Author: Philomena

FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

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

Gospel Reading ~ John 10:22-30

“The Father and I are one”

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

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

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

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

Let us pray:

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

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

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

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

MEMORIAL OF SAINTS SOTER AND CAIUS, POPES AND

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 22, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINTS SOTER AND CAIUS, POPES AND MARTYRS; SAINT LEONIDES, MARTYR AND SAINTS EPIPODIUS AND ALEXANDER, MARTYRS

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

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

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN | April 22, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 22, 2024 !

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 22, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 22, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 22, 2024 |

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

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Bible Readings: Monday, April 22, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 11:1-18
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 42:2-3; 43:3, 4
Gospel, John 10:1-10

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 Saints Soter and Caius, Popes and Martyrs; Saint Leonides, Martyr and Saints Epipodius and Alexander, Martyrs. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners and for Christians all over the world. We also pray for bachelors, victims of betrayal and torture and for the poor and the needy, especially during these incredibly challenging times.🙏

SAINTS SOTER AND CAIUS, POPES AND MARTYRS

SAINT SOTER, POPE, MARTYR: Saint Soter, Pope (c. 174-175 A.D.) was the twelfth bishop of Rome. He was of Greek origin, though born in Fondi, Italy. He reigned as Pope from 166-175. Saint Soter is known for declaring that marriage was valid only as a sacrament blessed by a priest and also for formally inaugurating Easter as an annual festival in Rome. He was attentive to the needs of Christians and the east, and his pontificate was marked by works of charity and care for the poor. He fought against Montanism, and regulated the order of deaconesses. Saint Soter was raised to the papacy upon the death of Saint Anicetus in 161. By the sweetness of his discourses he comforted all afflicted persons with the tenderness of a father, and assisted the indigent with liberal alms, especially those who suffered for the Faith. He liberally extended his charities, according to the custom of his predecessors, to remote churches. He aided in particular that of Corinth, to which he addressed an excellent letter. Saint Dionysius of Corinth in his letter of thanks to Saint Soter, adds that the Pontifical letter together with the letter of Saint Clement, Pope, was read for the edification of the faithful on Sundays, during their assemblies to celebrate the divine mysteries. One of Saint Soter’s ordinances required all Christians except those in public penance to receive Communion on Holy Thursday. Saint Soter vigorously opposed the heresy of Montanus, and governed the Church up to the year 175. He was martyred on April 22, 175, under the emperor Marcus Aurelius, and buried on the Appian Way in the catacombs of St. Callixtus. His feast day is April 22nd.

SAINT CAIUS, POPE, MARTYR: Saint Caius, Pope was born in the Dalmatian city of Salona, to a noble family, possibly related to the emperor Diocletian. He was Pope  for 13 years, reigned from 283 to 296, and may have been the uncle of St Susanna. He fought against emerging heresies and gave definitive structure to the lower orders of the episcopate. Pope Saint Caius, though a relative of the emperor Diocletian, him or his family were not spared during the bloody persecution of the years 283 to 296, during which the Christians of Rome were obliged to conceal themselves in caverns and cemeteries. Saint Caius counseled a patrician named Chromatius to receive the tracked disciples of Christ in his country residence. He himself went to visit them on a Sunday, and said to the faithful assembled there that Our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing the fragility of human nature, established two degrees in the practice of Christianity, confession and martyrdom. Our Saviour did so, he said, so that those who do not believe they could stand up under torment, may nonetheless conserve the grace of the faith by their confession. Our Lord had indeed specified, When you are persecuted in one city, flee to another… Then he said, Those who wish to stay in the house of Chromatius, remain with Tiburtius, while those who prefer to return with me to the city, come. Several followed him back to Rome; among them are the martyrs of the same persecution, the brothers Saints Marcus and Marcellinus, and Saint Sebastian. Saint Caius himself received the crown of martyrdom in the final year of the persecution, 296, and was buried in the cemetery of St. Callixtus, where his body was found in 1622, with an inscription identifying him as Vicar of Christ. His feast day is April 22nd.

Both St. Soter and St. Caius are buried in the cemetery of St. Calixtus and are venerated on the date of the death of Pope St. Caius.

PRAYER: O God, who to pasture your people filled the Bishops blessed Soter and Caius with a spirit of truth and of love, grant that, as we celebrate their feast day with honor, we may benefit by imitating them and be given relief through their intercession. 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🙏

SAINT LEONIDES, MARTYR: The Emperor Severus, in the year 202, the tenth of his reign, raised a bloody persecution which filled the entire empire with martyrs, but especially Egypt. The most illustrious of those who by their triumphs ennobled and edified the city of Alexandria was Leonides, father of the great Origen. He was a Christian philosopher and excellently versed both in the profane and sacred sciences. He had seven sons; the eldest was Origen, whom he brought up with very great care, returning thanks to God for having blessed him with a son of such an excellent disposition for learning, and so remarkable a piety. After his son was baptized, he would come to his bedside while he was asleep and, bending over the child, would kiss his breast respectfully, as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

When the persecution reached Alexandria in 202, under Laetus, governor of Egypt, Leonides was cast into prison. Origen, who was then only seventeen years of age, burned with a fervent desire for martyrdom, and sought every opportunity of facing it. His ardor redoubled at the sight of his father’s chains, and his mother was forced to lock up all his clothes to oblige him to stay at home. She conjured him not to forsake her; thus, unable to do more, he wrote a letter to his father in very moving terms, strongly exhorting him to look at the crown that was offered him with courage and joy. He added this exhortation: Take heed that for our sakes you do not change your mind! Leonides was indeed beheaded for the faith in 202. He’s the Patron Saint of Large families. His feast day is April 22nd.

Saint Leonides, Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINTS EPIPODIUS AND ALEXANDER, MARTYRS: Sts Epipodius and Alexander, Martyrs, were two Christian young men of Lyon, both unmarried and of good position. St. Epipodius was a native of Lyon, while St. Alexander was said to be a native of Phrygia, and a physician by profession. They were both martyred during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. During the fierce persecution of Marcus Aurelius in that city (178), they were arrested, imprisoned, and finally brought before the governor. Their ready acknowledgment of being Christians elicited astonishment of the governor who was well aware of the fierce tortures and executions that had already been meted out to Christians. However, the governor was not deterred in carrying out his task. He separated the two and attempted to cajole St. Epipodius (the younger of them) to abandon his Faith. But the loyal youth continued to profess it. Then he was stretched out on a rack and his sides were rent by iron claws. He was finally beheaded.

Two days later, it was St. Alexander’s turn. Instead of being frightened by the reminder of his companion’s fate, he thanked God for his example and expressed a firm desire to join him. He was scourged unmercifully but stood fast in the Faith. Finally, he was sentenced to be crucified, and the moment his battered body was fastened to the cross he passed on to his heavenly reward. St. Epipodius is the patron saint of bachelors, victims of betrayal, and victims of torture. Saints Epipodius and Alexander are great intercessors for anyone who has felt the coldness of betrayal.

PRAYER: May the prayers of Sts. Epipodius and Alexander make us pleasing to You, Lord, and strengthen us in professing Your truth. 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 Fourth Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 10:1-10

“I am the gate for the sheep”

“Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus speaks of Himself as the gate. Jesus uses an image drawn from the rural life of Galilee. There is a sheepfold or sheep pen. The sheep enter the sheepfold through the gate at night for protection. In the morning the shepherd enters the sheepfold through the gate and calls the sheep to follow him back out through the gate to pasture. Jesus identifies Himself with two elements of that image, firstly with the gate, and then with the shepherd. The sheep go through the gate at night for protection and go through the gate in the morning for pasture. In this way the gate is both life-protecting and life-sustaining. This is the sense in which Jesus applies ‘the gate’ to Himself. ‘I am the gate’. If we pass through Him, if we interact with Him, He both protects us and sustains our life. He protects in that He delivers us from evil, in the words of the Lord’s Prayer, and from the evil one who stands behind all evil. He sustains our life in that He works to give us life to the full, a sharing in God’s own life. God’s life is a life of love. Jesus sustains our life by working to make us as loving as God is loving. To the extent that we love as God loves we already share in God’s life, here and now in this earthly life. Jesus is the gate who both protects and sustains our life. That is why He calls on us to keep entering through Him, to keep interacting with Him, to keep growing in our relationship with Him. Far from getting in God’s way, Jesus was the gate through whom God came to people and they came to God. Jesus is the open gate onto God. People can go freely in and out through Him and experience the life of God. As Jesus says in the Gospel reading, ‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full’. There is a sense in which we all share in that role of Jesus to be the gate. We too are called to be openings for God, people through whom God can enter people’s lives, just as the Spirit of God entered the lives of Cornelius and his household through St. Peter in the first reading. At the very least, this will mean, in the words of St. Peter, not standing in God’s way. We have a role to play in each other’s lives but we also have to leave room for God to work. There is a time to be the shepherd and a time to be the gate.

