In this e-weekly:
- Learn More About Blessed Mother Mary  (Catholic Website of the Week)
- Walking the Walk with Young Moms (Diocesan News and BEYOND)
- Consecration  (Helpful Hints for Life)

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

        It was at Pentecost as the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and Mary in the upper room (Acts 2:1-4).  It is the Holy Spirit who formed Jesus in the womb of Mary making her Mother of God.  It is the Holy Spirit who with the Father and the Son crowned her Queen of Heaven and all creation.  Now, will you and I let the Holy Spirit and Queen Mother Mary form Jesus Christ in us and lead us to heaven?
 
        Here is what Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, says inspired by the Holy Spirit when Mary comes to visit her:
"blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, how is it that the Mother of the Lord (in Greek mater tou kyrios) comes to me" (Lk 1:42-43).       First, this is the second part of the Hail Mary.  Second, notice that Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, calls Mary, “Mother of the Lord.”  The Greek is explicit, the Holy Spirit has formed Jesus Christ in her womb.  Thus, the term “Mother of God” is literally Biblical.  Some of our Christian brethren are not aware of this.
 
      Next, in the Old Testament kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the King might, like David or Solomon, have many wives (i.e. 1 Kings 11:1-3).  The title of Queen, therefore went not to any wife of the king, but to the mother of the king. (i.e. 1 Kings 2 17-21, 1 Kings 15:13, Jeremiah 13:18.) The Queen Mother was known in Hebrew as the gebirah. Since Jesus is the heavenly king, of the lineage of David and Solomon, Mary becomes Queen Mother.
 
"Adonijah, son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba. the mother of Solomon.  "Do you come as a friend?" she asked. "Yes," he answered and added. "I have something to ask to you."  She replied, "Say it." So he said: "There is one favor I would ask of you.  Do not refuse me."  And she said, "Speak on."  He said, "Please ask King Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite for my wife." "Very well," replied Bathsheba, "I will speak to the king for you."  Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage.  Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king's mother, who sat at his right.  "There is one small favor l would ask of you," she said. "Do not refuse me." "Ask It, my mother," the king said to her, "for I will not refuse you.  So she said, "Let Abishag the Shunamite be given to your brother Adonijah for his wife." (1 Kings 2:13-21)
         Notice the Queen Mother intercedes for her subjects with the King.  Have you gone to the Queen Mother of heaven and earth lately for assistance?
 
        Finally, the Roman Catholic Church sees Mary crowned as queen in heaven in Revelation 12, verses 1-5.
“A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. (Revelation 12:1-2)”
        Notice it says “woman” as is mentioned in Genesis 3:15 and what Jesus constantly calls his mother in John’s Gospel pointing to her in the role she has been given.  Statues and images of Mary will also include stars as a crown and the moon below (see above).
 
It is time to listen to the King Jesus and come to Queen Mother Mary!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  This coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday  The readings can be found at: 
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060825.cfm

​ 
Mary, Mother of God and Queen of Heaven
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/mary-is-the-virgin-mother-of-god-8036
 
Q: Why and how is the Old Testament figure of the Queen Mother a type or model of Our Lady?  (Answer from University of Dayton below)
https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/q/queen-mother-in-old-testament.php

Queen Mother in Old Testament : University of Dayton, Ohio
udayton.edu
Queen Mother in Old Testament – Answered by Father Johann Roten, S.M. Q: Why and how is the Old Testament figure of the Queen Mother a type or model of Our Lady? A: Comparing the queen mother tradition, as it existed in Israel to the queenship of Our Lady we can observe three principal elements:
https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/o/old-testament-types-of-mary.php
​
Old Testament Types of Mary : University of Dayton, Ohio
udayton.edu
Old Testament Types of Mary – Father Johann Roten, S.M. Marian Types of the Old Testament. The following is an attempt to mirror Old and New Testament on behalf of Mary.

Here’s what you need to know about the feast day:

The timing and origins of Pentecost
Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and ten days after his ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13.
The timing of these feasts is also where Catholics get the concept of the Novena - nine days of prayer - because in Acts 1, Mary and the Apostles prayed together “continuously” for nine days after the Ascension leading up to Pentecost. Traditionally, the Church prays the Novena to the Holy Spirit in the days before Pentecost.
The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word "pentecoste," meaning 50th.
There is a parallel Jewish holiday, Shavu`ot, which falls 50 days after Passover. Shavu’ot is sometimes called the festival of weeks, referring to the seven weeks since Passover.
Originally a harvest feast, Shavu`ot now commemorates the sealing of the Old Covenant on Mount Sinai, when the Lord revealed the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai. Every year, the Jewish people renew their acceptance of the gift of the Torah on this feast.  

What happens at Pentecost?
In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Jesus, who were gathered together in the Upper Room.
A “strong, driving” wind filled the room where they were gathered, and tongues of fire came to rest on their heads, allowing them to speak in different languages so that they could understand each other. It was such a strange phenomenon that some people thought the Christians were just drunk - but Peter pointed out that it was only the morning, and that the phenomenon was caused by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit also gave the apostles the other gifts and fruits necessary to fulfill the great commission - to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations. It fulfills the New Testament promise from Christ (Luke 24:46-49) that the Apostles would be “clothed with power” before they would be sent out to spread the Gospel.

Where’s that in the bible?
The main event of Pentecost (the strong driving wind and tongues of fire) takes place in Acts 2:13, though the events immediately following (Peter’s homily, the baptism of thousands) continue through verse 41.

Happy Birthday, Church
It was right after Pentecost that Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, preached his first homily to Jews and other non-believers, in which he opened the scriptures of the Old Testament, showing how the prophet Joel prophesied events and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
He also told the people that the Jesus they crucified is the Lord and was raised from the dead, which “cut them to the heart.” When they asked what they should do, Peter exhorted them to repent of their sins and to be baptised. According to the account in Acts, about 3,000 people were baptised following Peter’s sermon.
For this reason, Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church - Peter, the first Pope, preaches for the first time and converts thousands of new believers. The apostles and believers, for the first time, were united by a common language, and a common zeal and purpose to go and preach the Gospel.
​
Pentecost vestments and customs around the world
Typically, priests will wear red vestments on Pentecost, symbolic of the burning fire of God’s love and the tongues of fire that descended on the apostles.
However, in some parts of the world, Pentecost is also referred to as “WhitSunday”, or White Sunday, referring to the white vestments that are typically worn in Britain and Ireland. The white is symbolic of the dove of the Holy Spirit, and typical of the vestments that catechumens desiring baptism wear on that day.
An Italian Pentecost tradition is to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues, and so in some places in Italy, Pentecost is sometimes called Pascha Rosatum (Easter roses).
In France, it is tradition to blow trumpets during Mass to recall the sound of the driving wind of the Holy Spirit.
In Asia, it is typical to have an extra service, called genuflexion, during which long poems and prayers are recited. In Russia, Mass goers often carry flowers or green branches during Pentecost services.
This article was originally published on CNA June 2, 2017.

​How US Churches are Celebrating Mary, Mother of the Church
Los Angeles, Calif., May 19 (EWTN News/CNA)

Pope Francis: The Church Is Not A Rental House, But A Home(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=29790)

VATICAN CITY, June 5 (CNA/EWTN News) .- Pope Francis focused his daily homily on Jesus' prayer for the unity of his disciples, cautioning that there are many in the Church who call themselves Catholic, but are only half committed.

There are some groups that "rent the Church, but do not claim it as their home," the Pope observed during his June 5 daily Mass, stating that the Church "is not a house to rent" but rather "is a home to live in."

Centering his reflections on Jesus' prayer in John's Gospel that "all might be one," the Roman Pontiff explained that there are many people who appear to have "one foot inside" the Church and one foot out, so that they can have "the possibility of being in both places" at once.

Drawing attention to the different mentalities that fuel this attitude, the Bishop of Rome noted that one group is what he called the "uniformists."

"Uniformity, rigidity � these are hard. They do not have the freedom that the Holy Spirit gives" he said, adding that they "confuse the Gospel that Jesus preached with their doctrine of equality."

"Christ never wanted His Church to be so rigid never and such as these, because of their attitude, do not enter the Church. They call themselves Christians, Catholics, but their attitude drives them away from the Church."

Bringing to mind a second group, Pope Francis explained that there are "alternativists" in the Church who remain attached to their own ideas and refuse to conform their own minds to the mind of the Church.

"(They) enter the Church, but with this idea, with that ideology, and so their membership in the Church is partial," he observed, saying that "they have one foot out of the Church. The Church is not their home, not their own, either. They rent the Church at some point."

"Such as these have been with us from the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel: think of the Gnostics, whom the Apostle John beats so roundly, right? 'We are ... yes, yes ... we are Catholics, but with these ideas - alternatives.' They do not share that feeling of belonging to the Church."

Going on, the Roman Pontiff noted that there is a third group who refuses to fully embrace the Church, which he termed the "exploitationists" that "'seek the benefits' and go to church, but for personal benefit."

"The businessmen. We know them well!" he said, explaining that this group has also been around since the beginning of the Church, and can be seen in the figures of Simon Magus, or Ananias and Sapphira.

Observing how these people "took advantage of the Church for their own profit," the Pope stated that "we see them in the parish or diocesan community, too, in religious congregations, among some benefactors of the Church � many, eh?"

"They strut their stuff as benefactors of the Church, and at the end, behind the table, they do their business. These, too, do not feel the Church as a mother, as their own."

Pope Francis then went on to describe how there is "a great diversity of people and gifts of the Spirit" within the Church, adding that the Lord tells us that "If you would enter the Church, do so out of love" in order "to give all your heart, and not to do business for profit."

Admitting that to do this is not easy because "the temptations are many," the pontiff explained that we must trust in the Holy Spirit, who is the only one that can accomplish this "unity in diversity, freedom, generosity."

"We are all different...we are not the same, thank God," he said, otherwise "Things would be hellish."

He then called attention to the importance of being docile to the Holy Spirit, noting that this docility "is the virtue that will save us from being rigid, from being alternativists or exploitationists � or businessmen in the Church: being docile to the Holy Spirit."

Bringing his homily to a close, Pope Francis prayed that the Lord "send us the Holy Spirit and may the Spirit make this harmony in our communities: parish communities, diocesan communities, the communities of the (ecclesial) movements."

"Let it be the Spirit that achieves this harmony, for, as one of the Fathers of the Church said: the Spirit Himself is harmony."

​

A bit of humor…

:  Some Thoughts:  - What if dogs fetch the ball back only because they think you really like throwing it?  
- Level of cooking expertise: Using smoke alarm as timer.  
–Why did the priest giggle during his homily?  He had Mass hysteria!   
–I was going to tell you about all the drama at the convent, but then remembered it’s nun of your business.
--Do you need an Ark? Because I Noah guy. 

One Reason To Buy A Painting
At an art gallery, a woman and her ten-year-old son were having 
a tough time choosing between one of my paintings and another artist’s work. They finally went with mine.  “I guess you decided you prefer an autumn scene to a floral,” I said.  “No,” said the boy. “Your painting’s wider, so it’ll cover the three holes in 
our wall.”

Redneck Computer Terminology
Hacker:  Uncle Leroy, after thirty years of smoking
ROM:  Where the Pope lives
 
Definition of Committee
A group of the unfit appointed by the unwilling to the unnecessary.
 
Job Applicant Lingo
What they say: ‘I’m highly motivated to succeed.’
What they mean:  ‘The minute I find a better job, I’m outta here!’


Some Lines NOT to Use on a Job Interview
-Gorgeous, intelligent, kind, sweet, charming, witty, hilarious, friendly...well enough about ME! How are you?
-Something I learned in the job world:  Hard work has a future payoff.  Laziness pays off NOW!
-At my last job I pretended to work there - they pretended to pay me.
​

+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday – Sunday, June 8th, 2025

The First Reading- Acts 2: 1-11          
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, "Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God."
Reflection
It’s Pentecost—the birthday of the Church! We say this because it’s the day that the Apostles received the Holy Spirit and finally were emboldened to live the mission that Jesus had given them. It’s also Babel undone—where we put up barriers of communication through our sin, Jesus removes those barriers through his sacrifice. We are a Church of mission and a people of hope. It belongs to each of us that we should share the Gospel in every language for every hearer—so what does that mean? Preach the Gospel in the language of children, of the aged, the homebound, the struggling family, the widow, the newlyweds, the divorced, the abused, the addicted, your co-workers, your teammates, the poor, your friends, the disenfranchised. You have been given a unique language that no one else can speak—the language of your experience, your grief, your success, your insecurity, your parenthood, your creativity, your art, your music, your writing.
Adults - What concrete efforts are you making to speak and spread the Gospel?
Teens - What “language,” or gift, has God given you to use to help others? Who do you know who is in need of those particular gifts?
Kids - What do you think is the best way to celebrate the birthday of the Church?

Responsorial- Psalm 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
Reflection
-How do you work to be open to the Holy Spirit in your life?

The Second Reading- 1Cor 12: 3B-7, 12-13
Brothers and sisters: No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Reflection
We have “different gifts, but the same Spirit.” And we are called to bring that spirit of unity, of belonging, of being loved and cherished to people who feel alone and unloved. You don’t have to look very far to find someone like that. Our world is broken and hurting and needs Good News. Our world is angry and needs reconciliation that only a relationship with God in a loving community can bring. Each of us has a language in which to speak it to bring healing, and each of us has people who only we can reach. We have received the same Spirit, and we are emboldened to live that same mission that the Apostles were given. Jesus gifted us the peace we need and the courage; and as the Father sent him, so he sends us. You are chosen. Be bold. -What gifts is the Holy Spirit directing me to be bold with?

