to turn to You in hope and trust. Enter the storms of my life, dear Lord, and lift my burden of fear. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Martin I, Pope and Martyr; Saint Hermenegild, Martyr and Blessed Margaret of Castello ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe and joyous second week of Easter and relaxing weekend!🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 12, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT JULIUS I, POPE AND SAINT TERESA OF THE ANDES, RELIGIOUS

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Friday of the Second 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 12, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 12, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 12, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 12, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 12, 2024 |

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

Today Bible Readings: Friday, April 12, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 5:34-42
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 27:1, 4, 13-14
Gospel, John 6:1-15

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/

As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Julius I, Pope and Saint Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, the Clergy and Christians all over the world. We also pray for the souls of the faithful departed. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.🙏

SAINT JULIUS I, POPE: St. Julius I was a Roman, elected Bishop of Rome from 6 February 337 to his death on April 12,  352. He’s remembered for setting December 25th as the official date of birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, starting the tradition of celebrating Christmas on that date. He also asserted his authority against Arianism, a heretical cult that insisted Christ was human and not divine. St. Julius, a Roman, was elected Pope, succeeding St. Mark, whose reign had been exceedingly brief (less than nine months). The Church was then in a troubled condition on account of the Arian agitators whose heresy had been condemned at Nicaea, but who were beginning to deceive Constantine the Emperor in regard to their real character. When the Emperor died, his sons, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, divided the Empire. For a considerable time St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, had been an object of persecution to the Arians. Upon the accession of Pope Julius, their Bishop in the East sent three deputies to accuse St. Athanasius. At an impartial hearing the Bishop of Alexandria was acquitted of every accusation that ha been brought against him. On the demand of the Arians, the Pope assembled a council at Rome in 341, which confirmed St. Athanasius in his See in spite of the fact that the Arian Bishops refused to attend.

As the Arians still remained obstinate, Pope Julius convinced the Emperors Constans and Constantius to convoke a Council at Sardica in Illiricum. It began in May, 347, and confirmed the decrees of Nicaea, of which it is regarded as an appendix or continuation. It declared St. Athanasius orthodox, and deposed certain Arian Bishops. In this Council it was decreed that any Bishop deposed by a synod in his province has a right to appeal to the Bishop of Rome. In a letter to the Oriental Bishops of the Arian party, St. Julius appeals to the apostolic traditions in defense of the right of the Holy See to be consulted, a right that the Eastern Bishops admitted, but they had slighted by their conduct. St. Julius died April 12, 352.

PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, you established St. Julius as Pope over 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 thought by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen🙏
 
SAINT TERESA OF THE ANDES, RELIGIOUS: St. Teresa of Jesus (1900 – 1920), also known as St. Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes was born Juana Enriqueta Josephina de Los Sagrados Corazones Fernández Solar, on July 13, 1900, was born in Santiago Chile to Miguel Fernández Jaraquemada, Lucía Solar Armstrong, an upper class family. She was a Chilean professed religious from the Discalced Carmelites. She was a pious child with a profound spirituality and a deep devotion to Jesus and Mary. Yet she was also stubborn and self-centered, had an often unpredictable temperament for she could be prone to anger and being vain, defects which she diligently set herself to overcome in preparation for her First Holy Communion at the age of 10. But she could also demonstrate her charitable and loving nature; she seemed transformed when she decided to become a nun and her character seemed to change for her sole ambition was to dedicate herself to the service of God. Inspired by reading the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux, and confirmed by prayer, at the age of 14 she decided to become a Carmelite nun. Five years later her desire was realized.

In May of 1919, at the age of 19, she entered the Carmelite monastery of Los Andes where she lived a life of prayer and sacrifice. She also took to writing letters through which she shared her remarkable spiritual life with the outside world. It was revealed to her in prayer that she would die young, which she accepted with happiness and confidence. A few months after her entry she contracted typhoid fever, from which she died on April 12, 1920 at Los Andes, Chile during Holy Week. Before her death she was permitted to profess her vows. Her canonization process opened on 23 April 1976 under Pope Paul VI and she became titled as a Servant of God. The confirmation of her life of heroic virtue on 22 March 1986 allowed for her to be titled as Venerable. She was Beatified on April 3, 1987, O’Higgins Park, Santiago, Chile by Pope John Paul II after a miracle attributed to her from her native land cleared her for beatification and Canonized as Saint on March 21, 1993, Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II, after another miracle coming from Chile. St. Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes was the first Chilean and the first Discalced Carmelite nun outside of Europe to be declared a saint. Her feast day is April 12. She’s the Patron Saint against disease, against illness, Ill people, young people, Santiago and Los Andes

Saint Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes ~ Pray for us🙏

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, Friday of the Second Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 6:1-15

“Jesus distributed to those who were reclining as much as they wanted”

“Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised His eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because He Himself knew what He was going to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, He said to His disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign He had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry Him off to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain alone.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus and His disciples found themselves before a situation that seemed beyond their ability to deal with. They were faced with a hungry crowd and little or no means of feeding them. Philip and Andrew were both at a loss. Their inclination was to do nothing because the situation seemed hopeless. Where could food be found to feed such a crowd? In this situation different people reacted in different ways. Philip made a calculation: on the basis of the number of people and the amount of money available to buy food, and decided that nothing could be done. Andrew recognized that one of the crowd had a small amount of food but he dismissed this small resource as of no value. There were two other reactions in the story. There is the reaction of the small boy who willingly gave to Jesus the few pieces of food that he had. This is the reaction of the generous person, of the one who is prepared to give all he or she has, even though it appears to be far less than what is needed. He gave all he had to give. Then there is the reaction of Jesus Himself. Jesus knew that something could be done and He involved His disciples in doing what could be done, calling on them to make the people sit down. Jesus took the few resources that the young boy was generous enough to part with and, having prayed the prayer of thanksgiving to God over these small pieces of food, He somehow fed the enormous crowd. After feeding the crowd, Jesus asked His disciples to collect the pieces that were left over when everyone had eaten. With the Lord’s help what seemed impossible became possible. The Gospel reading suggests that the Lord can work powerfully through meagre resources. Like the disciples, we can feel hopeless before certain situations. We find it very hard to get started. It all seems too much for us. Yet, there is always something we can do, no matter how small. It may seem as small as the two barley loaves and five fish, but the Lord can work powerfully through our efforts, small as they may seem to us. We can always ask the Lord to do what he can with the little that we have and if we do that we may discover, like the disciples, that something wonderful happens. The Gospel teaches us that if we give generously from our resources to others, the Lord will work powerfully through those resources, small as they may seem to us.

Our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles details the time when the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council was pondering on what to do with the Apostles who had courageously opposed them and refused to follow their orders not to proclaim and teach in the Name of the Risen Christ, with many of the members of the Sanhedrin were desiring to destroy those Apostles, angry and inflamed as they were with the Apostles who defied them and spoke with great Wisdom and courage, in resisting the pressures and coercions levied against them. But with the rising tension and passionate anger, one figure came forth seeking calm and rationale argument, namely the highly respected Gamaliel, a renowned and highly respected teacher of the faith, an elder Pharisee of great reputation. This Gamaliel told the Sanhedrin members to listen to reason and wisdom, and not persecute the Apostles. The reasons presented by Gamaliel were very compelling, as he brought up the recent so-called False Messiahs, all those who have claimed to be the Messiah or the Saviour sent by God, and how their following and works quickly disappeared and were scattered after their leaders were put to death. Thus, following the same logic and example, Gamaliel convinced the other members of the Sanhedrin to let the Lord’s disciples be, as if their Lord and Master had indeed been a False Messiah like the others before Him, His movement and the works of His disciples would have quickly disappeared and they would be quickly scattered. On the other hand, as what was actually the case, if their Lord and Master was truly the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world, then no matter what efforts or persecutions the Sanhedrin would carry out against them, the works of the Lord would continue and triumph in the end. That is why, all of us are called and reminded to put our trust and faith in the Lord, remembering that He has always been by our side, guiding us and providing for us, protecting and helping us even in ways that we may not realise at first. The Lord has always been with His Church and His disciples, and according to our Gospel reading today, He has provided for us all that we need by His love and compassion towards us.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are reminded of the love and compassion, the kindness and all of the things which our Lord and Saviour has always shown us, in being present with us and for us, in our every journeys and paths, in all the roads that we are travelling through within our respective lives. God has always been ever present in all of that, and He will not abandon us no matter what. Everything that the Church and the Christian brothers and sisters had done, all have been guided and protected by the Lord. God will not abandon all those who put their trust and faith in Him. His love and kindness have always been shown to us, and none of us will be left without help, in our hour and time of need. For if we depend solely only on our own power, we will likely face defeat and failure, but with God’s help, everything is possible. Let us be inspired by the courage and the hard work shown by all those holy predecessors of ours, in all the trust and faith in the Lord which they had shown us through their lives. Let us all be courageous and committed as they had done in their own lives. Let us all commit ourselves to the Lord and do our best to follow Him in all of our lives, doing whatever we can even in the smallest things, to proclaim and glorify Him by our exemplary lives. May God, our Risen Lord and Saviour in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and be with us always and may He empower each one of us to live ever more faithfully in His Holy Presence, now, always and forevermore. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My most generous Lord, You not only give spiritual nourishment to Your people, You give it in superabundance. As I daily seek You out and am filled with Your mercy, help me to never tire of feasting upon the superabundant gift of Your grace. Please do nourish me, dear Lord, and help me to consume Your holy Word. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Julius I, Pope and Saint Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes, Religious ~ Pray for us 🙏

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe and joyous second week of Easter and a relaxing weekend!🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖.

THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 11, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT STANISLAUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR AND SAINT GEMMA GALGANI, VIRGIN

Greetings beloved family and Happy Thursday of the Second 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 11, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 11, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 11, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 11, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 11, 2024 |

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

Today Bible Readings: Thursday, April 11, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 5:27-33
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 34:2, 9, 17-18, 19-20
Gospel, John 3:31-36

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/

As we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr (Patron Saint of Poland, Kraków, moral order) and St. Gemma Galgani, Virgin (Patron Saint of pharmacists, loss of parents, back illnesses, temptations, and those seeking purity of heart). Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the the sick and dying, especially those who are terminally ill and we pray for the conversion of sinners, for persecuted Christians and for all Christians during this season of Easter🙏

SAINT STANISLAUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR: St. Stanislaus (1030-1079) was Bishop of Kraków known chiefly for having been martyred by the Polish King Bolesław II the Generous. St. Stanislaus was born in July 26, 1030, at Sezepanow in the diocese of Krakow, Poland. Saint Stanislaus was born in answer to prayer, when his parents were advanced in age. Out of gratitude they educated him for the Church. In his childhood were laid the foundation of his future sanctity. After an early training in the schools of his native country and at the university of Gnesna, he was sent to Paris, where he spent seven years in the study of Canon Law and Theology. Out of humility he refused the degree of Doctor and returned home. On the death of his parents Stanislaus gave away his ample fortune to the poor, and received the order of priesthood from the Bishop of Krakow, who made him canon of the cathedral and, soon afterward, preacher and vicar-general. His sermons produced a wonderful reformation of manners. After death of the Bishop he was unanimously chosen to succeed him in 1072.