In today’s first reading, Peter asks the question, ‘Who am I to stand in God’s way?’ When the Holy Spirit came down upon the pagan Cornelius and his household Peter realized that God was doing something in the lives of these pagans and, at the very least, Peter’s role was not to get in the way of what God was doing. Today’s first reading suggests that the Holy Spirit was always one step ahead of the early church. The first Christians were Jews and there was a natural reluctance among them to eat food that was considered unclean in their tradition, and there was an even stronger reluctance to visit the homes of pagans. However, in today’s reading, Peter has a vision in which he is told to regard no food as unclean. Immediately afterwards, the Spirit prompted St. Peter to do something he would not have done if left to himself, namely to go to the home of a pagan so as to witness to the Lord. When Peter went to this home and preached, something happened that Peter never would have expected. The Holy Spirit came down on the members of this pagan household in the same way that the Spirit had come down upon Jesus’ Jewish followers at the first Pentecost. Peter and the rest of the early church were being led by the Holy Spirit in directions they had not expected. The Holy Spirit is one step ahead of the church in every age. We are always trying to keep up with where the Spirit is leading us. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus speaks of Himself as the gate and calls on us to enter through Him. However, today’s first reading suggests that Jesus is not a gate in any static or fixed way. Jesus, the gate, like the Spirit, is always ahead of us. We are always having to discern what it means to go through Jesus the gate. We have to keep searching for the gate that Jesus wants us to go through. It is often an unexpected gate, as Peter learned when the Spirit prompted him to go through the gate of a pagan house. We always need to be open to the Lord’s guidance. He often calls on us to go through a gate, that is new. We need to pray, in the words of today’s responsorial psalm, ‘O send forth your light and your truth; let these be my guide’.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that we must always follow the path and way set by the Lord, our loving God and Good Shepherd, and we must not allow ourselves to be easily swayed and tempted by all sorts of worldly temptations and evils, by those desires which may lead us astray into the wrong path, because we trusted more in our own intellect, power and abilities rather than to trust in the Lord and in what He has provided, revealed and explained to us, in all the guidance and path that He has shown us. As Christians, we should always be strongly rooted in faith, in our commitment and dedication to God, at all times. We are therefore reminded to focus our attention once again towards our Good Shepherd, our Lord and Saviour. We should heed His call and embrace His path, and we should be vigilant and careful lest the temptations and the allures of worldly glory, fame and all the falsehoods and lies around us, the paths shown by false leaders and false shepherds may end up leading us down the path of ruin and destruction. Let us all therefore seek to follow the Lord, our Good Shepherd ever more faithfully at all times, doing what He has called and entrusted to all to do in our respective parts and areas in life. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may He continue to bless us all and guide us in our every good works, efforts and endeavours. Amen 🙏

Let us pray:

Jesus, my Good Shepherd, You speak to me each and every day. You are constantly revealing to me Your most holy will for my life. Help me to always recognize Your gentle voice so that I can be led by You through the challenges of life. May my life of prayer become so deep and sustaining that Your voice always echoes within my heart and soul. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saints Soter and Caius; Saint Leonides and Saints Epipodius and Alexander ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for His Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all and for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful Fourth Week of Easter 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR B)

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY AND WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS (VOCATIONS SUNDAY)

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 21, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT CONRAD OF PARZHAM ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 21ST

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Good Shepherd (Vocations) Sunday!

As we continue to celebrate and rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, on this Vocations Sunday, we pray for the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. May the good Lord continue to guide them and strengthen them all in all their works as they serve in His Vineyard. May God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this Easter season and always🙏

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on Good Shepherd Sunday, EWTN | April 21, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 21, 2024 |

Watch “Regina Coeli with Pope Francis | Good Shepherd Sunday | Jesus the Good Shepherd awaits us with open arms | Vatican | April 21, 2024” |

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-04/pope-at-regina-coeli-jesus-good-shepherd-awaits-us-open-arms.html

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 21, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 21, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 21, 2024 |

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

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Bible Readings: Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year B) – Good Shepherd Sunday, April 21, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 4:8-12
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 21, 29
Reading 2, First John 3:1-2
Gospel, John 10:11-18

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/

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY AND WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS (VOCATIONS SUNDAY): Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because the Mass reading is taken from the Gospel of John, where Jesus uses the imagery of a shepherd guiding and guarding his flock to describe His relationship with those He has redeemed: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11). The communion antiphon for this Mass reads, “The Good Shepherd is risen! He who laid down his life for his sheep, who died for his flock, he is risen, alleluia.”

Good Shepherd Sunday is also recognized as Vocations Sunday, we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1964. This Fourth Sunday of Easter marks the 61st Anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. As we remember and especially pray for all those people who had answered God’s call to be His servants and disciples, to be the ones who live their lives and carry out their actions as the shepherds of the flock of the Lord, in the model of the Good Shepherd Himself, namely our Priests and Bishops, and our Holy Father, Pope Francis. Vocations Sunday reminds us that the more fundamental call we hear in life is the call of the Lord. It is a day when we are asked to pray for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. The faithful pray that God will send them good and Holy Priests who, following the example of Christ, will lay down their lives for His sheep. Each and every one of them had committed themselves to the good works of the Lord, dedicating themselves wholly to the ministry of Priesthood, by which they truly showed the same love and care that our Lord and Good Shepherd had shown us, and this Sunday in particular we pray for all of them that the Lord will continue to guide them and strengthen them all in all their works.

It is also a day when we are asked to reflect on our own baptismal vocation. We all share the one baptismal vocation. Each and every one of us as Christians also have our own unique vocations in life. Vocation in the Church is not just the vocation to Priesthood only, as there are also those who continue to live in the world and living our own respective and diverse ways of life as members of the laity, as people who build up faithful Christian families and societies, as well as all those who also give themselves into consecrated life to God, or those who commit themselves to a life of singlehood and purity, all in the service of God. Each and every one of these vocations are truly important, and we are hence reminded that as Christians we must always be active in living our Christian faith and life at all times.

MEDITATION: THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD: We are a precious gift the Father has confided to Jesus. Thine they were: to me Thou gavest them. All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him that comes to me I will not cast out. This is the Father’s will, that I should not lose one of these precious ones He has given to me. This charge which the Father has given me is more precious than anything whatsoever. Jesus sees His own raison d’etre as that of doing the will of the Father, and the will of the Father is precisely that He should care for each one of us and give us eternal life. All that Jesus is, is precisely for me. His care of me never slackens. “The Lord is my shepherd, I can want for nothing.” If I really believed this, how different my life would be! I would never willingly jib at what happens to me since I would everything as at least permitted by Him, knowing He will make everything turn to my good I would stop trying to run my own life, preventing this or that…I would cease to care for the judgements of others, whether they like me or not, whether they think well or ill of me. I would cease wanting to feel sure about everything, above all about my spiritual life: anxious, fearful, discouraged, plagued by guilt feelings… If my faith in the unfailing tender care of my Shepherd is real, how could I allow such self-occupation?

The Shepherd psalm is one Jesus must have prayed a thousand and more times to His Father. “The Lord carried you, as a man carries his child, all along the road you travelled”…at this hour you were led to the cross. Where are the nice green pastures on that stony and painful way? Were the still waters in His burning thirst? Did He feel His head and body were being washed and anointed with oil when the crown of thorns was pressing against His temples?