The Holy Gospel according to John 20: 19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
Reflection
God had sent Jesus to forgive sins, and after his resurrection we see Jesus telling the apostles, "‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” This is one of only two times we are told that God breathed on man, the other being in Genesis 2:7, when he made man a living soul. It emphasizes how important the establishment of the sacrament of penance is. Just as the apostles were to carry Christ’s message to the whole world, so they were to carry his forgiveness - in Matt. 18:18 "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The power comes from Jesus, but is administered through His Church and His ministers.  
Adults - How do I experience God’s peace so that I can share it with others? How am I an agent for reconciliation?
Teens  - What does God’s peace mean to you?  How do you take time to rest in the peace of God?
Kids - Try to think of one moment each day this week that you feel the peace of God.

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! – “One final question: why the miracle of tongues? In answer, recall the story regarding the tower of Babel. Puffed up by pride, men attempted to build a tower that would touch the heavens. To punish their sin, God confused their speech. Sin causes confusion and division. Now Christ came to gather all men into His Church and thereby to unite them to Himself. This should result in creating but one family of nations again. To this blessed state the miracle of tongues points.    
Yes, even we as individuals have a gift of tongues which all men can understand. It is the gift of love infused into us by the Holy Spirit. Love unites, love is a common language, by means of love we can speak to all nations.”   -Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch



 MARIAN CONSECRATION
Week Four
This week repeat as often as possible:
 
“Immaculate Heart of Mary, I place all my trust in you!”
 
“My Queen, My Mother, remember I am your own!”
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" Because Jesus redeemed us, He is our  Lord and our King. In the same way, the Blessed Virgin is our Lady and our Queen, on account of the unique manner in which she assisted in the Redemption, offering her Son to the Father for the salvation of the world."  - Pope Pius Xll (was Pope 1939 - 1958)

"The Blessed Virgin directs to us all of the acts that every mother lavishes on her children. She loves us, watches over us, protects us, and intercedes for us."  -  Pope John  XXlll (was Pope 1958 - 1963)
 
Below, St. Louis de Monfort tells more about being truly devoted to Mary to be perfectly conformed to Jesus Christ, thus love God and neighbor in this life and coming to heaven in the life to come.

True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort
http://www.ewtn.com/library/Montfort/TRUEDEVO.HTM
 