Boleslaus II, then King of Poland, was leading an infamous life. The Saint reproached him in private with the irregularity of his conduct. The King at first seemed to repent, but he soon broke our again into enormous excesses. The Saint again remonstrated, and threatened excommunication. The King became enraged. Finally, in 1079, after much patience, the Bishop pronounced upon the King the sentence of excommunication. This cost him his life, for while he was in a small chapel outside of Krakow the King and his guard entered. When the guards refused to obey the wicked order of the King to put the Bishop to death, the impious King murdered the holy Bishop with his own hands, he ambushed St. Stanislaus and struck him down with a sword during his celebration of Mass on May 8, 1079. St. Stanislaus was soon acclaimed as a martyr, while Boleslaus II lost his grip on power and left Poland. In later years the fallen monarch is said to have lived in a monastery, repenting of the murder. Saint Stanislaus was canonized by Pope Innocent IV in 1253. He’s the Patron Saint of Poland, Kraków, moral order. His feast day is April 11th and in his own country he is commemorated May 8, the date of his death in 1079.

“Blessed John Paul II – who was Krakow’s archbishop in the “See of St. Stanislaus” before becoming Pope – paid tribute to him often during his pontificate. In a 2003 letter to the Polish Church, he recalled how St. Stanislaus “proclaimed faith in God to our ancestors and started in them…the saving power of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

PRAYER: God, for Your honor the holy Bishop Stanislaus fell before the swords of his persecutors. Grant that we may be strong in the Faith and persevere until death. Amen🙏

SAINT GEMMA GALGANI, VIRGIN: St. Gemma Galgani has been called the “Daughter of the Passion” because of her profound imitation of the Passion of Christ. She is especially venerated in the Congregation of the Passion (Passionists). St. Gemma Galgani (1878-1903) was born Maria Gemma Umberta Galgani on March 12, 1878 at Camigliano, near Lucca, Italy, the fifth of eight children born to a prosperous pharmacist. When she was young, Gemma’s mother and three of her siblings died of tuberculous. When she was 18 her father died as well, leaving Gemma to help care for her younger siblings. She rejected two marriage proposals and became a housekeeper while trying to enter the religious life as a Passionist. At twenty years of age, St. Gemma was attacked by tuberculosis of the spine and she developed spinal meningitis. This disease was declared by the doctors to be hopelessly incurable. After countless novenas to St. Gabriel, she was completely miraculously healed on the first Friday of March, 1899. She attributed her healing to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the intercession of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. At this time, apparently free from her recent illness, the Saint sought to fulfill her lifelong wish of pursuing her religious vocation with the Passionist nuns, but her application, as previously, was rejected. She was rejected due to her poor health, and later became a Tertiary member of the order.

From 1899 on, this quiet and unexcitable girl who was endowed with a remarkably fervent religious disposition underwent many extraordinary religious experiences—all of which were carefully investigated by her confessor and spiritual director, Father Germano. Throughout her life she united herself with the Passion of Christ and experienced great suffering as a result, but not without receiving many remarkable graces as well. She experienced many mystical visions and was often visited by her guardian angel, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. For this she was known as a great mystic, and, according to her spiritual director, developed the stigmata at age 21. The marks of Christ’s crucifixion (Stigmata) appeared intermittently for over eighteen months on her hand and feet, and she had ecstasies and visions. In 1902, she was again stricken with an illness that was thought to be tuberculosis and she fell asleep in the Lord on April 11, 1903 after a selfless life of love given to God for the conversion of sinners, she died on Holy Saturday, the Vigil of Easter at the age of 25. The fame of her sanctity spread rapidly all over the world. She was beatified by Pius XI on March 14, 1933, and canonized by Pius XII on Ascension Day, 1940. She’s the Patron Saint of Students, Pharmacists, Paratroopers and Parachutists, loss of parents, those suffering back injury or back pain, those suffering with headaches/migraines, those struggling with temptations to impurity and those seeking purity of heart. Her feast day is April 11th.

PRAYER: All-powerful God, You made the Virgin St. Gemma a living image of Your crucified Son. Through her prayers, may we suffer with Christ and so share in His glory. 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, Thursday of the Second Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 3:31-36

“The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of earthly things. But the one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy. For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God. He does not ration his gift of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”