“He leads me along the right path: he is true to his name…Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.” Had Jesus not held firmly to this certainty, that whatever it seemed or felt like this was the truth, the real nature of things, then we would not have been redeemed. His faith would have failed. But as it proved, His faith remained steadfast and triumphed. The Good Shepherd is risen. He who laid down His life for the sheep, who died for His flock. He is risen. Alleluia!

This Fourth Sunday of Easter marks the 61st Anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1964. Parishes are especially encouraged to include prayers for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life in the general intercessions on that day and the homily may focus on vocations. Pope Francis’ messages for each year should be read and taken to heart (link below)

Message for the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations 2024 | Pope Francis | https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/vocations/documents/20240421-messaggio-61-gm-vocazioni.html

Theme: Called to sow seeds of hope and to build peace

Pilgrims of hope and builders of peace

“Let us awaken from sleep, let us leave indifference behind, let us open the doors of the prison in which we so often enclose ourselves, so that each of us can discover his or her proper vocation in the Church and in the world, and become a pilgrim of hope and a builder of peace!”

“Let us rise up, then, and set out as pilgrims of hope, so that, as Mary was for Elizabeth, we too can be messengers of joy, sources of new life and artisans of fraternity and peace.”

At the Regina Coeli on Good Shepherd Sunday, Pope Francis reminds us that Jesus loves us without limit, giving His life for us. He prays that we may go meet the Lord and allow ourselves “to be welcomed and lifted up by the loving arms of our Good Shepherd.”

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS: “Dear friends, on this day in particular, but also in the ordinary pastoral life of our communities, I ask the Church to continue to promote vocations. May she touch the hearts of the faithful and enable each of them to discover with gratitude God’s call in their lives, to find courage to say ‘yes’ to God.” ~ Pope Francis

GOOD SHEPHERD PRAYER FOR PRIESTS: Lord Jesus Christ, eternal High Priest, You offered yourself to the Father on the altar of the Cross and through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave Your priestly people a share in Your redeeming sacrifice. Hear our prayer for the sanctification of our priests. Grant that all who are ordained to the ministerial priesthood may be ever more conformed to You, the Divine Master. May they preach the Gospel with pure heart and clear conscience. Let them be shepherds according to Your own Heart, single-minded in service to You and to the Church and shining examples of a holy, simple and joyful life. Through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother and ours, draw all priests and the flocks entrusted to their care to the fullness of eternal life where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B | Good Shepherd Sunday | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 10:11–18

“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”

“Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus declares that He knows His own and His own know Him, just as the Father knows Him and He knows the Father. It is an extraordinary statement to make. Jesus is saying that the relationship that He has with each one of us is as intimate as the very personal relationship that He has with His heavenly Father. Jesus knows us as intimately as the Father knows Him. When it comes to the Lord we are not just one of a crowd, lost in a sea of faces. In a way that we will never fully understand, the Lord knows each one of us by name. We only really know those we love. It is because the Lord loves each of us so completely that He knows each of us so fully. According to Saint Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, where he says, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me’. We can each make our own those words of Saint Paul. When Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel reading as the good shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep, He is saying that in love He lays down His life for each one of us individually. The Lord who gave Himself in love for each one of us on the cross, and who, as risen Lord, continues to give Himself in love to each of us daily, also calls each of us by name. Today, Good Shepherd Sunday, is Vocations Sunday. The Lord has a calling that is personal to each one of us. He calls us in our uniqueness, in a way that takes account of our particular temperament, our unique identity, the background that is specific to each one of us. No one of us is like anyone else. Parents know how distinct and unique each of their children are. They will all have been given the same love; they grow up in basically the same environment. Yet, from a very early age, their uniqueness becomes very evident. That unique identity begins at conception and starts to be formed during the nine months the child is in their mother’s womb. The family is a microcosm of the church; it has been called the domestic church. Within the family of the church, the Lord’s call to follow him, the call of the good shepherd, begins while we are in the womb. The prophet Jeremiah heard the Lord say to him, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart’. The particular way the Lord calls us and works through us will be unique to each one of us. I can do something for the Lord that only I can do. Each one of us has a unique contribution to make to the work of the Lord in the church and in the world, and that contribution is just as important as anyone else’s contribution. We each have a unique vocation and each vocation is equally significant. When we each respond to our own unique vocation, we are supporting others in their response to the unique call of the good shepherd to them.

Our first reading this Sunday from the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 4:8-12, shows the testimony of faith which St. Peter the Apostle mentioned how the healing of a man that had been healed from his affliction came about from the power and authority of the Risen Lord, the One Whom the Jewish authorities had opposed and rejected, persecuted and handed over to the Romans to be judged, sentenced and condemned to death on the Cross, in the most humiliating and painful way possible. And yet, all the proofs, evidences and events of that time pointed out how the Lord Jesus did not remain dead but rose from the dead just as He Himself had predicted it, appearing before many people and from which the belief in His Resurrection and His works began to propagate, as those disciples of the Lord who had witnessed His death and resurrection all went forth to proclaim His truth to more and more people. St. Peter told everyone of the salvation in this same Messiah, the One through Whom everyone shall receive justification and liberation from the tyranny of sin, evil and death, because of everything that He had done out of love for us, truly our Good Shepherd, Who knows us all and loves each one of us, and Who does not want any one of us to be lost to Him or to be separated from Him. That is why He went out all the way to seek us, His lost sheep, calling upon us, the ones who have been lost to the darkness of this world and sin, so that we may find our way back to Him, and His light may help lead us on the way back to the right path towards salvation and eternal life. As our Lord and Good Shepherd, He wants us to listen to His call, that we may not wander off anymore in this world, and be found by Him. Today’s first reading declares that the stone that was rejected by the builders proved to be the keystone. There is a clear reference there to Jesus Himself. He was the rejected one who became the keystone of a new family, the church. There is a sense in which the Lord sees each of us as the keystone for some aspect of His mission. We are all key to the Lord’s work, and He calls each of us by name from the first moment of our conception to share in that work. On this Vocations Sunday we commit ourselves anew to hearing and responding to the call of the good shepherd.

In our second reading this Sunday, First John 3:1-2, St. John the Apostle in his Epistle or letter to the Church and the faithful, he reminded and encouraged everyone that God has truly loved and cared for all of them because He has considered all of us to be His own children, whom He truly loved, because we share in the humanity of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who is both the Son of God and Son of Man. Therefore, we are all considered to be sons and daughters of God, and having been loved as such, naturally He wants us all to be like Him and to follow Him, in doing His will and living our lives worthily as Christians, that is as all those whom the Lord had called and chosen from this world. By our membership in the Church, we have been made partakers of God’s love and made to be His own adopted children.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures on this Fourth Sunday in the season of Easter, the Church celebrates together the occasion of the Good Shepherd Sunday (Vocations Sunday), due to the readings today, which highlighted the Lord as our Good Shepherd, and all of us being the sheep of His flock. The Lord is indeed our Good Shepherd, as the One Who has come into our midst, embracing us all with His most generous love and compassion, to gather all of us into His one flock so that none of us will be lost again to damnation because of our many sins and wickedness. As our Good Shepherd, the Lord has always loved each and every one of us, and we are reminded today of this great love that He has always given us, even when we have constantly disobeyed Him and disregarded His love and kindness. May the Risen Lord, Our Good Shepherd and guide, continue to be with us and guide us all, strengthen and encourage us with the power and strength needed for us to endure through the challenges and trials that we may have to face amidst our lives as Christians in this world today. Let us all be good role models for one another, and be good sources of inspiration that through our role model and examples, many more people may come to believe in the Lord through us. Let us all do our part, in our respective vocation and calling in life, to glorify the Lord by our lives, in each and every one of our works and dealings. We should be the beacons of Christ’s light, hope and truth to the whole world, in all of our whole lives, actions and deeds, so that more and more people may come to believe in God through us. Let us all go forth in faith, and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to serve the Lord. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace as we devote more of our time and effort to follow our vocations in life, and may God, our loving Good Shepherd be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen🙏

SAINTS OF THE DAY – MEMORIAL OF SAINT ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT CONRAD OF PARZHAM ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 21ST

As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today on this Good Shepherd Sunday (Vocations Sunday), we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the Church and Saint Conrad of Parzham, who was known to be diligent at his work, sparing in words, bountiful to the poor, and eager to help strangers. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this Good Shepherd Sunday as we pray for Vocations, we humbly pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners and for Christians all over the world. We also pray for the poor and the needy and abandoned children, especially during these incredibly challenging times.