[Both of the above will be given below in their entirety in the next 5 weeks.]Second part of True Devotion to Mary
PART II: THE PERFECT DEVOTION TO OUR LADY
 CHAPTER THREE - THE PERFECT CONSECRATION TO JESUS CHRIST
1. A complete consecration to Mary
120.  As all perfection consists in our being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus it naturally follows that the most perfect of all devotions is that which conforms, unites, and consecrates us most completely to Jesus. Now of all God's creatures Mary is the most conformed to Jesus. It therefore follows that, of all devotions, devotion to her makes for the most effective consecration and conformity to him. The more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus.
That is why perfect consecration to Jesus is but a perfect and complete consecration of oneself to the Blessed Virgin, which is the devotion I teach; or in other words, it is the perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism.
121.  This devotion consists in giving oneself entirely to Mary in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her. It requires us to give:
  (1) Our body with its senses and members;
  (2) Our soul with its faculties;
  (3) Our present material possessions and all we shall acquire in the future;
  (4) Our interior and spiritual possessions, that is, our merits, virtues and good actions of the past, the present and the future.
In other words, we give her all that we possess both in our natural life and in our spiritual life as well as everything we shall acquire in the future in the order of nature, of grace, and of glory in heaven. This we do without any reservation, not even of a penny, a hair, or the smallest good deed. And we give for all eternity without claiming or expecting, in return for our offering and our service, any other reward than the honour of belonging to our Lord through Mary and in Mary, even though our Mother were not - as in fact she always is - the most generous and appreciative of all God's creatures.
122.  Note here that two things must be considered regarding our good works, namely, satisfaction and merit or, in other words, their satisfactory or prayer value and their meritorious value. The satisfactory or prayer value of a good work is the good action in so far as it makes condign atonement for the punishment due to sin or obtains some new grace. The meritorious value or merit is the good action in so far as it merits grace and eternal glory. Now by this consecration of ourselves to the Blessed Virgin we give her all satisfactory and prayer value as well as the meritorious value of our good works, in other words, all the satisfactions and the merits. We give her our merits, graces and virtues, not that she might give them to others, for they are, strictly speaking, not transferable, because Jesus alone, in making himself our surety with his Father, had the power to impart his merits to us. But we give them to her that she may keep, increase and embellish them for us, as we shall explain later, and we give her our acts of atonement that she may apply them where she pleases for God's greater glory.
123. (1)  It follows then: that by this devotion we give to Jesus all we can possibly give him,and in the most perfect manner, that is, through Mary's hands. Indeed we give him far more than we do by other devotions which require us to give only part of our time, some of our good works or acts of atonement and penances. In this devotion everything is given and consecrated, even the right to dispose freely of one's spiritual goods and the satisfactions earned by daily good works. This is not done even in religious orders. Members of religious orders give God their earthly goods by the vow of poverty, the goods of the body by the vow of chastity, their free will by the vow of obedience, and sometimes their freedom of movement by the vow of enclosure. But they do not give him by these vows the liberty and right to dispose of the value of their good works. They do not despoil themselves of what a Christian considers most precious and most dear - his merits and satisfactions.
124.  (2) It follows then that anyone who in this way consecrates and sacrifices himself voluntarily to Jesus through Mary may no longer dispose of the value of any of his good actions. All his sufferings, all his thoughts, words, and deeds belong to Mary. She can then dispose of them in accordance with the will of her Son and for his greater glory. This dependence, however, is without detriment to the duties of a person's present and future state of life. One such duty, for example, would be that of a priest who, by virtue of his office or otherwise, must apply the satisfactory or prayer value of the Holy Mass to a particular person. For this consecration can only be made in accordance with the order established by God and in keeping with the duties of one's state of life.
125.  (3) It follows that we consecrate ourselves at one and the same time to Mary and to Jesus. We give ourselves to Mary because Jesus chose her as the perfect means to unite himself to us and unite us to him. We give ourselves to Jesus because he is our last end. Since he is our Redeemer and our God we are indebted to him for all that we are.
2. A perfect renewal of baptismal promises
126.  I have said that this devotion could rightly be called a perfect renewal of the vows and promises of holy baptism.  Before baptism every Christian was a slave of the devil because he belonged to him. At baptism he has either personally or through his sponsors solemnly renounced Satan, his seductions and his works. He has chosen Jesus as his Master and sovereign Lord and undertaken to depend upon him as a slave of love. This is what is done in the devotion I am presenting to you. We renounce the devil, the world, sin and self, as expressed in the act of consecration, and we give ourselves entirely to Jesus through Mary. We even do something more than at baptism, when ordinarily our god-parents speak for us and we are given to Jesus only by proxy. In this devotion we give ourselves personally and freely and we are fully aware of what we are doing.
In holy baptism we do not give ourselves to Jesus explicitly through Mary, nor do we give him the value of our good actions. After baptism we remain entirely free either to apply that value to anyone we wish or keep it for ourselves. But by this consecration we give ourselves explicitly to Jesus through Mary's hands and we include in our consecration the value of all our actions.
127.  "Men" says St. Thomas, "vow in baptism to renounce the devil and all his seductions." "This vow," says St. Augustine, "is the greatest and the most indispensable of all vows." Canon Law experts say the same thing: "The vow we make at baptism is the most important of all vows." But does anyone keep this great vow? Does anyone fulfil the promises of baptism faithfully? Is it not true that nearly all Christians prove unfaithful to the promises made to Jesus in baptism?  Where does this universal failure come from, if not from man's habitual forgetfulness of the promises and responsibilities of baptism and from the fact that scarcely anyone makes a personal ratification of the contract made with God through his sponsors?
128.  This is so true that the Council of Sens, convened by order of the Emperor Louis the Debonair to remedy the grave disorders of Christendom, came to the conclusion that the main cause of this moral breakdown was man's forgetfulness of his baptismal obligations and his disregard for them. It could suggest no better way of remedying this great evil than to encourage all Christians to renew the promises and vows of baptism.
129.  The Catechism of the Council of Trent, faithful interpreter of that holy Council, exhorts priests to do the same and to encourage the faithful to remember and hold fast to the belief that they are bound and consecrated as slaves to Jesus, their Redeemer and Lord. "The parish priest shall exhort the faithful never to lose sight of the fact that they are bound in conscience to dedicate and consecrate themselves for ever to their Lord and Redeemer as his slaves."
130.  Now the Councils, the Fathers of the Church and experience itself, all indicate that the best remedy for the frequent lapses of Christians is to remind them of the responsibilities of their baptism and have them renew the vows they made at that time. Is it not reasonable therefore to do this in our day and in a perfect manner by adopting this devotion with its consecration to our Lord through his Blessed Mother? I say "in a perfect manner", for in making this consecration to Jesus they are adopting the perfect means of giving themselves to him, which is the most Blessed Virgin Mary.
131.  No one can object that this devotion is novel or of no value. It is not new, since the Councils, the Fathers of the Church, and many authors both past and present, speak of consecration to our Lord or renewal of baptismal vows as something going back to ancient times and recommended to all the faithful. Nor is it valueless, since the chief source of moral disorders and the consequent eternal loss of Christians spring from the forgetfulness of this practice and indifference to it.
132.  Some may object that this devotion makes us powerless to help the souls of our relatives, friends and benefactors, since it requires us to give our Lord, through Mary, the value of our good works, prayers, penances, and alms-giving.
To them I reply:
  (1) It is inconceivable that our friends, relatives and benefactors should suffer any loss because we have dedicated and consecrated ourselves unconditionally to the service of Jesus and Mary; it would be an affront to the power and goodness of Jesus and Mary who will surely come to the aid of our relatives, friends and benefactors whether from our meagre spiritual assets or from other sources.
  (2) This devotion does not prevent us from praying for others, both the living and the dead, even though the application of our good works depends on the will of our Blessed Lady. On the contrary, it will make us pray with even greater confidence. Imagine a rich man, who, wanting to show his esteem for a great prince, gives his entire fortune to him. Would not that man have greater confidence in asking the prince to help one of his friends who needed assistance? Indeed the prince would only be too happy to have such an opportunity of proving his gratitude to one who had sacrificed all that he possessed to enrich him, thereby impoverishing himself to do him honour. The same must be said of our Lord and our Lady. They will never allow themselves to be outdone in gratitude.
133.  Some may say, perhaps, if I give our Lady the full value of my actions to apply it to whom she wills, I may have to suffer a long time in purgatory. This objection, which arises from self-love and from an unawareness of the generosity of God and his holy Mother, refutes itself.
Take a fervent and generous soul who values God's interests more than his own. He gives God all he has without reserve till he can give no more. He desires only that the glory and the kingdom of Jesus may come through his Mother, and he does all he can to bring this about. Will this generous and unselfish soul, I ask, be punished more in the next world for having been more generous and unselfish than other people? Far from it! For we shall see later that our Lord and his Mother will prove most generous to such a soul with gifts of nature, grace and glory in this life and in the next.
134. We must now consider as briefly as possible: (1) The motives which commend this devotion to us, (2) the wonderful effects it produces in faithful souls, and (3) the practices of this devotion.
CHAPTER FOUR - MOTIVES WHICH RECOMMEND THIS DEVOTION
1. By it we give ourselves completely to God
135. This first motive shows us the excellence of the consecration of ourselves to Jesus through Mary.
We can conceive of no higher calling than that of being in the service of God and we believe that the least of God's servants is richer, stronger, and nobler than any earthly monarch who does not serve God. How rich and strong and noble then must the good and faithful servant be, who serves God as unreservedly and as completely as he possibly can! Just such a person is the faithful and loving slave of Jesus in Mary. He has indeed surrendered himself entirely to the service of the King of kings through Mary, his Mother, keeping nothing for himself. All the gold of the world and the beauties of the heavens could not recompense him for what he has done.
136. Other congregations, associations, and confraternities set up in honour of our Lord and our Blessed Lady, which do so much good in the Church, do not require their members to give up absolutely everything. They simply prescribe for them the performance of certain acts and practices in fulfilment of their obligations. They leave them free to dispose of the rest of their actions as well as their time. But this devotion makes us give Jesus and Mary all our thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings and every moment of our lives without exception. Thus, whatever we do, whether we are awake or asleep, whether we eat or drink, whether we do important or unimportant work, it will always be true to say that everything is done for Jesus and Mary. Our offering always holds good, whether we think of it or not, unless we explicitly retract it.  How consoling this is!
137. Moreover, as I have said before, no other act of devotion enables us to rid ourselves so easily of the possessiveness which slips unnoticed even into our best actions. This is a remarkable grace which our dear Lord grants us in return for the heroic and selfless surrender to him through Mary of the entire value of our good works. If even in this life he gives a hundredfold reward to those who renounce all material, temporal and perishable things out of love for him, how generously will he reward those who give up even interior and spiritual goods for his sake!
138. Jesus, our dearest friend, gave himself to us without reserve, body and soul, grace and merits. As St. Bernard says, "He won me over entirely by giving himself entirely to me." Does not simple justice as well as gratitude require that we give him all we possibly can? He was generous with us first, so let us be generous to him in return and he will prove still more generous during life, at the hour of death, and throughout eternity. "He will be generous towards the generous."
2. It helps us to imitate Christ
139. Our good Master stooped to enclose himself in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, a captive but loving slave, and to make himself subject to her for thirty years. As I said earlier, the human mind is bewildered when it reflects seriously upon this conduct of Incarnate Wisdom. He did not choose to give himself in a direct manner to the human race though he could easily have done so. He chose to come through the Virgin Mary. Thus he did not come into the world independently of others in the flower of his manhood, but he came as a frail little child dependent on the care and attention of his Mother. Consumed with the desire to give glory to God, his Father, and save the human race, he saw no better or shorter way to do so than by submitting completely to Mary.
He did this not just for the first eight, ten or fifteen years of his life like other children, but for thirty years. He gave more glory to God, his Father, during all those years of submission and dependence than he would have given by spending them working miracles, preaching far and wide, and converting all mankind. Otherwise he would have done all these things.
What immeasurable glory then do we give to God when, following the example of Jesus, we submit to Mary! With such a convincing and well- known example before us, can we be so foolish as to believe that there is a better and shorter way of giving God glory than by submitting ourselves to Mary, as Jesus did?
140. Let me remind you again of the dependence shown by the three divine Persons on our Blessed Lady. Theirs is the example which fully justifies our dependence on her. The Father gave and still gives his Son only through her. He raises children for himself only through her. He dispenses his graces to us only through her. God the Son was prepared for mankind in general by her alone. Mary, in union with the Holy Spirit, still conceives him and brings him forth daily. It is through her alone that the Son distributes his merits and virtues. The Holy Spirit formed Jesus only through her, and he forms the members of the Mystical Body and dispenses his gifts and his favours through her.
With such a compelling example of the three divine Persons before us, we would be extremely perverse to ignore her and not consecrate ourselves to her. Indeed we would be blind if we did not see the need for Mary in approaching God and making our total offering to him.
141. Here are a few passages from the Fathers of the Church which I have chosen to prove what I have just said: "Mary has two sons, the one a God-man, the other, mere man. She is Mother of the first corporally and of the second spiritually" (St. Bonaventure and Origen).
"This is the will of God who willed that we should have all things through Mary. If then, we possess any hope or grace or gift of salvation, let us acknowledge that it comes to us through her" (St. Bernard).
"All the gifts, graces, virtues of the Holy Spirit are distributed by the hands of Mary, to whom she wills, when she wills, as she wills, and in the measure she wills" (St. Bernardine).
"As you were not worthy that anything divine should be given to you, all graces were given to Mary so that you might receive through her all graces you would not otherwise receive" (St. Bernard).
142. St. Bernard tells us that God, seeing that we are unworthy to receive his graces directly from him, gives them to Mary so that we might receive from her all that he decides to give us. His glory is achieved when he receives through Mary the gratitude, respect and love we owe him in return for his gifts to us. It is only right then that we should imitate his conduct, "in order", as St. Bernard again says, "that grace might return to its author by the same channel through which it came to us".
This is what we do by this devotion. We offer and consecrate all we are and all we possess to the Blessed Virgin in order that our Lord may receive through her as intermediary the glory and gratitude that we owe to him. We deem ourselves unworthy and unfit to approach his infinite majesty on our own, and so we avail ourselves of Mary's intercession.
143. Moreover, this devotion is an expression of great humility, a virtue which God loves above all others. A person who exalts himself debases God, and a person who humbles himself exalts God. "God opposes the proud, but gives his graces to the humble." If you humble yourself, convinced that you are unworthy to appear before him, or even to approach him, he condescends to come down to you. He is pleased to be with you and exalts you in spite of yourself. But, on the other hand, if you venture to go towards God blindly without a mediator, he vanishes and is nowhere to be found. How dearly he loves the humble of heart! It is to such humility that this devotion leads us, for it teaches us never to go alone directly to our Lord, however gentle and merciful though he may be, but always to use Mary's power of intercession, whether we want to enter his presence, speak to him, be near him, offer him something, seek union with him or consecrate ourselves to him.
3. It obtains many blessings from our Lady
144. The Blessed Virgin, mother of gentleness and mercy, never allows herself to be surpassed in love and generosity. When she sees someone giving himself entirely to her in order to honour and serve her, and depriving himself of what he prizes most in order to adorn her, she gives herself completely in a wondrous manner to him. She engulfs him in the ocean of her graces, adorns him with her merits, supports him with her power, enlightens him with her light, and fills him with her love. She shares her virtues with him  - her humility, faith, purity, etc. She makes up for his failings and becomes his representative with Jesus. Just as one who is consecrated belongs entirely to Mary, so Mary belongs entirely to him. We can truthfully say of this perfect servant and child of Mary what St. John in his gospel says of himself, "He took her for his own."
145. This produces in his soul, if he is persevering, a great distrust, contempt, and hatred of self, and a great confidence in Mary with complete self-abandonment to her. He no longer relies on his own dispositions, intentions, merits, virtues and good works, since he has sacrificed them completely to Jesus through his loving Mother. He has now only one treasury, where all his wealth is stored. That treasury is not within himself: it is Mary. That is why he can now go to our Lord without any servile or scrupulous fear and pray to him with great confidence. He can also share the sentiments of the devout and learned Abbot Rupert, who, referring to the victory which Jacob won over an angel, addressed our Lady in these words, "O Mary, my Queen, Immaculate Mother of the God-man, Jesus Christ, I desire to wrestle with this man, the Divine Word, armed with your merits and not my own."
How much stronger and more powerful are we in approaching our Lord when we are armed with the merits and prayers of the worthy Mother of God, who, as St. Augustine says, has conquered the Almighty by her love!
146.  Since by this devotion we give to our Lord, through the hands of his holy Mother, all our good works, she purifies them, making them beautiful and acceptable to her Son.
  (1) She purifies them of every taint of self-love and of that unconscious attachment to creatures which slips unnoticed into our best actions. Her hands have never been known to be idle or uncreative. They purify everything they touch. As soon as the Blessed Virgin receives our good works, she removes any blemish or imperfection she may find in them.
147. (2) She enriches our good works by adorning them with her own merits and virtues. It is as if a poor peasant, wishing to win the friendship and favour of the king, were to go the queen and give her an apple - his only possession - for her to offer it to the king. The queen, accepting the peasant's humble gift, puts it on a beautiful golden dish and presents it to the king on behalf of the peasant. The apple in itself would not be a gift worthy of a king, but presented by the queen in person on a dish of gold, it becomes fit for any king.
148. (3) Mary presents our good works to Jesus. She does not keep anything we offer for herself, as if she were our last end, but unfailingly gives everything to Jesus. So by the very fact we give anything to her, we are giving it to Jesus. Whenever we praise and glorify her, she sings today as she did on the day Elizabeth praised her, "My soul glorifies the Lord."
149. At Mary's request, Jesus accepts the gift of our good works, no matter how poor and insignificant they may be for one who is the King of kings, the Holiest of the holy. When we present anything to Jesus by ourselves, relying on our own dispositions and efforts, he examines our gift and often rejects it because it is stained with self-love, just as he once rejected the sacrifices of the Jews because they were imbued with selfish motives.
But when we present something to him by the pure, virginal hands of his beloved Mother, we take him by his weak side, in a manner of speaking. He does not consider so much the present itself as the person who offers it. Thus Mary, who is never slighted by her Son but is always well received, prevails upon him to accept with pleasure everything she offers him, regardless of its value. Mary has only to present the gift for Jesus graciously to accept it. This is what St. Bernard strongly recommended to all those he was guiding along the pathway to perfection. "When you want to offer something to God, to be welcomed by him be sure to offer it through the worthy Mother of God, if you do not wish to see it rejected."
150. Does not human nature itself, as we have seen, suggest this mode of procedure to the less important people of this world with regard to the great? Why should grace not inspire us to do likewise with regard to God? He is infinitely exalted above us. We are less than atoms in his sight. But we have an advocate so powerful that she is never refused anything. She is so resourceful that she knows every secret way to win the heart of God. She is so good and kind  that she never passes over anyone no matter how lonely and sinful.
Further on, I shall relate the story of Jacob and Rebecca which exemplifies the truths I have been setting before you.
4. It is an excellent means of giving glory to God
151. This devotion, when faithfully undertaken, is a perfect means of ensuring that the value of all our good works is being used for the greater glory of God. Scarcely anyone works for that noble end, in spite of the obligation to do so, either because men do not know where God's greatest glory is to be found or because they do not desire it. Now Mary, to whom we surrender the value and merit of our good actions, knows perfectly well where God's greatest glory lies and she works only to promote that glory. The devout servant of our Lady, having entirely consecrated himself to her as I have described above, can boldly claim that the value of all his actions, words and thoughts is used for the greatest glory of God, unless he has explicitly retracted his offering. For one who loves God with a pure and unselfish love and prizes God's glory and interests far above his own, could anything be more consoling?
5. It leads to union with our Lord
152. This devotion is a smooth, short, perfect and sure way of attaining union with our Lord, in which Christian perfection consists.
  (a) This devotion is a smooth way. It is the path which Jesus Christ opened up in coming to us and in which there is no obstruction to prevent us reaching him. It is quite true that we can attain to divine union by other roads, but these involve many more crosses and exceptional setbacks and many difficulties that we cannot easily overcome. We would have to pass through spiritual darkness, engage in struggles for which we are not prepared, endure bitter agonies, scale precipitous mountains, tread upon painful thorns, and cross frightful deserts. But when we take the path of Mary, we walk smoothly and calmly.
It is true that on our way we have hard battles to fight and serious obstacles to overcome, but Mary, our Mother and Queen, stays close to her faithful servants. She is always at hand to brighten their darkness, clear away their doubts, strengthen them in their fears, sustain them in their combats and trials. Truly, in comparison with other ways, this virgin road to Jesus is a path of roses and sweet delights. There have been some saints, not very many, such as St. Ephrem, St. John Damascene, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Bonaventure, and St. Francis de Sales, who have taken this smooth path to Jesus Christ, because the Holy Spirit, the faithful Spouse of Mary, made it known to them by a special grace. The other saints, who are the greater number, while having a devotion to Mary, either did not enter or did not go very far along this path. That is why they had to undergo harder and more dangerous trials.
153. Why is it then, a servant of Mary might ask, that devoted servants of this good Mother are called upon to suffer much more than those who serve her less generously? They are opposed, persecuted, slandered, and treated with intolerance. They may also have to walk in interior darkness and through spiritual deserts without being given from heaven a single drop of the dew of consolation. If this devotion to the Blessed Virgin makes the path to Jesus smoother, how can we explain why Mary's loyal servants are so ill-treated?