In today’s Gospel reading, John the Baptist says of Jesus, ‘He whom God has sent speaks God’s own words’. Jesus speaks God’s own words because He is the Word of God in human flesh. John the evangelist declared in his opening verses, ‘the Word became flesh and lived among us’. We reflect deeply on all that Jesus said and did, on the whole of His life, on His death, resurrection and ascension, because we know that God has spoken the most powerful and clearest word He could ever speak through Jesus. We are not in the dark about God, wondering who God is and what God is like. In the language of John’s Gospel, it is Jesus, ‘who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made Him known’. Jesus came among us, full of God’s grace and truth, full of God’s gracious love and faithfulness, and we are invited to keep receiving from this fullness of God in Jesus. He has given us so much from His fullness that a life time is not long enough to receive it all. According to our Gospel reading today, God gives the Spirit to Jesus without reserve. God gave all to Jesus without reserve, and what Jesus received from God He has given to us, without reserve. However, there will always be a reserve in our receiving. We struggle to empty ourselves sufficiently to receive all the Lord wants to give us. We spend our lives learning to receive like little children. The greater our capacity to receive from the Lord’s fullness, the greater will be our ability to give as we have received. As Jesus received all from God and gave what He received to us, so Jesus looks to us to receive all from Him and to give what we receive to one another. We are to keep receiving from Jesus all He wishes to give us, His word, His Spirit, His love, so that, like St. Peter in our first reading, we can witness to Him before others.

Our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, details the confrontation between the members of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council and the Apostles. The Sanhedrin, composed of the most powerful and influential members of the Jewish community, including the chief priests, elders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, many of whom were against the teachings and works of the Lord, had been persecuting the Lord’s disciples ever after the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of the Lord. They had always been jealous and fearful of the popularity and influence of the Lord, and they closely guarded the special influence and privileges they had built up for themselves among the Jewish people, and that was also the reason why they arrested the Lord Jesus and handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified, in order to protect themselves and these privileges. The Sanhedrin was very much against the Apostles and their works, and ordered them all to stop teaching and preaching in the Name of the Lord Jesus. In fact, quite a few among the members of the Sanhedrin wanted to kill the Apostles if not for the timely intervention of Gamaliel, a respected member of the Sanhedrin and a renowned teacher of the Law himself, who according to Christian traditions, was a secret convert to the Christian faith. In the end, the assembly of the Sanhedrin agreed to scourge the Apostles and to let them go with the stern warning against any attempts to proselytise and proclaim the Risen Lord. This was met with great indignation and refusal by the Apostles, who chose to remain firm in their faith and resisted the attempts of those who sought to pressure them into giving up their efforts and works in proclaiming the Risen Lord. They had witnessed the Risen Lord Himself, and received the direct commandment and mission to proclaim His truth and Good News among the nations, and hence, it was inconceivable for them to disregard the Lord’s direct commandment and mission in saving themselves and preventing them from getting into trouble, by obeying the commands of the worldly Sanhedrin, who was mostly concerned more about their own worldly attachments and matters rather than to follow the Lord. After all, the Lord had spent a lot of time and effort, showing and proclaiming Himself and His good works to them, only to be repeatedly rebuffed and rejected because many of them could not resist the temptations of sin and evil, the temptations of worldly glory, fame, ambition and their own ego and pride. Thus, the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord continued to do what the Lord had commanded them to do despite the oppositions they encountered.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us are bearers of the truth of God, in everything that He Himself has revealed to us, through His Church and the holy Spirit. All of us as Christians believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, the Messiah sent by God into this world to save all of us, and that He is the Son of God, the Divine Word incarnate in the flesh, giving us all His own life, so that by doing so, He restored us all to a new life and existence, one that is once again attuned and connected to God, by His triumph and victory over sin and death. That is what we celebrate and are most joyful in during this blessed and glorious season of Easter, a time of celebration and rejoicing indeed. May the Risen Lord, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ continue to guide each and every one of us, and may He empower us all to live ever more faithfully and worthily in His presence. May He continue to bless us and love us in all things, and bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours for His greater glory, at all times. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may He bless our Easter joy and observance, and help us to have a truly blessed and fruitful Easter season. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My loving Lord, the Father has given all to You, and You, in turn, have given all to the Father. The love You share is infinite and eternal, overflowing into the lives of all Your creatures. Draw me into that divine love, dear Lord, and help me to imitate and share in Your love by fully giving my life to others. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr and St. Gemma Galgani, Virgin ~ Pray for us 🙏

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe and joyous second week of Easter!🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 10, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT FULBERT, BISHOP; SAINT BADEMUS, MARTYR AND SAINT MICHAEL DE LOS SANTOS, TRINITARIAN PRIEST

Greetings beloved family and Happy Wednesday of the Second 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 10, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 10, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 10, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 10, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 10, 2024 |

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

Today Readings: Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 5:17-26
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Gospel, John 3:16-21

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/

As we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres; Saint Bademus, Martyr and Saint Michael de los Santos, Trinitarian Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, during this Easter season, we humbly pray for the Church and the Clergy, we pray for their protection, safety and well-being, especially during these incredibly challenging times ~ Amen🙏

“Lord Jesus, we pray that St. Fulbert will intercede for our clergy when they need strengthening to make the right decisions. May they always stay true to Church teachings and to You, we pray”… Amen🙏

SAINT FULBERT, BISHOP: St. Fulbert was Bishop of Chartres who rebult the cathedral of Chartres when it was burnt down in 1020. He defended monasticism and orthodoxy and his legacy also includes a collection of letters, poems, hymns and sermons; many celebrating the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary as our Mother. St. Fulbert was born in Italy, of humble parentage, he went to school in Rheims, France, and conducted himself so brilliantly that when his mathematics and philosophy teacher, Gerbert, became Pope Sylvester II, he received a post at Rome. Later, he returned to France and was appointed chancellor of Chartres, overseeing the cathedral schools of the diocese in this capacity. St. Fulbert labored diligently and long and succeeded in making these schools the greatest educational center in France, frequented by students from Germany, Italy, and England. He was regarded as another Socrates and Plato, a bulwark against the rationalizing temper of his day.