“The Mother of God is our mother. May the good mother ask and beg for us, may she request and obtain what is good for us”.~ St. Anselm

SAINT ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: He is generally considered to be the founder of the philosophical school of Scholasticism, for his attempt to analyze and illumine the truths of faith through the aid of reason. He was a major figure in the intellectual life of the Middle Ages, and a major political and ecclesiastical force as well. St. Anselm (1033–1109) was born into a noble family in Piedmont in the Lombardy region of Italy in about the year 1033.The example of his pious mother led him to great faith, and he sought to enter the monastery at age 15. However, the abbot refused him due to Anselm’s stern father. After his mother’s death Anselm left home and settled in Normandy to study under the direction of a famed monk named Lanfranc. Upon the death of his father, Anselm became a Benedictine monk at the age of 27. Due to his brilliance, Anselm became a teacher at the abbey’s school and prior of the monastery. He was made Prior in 1063 and Abbot in 1078. He went on to become the most learned theologian, philosopher, and mystic of his generation, the greatest since St. Augustine of Hippo. Anselm’s fame led to his appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury in England on 1093, succeeding his old master, Lanfranc in thisoffice, as Archbishop of Canterbury. He went on to correct abuses against the Church at the hand of the English kings. His resistance to the unjust measures of King William Rufus drew upon him the anger of that monarch. In1097-98, he made a voyage to Rome, and spend some time in a monastery of Calabria, where he composed a work on the Incarnation. In the same year he assisted at the Council of Bari, and by his prayers prevented the Pope from excommunicating the King of England.

During his travels the Saint composed several of his metaphysical works, and did not return to his See until after the death of King William Rufus in 1100. Differences with the new King caused him to undertake a second journey to Rome in 1103, and Pascal II upheld the authority of the Archbishop as his predecessor, Urban II, had done. Twice he was banished from the island while appealing to Rome for assistance, and twice he returned to Canterbury to carry on his duties until his death. He returned to England in 1106 and died in 1109. St. Anselm was characterized by his spirit of recollection, which he preserved even in the most distracting occupations and by the metaphysical bent of his mind. His written works have deeply influenced Catholic Philosophy and Theology. In this field he is best known for his “Ontological Argument” for the existence of God. He was also a strenuous defender of the rights of the Church against the usurpation of kings. His abilities as an extraordinary theologian, negotiator, and statesman greatly supported the cause of the Church. As archbishop he continued his monastic lifestyle and intellectual pursuits. He is famous for his devotion to our Blessed Mother, whose Feast of the Immaculate Conception he was the first to establish in the West. He composed several philosophical and theological treatises, as well as a series of beautiful prayers and meditations, which led him to be proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720. His feast day is celebrated on April 21st.

PRAYER: We ask your intercession, Saint Anselm, to help our faith to understand its object. You did not leave man’s sense of wonder unchallenged but sought to organize human thought to meet the challenge of God. Help all thinkers to be open to finding as much as searching. Amen🙏

Almighty God, who didst raise up thy servant Anselm to teach the Church of his day to understand its faith in thine eternal Being, perfect justice, and saving mercy: Provide thy Church in every age with devout and learned scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever~Amen🙏

SAINT CONRAD OF PARZHAM: St. Conrad of Parzham, (1818-1894), was a German Franciscan mystic and lay brother. He served for over 40 years in the post of porter or doorkeeper of the Capuchin friary of the shrine of Our Lady of Altötting, through which work he gained a widespread reputation for his wisdom and holiness, he was known for his Marian devotions. St. Conrad had the gift of prophecy and of reading people’s hearts. St. Conrad of Parzham was born Carl Birndorfer in Parzham, Bavaria, Germany, on December 22, 1818 and was baptized with the name of John, the son of Bartholomäus Birndorfer and Gertrude Niedermayer, and was born on the family farm in Parzham, now a part of the town of Bad Griesbach, then in the Kingdom of Bavaria, now part of Germany. Baptized Johann Evangelist, he was the second youngest of 12 children, five of whom died in infancy. At the age of six, he started elementary school in nearby Weng. Young John’s devotion was noticeable especially when he prayed in church, the distant location of which was no hindrance to his visiting it frequently even in inclement weather. He had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and each day fervently recited the rosary. On feast days he frequently made a journey to some remote shrine of the Blessed Mother. During such pilgrimages, always made on foot, he was engaged in prayer, and when he returned in the evening, he was usually still fasting. John spent his early years on the family farm. His mother died when he was 14; his father two years later. After attending a parish mission in 1838, he decided to enter the religious life. The following year, at the age of 31, and after distributing his inheritance, he was admitted as a lay brother among the Capuchin Franciscan friars. 

Immediately after his profession in 1842 he was sent to the Friary of St. Ann, in the city of Altötting. The friary served the Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting, the national shrine of Bavaria to the Blessed Mother. St. Conrad was given the task of assisting the porter at this shrine. In March 1851, he had to leave Altötting to go to Burghausen to care for a dying priest. The following September, he entered the novitiate at Laufen, where he was given the name Conrad in honor of Conrad of Piacenza. He then returned to Altötting as porter. Because it was a large and busy city, the duty of the friary porter was a very difficult one. St. Conrad was known to be diligent at his work, sparing in words, bountiful to the poor, eager and ready to receive and help strangers. Brother Conrad fulfilled the task of porter for more than 40 years, assisting the inhabitants of the town in their needs of body and soul. St. Conrad loved silence in a special way. His spare moments during the day were spent in a nook near the door where it was possible for him to see and adore the Blessed Sacrament. During the night he would deprive himself of several hours of sleep to devote the time to prayer either in the oratory of the friars or in the church. It was generally believed that he never took any rest, but continually occupied himself in work and exercises of devotion.On April 21,1894, St. Conrad died in the friary where he had served for 41 years. During his lifetime, St. Conrad was reputed to have been able to read the hearts of those he met, and he was attributed with the gift of prophecy. His heroic virtues and the miracles he performed won for him the distinction to be ranked among the Blessed by Pope Pius XI in 1930. Four years later, the same pope, approving additional miracles which had been performed, solemnly inscribed his name in the list of saints. He was canonized in 1934. He is the Patron Saint of the Mid-America Province of Capuchin Friars, Catholic Student Association, doorkeepers, Passau, Germany, diocese of (since 1984). His feast day is celebrated on April 21st.

PRAYER: Lord God, our Father, in You is our hope and our life.  You have made us and be belong to You. Give us Your grace and Your help to constantly render to You, our love and gratitude and to suffer for that great love, by which You sent your only Son to save us. St Conrad, pray for us that we may grow in holiness and soon meet you in heaven… Amen. Saint Conrad of Parzham ~ 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:

Divine Shepherd, You came to lay down Your life for us all so that we might have life and have it to the fullest. Like the blind man You cured, I profess my belief in You and worship You. Help me to receive and imitate Your love so that I will lay my life down for others, leading them to You, their holy Shepherd.

Good Shepherd, You speak to me continuously, revealing to me Your presence and guidance in my life. May I become so familiar with Your sacred Voice that I will always recognize it. Lead me to Yourself, the glorious Gate to the life of grace, and transform me into a faithful and obedient sheep. Jesus, my Good Shepherd, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Anselm of Canterbury and Saint Conrad of Parzham ~ Pray for us 🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for His Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all and for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and joyous Good Shepherd Sunday and a fruitful Fourth Week of Easter 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 20, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT MARCELLINUS, BISHOP, SAINT BEUNO, ABBOT AND SAINT AGNES OF MONTEPULCIANO, RELIGIOUS

Greetings beloved family and Happy Saturday 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 20, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 20, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 20, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 20, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 20, 2024 |

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

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Bible Readings: Saturday, April 20, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 9:31-42
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 116:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Gospel, John 6:60-69

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 Marcellinus, Bishop; Saint Beuno, Abbot and Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for those who are sick, we particularly pray for sick children and those who are terminally ill. May God grant them His divine healing and intervention. We also pray for sick animals.