154. I reply that it is quite true that the most faithful servants of the Blessed Virgin, being her greatest favourites, receive from her the best graces and favours from heaven, which are crosses. But I maintain too that these servants of Mary bear their crosses with greater ease and gain more merit and glory. What could check another's progress a thousand times over, or possibly bring about his downfall, does not balk them at all, but even helps them on their way. For this good Mother, filled with the grace and unction of the Holy Spirit, dips all the crosses she prepares for them in the honey of her maternal sweetness and the unction of pure love. They then readily swallow them as they would sugared almonds, though the crosses may be very bitter. I believe that anyone who wishes to be devout and live piously in Jesus will suffer persecution and will have a daily cross to carry. But he will never manage to carry a heavy cross, or carry it joyfully and perseveringly, without a trusting devotion to our Lady, who is the very sweetness of the cross. It is obvious that a person could not keep on eating without great effort unripe fruit which has not been sweetened.
155. (b) This devotion is a short way to discover Jesus, either because it is a road we do not wander from, or because, as we have just said, we walk along this road with greater ease and joy, and consequently with greater speed. We advance more in a brief period of submission to Mary and dependence on her than in whole years of self-will and self- reliance. A man who is obedient and submissive to Mary will sing of glorious victories over his enemies It is true, his enemies will try to impede his progress, force him to retreat or try to make him fall. But with Mary's help, support and guidance, he will go forward towards our Lord. Without falling, retreating and even without being delayed, he will advance with giant strides towards Jesus along the same road which, as it is written, Jesus took to come to us with giant strides and in a short time.
156. Why do you think our Lord spent only a few years here on earth and nearly all of them in submission and obedience to his Mother? The reason is that "attaining perfection in a short time, he lived a long time", even longer than Adam, whose losses he had come to make good. Yet Adam lived more than nine hundred years!
Jesus lived a long time, because he lived in complete submission to his Mother and in union with her, which obedience to his Father required. The Holy Spirit tells us that the man who honours his mother is like a man who stores up a treasure. In other words, the man who honours Mary, his Mother, to the extent of subjecting himself to her and obeying her in all things will soon become very rich, because he is amassing riches every day through Mary who has become his secret philosopher's stone.
There is another quotation from Holy Scripture, "My old age will be found in the mercy of the bosom". According to the mystical interpretation of these words it is in the bosom of Mary that people who are young grow mature in enlightenment, in holiness, in experience and in wisdom, and in a short time reach the fullness of the age of Christ. For it was Mary's womb which encompassed and produced a perfect man. That same womb held the one whom the whole universe can neither encompass nor contain.
157. (c) This devotion is a perfect way  to reach our Lord and be united to him, for Mary is the most perfect and the most holy of all creatures, and Jesus, who came to us in a perfect manner, chose no other road for his great and wonderful journey. The Most High, the Incomprehensible One, the Inaccessible One, He who is, deigned to come down to us poor earthly creatures who are nothing at all. How was this done?
The Most High God came down to us in a perfect way through the humble Virgin Mary, without losing anything of his divinity or holiness. It is likewise through Mary that we poor creatures must ascend to almighty God in a perfect manner without having anything to fear.
God the Incomprehensible, allowed himself to be perfectly comprehended and contained by the humble Virgin Mary without losing anything of his immensity. So we must let ourselves be perfectly contained and led by the humble Virgin without any reserve on our part.
God, the Inaccessible, drew near to us and united himself closely, perfectly and even personally to our humanity through Mary without losing anything of his majesty. So it is also through Mary that we must draw near to God and unite ourselves to him perfectly, intimately, and without fear of being rejected.
Lastly, He who is deigned to come down to us who are not and turned our nothingness into God, or He who is. He did this perfectly by giving and submitting himself entirely to the young Virgin Mary, without ceasing to be in time He who is from all eternity. Likewise it is through Mary that we, who are nothing, may become like God by grace and glory. We accomplish this by giving ourselves to her so perfectly and so completely as to remain nothing, as far as self is concerned, and to be everything in her, without any fear of illusion. 
158. Show me a new road to our Lord, pave it with all the merits of the saints, adorn it with their heroic virtues, illuminate and enhance it with the splendour and beauty of the angels, have all the angels and saints there to guide and protect those who wish to follow it. Give me such a road and truly, truly, I boldly say - and I am telling the truth - that instead of this road, perfect though it be, I would still choose the immaculate way of Mary. It is a way, a road without stain or spot, without original sin or actual sin, without shadow or darkness,. When our loving Jesus comes in glory once again to reign upon earth - as he certainly will - he will choose no other way than the Blessed Virgin, by whom he came so surely and so perfectly the first time. The difference between his first and his second coming is that the first was secret and hidden, but the second will be glorious and resplendent. Both are perfect because both are through Mary. Alas, this is a mystery which we cannot understand, "Here let every tongue be silent."
159. (d) This devotion to our Lady is a sure way  to go to Jesus and to acquire holiness through union with him.
  (1) The devotion which I teach is not new. Its history goes back so far that the time of its origin cannot be ascertained with any precision, as Fr. Boudon, who died a holy death a short time ago, states in a book which he wrote on this devotion. It is however certain that for more than seven hundred years we find traces of it in the Church.
St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, who lived about the year 1040, was one of the first to practise it publicly in France as is told in his life.
Cardinal Peter Damian relates that in the year 1076 his brother, Blessed Marino, made himself the slave of the Blessed Virgin in the presence of his spiritual director in a most edifying manner. He placed a rope around his neck, scourged himself and placed on the altar a sum of money as a token of his devotion and consecration to our Lady. He remained so faithful to this consecration all his life that me merited to be visited and consoled on his death-bed by his dear Queen and hear from her lips the promise of paradise in reward for his service.
Caesarius Bollandus mentions a famous knight, Vautier de Birback, a close relative of the Dukes of Louvain, who about the year 1300 consecrated himself to the Blessed Virgin.
This devotion was also practised privately by many people up to the seventeenth century, when it became publicly known.
160. Father Simon de Rojas of the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives, court preacher to Philip III, made this devotion popular throughout Spain and Germany. Through the intervention of Philip III, he obtained from Gregory XV valuable indulgences for those who practised it.
Father de los Rios, of the Order of St. Augustine, together with his intimate friend, Father de Roias, worked hard, propagating it throughout Spain and Germany by preaching and writing. He composed a large volume entitled "Hierarchia Mariana", where he treats of the antiquity, the excellence and the soundness of this devotion, with as much devotion as learning.
The Theatine Fathers in the seventeenth century established this devotion in Italy and Savoy.
161. Father Stanislaus Phalacius of the Society of Jesus spread this devotion widely in Poland.
Father de los Rios in the book quoted above mentions the names of princes and princesses, bishops and cardinals of different countries who embraced this devotion.
Father Cornelius a Lapide, noted both for holiness and profound learning, was commissioned by several bishops and theologians to examine it. The praise he gave it after mature examination, is a worthy tribute to his own holiness. Many other eminent men followed his example.
The Jesuit Fathers, ever zealous in the service of our Blessed Lady, presented on behalf of the sodalities of Cologne to Duke Ferdinand of Bavaria, the then archbishop of Cologne, a little treatise on the devotion, and he gave it his approval and granted permission to have it printed. He exhorted all priests and religious of his diocese to do their utmost to spread this solid devotion.
162. Cardinal de B‚rulle, whose memory is venerated throughout France, was outstandingly zealous in furthering the devotion in France, despite the calumnies and persecutions he suffered at the hands of critics and evil men. They accused him of introducing novelty and superstition. They composed and published a libellous tract against him and they - rather the devil in them - used a thousand stratagems to prevent him from spreading the devotion in France. But this eminent and saintly man responded to their calumnies with calm patience. He wrote a little book in reply and forcefully refuted the objections contained in it. He pointed out that this devotion is founded on the example given by Jesus Christ, on the obligations we have towards him and on the promises we made in holy baptism. It was mainly this last reason which silenced his enemies. He made clear to them that this consecration to the Blessed Virgin, and through her to Jesus, is nothing less than a perfect renewal of the promises and vows of baptism. He said many beautiful things concerning this devotion which can be read in his works.
163. In Fr. Boudon's book we read of different popes who gave their approval to this devotion, the theologians who examined it, the hostility it encountered and overcame, the thousands who made it their own without censure from any pope. Indeed it could not be condemned without overthrowing the foundations of Christianity. It is obvious then that this devotion is not new. If it is not commonly practised, the reason is that it is too sublime to be appreciated and undertaken by everyone.
164. (2) This devotion is a safe means of going to Jesus Christ, because it is Mary's role to lead us safely to her Son; just as it is the role of our Lord to lead us to the eternal Father. Those who are spiritually-minded should not fall into the error of thinking that Mary hinders our union with God. How could this possibly happen? How could Mary, who found grace with God for everyone in general and each one in particular, prevent a soul from obtaining the supreme grace of union with him? Is it possible that she who was so completely filled with grace to overflowing, so united to Christ and transformed in God that it became necessary for him to be made flesh in her, should prevent a soul from being perfectly united to him?
It is quite true that the example of other people, no matter how holy, can sometimes impair union with God, but not so our Blessed Lady, as I have said and shall never weary of repeating. One reason why so few souls come to the fullness of the age of Jesus is that Mary who is still as much as ever his Mother and the fruitful spouse of the Holy Spirit is not formed well enough in their hearts. If we desire a ripe and perfectly formed fruit, we must possess the tree that bears it. If we desire the fruit of life, Jesus Christ, we must possess the tree of life which is Mary. If we desire to have the Holy Spirit working within us, we must possess his faithful and inseparable spouse, Mary the divinely- favoured one whom, as I have said elsewhere, he can make fruitful.
165. Rest assured that the more you turn to Mary in your prayers, meditations, actions and sufferings, seeing her if not perhaps clearly and distinctly, at least in a general and indistinct way, the more surely you will discover Jesus. For he is always greater, more powerful, more active, and more mysterious when acting through Mary than he is in any other creature in the universe, or even in heaven. Thus Mary, so divinely-favoured and so lost in God, is far from being an obstacle to good people who are striving for union with him. There has never been and there never will be a creature so ready to help us in achieving that union more effectively, for she will dispense to us all the graces to attain that end. As a saint once remarked, "Only Mary knows how to fill our minds with the thought of God." Moreover, Mary will safeguard us against the deception and cunning of the evil one.
166. Where Mary is present, the evil one is absent. One of the unmistakable signs that a person is led by the Spirit of God is the devotion he has to Mary, and his habit of thinking and speaking of her. This is the opinion of a saint, who goes on to say that just as breathing is a proof that the body is not dead, so the habitual thought of Mary and loving converse with her is a proof that the soul is not spiritually dead in sin.
167. Since Mary alone has crushed all heresies, as we are told by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Office of B.V.M.), a devoted servant of hers will never fall into formal heresy or error, though critics may contest this. He may very well err materially, mistaking lies for truth or an evil spirit for a good one, but he will be less likely to do this than others. Sooner or later he will discover his error and will not go on stubbornly believing and maintaining what he mistakenly thought was the truth.
168. Whoever then wishes to advance along the road to holiness and be sure of encountering the true Christ, without fear of the illusions which afflict many devout people, should take up with valiant heart and willing spirit this devotion to Mary which perhaps he had not previously heard about. Even if it is new to him, let him enter upon this excellent way which I am now revealing to him. "I will show you a more excellent way."
It was opened up by Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom. He is our one and only Head, and we, his members, cannot go wrong in following him. It is a smooth way made easy by the fullness of grace, the unction of the Holy Spirit. In our progress along this road, we do not weaken or turn back. It is a quick  way and leads us to Jesus in a short time. It is a perfect  way without mud or dust or any vileness of sin. Finally, it is a reliable way, for it is direct and sure, having no turnings to right or left but leading us straight to Jesus and to life eternal.
Let us then take this road and travel along it night and day until we arrive at the fullness of the age of Jesus Christ.
6. It gives great liberty of spirit
169. It gives great liberty of spirit - the freedom of the children of God - to those who faithfully practise it. Through this devotion we make ourselves slaves of Jesus by consecrating ourselves entirely to him. To reward us for this enslavement of love, our Lord frees us from every scruple and servile fear which might restrict, imprison or confuse us; he opens our hearts and fills them with holy confidence in God, helping us to regard God as our Father; he inspires us with a generous and filial love.
170. Without stopping to prove this truth, I shall simply relate an incident which I read in the life of Mother Agnes of Jesus, a Dominican nun of the convent of Langeac in Auvergne, who died a holy death there in 1634.
When she was only seven years old and was suffering great spiritual anguish, she heard a voice telling her that if she wished to be delivered from her anguish and protected against all her enemies, she should make herself the slave of our Lord and his Blessed Mother as soon as possible. No sooner had she returned home than she gave herself completely to Jesus and Mary as their slave, although she had never known anything about this devotion before. She found an iron chain, put it round her waist and wore it till the day she died. After this, all her sufferings and scruples disappeared and she found great peace of soul.
This led her to teach this devotion to many others who made rapid progress in it - among them, Father Olier, the founder of the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, and several other priests and students from the same seminary. One day the Blessed Virgin appeared to Mother Agnes and put a gold chain around her neck to show her how happy she was that Mother Agnes had become the slave of both her and her Son. And St. Cecilia, who accompanied our Lady, said to her, "Happy are the faithful slaves of the Queen of heaven, for they will enjoy true freedom."  Tibi servire libertas.
7. It is of great benefit to our neighbour
171. It is of great benefit to our neighbour, for by it we show love for our neighbour in an outstanding way since we give him through Mary's hands all that we prize most highly - that is, the satisfactory and prayer value of all our good works, down to the least good thought and the least little suffering. We give our consent that all we have already acquired or will acquire until death should be used in accordance with our Lady's will for the conversion of sinners or the deliverance of souls from Purgatory.
Is this not perfect love of our neighbour? Is this not being a true disciple of our Lord, one who should always be recognised by his love? Is this not the way to convert sinners without any danger of vainglory, and deliver souls from Purgatory by doing hardly anything more than what we are obliged to do by our state of life?
172. To appreciate the excellence of this motive we must understand what a wonderful thing it is to convert a sinner or to deliver a soul from Purgatory. It is an infinite good, greater than the creation of heaven and earth, since it gives a soul the possession of God. If by this devotion we secured the release of only soul from Purgatory or converted only one sinner in our whole lifetime, would that not be enough to induce any person who really loves his neighbour to practise this devotion?
It must be noted that our good works, passing through Mary's hands, are progressively purified. Consequently, their merit and their satisfactory and prayer value are also increased. That is why they become much more effective in relieving the souls in Purgatory and in converting sinners than if they did not pass through the virginal and liberal hands of Mary. Stripped of self-will and clothed with disinterested love, the little that we give to the Blessed Virgin is truly powerful enough to appease the anger of God and draw down his mercy. It may well be that at the hour of death a person who has been faithful to this devotion will find that he has freed many souls from Purgatory and converted many sinners, even though he performed only the ordinary actions of his state of life. Great will be his joy at the judgement. Great will be his glory throughout eternity.
8. It is a wonderful means of perseverance
173. Finally, what draws us in a sense more compellingly to take up this devotion to the most Blessed Virgin is the fact that it is a wonderful means of persevering in the practice of virtue and of remaining steadfast.
Why is it that most conversions of sinners are not lasting? Why do they relapse so easily into sin? Why is it that most of the faithful, instead of making progress in one virtue after another and so acquiring new graces, often lose the little grace and virtue they have? This misfortune arises, as I have already shown, from the fact that man, so prone to evil, so weak and changeable, trusts himself too much, relies on his own strength, and wrongly presumes he is able to safeguard his precious graces, virtues and merits.
By this devotion we entrust all we possess to Mary, the faithful Virgin. We choose her as the guardian of all our possessions in the natural and supernatural sphere. We trust her because she is faithful, we rely on her strength, we count on her mercy and charity to preserve and increase our virtues and merits in spite of the efforts of the devil, the world, and the flesh to rob us of them. We say to her as a good child would say to its mother or a faithful servant to the mistress of the house, "My dear Mother and Mistress, I realise that up to now I have received from God through your intercession more graces than I deserve. But bitter experience has taught me that I carry these riches in a very fragile vessel and that I am too weak and sinful to guard them by myself. Please accept in trust everything I possess, and in your faithfulness and power keep it for me. If you watch over me, I shall lose nothing. If you support me, I shall not fail. If you protect me, I shall be safe from my enemies."
174. This is exactly what St. Bernard clearly pointed out to encourage us to take up this devotion, "When Mary supports you, you will not fail. With her as your protector, you will have nothing to fear. With her as your guide, you will not grow weary. When you win her favour, you will reach the port of heaven." St. Bonaventure seems to say the same thing in even more explicit terms, "The Blessed Virgin," he says, "not only preserves the fullness enjoyed by the saints, but she maintains the saints in their fullness so that it does not diminish. She prevents their virtues from fading away, their merits from being wasted and their graces from being lost. She prevents the devils from doing them harm and she so influences them that her divine Son has no need to punish them when they sin."
175. Mary is the Virgin most faithful who by her fidelity to God makes good the losses caused by Eve's unfaithfulness. She obtains fidelity to God and final perseverance for those who commit themselves to her. For this reason St. John Damascene compared her to a firm anchor which holds them fast and saves them from shipwreck in the raging seas of the world where so many people perish through lack of such a firm anchor. "We fasten souls," he said, "to Mary, our hope, as to a firm anchor." It was to Mary that the saints who attained salvation most firmly anchored themselves as did others who wanted to ensure their perseverance in holiness.
Blessed, indeed, are those Christians who bind themselves faithfully and completely to her as to a secure anchor! The violent storms of the world will not make them founder or carry away their heavenly riches. Blessed are those who enter into her as into another Noah's ark! The flood waters of sin which engulf so many will not harm them because, as the Church makes Mary say in the words of divine Wisdom, "Those who work with my help - for their salvation - shall not sin." Blessed are the unfaithful children of unhappy Eve who commit themselves to Mary, the ever-faithful Virgin and Mother who never wavers in her fidelity and never goes back on her trust. She always loves those who love her, not only with deep affection, but with a love that is active and generous. By an abundant outpouring of grace she keeps them from relaxing their effort in the practice of virtue or falling by the wayside through loss of divine grace.
176. Moved by pure love, this good Mother always accepts whatever is given her in trust, and, once she accepts something, she binds herself in justice by a contract of trusteeship to keep it safe. Is not someone to whom I entrust the sum of a thousand francs obliged to keep it safe for me so that if it were lost through his negligence he would be responsible for it in strict justice? But nothing we entrust to the faithful Virgin will ever be lost through her negligence. Heaven and earth would pass away sooner than Mary would neglect or betray those who trusted in her.
177. Poor children of Mary, you are extremely weak and changeable. Your human nature is deeply impaired. It is sadly true that you have been fashioned from the same corrupted nature as the other children of Adam and Eve. But do not let that discourage you. Rejoice and be glad! Here is a secret which I am revealing to you, a secret unknown to most Christians, even the most devout.
Do not leave your gold and silver in your own safes which have already been broken into and rifled many times by the evil one. They are too small, too flimsy and too old to contain such great and priceless possessions. Do not put pure and clear water from the spring into vessels fouled and infected by sin. Even if sin is no longer there, its odour persists and the water would be contaminated. You do not put choice wine into old casks that have contained sour wine. You would spoil the good wine and run the risk of losing it.
178. Chosen souls, although you may already understand me, I shall express myself still more clearly. Do not commit the gold of your charity, the silver of your purity to a threadbare sack or a battered old chest, or the waters of heavenly grace or the wines of your merits and virtues to a tainted and fetid cask, such as you are. Otherwise you will be robbed by thieving devils who are on the look-out day and night waiting for a favourable opportunity to plunder. If you do so all those pure gifts from God will be spoiled by the unwholesome presence of self- love, inordinate self-reliance, and self-will.
Pour into the bosom and heart of Mary all your precious possessions, all your graces and virtues. She is a spiritual vessel, a vessel of honour, a singular vessel of devotion. Ever since God personally hid himself with all his perfections in this vessel, it has become completely spiritual, and the spiritual abode of all spiritual souls. It has become honourable and has been the throne of honour for the greatest saints in heaven. It has become outstanding in devotion and the home of those renowned for gentleness, grace and virtue. Moreover, it has become as rich as a house of gold, as strong as a tower of David and as pure as a tower of ivory.
179. Blessed is the man who has given everything to Mary, who at all times and in all things trusts in her, and loses himself in her. He belongs to Mary and Mary belongs to him. With David he can boldly say, "She was created for me", or with the beloved disciple, "I have taken her for my own", or with our Lord himself, "All that is mine is yours and all that is yours is mine."
180. If any critic reading this should imagine that I am exaggerating or speaking from an excess of devotion, he has not, alas, understood what I have said. Either he is a carnal man who has no taste for the spiritual; or he is a worldly man who has cut himself off from the Holy Spirit; or he is a proud and critical man who ridicules and condemns anything he does not understand. But those who are born not of blood, nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God and Mary, understand and appreciate what I have to say. It is for them that I am writing.
181. Nevertheless, after this digression, I say to both the critics and the devout that the Blessed Virgin, the most reliable and generous of all God's creatures, never lets herself be surpassed by anyone in love and generosity. For the little that is given to her, she gives generously of what she has received from God. Consequently, if a person gives himself to her without reserve, she gives herself also without reserve to that person provided his confidence in her is not presumptuous and he does his best to practise virtue and curb his passions.
182. So the faithful servants of the Blessed Virgin may confidently say with St. John Damascene, "If I confide in you, Mother of God, I shall be saved. Under your protection I shall fear nothing. With your help I shall rout all my enemies. For devotion to you is a weapon of salvation which God gives to those he wishes to save."
"Every time that you honor Mary, Mary praises and honors God with you."  
"In entrusting to you, O Mother, the world, all individuals and peoples, we also entrust to you this very consecration of the world, placing it in your motherly heart."
- Pope John Paul ll ( Pope from 1978 - 2005)
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Lengthening the Life of your Fuel Pump
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Vatican Information Service