Later, St. Fulbert became Bishop of Chartres, despite his protestations of unworthiness. His influence was vast in this position, since he became the recognized oracle of the spiritual and temporal leaders of France in addition to maintaining control of the cathedral schools. Yet he never allowed external affairs to interfere with the task of caring for his diocese. He preached regularly at the cathedral and strove to spread instruction throughout his diocese. This great Saint had a deep devotion to Mary and composed several hymns in her honor. He is also responsible for the beautiful Easter hymn, You Choirs of New Jerusalem. After an episcopate of nearly twenty-two years, St. Fulbert died on April 10, 1029.

PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Fulbert as Bishop in Your Church to feed flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the Faith he thought by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen. Saint Fulbert, pray for us that we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.🙏

SAINT BADEMUS, MARTYR: St. Bademus (d. 376 A.D.) was originally a wealthy and noble citizen of Bethlapeta in Persia. Desiring to give himself completely to God, he gave away his wealth and possessions to follow Christ, then gave the greater part of the proceeds to the poor. He reserved just enough to found a monastery near that city, to which he retired with several other persons, and then governed it with great sanctity and led a life of prayer and austerity. He conducted his religious in the paths of perfection with sweetness, prudence, and charity. To crown his virtue, God permitted him, with seven of his monks, to be apprehended by the followers of King Sapor in the thirty-sixth year of that king’s persecution. He lay four months in a dungeon, loaded with chains, and during this lingering martyrdom received every day a cruel flagellation. But he triumphed over his torments by the patience and joy with which he suffered them for Christ. At the same time a prince named Nersan, who was a Christian, was cast into prison and his goods confiscated because he refused to adore the sun. At first he seemed resolute, but at the sight of tortures his constancy failed him, and he promised to conform if he could be delivered. The king, to test whether his change was sincere, ordered Bademus to be brought where Nersan was kept in the royal palace, and sent word to Nersan that if he would slay the abbot, he would be restored to his liberty and former dignities. The apostate accepted the condition; a sword was put into his hand, and he advanced to plunge it into the breast of the abbot. But being seized with a sudden terror, he stopped short, and remained some time unable to lift up his arm to strike; he had neither courage to repent, nor heart to accomplish his crime.

Finally he hardened himself and continued with a trembling hand to aim at the martyr’s sides. Fear, shame, remorse, and respect made his strokes forceless and unsteady; and so great was the number of his victim’s wounds that the bystanders were in admiration at his invincible patience. Saint Bademus reproached his executioner, saying, What will you do on the day when you will have to render an account of your actions, and hear the sentence of your condemnation? I offer myself willingly to die for the glory of my Lord Jesus Christ, but I would prefer to die by another hand than yours! The pagans themselves were horrified at the cruelty of the king, the long martyrdom, and the perfidious acts of the apostate. Saint Bademus suffered and died on the 10th of April in the year 376. His body was cast out of the city, but secretly carried away and interred by the Christians. A short time afterwards Nersan fell into public disgrace, and perished by the sword. The disciples of the Saint were released from their chains four years later, at the death of King Sapor.

Saint Bademus, Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT MICHAEL DE LOS SANTOS, TRINITARIAN PRIEST: Saint Michael (1591-1624) sometimes called Michael of the Saints, was a Discalced Trinitarian born on September 29, 1591; Vic, Catalonia, Kingdom of Spain of parents notable both for their piety and their probity. Their son from his early childhood made a vow of perpetual chastity; his father, when he heard of it, one day with a smile proposed to him, to test him, a fine marriage. The child began to weep and hurried to an altar of the Blessed Virgin to renew his vow. At the age of six he fled to a cave to meditate on the Passion of Our Lord. When his father sent out a search party, he was obliged to return, but continued to live only for heaven, keeping himself constantly in the presence of God. He chose Saint Francis of Assisi for his model and practiced extreme mortifications to imitate Jesus crucified. At the age of twelve he presented himself at the novitiate of the Trinitarians of Barcelona, who admitted him. He made his perpetual vows in 1607, and assisted in the reform of the Order, in progress at that time. He never ceased to practice the primitive rule of the Institute. Saint Michael never had more than one tunic; beneath it he wore rude hair shirts. He practiced a perpetual fast and imposed constant disciplines on his flesh.

He was ordained a priest, and then it was at the altar that he received the most signal favors from heaven and inspired in those in attendance a most remarkable devotion. Twice Saint Michael was named Superior of the houses where he resided, yet he never became inflated with pride; on the contrary he believed himself worse than the demons. It seemed that heaven envied the earth in the possession of this Saint; he died at the age of thirty-three on April 10, 1624; Valladolid, Old Castile, Kingdom of Spain. Miracles followed at his tomb, and he was Canonized on June 8, 1862, Rome by Pope Pius IX

Saint Michael de los Santos, Trinitarian Priest ~ Pray for us🙏

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, Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 3:16-21

“God sent His Son that the world might be saved through Him”