SAINT MARCELLINUS, BISHOP: St. Marcellinus of Gaul also known as Marcellin was the first bishop of Embrun from 354 AD. He was born in Africa of a noble family, a native of Africa Proconsularis and became a priest. He journeyed to Gaul with two other bishops of North Africa, Vincent and and Domninus and preached the Gospel with great success in the vicinity of the Alps. Then he fixed his residence at Embrun, where he built an oratory, in which he spent his nights in prayer after consecrating the day to the works of the ministry. St. Marcellinus, went to Rome with Vincent and Domnin, to attend a synod in 313 to judge the Donatists movement.

The Saint’s example and discourses converted a great number of the idolaters among whom he lived. When the whole city had been converted to Christianity, St. Eusebius of Vercelli consecrated his oratory at his request. St. Marcellinus himself received episcopal consecration, and worked with all his power for the spread of the Kingdom of God. He commissioned Vincent and Domninus to preach in several places that he could not visit in person. Saint Marcellinus was noted for his piety. By his pious example as well as by his earnest words, he converted many of the heathens among whom he lived. Heaven confirmed his apostolic labors with miracles. He died at Embrun in 374.

PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Marcellinus as Bishop in Your Church to feed your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the Faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen🙏
 
SAINT BEUNO, ABBOT: St. Beuno, also known as Bono, was a 7th-century Welsh abbot, confessor, and saint. Baring-Gould gives St Beuno’s date of death as April 21,  640, making that date his traditional feastday. However, celebrated on April 20th (Catholic). He was born 545 AD,at Berriew, United Kingdom to his Parents, Saint Bugi.

Saint Beuno, founded and served as abbot in Clynnog Fawr (Carnarvonshire), North Wales. He was Uncle, spiritual teacher, and guardian of Saint Winifred. Late in life he received a series of visions. Legend says that when Winfred was beheaded by a jilted suitor, Beuno placed the severed head back on the body and Winifred lived. St. Beuno died on April 21, 640 AD, Clynnog-fawr, United Kingdom. People still sit sick children on the great stone slab of his tomb in hopes of their healing. He’s Patron Saint of sick children, diseased cattle and sick animals.

Saint Beuno, Abbot ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT AGNES OF MONTEPULCIANO, RELIGIOUS: St Agnes of Montepulciano was known as a miracle worker during her lifetime, renowned for her diligence in prayer and her extraordinary charity. Although born of a wealthy family in Gracchiano, Italy, she believed that charity is the only way to acquire the virtue of humility: there is no humility without charity; the one nourishes the other. St. Agnes of Montepulciano (1268–1317) was born into a noble family in Tuscany. Her birth was announced with strange lights surrounding her dwelling, considered a sign that she was a favored child. At nine years of age she requested to enter the local Franciscan monastery in Montepulciano. Although doing so at her young age was against Church law, she obtained special permission from the pope. She became a model nun, reached a high degree of contemplative prayer, and executed her duties so well that she was chosen to help found and lead a new monastery in Proceno when she was just 15 years old, again with special permission at her young age. She lived there for 20 years and became known as a great mystic and visionary while cultivating a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She became locally famous for her miracles as well as for her austerities. She lived on bread and water, slept on the ground, and used a stone for a pillow. Eventually, Agnes returned to Montepulciano. By request she founded and led an even larger monastery, this time receiving a vision that it should be a convent of Dominican nuns dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Through her prayers she cured the sick, multiplied food, and raised to life a child who had drowned. Her feast day is April 20.

Quote of Saint Catherine of Siena (writing to a nun of Montepulciano about Saint Agnes): “A heart and sense that are full of this world and of self-love cannot be filled with Christ crucified and cannot taste true and sweet prayer. Understanding this, the sweet Agnes, stripped herself of herself and put on Christ crucified. She did this not only for herself, but for us as well. Her example obliges you to follow it steadfastly.”

Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, 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 Third Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 6:60-69

“For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father”

“Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that His disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with Him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Today’s Gospel reading is the culmination and end of the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse by the Lord in which the Lord Jesus referred to Himself specifically as the Living Bread from Heaven, by which all the life originated from, and without Him, there can be no true life and existence. He spoke of how all those who partake, eat, drink and share from His Body and Blood will live forever, and that He would give Himself to those who believe in Him, being broken and offered on the Altar of His Cross at Calvary, His Precious Body crushed and broken for us, and His Precious Blood poured out and shared for us to drink, coming down from His Cross, as the manifestation of God’s ever enduring love and compassion towards us. Many of the Lord’s disciples and followers left Him behind once He told them about this truth, how He would give them His own Body and Blood to partake. The disciples themselves groaned and complained that this truth was too hard and too difficult for people to accept. However, although many of the Lord’s disciples and followers left Him, His closest collaborators and disciples stayed by His side despite all the discomfort and uneasiness surrounding His revelation of the truth to the people. The Lord Himself also predicted His own suffering, persecution and death to His disciples, which must have also been difficult for quite a few among them to accept or understand, but those who have kept their faith in the Lord shouldered on and kept on going, and remained faithful to Him. Those were the same ones who began the expansion and growth of the Church, led by St. Peter and the other Apostles.

Our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, detailed the works of the Apostles, especially that of St. Peter who went from place to place, ministering to the people of God and proclaiming His truth and Good News, speaking to many who were convinced by him to become disciples and followers of the Lord. After the conversion of Saul, who became St. Paul the Apostle, the early Church as mentioned, had reprieve and moment of calm between the persecutions, and the Church rapidly grew as the disciples of the Lord, the missionaries and the faithful went on great journeys and missionary works, spreading the Good News of the Gospels to more and more of the people, to the people in the Jewish diaspora and to the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people alike. More and more people turned to the Lord and believed in His words, thanks to the dedication of the Apostles and the others who had given their all to the service of God. For example, the actions of St. Peter, he helped and ministered to the sick and the dying in the community, as he performed many miracles just like how the Lord used to do when He was still around. This authority and power has been given to St. Peter, to the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord from God Himself, through which God showed forth His might and power, the truth of His words and everything that the Church has proclaimed in His Name. St. Peter healed the paralysed man Aeneas in the Name of the Lord, brought Tabitha, the faithful old woman and servant of God, back to life after a period of illness, and everyone who witnessed all these works, and the dedication which St. Peter had shown must have been really impressed by what they had heard, experienced and seen. St. Peter and the other disciples of the Lord were proclaiming essentially what the Lord Himself had told His disciples, followers and all the people in our Gospel reading today.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, each and every one of us are called to remain firm in our faith as Christians, as those who have been called by the Lord and responded with faith, to follow Him in all things. We are called and reminded to stay by His side no matter what challenges and trials may come our way, just as many of our predecessors can attest to God’s loving providence and His constant presence in their lives and works. We should continue to strive to live our lives worthily as Christians, doing whatever we can in order to proclaim the Risen Lord in our communities and among those whom we encounter daily and regularly in our lives and ministry. As Christians, we are expected to uphold all of our tenets and beliefs, faithfully and sincerely in our every day moments and lives, and to be exemplary in our actions and way of life. May the Risen Lord, our God and Saviour Jesus Christ continue to be with us and guide us always, and may He continue to empower and strengthen us so that we may persevere faithfully and continue to commit ourselves to His path, much as how our early Christian predecessors had done, in their missionary and evangelising zeal. Therefore, we should follow the good examples of the Apostles and the many other saints, Holy men and women of God, including the Saints whose feast we celebrate today. May all of us be drawn to love the Lord more and dedicate ourselves to a Holy life and existence much as shown us with great and exemplary life of the Saints. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and be with His Church always, and bless its every works and good efforts and bless us all in our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My glorious Lord, Your teaching on the Most Holy Eucharist is beyond human comprehension. It is a mystery so deep that we will never fully understand this precious gift. Open my eyes, dear Lord, and speak to my mind so that I may listen to Your words and respond with the deepest faith. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Marcellinus, Bishop; Saint Beuno and Saint Agnes of Montepulciano ~ 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 and relaxing weekend🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 19, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT ELPHEGE, BISHOP AND MARTYR; SAINT  EXPEDITUS, MARTYR AND SAINT TIMON, BISHOP AND MARTYR