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html

 
You want to get news on the Pope and the Vatican in a short simple e-mail.  The Vatican Information Service is a news service of the Holy See Press Office.  It provides information on the Magisterium and pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia.  Each service consists primarily of pontifical acts and nominations, a summary of the Holy Father's homilies and speeches. They also contain presentations and communications concerning pontifical documents and dicasteries of the Holy See, activities of the Congregations, Pontifical Councils, Synods, etc, and official statements issued by the Holy See Press Office.  This daily news service is available by fax or email, and the previous week's services can be read directly from the webpage.

By Kate Quiñones
CNA Staff, Apr 13

In October 2023, the U.S. bishops announced the launch of a mental health initiative to address the high rates of anxiety and depression, especially in youth. In recent years, Catholic organizations and ministries throughout the nation have been dedicating more resources to address the mental health crisis.

The percentage of U.S. adults diagnosed with depression has risen almost 10% since 2015, reaching 29% according to a 2023 Gallup poll. A higher percentage of teenagers — 7% more since 2019 — report persistent sadness and hopelessness, according to the Center for Disease Control data, which found that almost half of U.S. teens report experiencing these feelings. 

A number of events and projects focused on mental health and healing have been launched by Catholic groups and institutions this spring. 

Making mental health ministry ‘available in every Catholic parish’The Catholic Association of Mental Health Ministers (CMHM) will host its second conference at the end this month for mental health ministry leaders in the U.S. “to network and support each other and share ideas, because this is a very new ministry within the Church,” said Deacon Ed Shoener, the organization’s president.

Shoener helped found CMHM to build mental health ministries in the Catholic Church in 2019 soon after his daughter, Katie, who struggled with bipolar disorder, died by suicide in 2016. 

Shoener has traveled around the world educating Catholics on how to build mental health ministries in their local church communities. 

“Our hope is that someday, mental health ministry [would] be available in every Catholic parish,” he told CNA in a phone call. “When someone is struck with a mental health challenge or a mental illness, the first place that everyone realizes they can go, where they’ll find understanding and compassion and support, is the Catholic Church.”

Shoener noted that the Church can offer “spiritual support” while also “encourage[ing] people” to get professional help, just like with physical illnesses.  

The upcoming conference “Building a Culture of Community: Equipping Leaders for Mental Health Ministry,” set to take place April 25–27 in Mundelein, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, is already sold out. Those interested may attend virtually. 

Shoener noted that the interest reflects the need. 

“There’s definitely a need in the Church. There’s no doubt about that,” Shoener noted. “Any place you go, literally, any place you go in the world, there is need and interest in this ministry.”

“I’m convinced the Holy Spirit sees that this is a need of the times and the Church,” he said. “The body of Christ is responding to it.”
​
Speakers at the conference include the association’s chaplain, Bishop John Dolan of Phoenix, Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, and Charleen Katra, executive director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. ​

Shoener noted that he’s visited other nations to discuss mental health issues. He has traveled to Canada, India, Italy, and South Africa to work with leaders and local Catholics on mental health ministry.  

“The stigma or the types of beliefs about mental illness might vary from culture to culture,” he noted. “But the actual occurrence of mental illness as an illness — it doesn’t discriminate based on culture or ethnicity. Everybody’s affected by depression, anxiety, serious mood disorders, schizophrenia.”

“It’s pretty clear to me that the Holy Spirit is moving and guiding this, because Christ wants to be with us in these struggles and these sufferings,” he said of the ministry.

Seeking local leadersAnother event this spring focused on mental health will be held in Maryland. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is hosting a St. Dymphna Mental Wellness Retreat in partnership with Seeds of Hope at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on May 15. 

The retreat will include Mass for families as well as breakout sessions on relevant topics. 

“We are hoping to reach people who live with their own mental health challenges and their loved ones,” Melissa Freymann, a clinical mental health therapist who is organizing the retreat in her role as a mental health ministry consultant for the archdiocese, told CNA. 

Freymann said the retreat is “a day of accompaniment and support” as well as a “day to gather” to launch the “next stage” of the Archdiocese of Baltimore Mental Health Initiative. 

“We have a special breakout for those who have lost loved ones to suicide and another for those who want to start a mental health ministry in their parish,” she noted. 

Freymann explained that Catholic mental health ministry “meets people where they are at.” The ministry “is not professional mental health care” but rather “a resource” that “offers hope and support.” 

Yvonne Wenger, an organizer of the retreat and director of public relations for the archdiocese, said that one of the goals for the retreat is to “reach participants who are interested in establishing ministries in their parish communities.” 
Wenger told CNA that some local churches are sending delegates to the retreat who “are interested “in exploring the possibility of establishing a ministry.” 

“We want to help people understand what the ministry could look like,” she explained.
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The retreat itself is named for St. Dymphna, the patron saint of mental illness. The choice of location — the Seton Shrine — is equally fitting given Seton’s experience with anxiety and depression.  ​

“Based on the review of her writings, there’s been a lot of speculation that it seemed like she dealt with some significant anxieties,” noted Shoener, who is speaking at the retreat. “Certainly, some of her children had their challenges with alcoholism and addiction — she certainly understood mental health conditions and severe grief.” 

“It’s an example with Mother Seton — and many other saints — that mental illness and mental health challenges are by no means an impediment to holiness, to great holiness,” he added, noting how St. Oscar Romero lived with obsessive compulsive disorder, while Blessed Rutilio Grande had schizophrenia.

“God can overcome everything,” Shoener said.

The saints ‘went before us’The Seton Shrine itself is also growing its mental health ministry through a series of Easter reflections by Catholic writer Paula Huston.

“There’s different lenses [through which] you could look at Elizabeth Seton’s life, and definitely one of them is the struggles and the loss that she experienced and her need to overcome that,” said Rob Judge, executive director of the Seton Shrine, who told CNA that he sees the shrine as “a place of healing.” 

Judge said the shrine staff took inspiration from “the larger Catholic world,” including initiatives by the bishops and others in the Church for anyone who is struggling with mental illness or health.

“It’s an issue that touches all of us at different points, either more or less directly,” Judge noted. 

While the series is “applicable to all stages” of life, Huston wrote each installment with “young people” in mind, Judge said. 

“We see a lot that that generation is maybe struggling more than some previous generations and just discovering meaning in life and their way,” he noted. “And certainly [the] culture has many distractions for them.”

“We framed [the series] around the woundedness that we all have, and then through this series of writings, applied Elizabeth’s example to it,” he explained. 

“Many people think of Elizabeth Seton, and they think of founding Catholic schools, and they think of her as a teacher,” Judge said. “They often don’t necessarily think of her as a child who was lonely, or a teenager who felt left out and didn’t know where to turn at times, and a mom who was trying to support her kids and came into the Church and then felt rejection.”

He noted that these feelings of “loneliness and rejection, abandonment, feeling like you don’t control your life, or powerlessness” are “very human experiences.”  
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“We’re not alone,” Judge said. “That’s hopefully what we learned through the saints, is that we’re not alone. They went before us.”

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Francesca Pollio Fenton/CNAWorld
April 30

​Sudan and South Sudan are countries currently facing several hardships. After the military staged a coup in Sudan six months ago, the country remains in political and economic turmoil. Its neighbor, South Sudan, faces severe food shortages and a rise in violence.
​

Sudan and South Sudan are countries currently facing several hardships. After the military staged a coup in Sudan six months ago, the country remains in political and economic turmoil. Its neighbor, South Sudan, faces severe food shortages and a rise in violence.