“God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because He has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that His works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that His works may be clearly seen as done in God.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the words of Jesus to Nicodemus are one of the strongest and most positive statements in the New Testament about God. It speaks of God’s love for the world, of God’s generous way of expressing His love by giving the world His Son and of God’s desire that all people would experience eternal life through receiving God’s Son in faith. It is a hugely positive image of God and of how God relates to the world. It is a verse worth pondering and reflecting upon at length. Yet, the Gospel reading acknowledges another reality. It recognizes that people can refuse God’s love, God’s gift of His Son, God’s offer of life. In the words of the Gospel reading, ‘though the light has come into the world, people have shown that they prefer darkness to the light, because their deeds were evil’. Those who might be up to no good prefer the cover of darkness. According to the words of the Gospel, ‘everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed’. Light exposes wrong doing. In a sense, it condemns the wrong doer. According to the Gospel reading, God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. Jesus speaks of Himself as ‘the light of the world’. When the Gospel reading says that ‘the light has come into the world’, the reference is clearly to Jesus. Yet, the light of Jesus is not primarily a condemnatory light whose primary purpose is to expose evil. The light of Jesus is a light of love, the light of God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son. When we step into this light, there is a sense in which our sins are exposed. To see ourselves in the light of Jesus is to recognize how far we fall short of the person God has created us to be. Yet, the primary purpose of this loving light is to take away our sin. Jesus, the light of God, seeks us draw us to Himself so that we may have life and have it to the full. The Lord’s light is not in any way threatening. There is a fullness of life there from which we are all invited to receive.

Our first reading today suggests that no human power can block the preaching of the Gospel, not even the imprisonment of the Apostles, Jesus’ closest associates. The risen Lord will always find a way for the Gospel to be proclaimed, in spite of people’s best efforts to silence it. Peter and the message he preaches cannot be confined behind bars, in spite of the best efforts of those who want to silence that message. The Easter proclamation cannot be imprisoned, just as the guards at the tomb of Easter could not prevent Jesus bursting forth into new life. The light which shone from the risen Lord and from the preaching of the Easter Gospel could not be extinguished by the powers of darkness. We are all called to make the effort to resist temptations and pressures, we may easily be swayed to follow the whims of worldly desires and attachments that we have, and end up walking down the wrong path in life. We have to realise that without God and His guidance, we will easily lose sight on what is truly important in our lives, and it is easy for us to do things that are contrary to God’s will. That was exactly the things that the members of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council were doing against God’s works and the works of His disciples. Many of them often resisted the Lord and criticised Him for many of His miracles and works, persecuting Him and His disciples. They were also the same ones who have arrested the Lord and condemned Him to death, handing Him to the Romans to be crucified. They refused to believe in the truth and all the words of Wisdom that the Lord Himself has shown them, patiently and consistently, as the Lord had always done, in reaching out even to those who have resisted and rejected Him. From His Cross, the Lord prayed for the sake of those who persecuted and condemned Him to death, and He did die for all of them as well. No one is truly beyond God’s forgiveness and mercy, and He has always been generous in giving us His love and mercy. However, it requires us all to embrace God’s mercy and love for us to gain the full benefit of His kindness and mercy. God gave us His compassion and forgiveness freely, but unless we accept His mercy and love, we will not be reconciled with Him. Without God’s forgiveness and grace, none of us can attain salvation and eternal life on our own, for it is by God’s grace and guidance alone that we can live our lives truly worthily of Him, and become closer to Him. Unless we open our hearts and minds to the Lord and allow Him to guide us in our path forward, the likelihood of us coming close to the Lord becomes truly minuscule, as our stubbornness and arrogance often got in our way of walking towards God’s love and grace, as what had happened to the Pharisees and the other members of the Sanhedrin.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are reminded to be courageous in living our lives as Christians, to proclaim the Risen Lord as the Hope, Light and Salvation of the whole entire world. Without Christ, all of us would have perished and we would have to suffer the consequences and the punishments for our many sins. But thanks to His kindness, generosity and compassion, and through the ever-enduring Mercy that He has shown us, the Risen Lord has shown us His great love manifested in the Person of His Son, through Whom we have received the fullness of God’s Love, as He reached out to us, desiring to be fully and completely reconciled with us. Although we have indeed sinned against the Lord and disobeyed Him, but God’s love for us surpasses even the disgust He had against our sins and wickedness. Let us all hence renew our faith in God, and let us all be the committed and loving disciples of the Lord once again. Let us all turn towards Him and focus our attention on Him, our Risen Lord and Saviour. May the Risen Lord continue to bless and guide us in our journey of faith, and may He continue to be generous in His mercy and love, and help us to humble ourselves and to put our trust in Him so that all of us may truly follow Him wholeheartedly, and allow Him to lead our path in life. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace and bless all of our actions and works, that in all things we will always glorify Him and bring His truth to ever more and more people, throughout the world, and bring the salvation He has promised us to those who have not yet known Him. May the good Lord bless our Easter observances and joyful actions, and guide us always. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My glorious Lord, You came to us as the greatest Gift ever imagined. You are the gift of the Father in Heaven. You were sent out of love for the purpose of saving us and drawing us into the glory of eternity. Help me to understand and believe all that You are and to receive You as the saving Gift for Eternity. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres; Saint Bademus, Martyr and Saint Michael de los Santos, Trinitarian Priest.