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Friday 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 19, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 19, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 19, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 19, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 19, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Friday, April 19, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 9:1-20
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 117:1, 2
Gospel, John 6:52-59

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 Elphege (Alphege, Aelfheah, also called Godwine ), Bishop and Martyr; Saint Expeditus, Martyr (He is considered the Patron Saint of emergencies; expeditious solutions; against procrastination; merchants and navigators) and Saint Timon, Bishop and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners and for Christians all over the world. We also pray for the poor and the needy and God’s grace in times of urgent need, especially during these incredibly challenging times and season of Easter. 🙏

SAINT ELPHEGE, BISHOP AND MARTYR: St. Elphege (Alphege, Aelfheah, also called Godwine ), Bishop and Martyr, who was venerated as a martyr after his murder by the Danes. St. Elphege, born of noble and virtuous parents, abandoned the world at an early age and entered the monastery of Derherste in Gloucestershire. After some years he began to lead the life of a recluse in a cell in the neighborhood of the Abbey of Bath, of which he was appointed Abbot until 984, when, through the instrumentality of Dt. Dunstan, he was elected Bishop of Winchester. In 1006, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope John XVIII in Rome. This period in English history was greatly disturbed by the incursions of the Danes, who sacked and pillaged the country that was then governed by the weak King Ethelred. The Archbishop hurried to the scenes of blood and endeavored to turn the cruelty of the pagans from his people to himself.

Consequently, his cathedral was burned, he was made to endure great tortures, and for several months he was kept in prison. Refusing to use the goods of his Church for his ransom, he was put to death while he prayed for his enemies. His martyrdom occurred April 19, 1012. He eliminated poverty in his diocese through his aid to the poor.

PRAYER: God, You gave splendor to Your Church by granting St. Elphege the victory of martyrdom. Grant that, as he imitated the Lord’s Passion, so we may follow in his footsteps and attain everlasting joys. Amen🙏
 
SAINT  EXPEDITUS, MARTYR St. Expeditus (died 303) also known as Expedite, was said to have been a Roman centurion in Armenia who was martyred around April 303 in what is now Turkey, for converting to Christianity. He is considered the Patron Saint of emergencies; expeditious solutions; against procrastination; merchants and navigators. At one time there was much talk of a Saint Expeditus, and some good people were led to believe that, when there was need of haste, petitioning Saint Expeditus was likely to meet with prompt settlement. However, there is no adequate reason to think that any such saint was ever invoked in the early Christian centuries; in fact it is more than doubtful whether the saint ever existed. In the “Hieronymianum” the name Expeditus occurs among a group of martyrs both on the 18th and 19th of April, being assigned in the one case to Rome, and in the other to Melitene in Armenia; but there is no vestige of any tradition which would corroborate either mention, whereas there is much to suggest that in both lists the introduction of the name is merely a copyist’s blunder. Hundreds of similar blunders have been quite definitely proved to exist in the same document.

There is also a story which pretends to explain the origin of this “devotion” by an incident of modern date. A packing case, we are told, containing a body of a saint from the catacombs, was sent to a community of nuns in Paris. The date of its dispatch was indicated by the use of the word “spedito”, but the recipients mistook this for the name of the martyr and set to work with great energy to propagate his cult. From these simple beginnings, it is asserted, a devotion to St. Expeditus spread rapidly through many Catholic countries. It should be pointed out that though the recognition of St. Expeditus as the patron of dispatch depends beyond doubt upon a play upon words – still the particular story about the Paris nuns falls to pieces, because as far back as 1781 this supposed martyr, St. Expeditus, was chosen patron of the town of Acireale in Sicily, and because pictures of him were in existence in Germany in the eighteenth century which plainly depicted him as a saint to be invoked against procrastination.

PRAYER: My Saint Expeditus of urgent and just causes, please intercede for me with Our Lord Jesus Christ. Succor me in this hour of affliction and despair, my Saint Expeditus. … My Saint Expeditus, help me to prevail through these difficult hours, protect me from all those who want to harm me, respond to my plea with urgency….Amen🙏

SAINT TIMON, BISHOP AND MARTYR St. Timon (1st c.) is mentioned by name in the Acts of the Apostles. He belonged to the group of seventy disciples who followed Jesus during his earthly ministry. After Jesus’ ascension into heaven, St. Timon was one of the original seven deacons, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, chosen by the Apostles to help with the work of ministering to the growing Christian community. Timon was later ordained a bishop by the Apostles.

He baptized many Greeks and Jews into the Christian faith. He also had the supernatural ability to heal the sick and to cast out devils. St. Timon suffered martyrdom for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. According to tradition he was thrown into a furnace, but by the power of God he came out of it unharmed, and later died by crucifixion. His feast day is April 19.

Saint Timon, Bishop and 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, Friday of the Third Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 6:52-59

“My Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink”

“The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my Flesh is true food, and my Blood is true drink. Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus speaks of the importance of eating His flesh and drinking His blood so as to draw life from Him. The Jews asked, how can this man, Jesus, give us His flesh to eat? In response to that question Jesus goes on to speak not only of eating His flesh but of drinking His blood. It is very striking language, and it would have been scandalous to many people at the time. This language is very familiar to us from the Eucharist, ‘the body of Christ’, ‘the blood of Christ’. It has been the language of the church since its very earliest days. In one of the earliest documents in the New Testament, the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, ‘the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a communion with the body of Christ?’ It was the Lord’s wish that in the Eucharist we would enter into communion with His body and His blood. Such communion, if entered into in faith, is an opportunity to draw life from the Lord. As Jesus says in the Gospel reading, ‘whoever eats me will draw life from me’. We come as beggars to the Eucharist, recognizing that we need to draw from the Lord’s risen life so that we can be fully alive in the way God wants us to be.

In today’s first reading, the Lord came to Saint Paul in a very striking way. There came a light from heaven all round him and, as a result, he fell to the ground and he heard the Lord say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ The story of Paul’s transformation is one of the founding stories of our Christian faith. Here was a Pharisee who, on his own admission, was a zealous persecutor of the church. Yet, the Lord managed to break through to him and completely turn his life around, so that the zealous persecutor became the equally zealous preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles. As a Pharisee, Paul could never have envisaged the way he would spend the last thirty years of his life, but the Lord was able to envisage it. St. Paul’s story reminds us that the Lord’s plans for us may be a great deal bolder than what we might have in mind for ourselves. The Lord took St. Paul by surprise, and he can take any of us by surprise. Our calling is to allow the Lord’s vision and purpose for our lives to become more of a reality. In receiving the Lord in the Eucharist we are opening ourselves up to the Lord’s vision and purpose for our lives. As Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading, ‘whoever eats me will draw life from me’. In receiving the Lord in the Eucharist we give Him the opportunity to shape us in the way He wants to. St. Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus; we meet the Lord in the Eucharist. In coming to us there He directs us to take the path He wants us to take, just as He directed St. Paul.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, each and every one of us are reminded that as Christians we have been called and chosen from this world to follow what the Lord Himself has revealed to all of us through His Church and through the Good News contained in the Scriptures. Each and every one of us have been made partakers of the New and Eternal Covenant that the Lord Himself had established with us through His Son, by His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross, and by His Resurrection from the dead. All of us as Christians have confessed our faith in all of these truths, and we have been called to listen to these same truths and commit ourselves to proclaim the Good News to others. Let us all therefore be inspired by their good examples of the Holy men and women, the Saints, especially those we celebrate today, and do whatever we can as Christians, in order to do God’s will and to proclaim His truth and Good News to more and more of those whom we encounter in our daily living. Let our lives and actions, our words and interactions be good and exemplary, worthy and bring inspiration to others who witness our works and interacted with us, that they too may be moved and driven to follow the Lord and to believe in Him as we had done in our own lives. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, be with us always, and be with His Church in our every endeavours and efforts to proclaim Him, the one and only Saviour of all. May He grant us His grace and strengthen us all that we may always ever live worthily of His Presence, now and forevermore. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My Eucharistic Lord, Your Flesh and Blood are truly the source of eternal life for all who receive You in faith. I thank You, dear Lord, for this most precious Gift of the Most Holy Eucharist, and I pray that I will be filled with a deep hunger and thirst for You always. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Elphege, Saint Expeditus and Saint Timon ~ 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 and relaxing weekend🙏
   