A Catholic physician, Doctor Tom Catena, has a unique perspective on the situation both countries currently experience. He is the only surgeon for about 1 million people. For the past 14 years he has worked in the Nuba mountains, in a contested region between Sudan and South Sudan who faced civil war from 2011 to 2017, as a lay missionary and medical director of the Mother of Mercy Hospital. 

In an interview with EWTN News Nightly, he explained how his faith plays an important role in his work, saying, “Without my Catholic faith I would not have stayed there.”

“The work is very challenging. It’s very gratifying and rewarding, but it’s very difficult with a lot of frustrations,” he said. “We have a lot of disappointments, a lot of bad outcomes, and I think my faith is what has kept me there in the field for so many years.” 

He added:
“The commands of Christ to take care of the least of my brothers and sisters, I take in a very literal sense. I just try to remember that to keep pushing ahead with the work.”The Mother of Mercy Hospital is the referral hospital for an area the size of the state of Georgia. In one year they treat 160,000 outpatients, 7,000 inpatients, and perform 2,100 surgeries. Catena explained that people from outside the region are now traveling to the rural hospital for care as well. 

“To put it in, say, an American context, it’d be like if you had a hospital in very rural Nebraska you’d have patients coming from Los Angeles for treatment,” he described. “We’ve slowly transformed medical care in the Nuba Mountains.”

Catena discussed how many of their patients who come from the north are Muslims who have never had exposure to Christianity. 

“This is probably the first time they’ve seen Christians. It’s the first time they’ve come across a Christian institution,” he explained. “So, I think it’s a very important place, not only in terms of health care but in terms of Catholic outreach to the people of Sudan.”
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Pope Francis with Michigan Wolverine's football coach Jim Harbaugh in Vatican City, April 26, 2017. Credit: L'Osservatore Romano.
Vatican City, Apr 26 (EWTN News/CNA)-Former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, now head coach for the University of Michigan football team, is also a Roman Catholic – and he said Wednesday that faith plays a major role in his life.

“The role that (faith) plays in my life is in the priorities that I have,” he said April 26, “faith, then family, then football.”

Coach Harbaugh spoke to EWTN News following a general audience with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square April 26. He and his wife, Sarah, greeted Francis following the audience and presented him with a gift from the team – a University of Michigan helmet and pair of cleats.

The helmet included both the Italian and American flags and a little cross by the chinstrap. The Pope gave Harbaugh “some marching orders,” the coach said, “he told me to pray for him.”

Following the encounter, Harbaugh and his family and the University of Michigan football team were hosted for lunch on the terrace of the EWTN Rome bureau offices. After lunch they held a brief press conference.

Harbaugh, 53, has been head football coach for the University of Michigan since 2015. He played college football at Michigan from 1983-1986 and played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons from 1987-2000. He has seven children.

Speaking to EWTN News about his experience meeting Pope Francis, Harbaugh quoted his father-in-law, Merrill Feuerborn, who told him, “To live in a state of grace, put your trust in the Lord, and be not afraid.”

“When I met Pope Francis today, I was riding on a state of grace,” he said, “that feeling was beyond description. And I know that there's something that I'm supposed to do with that opportunity, with that encounter, of meeting the Holy Father. I'm going to pray about it.”

Harbaugh is in Rome April 22-30. He brought along his family as well as almost his entire team and staff – some 150 people. He said he wanted to give his players an experience they might not otherwise have.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, he brought the team and staff to Rome for a week of team-building, cultural and historical experiences, and of course, spring practices.

The aim of this trip was to “have an educational experience like none other,” he told EWTN News.

“Not all learning is done in a classroom or on a football field, you know? It's out connecting to people, and having a chance for our players and staff to see things they've never seen before, eat things they’ve never tasted, to hear a language they've never heard.”

One goal for the trip was to connect his team with people they otherwise might not have met, he said. Their first day in Rome, the group met and picnicked with a group of refugees, including several from Syria.

Later on Wednesday, Harbaugh and some members of the team and his family visited the SOS Children’s Village, a community made up of homes for children who are in positions of family or social hardship.

Harbaugh said that attending the general audience and meeting Pope Francis was an emotional experience, not just for him but for his team as well. Asked what he hopes his team will take away from the experience, he said just that “the relationship with God is a personal one.”

He said his suggestion for each of his players would be to spend time in silence and think and pray “about what it means, and what they should take away from it.”

“Because we don't always know what to do with it,” he continued. “I don't know what to do with the encounter I had meeting Pope Francis today. What exactly did it mean? What opportunity was given and what am I supposed to do with that?”

Immediately afterward, Harbaugh said he was able to speak with a priest from Detroit, Msgr. Robert McClory, about the experience: “And that was the advice that he gave me: to be silent, to pray, to be with God and listen, and you'll get it, you'll figure it out.”

Two players had the opportunity to get a little bit closer to the Pope during the audience, which Harbaugh chose through an essay competition. The winners, offensive lineman Grant Newsome and defensive tackle Salim Makki, both said they are inspired by Francis.

Attending the audience “was just an incredible experience,” Newsome said.

“Not only as a Christian, but as a person in general, just to listen to someone who is so internationally renowned as Pope Francis and to hear him and have him bless us was just an incredible experience for me and I know for a lot of the other guys on the team.”

Makki, a Muslim, said he looks up to Pope Francis as a hero. “He's always shown that Muslims and Christians and Catholics can combine – we're all brothers and sisters, we can co-exist together.”

Jack Wangler, a senior wide receiver told EWTN News, “I can speak for everybody, I think: this has been a once-in-a-lifetime trip.”

“It's been great to come here with the team and use it as a bonding experience and a cultural experience, to expand what we've learned in the classroom,” said Catholic fullback Joe Beneducci.

He told EWTN News that he remembers reading about the Church and the Vatican at school and watching St. John Paul II’s funeral on TV. “Coming here to see it in person, it put it all in perspective and made me appreciate it just that much more.”

“I think it's brought me closer to my faith as well, which is very nice.”

About the qualities of a good sportsman, Harbaugh said, “It talks about it in the Bible: strive hard to win the prize. To have that motivation, to have that quality of perseverance and discipline and drive is what really makes a good athlete.”

Sunday, before they leave to return to Michigan, Harbaugh’s infant son, John Paul, will be baptized at St. Peter’s Basilica. His daughter, Addison, will also make her first Holy Communion.

In the press conference, Harbaugh told journalists that if he accomplished nothing else in his life, to have met the Pope, and see his son be baptized and his daughter receive First Communion at the Vatican, would make him feel like “a blessed man.”

“This has been the experience of a lifetime.”
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by Elise Harris
 
Rome, Italy / (EWTN News/CNA) - In his homily on Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis said that Jesus' scars are full of mercy, and encouraged attendees to imitate the apostle Thomas in touching them and allowing their hearts to be converted.

"The Lord shows us, through the Gospel, his wounds. They are wounds of mercy. It is true: the wounds of Jesus are wounds of mercy," the Pope told attendees of his April 12 Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Jesus, he said, "invites us to behold these wounds, to touch them as Thomas did, to heal our lack of belief. Above all, he invites us to enter into the mystery of these wounds, which is the mystery of his merciful love."

Pope Francis celebrated his Divine Mercy liturgy - which is a feast instituted by St. John Paul II and is celebrated on the Second Sunday of the Church's liturgical Easter season - for faithful of the Armenian rite in honor of the centenary of the Armenian genocide.

Also referred to as the Armenian Holocaust, the mass killings took place in 1915 when the Ottoman Empire systematically exterminated its historic minority Armenian population who called Turkey their homeland, most of whom were Christians. Roughly 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives.

Many faithful and bishops of the Armenian rite were present for Sunday's Mass, including Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians Karekin II.

During the Mass, Francis also proclaimed Armenian-rite Saint Gregory of Narek a Doctor of the Church, making the 10th century priest, monk, mystic, and poet the first Armenian to receive the title.

In his homily, during which he referred to the 1915 systematic killing of Armenians as "the first genocide of the 20th century," Francis said that it is through Jesus' wounds that we can see the entire mystery of Christ's incarnation, life and death.

From the first prophecies of Lord to the liberation from Egypt, from the first Passover and the blood of the slaughtered lambs to Abraham and Abel, "all of this we can see in the wounds of Jesus, crucified and risen," he said.

In the face of human history's tragic events, "we can feel crushed at times, asking ourselves, 'Why?'" the Pope noted.

"Humanity's evil can appear in the world like an abyss, a great void: empty of love, empty of goodness, empty of life," he continued, explaining that only God is capable of filling the emptiness that evil brings to both human history, and our own personal hearts.

Francis encouraged attendees to follow the path that leads from slavery and death to a land full of life and peace, saying that "Jesus, crucified and risen, is the way and his wounds are especially full of mercy."

He pointed to the saints as examples that teach us how the world can be changed beginning with the conversion of one's own heart. This conversion, he said, only happens through the mercy of God.

"What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be pardoned by the death of Christ?" he asked.

After his Mass, Pope Francis greeted pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square to recite the Regia Coeli - a traditional Marian prayer given special emphasis during the liturgical Easter season.

In his address, the Pope noted how Jesus' encounter with Thomas in the upper room marked the first time the Lord showed the disciples the wounds on his body.

Thomas, who was not there the first time Jesus appeared to the disciples, was not satisfied with the testimony of the others and wanted to see for himself, Francis said, noting that Jesus waited patiently and offered himself to Thomas' disbelief.

"Upon the salvific contact with the wounds of the Risen Lord, Thomas manifests his own wounds, lacerations, humiliations," the Pope said, explaining that in the mark of the nails, the apostle found "sweetness, mercy and decisive proof that he was loved, awaited and understood."

"He finds himself in front of the Messiah full of sweetness, mercy and tenderness," the Pope observed, saying that it was this personal contact with the "kindness and patient mercy" of Jesus that made Thomas realize the true meaning of the Resurrection.

Just like Thomas was transformed by the love of God who is rich in mercy, we are also called to contemplate the Divine Mercy of Jesus that is found in his wounds.

Mercy "overcomes every human limit and shines on the darkness of evil and sin," Francis said, and pointed to the upcoming Extraordinary Jubilee for Mercy as an intense time to welcome and deepen in the love of God.

He referred to the papal Bull of Indiction he released at last night's Vespers for Divine Mercy Sunday, which also served as the official announcement of the upcoming Jubilee for Mercy, and pointed to the bull's title "Misericordiae Vultus," or "The face of Mercy."

"The face of mercy is Jesus Christ. Let us keep our gaze upon him," he prayed, and led pilgrims in the Regina Coeli prayer.

--------------------
 "Holy Communion, because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body. We also call it: the holy things (ta hagia; sancta) - the first meaning of the phrase "communion of saints" in the Apostles' Creed - the bread of angels, bread from heaven, medicine of immortality, viaticum. . . .."

-Catechism of the Catholic Church #1331
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A bit of humor.

- I can totally keep secrets. It's the people I tell them to that can't. 
- When I call a family meeting I turn off the house wifi and wait for them all to come running. 
- Time may be a great healer but it's also a lousy beautician. 
---Police officer: “Your car is too heavily overloaded. I simply cannot let you continue like that. I’m going to have to take away your driver’s license.”
Driver: “You’re kidding me, right? The license can only weigh one ounce tops!”


--- When I look at chocolate, I hear two voices in my head. 
The first one says: “You need to eat that chocolate.” 
The other voice goes: “You heard. Eat the chocolate.”

Never Going Away        Back at my high school for the tenth reunion, I met my old coach. Walking through the gym, we came upon a plaque on which I was still listed as the record holder for the longest softball throw.
Noticing my surprise, the coach said, "That record will stand forever."
I was about to make some modest disclaimer that records exist to be broken, when he added, "We stopped holding that event years ago."
            Exercise Route        My husband bought an exercise machine to help him shed a few pounds. He set it up in the basement but didn't use it much, so he moved it to the bedroom. It gathered dust there, too, so he put it in the living room.
Weeks later I asked how it was going. "I was right," he said. "I do get more exercise now. Every time I close the drapes, I have to walk around the machine."
========Sunday after church, a Mom asked her very young daughter what the lesson was about.
The daughter answered, "Don't be scared, you'll get your quilt."
Needless to say, the Mom was perplexed. Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the Mom asked him what that morning's Sunday school lesson was about.
He said "Be not afraid, thy comforter is coming."
========
The Usher
An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps.  
"Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely. 
"The front row, please," she answered. 
"You really don't want to do that," the usher said. "The pastor is really boring." 
"Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired. 
"No," he said. 
"I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly. 
 "Do you know who I am?" he asked. 
"No," she said. 
"Good," he answered.

What About My Hair
One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, 'Why are some of your hairs white, Mom? 'Her mother replied, 'Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.' The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, 'Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?'
 
What Do You Do When
A police recruit was asked during the exam, 'What would you do if You had to arrest your own mother?'
He answered,  'Call for backup.'

​+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Third Sunday of Easter – Sunday, May 4th, 2025

The First Reading- Acts 5:27-32, 40B-41
When the captain and the court officers had brought the apostles in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, the high priest questioned them, "We gave you strict orders, did we not, to stop teaching in that name?  Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man's blood upon us."  But Peter and the apostles said in reply, "We must obey God rather than men.  The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.  We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."  The Sanhedrin ordered the apostles to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them.  So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
Reflection
The Apostles, who previously were so scared of Jewish authorities that they deserted Jesus in His time of need and locked themselves away have clearly had a pouring out of the Holy Spirit. We see them defend their faith boldly, even rejoicing that they are persecuted for the name of Christ.
Adults - How do you live your faith when it’s uncomfortable?
Teens - Has there been a time that you were treated unfairly because of your faith, or were afraid to make your faith known? How did you handle it?
Kids - How do you handle it when people treat you unfairly?

