Nov 22 – Memorial for St. Cecilia, virgin, martyr St. Cecilia (d. 117) was a cultivated young patrician woman, whose ancestors loomed large in Rome’s history. She vowed her virginity to God, but her parents married her to Valerian of Trastevere. She told her new husband that she was accompanied by an angel, but in... Continue Reading →
2 October, Wednesday — Extra help is always at your side
Oct 2 – Memorial for The Holy Guardian Angels The term ‘guardian angels’ refers to the belief that each soul has an angel who is available to shepherd the soul through life, and help bring them to God. Belief in the reality of angels, their mission as messengers of God, and Man’s interaction with them, goes... Continue Reading →
30 September, Monday – Live abandoned to God
Sep 30 – Memorial for St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor St. Jerome (347-419) led a misspent youth. He later converted in theory, being baptised in 365, and then had a true conversion when he studied theology. He was a monk, and revised the Latin text of the Bible. The result of his 30 years of... Continue Reading →
29 September, Sunday — He is speaking to me
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Num 11:25-29Jas 5:1-6Mk 9:38-43,45,47,48 cut it off….cut it off… The words spoken by Jesus in the gospel today don’t really fit the Jesus2024 that the mainstream media portrays at all. As Dr. Peter Kreeft points out, here we find the most kind, loving, generous, compassionate, forgiving, merciful man who ever lived... Continue Reading →
15 August, Thursday — The heart of Mary
Aug 15 – Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mary is taken up body and soul into the glory of Heaven, and with God and in God she is Queen of Heaven and earth. And is she really so remote from us? The contrary is true. Precisely because she is with God... Continue Reading →
2 July, Tuesday – Even the sea obeys God
Tuesday of Week 13 in Ordinary Time Amo 3:1-8;4:11-12Mt 8:23-27 Without warning a storm broke over the lake... Today’s gospel is a popular one, and probably seems recently familiar – it should be, as this same story is recorded in all four gospels and Mark’s telling was our gospel eight days ago on 22 June. Because... Continue Reading →
1 July, Monday – Holiness is found in the details, the small steps
Monday of Week 13 in Ordinary Time Amo 2:6-10,13-16Mt 8:18-22 "Follow me..." I grew up with dogs and cats. Our dogs, all German Shepards, always loved my Dad the best and they followed him EVERYWHERE. So much so that when he mowed the grass (usually twice a week during spring, summer & fall in the Alabama heat)... Continue Reading →
8 June, Saturday – Love makes us do inconvenient things with joy
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1944 to be celebrated on 22 August, coinciding with the traditional octave day of the Assumption. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Saturday, immediately after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.... Continue Reading →
7 June, Friday — Your name is tattooed in the palm of God’s hand
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus The devotion to the Sacred Heart (also known as the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sacratissimum Cor Iesu in Latin) is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ's physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity. This devotion is predominantly used in the Roman Catholic Church and... Continue Reading →
15 May, Wednesday – Lord, lift us up where we belong
Wednesday of the 7th Week of Eastertide Acts 20:28-38Jn 17:11-19 "They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth." Belonging -- that is what we all desire, isn’t it? Belonging -- where we feel safe, protected, loved. From the time we are... Continue Reading →