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

THIRD WEEK OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: APRIL 18, 2024

MEMORIAL OF SAINT GALDINUS, ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN; BLESSED MARY OF THE INCARNATION, RELIGIOUS; SAINT PETER OF SAINT JOSEPH BETANCUR, MISSIONARY AND SAINT APOLLONIUS, MARTYR

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Thursday 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 18, 2024” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 18, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 18, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 18, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 18, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Thursday, April 18, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 8:26-40
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 66:8-9, 16-17, 20
Gospel, John 6:44-51

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 Galdinus, Archbishop of Milan; Blessed Mary of the Incarnation (Barbe Avrillot) and  St. Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, the poor and the needy in our world. We also pray for all Christians, for increase in faith and devotion to God.🙏

SAINT GALDINUS, ARCHBISHOP OF MILAN: St. Galdinus was born in 1100 to the renowned Della Scala family of Milan, Galdinus became a priest and served as chancellor and archdeacon under two Archbishops of Milan. He diligently carried out his duties and gained the confidence of the people. At the election of Pope Alexander III in 1159, a few disgruntled Cardinals sought to establish a rival Pope who was more favorable to the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his schemes to extend his power. However, the people chose to accept Alexander as their Pontiff and so aroused the ire of Barbarossa. Galdinus and Archhbishop Hubert were forced to flee, seeking exile outside the city for a time in 1161 when Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa took revenge on Milan in the dispute with the Holy See.

St. Galdinus was elected archbishop and created a cardinal in 1165. Galdinus was made a Cardinal and –the next year upon the death of Archbishop Hubert—Archbishop of Milan. In this position, Galdinus assisted in rebuilding Milan in the wake of Barbarossa’s occupation, which had begun in 1160. The Saint preached continuously and aided and comforted the poor. He restored discipline among the clergy, directed his wisdom against the schism, and strove to overcome the teaching of the Cathari, who were making inroads into Lombardi. He was a fierce opponent of the Lombards. In 1176, St. Galdinus died in the pulpit after delivering a passionate sermon against false teachings. That same year, the Lombard league overwhelmed the imperial army at the Battle of Legnano. In the wake of this defeat, in 1177 Barbarossa went humbly to meet the Pope in Venice, abjured his schism, and made his peace with the Church. St. Galdinus was known for his sweetness and goodness, welcoming all as equals, except in the case of defending his position, when he was an example of fortitude and vigor. He is remembered also for his charity in Milan to the poor and to those imprisoned for debt. He is a Patron Saint of both Lombardy and Archdiocese of Milan.

PRAYER: God, You made Your Bishop St. Galdinus an outstanding minister of Your Church by his prayer and pastoral zeal. Through his prayers grant that Your faithful flock may always find pastors after Your heart and salutary pastures. Amen🙏

BLESSED MARY OF THE INCARNATION, RELIGIOUS: Blessed Mary of the Incarnation, also as Madame Acarie or Barbe Avrillot (1566-1618) was the foundress of the nuns of the Discalced Carmelite Order in France, who later became a lay sister of the Order. She has been called the “mother of Discalced Carmel in France”. Blessed Mary of the Incarnation was born in Paris on February 1, 1566; both of her parents were members of the most ancient families of that great city. Before she was born, several other children had seen the light of day, but all died in their infancy. During the time her mother awaited this child, she vowed her to the Blessed Virgin and Saint Claude, promising to clothe her in white until the age of seven and to offer her in a church of the Blessed Virgin. She was born a very healthy babe, and baptized with the name of Barbara, on the day after the Purification of Our Lady. She was of a gentle temperament and an angelic modesty, and at the age of eleven was placed as a intern student in a religious house of the Order of Saint Clare near Paris, where she had a maternal aunt. She continually advanced in virtue and felt great distaste for all the things of this world, along with an insatiable ardor for those of heaven. When she returned home at the age of fourteen, she wished to enter a religious Order for the care of the sick in Paris, but her parents opposed this plan. Her mother informed her she would never permit her to become a nun. The young girl believed God was speaking to her through her mother and obeyed. Several offers of marriage were presented, and before her eighteenth birthday she married Pierre Acarie de Villemor, a man of great nobility, piety and charity. Six children were born to them, and their pious mother raised them with great care. She taught them never to complain of circumstances or persons, inspired in them horror for lying, and strove to make them recognize in their hearts any sentiments of vainglory. Her three daughters became Carmelites, and her three sons entered, in turn, the magistracy, the priesthood and the military career. In spite of her household duties and many hardships, she attained the heights of the mystical life. She was distinguished by her spirit of prayer and her zeal for the propagation of the Catholic faith.

When her husband encountered difficulties of a political nature, his household was seized, and the very furniture where the family was seated at table was removed from beneath them. She accepted these circumstances without growing troubled, and in fact defended her husband in court, drafting memoirs, writing letters and furnishing proofs of his innocence. He was acquitted and enabled to return to the city after three years. Blessed Mary was so sage in her almsgiving that during a famine the wealthy persons who desired to help the poor caused their alms to pass through her hands, and this holy woman was universally honored. She entered into the spirit of the current reforms of the religious Orders and the foundation of new Congregations which were reviving the spirit of piety in France. Through her efforts she merited the title of Foundress of the Carmelites in France. Six nuns from Spain brought the spirit of Saint Teresa with them, and soon the principal cities of France had a house of this Order. Blessed Mary of the Incarnation also contributed to the works of the first Ursulines in Paris for the education of youth, and to the establishment of the Oratorians of Italy in France. Her worthy spouse died in 1613; she then requested admission to the Carmelite Order herself. She arrived saying, I am a poor mendicant who begs of you the divine mercy, and that I may cast myself into the arms of religion. At Amiens where she dwelt, her own daughter was Superior; and a perpetual contest in humility began, observed by all. She died in 1618, on Wednesday of Easter week, at the age of fifty-two years, loved and praised by all who had known her. She was Beatified on April 24, 1791 at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, Papal States by Pope Pius VI;  her mortal remains are in the chapel of the Carmelites of Pontoise. She’s the Patron Saint of those with Hepatitis and the poor.

Prayer From Blessed Mary of the Incarnation

“Lord Jesus “conform my spirit to your blessed humanity, filling my mind with knowledge and my memory with a continual recollection of You, my will with an ardent affection for your Majesty, [conform] my soul to your very holy soul… Enlighten me inwardly with the light of your Divinity, all the more so as I believe, by it, that you are totally within me. By this means, I very humbly beg you to look from now on through my eyes, speak by my tongue, and accomplish by all my members and senses the things which are agreeable to you.”

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, you gave Blessed Mary of the Incarnation heroic strength in the face of the adversities she met along life’s road, and zeal for the extension of the Carmelite family. May we your children courageously endure every trial and persevere to the end in your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever… Amen. Blessed Mary of the Incarnation, Religious ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT PETER OF SAINT JOSEPH BETANCUR, MISSIONARY: St. Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur y Gonzáles or Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667), also known as Hermano Pedro, was a Spanish saint and missionary in Guatemala. He was born on March 21, 1626 in Vilaflor, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain in the Canary Islands, into poverty to Amador Betancur and Ana Garcia Gonzalez Betancur. He was a shepherd until the age of 24 at which time he traveled to Guatemala, then the capital of New Spain, hoping to connect with a relative and to begin training to be a priest. The journey so impoverished him that he entered a bread line served by the Franciscans. He took up work in a textile factory and later entered a Jesuit college to study for the priesthood. Being too poor to continue his studies, he instead became a Franciscan tertiary. He dedicated his life to helping the poor and oppressed in jails and hospitals, as well as ministering to African slaves, Native Americans, and anyone else in need. He also founded a hospital, a school for the poor, and a homeless shelter. He also preached to the rich, inviting them to repent of their sins.