Responsorial- Psalm 30: 2, 4, 5-6, 11-12, 13
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the netherworld;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment;
a lifetime, his good will.
At nightfall, weeping enters in,
but with the dawn, rejoicing.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;
O LORD, be my helper.
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.
R. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.
Reflection
-Set aside a special time for prayer of praise throughout this Easter season.

The Second Reading- Revelation 5:11-14
I, John, looked and heard the voices of many angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  They were countless in number, and they cried out in a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing."  Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out: "To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor, glory and might, forever and ever."  The four living creatures answered, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Reflection
This section of the book of Revelation is a description of the heavenly participation in the Mass.
Read chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation and see how many descriptions of the Mass you can find.

The Holy Gospel according to John 21:1-19
At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.  He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples.  Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."  They said to him, "We also will come with you."  So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.  When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?"  They answered him, "No." So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something."  So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.  So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea.  The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish.  When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.  Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught."  So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.  Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast."  And none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish.  This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.  When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"  Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."  He then said to Simon Peter a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Simon Peter answered him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."  Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep."  Jesus said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"  Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."  Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.  Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."  He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me."
Reflection
There are two places in Scripture where the curious detail of a “charcoal fire” is mentioned. One is in today’s Gospel, where the Apostles return from fishing to find bread and fish warming on the fire. The other is in the scene in the High Priest’s courtyard on Holy Thursday, where Peter and some guards and slaves warm themselves while Jesus is being interrogated inside (see John 18:18). At the first fire, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times, as Jesus had predicted (see John 13:38; 18:15–18, 25–27). Today’s charcoal fire becomes the scene of Peter’s repentance, as three times Jesus asks him to make a profession of love. Jesus’ thrice repeated command, “feed My sheep,” shows that Peter is being appointed as the shepherd of the Lord’s entire flock, the head of His Church (see also Luke 22:32). Jesus’ question, “Do you love me more than these?” is a pointed reminder of Peter’s pledge to lay down his life for Jesus, even if the other Apostles might weaken (see John 13:37; Matthew 26:33; Luke 22:33). Jesus then explains just what Peter’s love and leadership will require, foretelling Peter’s death by crucifixion (“you will stretch out your hands”).
Adults - Is God first in your life? Do your actions, decisions, and other relationships all flow forth from your relationship with Him?
Teens  - Many times in the Scriptures we see Jesus providing for people’s physical needs with food. What are the multiple ways God’s feeds us? What did He mean when He told Jesus to feed His sheep?
Kids - How do you show Jesus that you love Him?

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! –‘See There were Christians who refused obedience to him, but not one of them claimed for himself the privilege of Peter and his successors. That the Church, the society founded by Christ to bring salvation to the world, should need a visible Head on earth, needs no further (and has not stronger) proof than that Christ himself saw it as necessary and arranged it accordingly. The power of the keys, given to Peter, were more necessary in the second and succeeding generations than in Peter's day, when the other Apostles were still alive. When Christ laid the foundation of his Church on a Rock. it was to be a Rock that would last as long as the Church. Peter died, but Peter's office will last until the last man goes to heaven. The Sheep and the Lambs of the twentieth and thirtieth centuries have as much need of pasturage and protection as, if not more than, those of the first century. Christ, our Savior and our Good Shepherd, provided for all time.—Excepted from The Sunday Readings, Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

THOSE UNABLE TO ATTEND MASS MAY MAKE AN ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
An Act of Spiritual Communion - It has long been a Catholic understanding that when circumstances prevent one from receiving Holy Communion, it is possible to make an Act of Spiritual Communion which is a source of grace. Spiritual Communion means uniting ourselves in prayer with Christ’s sacrifice and worshiping Him in the consecrated bread and wine which are His Body and Blood. Always remember that the consecrated bread is the Body and Blood of Christ and the consecrated wine is the Body and Blood of Christ, even if you receive the Eucharist only under one species.  The most common reason for making an Act of Spiritual Communion is when a person cannot attend Mass. An act of Spiritual Communion invites Jesus to come anew spiritually into us, increases our desire to receive sacramental Communion and helps us avoid the sins that would make us unable to receive Holy Communion worthily.  
A Prayer for Spiritual Communion-My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.  I love You above all things and I desire to receive You in my body, my soul, and my whole being.  Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, Come at least spiritually into my heart.  I embrace You as if you were already there And unite myself wholly to You.  Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

 
Readings for:
Monday of Holy Week can be found here:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041425.cfm


Tuesday of Holy Week can be found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041525.cfm


Wednesday of Holy Week can be found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041625.cfm

Holy Week in Two Minutes
vimeo.com
Want to know why Catholics wave palms on Palm Sunday; wash each other's feet on Holy Thursday; or kiss the cross on Good Friday? Look no further than BustedHalo.com's ...

​A bit of humor…

-Diet Day #1 - I removed all the fattening food from my house. It was delicious.  
-My email password has been hacked. That's the third time I've had to rename the cat.  
-Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited until you try to sit in their pews.
Whom Gave It Away? When my coworker answered his phone, the confused woman on the other end asked, “Who is this?”
“This is Steve. With whom did you wish to speak?”
After a pause: “Did you just say whom?”
“Yes, I did.”
The woman replied, “I have the wrong number,” and hung up.


A Trashy Career“Has your son decided what 
he wants to be when he grows up?” 
I asked my friend.
“He wants to be a garbageman,” 
he replied.
“That’s an unusual ambition to have at such a young age.”
“Not really. He thinks that garbagemen work only on Tuesdays.”



Holding Out
A judge tells the defendant, “You’re charged with hitting your boss with a magazine.”
“What!” yells a voice from
the back of the courtroom.
“You’re also charged with hitting a waiter with a magazine,” 
says the judge.
“WHATTTT!  How dare you!” bellows the same man.
“Sir,” says the judge, “one more outburst, and I’ll charge you with contempt.”
“I’m sorry, Your Honor,” says the man. “But I’ve been this defendant’s neighbor for ten years, and every time I asked to borrow a magazine for reading material, he said he didn’t have one.”

The Three Sisters

Three sisters, ages 92, 94 and 95 years old, were all living together.

The 95 year old went upstairs one evening to bathe. As she was
getting in the tub, she called down to her sisters, "Am I getting in
the tub or out of the tub?"

The 94-year-old decided to go upstairs to help.

She got to the third step and stopped, then called out, "Was I going
up the stairs or down?"

The 92 year old sitting at the kitchen table having tea, listening to
her sisters shook her head and said, "I sure hope I never get as
forgetful as my sisters," and knocked on wood for good measure.

Then she yelled, "I'll come up and help both of you as soon as I see
who's at the door."
 
  
"Pause before the tabernacle by yourself, for no special reason, even without saying a thing, simply remaining in His presence, contemplating the supreme gestures of love contained in the consecrated Bread. Learn to remain with Him, to be able to love like Him"
(Pope St. John Paul II).

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion - Sunday, April 13th, 2025

The First Reading- Isaiah 50:4-7
The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Reflection This reading from Isaiah is a prophecy of Jesus, and how He will come to save us from our sins.
Adults - Read this reading slowly, meditating on where each of the prophecies come true in the life of Jesus.
Teens - What do you think it means to have a well trained tongue? Why should we work toward this goal?
Kids - Is it hard to always do what you know is right?

Responsorial- Psalm 22: 8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
All who see me scoff at me;
they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads:
"He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him,
let him rescue him, if he loves him."
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Indeed, many dogs surround me,
a pack of evildoers closes in upon me;
They have pierced my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
They divide my garments among them,
and for my vesture they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, be not far from me;
O my help, hasten to aid me.
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
"You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!"
R. My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Reflection -In ancient Judaism reciting the first line of a Psalm evoked the whole Psalm. Read the whole of Psalm 22 to learn the true meaning of Jesus’ cry from the cross.

The Second Reading- Philippians 2:6-11
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.  Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Reflection Christ Jesus came as a servant, and calls us to do the same.
Do you find joy in serving others? Do you see how living servanthood glorifies God?

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 22:14-23:56
When the hour came, Jesus took his place at table with the apostles. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it again until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you that from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you. "And yet behold, the hand of the one who is to betray me is with me on the table; for the Son of Man indeed goes as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed." And they began to debate among themselves who among them would do such a deed. Then an argument broke out among them about which of them should be regarded as the greatest. He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as 'Benefactors'; but among you it shall not be so. Rather, let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. For who is greater: the one seated at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one seated at table? I am among you as the one who serves. It is you who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father has conferred one on me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. "Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers." He said to him, "Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you." But he replied, "I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me."  He said to them, "When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?" "No, nothing, " they replied. He said to them, "But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one. For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me, namely, He was counted among the wicked; and indeed what is written about me is coming to fulfillment." Then they said, "Lord, look, there are two swords here."  But he replied, "It is enough!" Then going out, he went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.  When he arrived at the place he said to them, "Pray that you may not undergo the test." After withdrawing about a stone's throw from them and kneeling, he prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done." And to strengthen him an angel from heaven appeared to him. He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground. When he rose from prayer and returned to his disciples, he found them sleeping from grief. He said to them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not undergo the test." While he was still speaking, a crowd approached and in front was one of the Twelve, a man named Judas. He went up to Jesus to kiss him. Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" His disciples realized what was about to happen, and they asked, "Lord, shall we strike with a sword?" And one of them struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said in reply, "Stop, no more of this!" Then he touched the servant's ear and healed him. And Jesus said to the chief priests and temple guards and elders who had come for him, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? Day after day I was with you in the temple area, and you did not seize me; but this is your hour, the time for the power of darkness." After arresting him they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest; Peter was following at a distance. They lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter sat down with them. When a maid saw him seated in the light, she looked intently at him and said, "This man too was with him." But he denied it saying, "Woman, I do not know him." A short while later someone else saw him and said, "You too are one of them"; but Peter answered, "My friend, I am not." About an hour later, still another insisted, "Assuredly, this man too was with him, for he also is a Galilean." But Peter said, "My friend, I do not know what you are talking about." Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times." He went out and began to weep bitterly. The men who held Jesus in custody were ridiculing and beating him. They blindfolded him and questioned him, saying, "Prophesy!  Who is it that struck you?" And they reviled him in saying many other things against him. When day came the council of elders of the people met, both chief priests and scribes, and they brought him before their Sanhedrin. They said, "If you are the Christ, tell us, " but he replied to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I question, you will not respond. But from this time on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God." They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?" He replied to them, "You say that I am." Then they said, "What further need have we for testimony? We have heard it from his own mouth." Then the whole assembly of them arose and brought him before Pilate. They brought charges against him, saying, "We found this man misleading our people; he opposes the payment of taxes to Caesar and maintains that he is the Christ, a king." Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" He said to him in reply, "You say so." Pilate then addressed the chief priests and the crowds, "I find this man not guilty." But they were adamant and said, "He is inciting the people with his teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee where he began even to here." On hearing this Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean; and upon learning that he was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who was in Jerusalem at that time. Herod was very glad to see Jesus; he had been wanting to see him for a long time, for he had heard about him and had been hoping to see him perform some sign. He questioned him at length, but he gave him no answer. The chief priests and scribes, meanwhile, stood by accusing him harshly. Herod and his soldiers treated him contemptuously and mocked him, and after clothing him in resplendent garb, he sent him back to Pilate. Herod and Pilate became friends that very day, even though they had been enemies formerly. Pilate then summoned the chief priests, the rulers, and the people and said to them, "You brought this man to me and accused him of inciting the people to revolt. I have conducted my investigation in your presence and have not found this man guilty of the charges you have brought against him, nor did Herod, for he sent him back to us. So no capital crime has been committed by him. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him." But all together they shouted out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us." — Now Barabbas had been imprisoned for a rebellion that had taken place in the city and for murder. — Again Pilate addressed them, still wishing to release Jesus, but they continued their shouting, "Crucify him!  Crucify him!" Pilate addressed them a third time, "What evil has this man done? I found him guilty of no capital crime. Therefore I shall have him flogged and then release him." With loud shouts, however, they persisted in calling for his crucifixion, and their voices prevailed. The verdict of Pilate was that their demand should be granted. So he released the man who had been imprisoned for rebellion and murder, for whom they asked, and he handed Jesus over to them to deal with as they wished. As they led him away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him. Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.' At that time people will say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!' for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?" Now two others, both criminals, were led away with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." They divided his garments by casting lots. The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God." Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself." Above him there was an inscription that read, "This is the King of the Jews." Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.  Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit"; and when he had said this he breathed his last. Here all kneel and pause for a short time. The centurion who witnessed what had happened glorified God and said, "This man was innocent beyond doubt." When all the people who had gathered for this spectacle saw what had happened, they returned home beating their breasts; but all his acquaintances stood at a distance, including the women who had followed him from Galilee and saw these events. Now there was a virtuous and righteous man named Joseph who, though he was a member of the council, had not consented to their plan of action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea and was awaiting the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried. It was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spices and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment.
Reflection “What is written about Me is coming to fulfillment,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel (see Luke 22:37). Indeed, we have reached the climax of the liturgical year, the highest peak of salvation history, when all that has been anticipated and promised is to be fulfilled.  By the close of today’s long Gospel, the work of our redemption will have been accomplished, the new covenant will be written in the blood of His broken body hanging on the cross at the place called the Skull. In His Passion, Jesus is “counted among the wicked,” as Isaiah had foretold (see Isaiah 53:12). He is revealed definitively as the Suffering Servant the prophet announced, the long-awaited Messiah whose words of obedience and faith ring out in today’s First Reading and Psalm. The taunts and torments we hear in these two readings punctuate the Gospel as Jesus is beaten and mocked (see Luke 22:63–65; 23:10–11, 16), as His hands and feet are pierced (see Luke 23:33), as enemies gamble for His clothes (see Luke 23:34), and as three times they dare Him to prove His divinity by saving Himself from suffering (see Luke 23:35, 37, 39). He remains faithful to God’s will to the end, does not turn back in His trial. He gives Himself freely to His torturers, confident that, as He speaks in today’s First Reading: “The Lord God is My help . . . I shall not be put to shame.” Destined to sin and death as children of Adam’s disobedience, we have been set free for holiness and life by Christ’s perfect obedience to the Father’s will (see Romans 5:12–14, 17–19; Ephesians 2:2; 5:6).  This is why God greatly exalted Him. This is why we have salvation in His Name. Following His example of humble obedience in the trials and crosses of our lives, we know we will never be forsaken, that one day we too will be with Him in Paradise (see Luke 23:42).
Adults - Consider the things that Jesus said when he was on the cross. What do they say about the way that God loves us? What do they say about how we should be living mercy?
Teens  - What was it like for you to shout “Crucify him” and to have all of the “bad guy” lines in the Gospel? Where do you think you would have fallen in that story if you were there? Would you be Peter? One of the apostles that hid?  The women and beloved disciple who stayed by him?
Kids - The palm leaves you get today have been blessed! This means they should not be thrown in the trash - put yours somewhere special in your room to remind you to pray.