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe and joyous second week of Easter!🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 9, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT GAUCHERIUS, ABBOT; SAINT DEMETRIUS, MARTYR AND BLESSED KATARZYNA FARON, POLISH MARTYR

Greetings beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Second 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 9, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 9, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 9, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 9, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | Divine Mercy Sunday, April 9, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 4:32-37
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 93:1, 1-2, 5
Gospel, John 3:7-15

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/

As we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Gaucherius, Abbot(Patron Saint of Wood Cutters); Saint Demetrius, Martyr (St. Demetrius is revered as the patron saint of Thessaloniki and was also venerated patron  saint of agriculture, peasants and shepherds) and Blessed Katarzyna Celestyna Faron, Polish Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners and for all Christians during this season of Lent. We also pray for all farmers, for their health, safety and well-being, especially during these incredibly challenging times.🙏

SAINT GAUCHERIUS, ABBOT: St. Gaucherius was also known as Walter, abbot-founder and friend of St. Stephen of Grandmont. He founded St. John’s Monastery at Aureilfor and a convent for women. Saint Gaucherius, Abbot, started attracting disciples even though he was only eighteen. St. Gaucherius was born in Meulan-sur-Seine, France to the northwest of Paris, and he received a good classical Christian education and became a priest. However he felt a deep longing for solitude and a life more radically centered on God. At the age of eighteen he gave up the world and retired to Aureil to lead a solitary life. He thereupon devoted his life to God as a hermit and began with his friend, Germond, to reside in the area of Limoges. Alone and forgotten by the world, St. Gaucherius and Germond grew in holiness. Their example attracted others who built hermitages near to theirs.

Finally St. Gaucherius decided to build a monastery at Aureil and to establish two communities, one for men, the other for women, both under the rule of St. Augustine. The passage of an eremitical settlement into the canonical life was one of the principal ways through which the canons regular grew in the 11th and 12th Century. The community of Aureil is typical of these kinds of Ordo Novus canons regular. Thereafter he lived with his companions, being for all a model of sanctity. His companions and disciples who trained in this community include St. Lambert of Angouleme and St. Faucherus as well as the founder of Grandmont monastery, St. Stephen Muret. St. Gaucherius died in 1140 at the age of 80 years and was canonized in 1194 by Pope Celestine III. He’s the Patron Saint of Wood Cutters.

PRAYER: Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection You have given us in St. Gaucherius the Abbot. Amen🙏

SAINT DEMETRIUS, MARTYR: St. Demetrius was martyred during the persecution of Diocletian (3rd/4th century) at Sirmium in Dalmatia. Saint Demetrius, Martyr, remained fervent in faith and works for Christ, encouraging many Christians to endure persecution and even bringing many pagans to the faith. Afterward a prefect of Illyria named Leontius introduced his cult to Salonika, transferred some of his relic there, and built a temple in his honor in both cities. From the 5th century on, Salonika was the great center of the cult of St. Demetrius, and his imposing church was destroyed only in 1917.

According to a legendary history, St. Demetrius was a citizen of Salonika who was arrested for proclaiming the Faith. He was then slain without a trial as he was being detained in a room of the public baths. Other accounts make him a proconsul and a warrior-Saint, and this latter capacity he almost equaled the popularity of the great legendary figure St. George. Both of these Saints were adopted as patrons by the crusaders and a story says that they were seen in their ranks at the Battle of Antioch in 1098. St. Demetrius is still very popular in the East, and his feast is celebrated with solemnity in the Eastern Liturgy. St. Demetrius is revered as the Patron Saint of Thessaloniki and was also venerated Patron  Saint of agriculture, peasants and shepherds.

PRAYER: Almighty and ever-living God, you enabled St. Demetrius to fight for justice even unto death. Through his help, grant that we may tolerate all adversity and hasten with all our might to You Who alone are life. Amen🙏

BLESSED KATARZYNA FARON, POLISH MARTYR: Bl. Katarzyna Celestyna (Catherine Celestine) Faron (1913-1944) was born in Zabrzez, Poland on April 24, 1913. At the age of five she was orphaned and raised by pious, childless relatives. From childhood she was distinguished by her love of Our Lord Jesus and devotion to the Blessed Mother and Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower. Desiring the religious life, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate in 1930 at the age of Seventeen. She adopted the name Celestyna. On September 15, 1938, she took perpetual vows. She served in the community as a kindergarten teacher and catechist. After the breakout of World War II she became the leader of her religious house, ran an orphanage, and helped the poor. She was eventually arrested by the Gestapo on February 19, 1942 and charged with conspiracy against the Nazis. Sister Celestyna was imprisoned in Jaslo and Tarnów, Poland, before being sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp on the feast of Epiphany in 1943, where she was assigned to manual labor digging ditches. She praised God in all her suffering and resigned herself to following His will.

Due to the poor conditions she suffered from typhoid fever, pulmonary tuberculosis, and recurrent hemorrhages. Because she completed the nine First Fridays devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she trusted that she wouldn’t die without Holy Communion, as Our Lord promised. On December 8, 1943, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, she received Holy Communion as viaticum which was secretly brought to the camp by a prisoner priest. While on her deathbed she prayed intensely for others and for various intentions on a rosary made out of bread crumbs. According to witnesses she  offered up her suffering for the conversion of a Catholic bishop, Władysław Faron, who had fallen away from the Church. The bishop eventually returned to the true Faith, Catholic Church. Bl. Katarzyn finally died from her illness on Easter Sunday morning on April 9, 1944. Her body was burned in the camps crematorium. On June 13, 1999, Sister Celestyna was beatified by Saint John Paul II in Warsaw, Poland as one of the group of 108 Polish Catholic Martyrs killed during World War II by Nazi Germany. Blessed Celestyna calls us particularly to renew the ecclesial consciousness resulting from personal union with Christ. Her feast day is April 9th.