Because of his effective apostolate he became known as “St. Francis of the Americas.” People were attracted to his way of life and followed him, leading to the founding of the Order of Bethlehemite Brothers and Sisters, Instituto de Hermanas Bethlemitas. In addition to serving the poor, they had the charism of special devotion to the Divine Child and the Blessed Virgin, and offered prayer and sacrifices for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Each night St. Peter would carry a heavy wooden cross through the streets as a form of penance and evangelization. It is also said that he was the first to start the Posadas procession during Advent. He died on April 25, 1667 at  Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala and was buried at Iglesia Católica San Francisco el Grande, Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala.  He was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II as the first saint from Central America. His feast day is April 18.

St. Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur, Missionary ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT APOLLONIUS, MARTYR: St. Apollonius the Apologist or Saint Apollonius of Rome was born in Rome Italy and died April 21, 185. He was a 2nd-century Christian martyr and apologist. His Apologia, or defense of the faith, is considered one of the most priceless documents of the early Church. Apollonius was a Roman senator who was denounced as a Christian by one of his slaves. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius had persecuted the Christians, but his son Commodus, who in 180 succeeded to the throne, was favorable to them, out of regard to his Empress Marcia, an admirer of the Faith. During this calm the number of the faithful greatly increased, and many persons of first rank, among them Apollonius, a Roman senator, enlisted themselves under the banner of the cross. He was already very well versed both in philosophy and Holy Scripture, as we learn from Saint Jerome, who had read and admired his discourse in the Senate of Rome on behalf of the Christian religion. The loss of this document is much regretted.

In the midst of the peace which the Church enjoyed, Saint Apollonius was publicly accused of Christianity by one of his own slaves. What followed evokes our surprise. Marcus Aurelius, during his reign, had published an edict ordering that the accusers of Christians be put to death, but he had done so without repealing the former laws against convicted Christians. Thus the slave was immediately condemned to have his legs broken and be put to death; but immediately afterwards, to ascertain whether the accusation was true, the same judge sent an order to Saint Apollonius to renounce his religion if he valued his life and fortune. The Saint courageously rejected such ignominious terms of safety, whereupon the judge referred him to the Roman senate, to give an account of his faith to that body, very hostile to Christians. Persisting in his refusal to comply with the condition, Saint Apollonius was condemned by their decree and beheaded.

Saint Apollonius, 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, Thursday of the Third Week of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ John 6:44-51

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven”

“Jesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus declares both ‘everybody who believes has eternal life’ and ‘anyone who eats this bread will live for ever’. It appears that eating Jesus the bread of life is an image for believing in Jesus. However, when Jesus goes on to say, ‘the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world’, the term ‘bread’ begins to acquire a Eucharistic meaning. Jesus will go on to speak about the need to eat his flesh and drink His blood, which has even clearer Eucharistic overtones. Yet, eating the bread that is Jesus, in the sense of believing in Jesus, comes before eating His flesh or His body in the Eucharist. The Eucharist, like all the sacraments, presupposes faith. We first come to Jesus in faith before we come to Him in the Eucharist. At every Mass we first have the Liturgy of the Word, and then the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The word nourishes our faith, and it is out of that nourished faith that we come to the Eucharist. The bread of the word prepares us for the bread of the Eucharist. The bread of the word is a necessary first course, as it were, that prepares us to receive the Eucharist well. We find a similar pattern in the first reading. The faith of the Ethiopian is first nurtured by Philip through his proclamation of the word before the Ethiopian comes to celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism. The Sacrament of Baptism, like the Sacrament of the Eucharist, also presupposes faith. In the case of infants, it is the faith of the parents and family and the faith of the believing community that is presupposed. Through our Lord, all of us who have received and shared in our partaking of the Eucharist, we have received God Himself in the flesh, in His Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, and consequently, all of us who have received Him, have already received the Lord Himself dwelling in our amidst, among us and within us. We have become the Temples of His Holy Presence, and He has extended to us the most perfect form of unity and the most tangible link between us and His heavenly Father, our most loving God and Creator. For He is the perfect manifestation of God and His love in the flesh, such that man is no longer separated from God by our sins. As Jesus declares in the Gospel, that all who come to Him have been drawn to Him by the Father, ‘No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me’. God is always drawing us towards His Son, who says of Himself in the Gospel reading, ‘I am the bread of life’. God draws us towards His Son as the one who can satisfy the deepest spiritual hunger of our heart. God often draws us to His Son in and through other people of faith.

In the first reading today, an Ethiopian eunuch who served at the court of the queen of Ethiopia came to Christ. The Ethiopian court official comes to faith in Jesus.The Ethiopian returning home from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, stops to read the Scriptures and he is very touched by a passage from the prophet Isaiah. It leads him to ask questions which eventually results in his receiving baptism into the church at the hands of Philip. The Holy Spirit had a major role to play in bringing the Ethiopian to Jesus, but Philip the evangelist and the Ethiopian himself had their roles to play as well. It was the Holy Spirit who prompted Philip to meet the Ethiopian. It was presumably the Spirit who prompted the Ethiopian to read the passage of Scripture that so intrigued him. The Ethiopian asked Philip to explain the Scripture he was reading and Philip responded to his request. A little later the Ethiopian asked Philip to baptize him and Philip responded to that request too. Even though the Spirit was at work in all of this process, there was a genuine human element at work too. Without the desire of the Ethiopian and the responsiveness of Philip, the work of the Holy Spirit would not have come to pass. Today’s reading reminds us that we need the Holy Spirit to come to Christ and to grow in our relationship with Him, but the Spirit, in turn, needs our contribution, our own good desires and our willingness to respond to the call of others. We are reminded that an encounter with the Lord in His word is often prior to an encounter with Him in the Sacraments. The word of the Lord nurtures our faith in preparation for our encounter with Him in the Sacraments. Linking to our first reading passage today, in which we heard of the baptism of the Ethiopian official, through that act of baptism and acceptance by the Ethiopian official of the truth that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who has died on the Cross and Risen fromt the dead, is his Lord and Saviour, that Ethiopian official had become part of the Church, just like all of us. Through our own baptism, whether we were baptised as infants or as teenagers or as adults, or even those of us who got baptised in the old age, or at the doors of death, all of us have become partakers and sharers in the New and Eternal Covenant that the Lord Himself has sealed with us and for us. Through baptism we have been made parts and sharers of the Lord’s missions and works in His Church, and all of us are members of His Body, the one united Communion of all the faithful.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, our calling as the bearers of the Good News and truth of God, as those who truly believe in the truth of Our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, the Living Bread Who came down from Heaven. Let us all be genuine Christians in being joyful and dedicated in our willingness to proclaim the Lord and His truth in the midst of our various communities and places, doing whatever we can so that we may indeed bear forth the light of God’s truth to more and more people. All of us as parts of God’s Church have the same responsibilities and duties in being good role models and inspirations in faith that our every words, actions and deeds, our every interactions and works may become the inspiration and help for many others, such that many more will come to believe in God through us and our good works. May the Risen Lord, our God and Saviour Jesus Christ continue to be with us and guide us always, and may He continue to empower and strengthen us so that we may persevere faithfully and continue to commit ourselves to His path, much as how our early Christian predecessors had done, in their missionary and evangelising zeal. May God be with His Church always, and bless its every works and good efforts. May God in His infinite grace and mercy,  grant us His grace and may He empower and strengthen us to do His will faithfully, at all times and in every place we are at. May our Risen Lord be ever glorified through us. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My Eucharistic Lord, You are truly the Bread of Life, and all those who eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood will inherit eternal life. I do believe this, dear Lord. I believe that the Most Holy Eucharist is You, Your Soul and Divinity, given to me so that I can share in Your holy life. Give me the grace I need to deepen my faith in the Most Holy Eucharist so that I will be drawn more fully into the joys of Your Eternal Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Galdinus; Blessed Mary of the Incarnation; Saint Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur and Saint Apollonius ~ 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💖