PRAYER: O God, who willed your Son to submit for our sake to the yoke of the Cross, so that you might drive from us the power of the enemy, grant us, your servants, to attain the grace of the resurrection. 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.  Blessed Katarzyna Faron, Polish Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏

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 Second Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 3:7b-15

“No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man”

“Jesus said to Nicodemus: “‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ‘How can this happen?” Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Nicodemus the Pharisee came to meet Jesus at night time to discussed about many things, including the identity of the Lord and what He has come into this world for. Jesus speaks about the mysterious reality of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, with reference to the everyday reality of the wind. There is a mysterious quality to the wind. As Jesus says, ‘it blows where it pleases’. Nowadays we can harness the wind to generate electricity, but there is so much about the wind which is beyond our control and understanding. In the words of the Gospel reading, we certainly cannot control where it comes from or where it goes to. We also cannot control the strength of the wind. If the wind is beyond our control and understanding, this is true to an even greater extent of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. We cannot manage the Holy Spirit. If we are not masters of the wind, we are even less masters of the Spirit. Yet, whereas the wind is an impersonal force, the Spirit is a personal force. We speak of the Spirit as the third person of the Trinity. The Spirit is the Spirit of God’s personal love for the world. Whereas the wind can be destructive, the Spirit is always life-giving. In our Gospel reading, we find Nicodemus struggling to understand when Jesus tells him that he must be born from above, born of the Spirit. In response, Nicodemus asks ‘How can that be possible?’ Nicodemus is an example of someone who struggled to come to faith; he struggle to become a disciple of Jesus. He was drawn to Jesus but he could not quite grasp what Jesus was asking of him, not initially at least. Yet, Nicodemus did not give up on Jesus and the last we see of him in John’s Gospel is at Golgotha where, after the death of Jesus, he and Joseph of Arimathea ensure that Jesus has a dignified burial. It appears that in the course of Jesus’ public ministry Nicodemus gradually grew in his relationship with Jesus; he allowed himself to be drawn to Jesus more fully. The journey of faith is not always straightforward. Like Nicodemus we can find ourselves at an impasse. His question, ‘How can that be possible?’ becomes our question. Yet, all we can do is stay with our questions and be faithful to our search. The Lord will do the rest. If we are open and honest, the Lord will draw us to Himself in time, in His time and in ours. Our calling is to surrender to the Lord, to the movement of the Spirit in our lives, to allow the Spirit to shape and mould us. When that happens, our lives will give expression to God’s personal love for the world.

Our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles details the life of the early Christian community, which members were filled with love and compassion for one another, as they shared their goods and properties, their blessings with those who have less with them so that none among them lived in want or in misery. In their way of life, those early Christians highlighted what it truly means to be followers and disciples of Christ, in their obedience to God’s will and adherence to His commandments and Law. They loved the Lord and placed Him at the centre of their community and their lives, and they also loved one another and cared for the needs of those around them, instead of selfishly seeking only to satisfy themselves. They are our role models and examples in how we should live our own lives in this world, and all of us should indeed make good use of the time and opportunities presented to us so that we may also live our lives worthily of the Lord.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are reminded of what it means for us to be Christians, that is as faithful disciples and followers of Our Lord and Saviour, living our lives in the path and ways that He has shown and revealed to us. The Lord Himself has revealed His teachings and truth, through His Church and His disciples and their successors, our bishops and priests, who have handed down to us what the Lord Himself has given to His Apostles and disciples. That is why each and every one of us are called to turn once again towards Him and His truth, distancing ourselves from sin and wickedness, and from all the things which have often separated us from the love of God, all the temptations and forces which have kept us from embracing God’s most generous love and compassion, all these while. Let us all therefore do our part as Christians, as we continue to carry on living our lives in this world, and let us be good role models and examples in all things so that through our works, actions and deeds, we may inspire many more people to come to believe in the Lord. Let us all strive to be the good disciples and followers of our Lord, doing our best to proclaim the truth of God, the glory of Our Lord and Saviour in our every actions and words. Let all of our lives, in in the smallest and simplest things, be the shining beacons of Christ’s Light and Hope, illuminating all those who are still living in the darkness, and are still lacking hope and strength. Let our actions and interactions with our fellow brothers and sisters in need help us to show them the path to the true hope and eternal joy in the Lord. May the Risen Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our journey of life, that we may resist the many temptations and pressures all around us. May the Lord be with us and may He empower each one of us to be prepared and ever ready to do His will, and may continue to inflame us with His Holy Spirit, to allow us to walk with faith in the Lord. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the joy, love, courage, strength and the guidance of Our Risen Lord be with us all, and may He bless us in our every good works, actions and deeds, now and always, forevermore. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My Lord of all strength, You are unwavering in Your determination to challenge me in the area that I need it the most. Help me to receive Your gentle rebukes of love when I am weak so that I will have the courage and strength I need to be a faithful follower of You. Give me clarity and understanding, dear Lord, and help me to overcome the misleading pressures of the world. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Gaucherius; Saint Demetrius and Blessed Katarzyna Celestyna Faron ~ Pray for us🙏 

Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we celebrate the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Have a blessed, safe and joyous second week of Easter!🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