+JMJ+
In this e-weekly:
- ‎ Catholic Business Profile: Young Catholic Professionals  (Diocesan News and Beyond)
-You still have time to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) before Easter!
-Information on Confession, How to Go, and an Examination of Conscience (at end of e-mail)

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After you have setup your account, download the app by searching for “Hallow Catholic” in the App Store or Google Play, sign in using the account you just created, and start praying!  ​

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
​
       Jesus' Name means 'God saves.'  But how does God save us and from what?  Sin of course.  How does He do this?  By becoming Mercy and seeking us.  Is that all?  No, your right, we must confess our sins.  Why?  Not so God can condemn us, so that God can forgive us.  No sin, No Savior!
 
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  Hebrews 4:16


 
Let us go to Confession/Reconciliation/Penance!  Fear and Shame are not awaiting you, comfort and peace are.  You will not meet a yelling priest, you will meet Jesus Christ, Who will forgive you and let you begin again!
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  Sunday was the Fifth Sunday of Lent.  The readings can be found at:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040625-YearC.cfm
​

-Go for a walk, physical activity such as aerobic exercise like jogging, swimming, or brisk walking, is a great way to perk up a blue mood.  Exercise releases endorphins, a group of proteins produced by the brain that are thought to elevate mood.
-Keep busy by filling up your schedule.  Immerse yourself in a favorite activity, find a new hobby, volunteer, plan a vacation, or take an evening course.
-Don’t isolate yourself from others when you feel blue.  This can make things worse.  Make a date to go out with friends, do some volunteer work, write a letter, or telephone a relative or an old friend.
-Music can have a profound effect on emotions.  Listen to some of your favorite upbeat music.  Sing along at the top of your lungs or dance around the room.  Avoid sad songs or music that reminds you of a loss.
-Express your creativity by painting, sculpting, knitting, embroidery, cooking, or any other art or craft.  Try something new.  This will help you forget your worries.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+JMJ+


HOW CAN I HELP?
1) →Check on family and neighbors to make sure everyone is okay and needs are being taken care of.← (Call if you can. If you drop by, make sure you maintain social distance to the degree possible.)
2) →Donate blood.← (This is much needed now as many blood drives at colleges and churches have had to be cancelled and hospitals will have increased need. Blood donation is very safe and they are taking extra precautions with current illness going around.)
3) →Explore ways to help or volunteer virtually.← (So much can be done over the phone and internet today. Search your local community needs.)
4) →Waste not, want not.← (Use the food in your house. Be careful to stay up on item dates. Freeze food you will not use right away. Buy what you will use.)
5) →Make a donation to those serving others.← (Local, national, and international organization exist to serve and help others. Look up one or ask locally what most needs assistance.)
6) →Be a leader and provide good example.← (Be the first to do the right thing. Explain directions that are hard to understand or follow. Encourage others to look toward their neighbor and fellow human being.)
7) →Take care of yourself.← (As they say, secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others. In other words, self-care is incredibly important at a time like this, and ensuring that you’re making safe and smart choices is a civic duty of the utmost importance. Be patient and kind to all, especially yourself!)


WAYS TO COMBAT OR MITIGATE RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES AT THIS TIME:
1) Wash hands often to remove potential viruses or items that might cause illnesses.
2) Social Distance yourself from another at least 3-6 feet to keep micro-droplets from our mouth or nose (even if we are not sneezing or coughing) from coming into contact with the other person.
3) Stay aware of symptoms and check if you have a fever. If you have symptoms, CALL your doctor’s office or an urgent care to get further instruction of how to proceed. You may also be able to receive care on the phone or be diagnosed through what is called Tele-medicine. (Emergency situations should call 911)
4) Clean surfaces such as door handles, counters, and commonly touched surfaces with a disinfectant often so that viruses or items that cause illness may be wiped away and less likely to infect persons.
5) Get plenty of rest, fluids, eat balanced meals as one is able, and exercise limitedly to stay as healthy as possible.


"Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love, into communion with Christ. And the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #725
​

​Compiled by Tom WehnerFeatures
March 31, 2025

Name: Jennifer Baugh
Company name: Young Catholic Professionals

What does the business do? We offer a generation of young workers in their 20s and 30s a way to go deeper in faith, life and work through various events and programming. Together, we seek authentic friendships, a richer sense of purpose, and both personal and professional excellence. Above all, we’re here to help inspire modern-day saints!
Number of employees: 13 full-time employees, 700-plus volunteers

Website: YoungCatholicProfessionals.org

What is the secret to your success? YCP grew from an idea to a successful, vibrant ministry through courage, perseverance and trust. Courage allowed us to take the risk of starting something new and gave us belief in the mission when others may not have understood our vision. Perseverance was necessary to press on, as there were many challenges during YCP’s growth years. Trust in God’s plan enabled YCP to flourish according to his will. These three virtues were essential and remain the recipe for YCP’s continued growth and impact.

The hardest lesson you had to learn: As a typical first born, I was high-achieving and eager to please at the same time. The combination was challenging because any new venture requires a willingness to go against the tide. There were times I took setbacks personally, like when things didn’t go as planned or when people’s opinions weighed on me. Over time, this Scripture verse began to resonate: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). It was important for me to learn to surrender and also to let go of my need to make sense of everything. I learned to trust God through simple faith and hard work each day.

How faith fits in to your business life: This question speaks to YCP’s main goal to help young Catholic workers live an integrated life. Faith should not fit into our business life. Rather, our business life should fit into our Catholic faith. As a Catholic professional, I pray throughout the day, but I also give my very self to God in the activities and events that unfold. I use my God-given talents in my professional endeavors to do my work well and to witness to those who may need encouragement.

Do you have a patron saint? St. Joseph has become a trusted confidant for me personally and for Young Catholic Professionals. Our mission calls upon the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker, the simple, righteous carpenter who lovingly taught Jesus his own trade and shows us the dignity of work through his quiet example. St. Joseph, who never speaks in Scripture but who nonetheless receives and acts on visions given to him by an angel, also reminds us of the importance of stillness, reflection and prayer.

What advice can you share with aspiring Catholic entrepreneurs?
​
1. You will face uncertainty in the days ahead, but remain courageous so that you may push through moments of doubt. Follow your inspiration and pursue your goal with confidence.

2. You may encounter many challenges as you grow your mission. Remain strong in perseverance so that God can bless your efforts.

3. You may arrive at a time when you need to reappraise your direction and strategy. Prayer that is constant will allow you to trust God and be open to his grace.

​Clockwise from left: A refugee mother and two children from Ukraine arrive at Franciscan University’s Austrian campus on March 27. Mary Krolicki, residence director at Franciscan University’s Austrian campus, helped gather supplies delivered to a refugee center in Poland. This refugee camp near the Poland-Ukraine border is where staff from Franciscan University delivered supplies. (photo: Courtesy of Franciscan University)

Meghan Schultz Blogs

A group of Ukrainian refugee women and 41 children arrived at the doors of Franciscan University’s Austria campus this week. 

The Steubenville, Ohio, university is providing food and shelter for the next two months, according to Austrian Program Director Tom Wolter, who said that many refugees have little to no contact with people or places outside of Ukraine itself and require assistance with more than just travel plans. 

“The need is acute,” Wolter said in a press release, referencing the millions of refugees escaping into Poland and surrounding European countries. 

Franciscan’s Austrian program staff are collaborating with an Austrian organization, Kleine Herzen (Little Hearts), that provides aid to children affected by the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Kleine Herzen organizer Oksana Nazarchuk met and traveled with the refugees from the Ukrainian border to the campus, Kartause Maria Thronus Iesu (Monastery of Our Lady, Throne of Jesus). The children will be able to go to school in a monastery classroom, and the refugees can pray in the Byzantine Catholic chapel.

“The refugees found not only shelter but also the support and love from Franciscan University,” Nazarchuk said. “Most mothers were crying, seeing such support and readiness to help.” 

Wolter and staff recently returned from the Poland-Ukraine border, where they transported fleeing families to welcoming Viennese homes. Austrian program staff have provided assistance since the beginning of the war, including providing food and additional supplies to refugees. 

Fewer Franciscan students enrolled in the Austrian study-abroad program this semester due to concerns related to COVID-19, which resulted in additional space the campus could make available to refugees. The monastery, “a beautifully restored 14th-century Carthusian monastery in the foothills of the Austrian Alps,” usually hosts about 200 Franciscan students each semester.

Franciscan University currently accepts donations to its newly established Ukrainian Relief Fund, which will aid in covering costs of shelter, food and daily living items for refugees housed at the monastery.

If the amount of funds received exceeds what is necessary, additional monetary support will be contributed to “Austrian organizations that are housing or collecting supplies for refugees.” All donations will be tax deductible.
​
Wolter emphasized the need the Franciscan campus is meeting: “The initial wave of refugees who left Ukraine had friends or family in Europe and simply needed assistance in their travels. However, as the conflict continues to increase in both intensity and in scope, further migration has occurred with refugees having no family, friends or contacts outside of their home country.”

​

A bit of humor…

Tried and True Method
Flummoxed by his true-false final exam, a student decides to toss a coin up in the air. Heads means true; tails, false. Thirty minutes later, he’s done, well before the rest of the class. But then the student starts flipping the coin again. And soon he’s murmuring and sweating over each question.
"What’s wrong?" asks the concerned teacher.
"I’m rechecking my answers," says the student.

I Have a Question


During our computer class, the teacher chastised one boy for talking to the girl sitting next to him.
"I was just asking her a question," the boy said.
"If you have a question, ask me," the teacher tersely replied.
"Okay," he answered. "Do you want to go out with me Friday night?"
Grannies on the Road

Sitting on the side of the road waiting to catch speeding drivers, a
state trooper sees a car puttering along at 22 mph. He thinks to
himself, "This driver is as dangerous as a speeder!" So he turns on his
lights and pulls the driver over.

Approaching the car, he notices that there are five elderly ladies - two
in the front seat and three in the back, wide-eyed and white as ghosts.
The driver, obviously confused, says to him, "Officer, I don't
understand. I was going the exact speed limit. What seems to be the
problem?"

The trooper trying to contain a chuckle, explains to her that 22 was the
route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned
and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.

"But before you go, Ma'am, I have to ask, is everyone in this car OK?
These women seem awfully shaken."

"Oh, they'll be all right in a minute, officer.. We just got off Route 127 
: )
 
 
Love the Irish
Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.   Looking up to heaven he said, 'Lord take pity on me.   If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!' 

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Paddy looked up again and said, 'Never mind, I found one.'
​

​

+JMJ+


PRAYER DURING TIME OF ILLNESS
Holy Virgin of Guadalupe,
Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas.
We fly to you today as your beloved children.
We ask you to intercede for us with your Son, as you did at the wedding in Cana.
Pray for us, loving Mother,
and gain for our nation and world,
and for all our families and loved ones, the protection of your holy angels, that we may be spared the worst of this illness.
For those already afflicted,
we ask you to obtain the grace of healing and deliverance.
Hear the cries of those who are vulnerable and fearful,
wipe away their tears and help them to trust.
In this time of trial and testing,
teach all of us in the Church to love one another and to be patient and kind. Help us to bring the peace of Jesus to our land and to our hearts.
We come to you with confidence,
knowing that you truly are our compassionate mother, health of the sick and cause of our joy.
Shelter us under the mantle of your protection, keep us in the embrace of your arms, help us always to know the love of your Son, Jesus. Amen.
​
 
 
"We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell.""  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1033
 
 
 He breathed on them (the Apostles) and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you do not forgive are not forgiven."
–John 20:22-23
 Jesus did not give the Apostles the ability to read people's mind.  The only way the Apostles would know whether to forgive sins or not was if the people confessed their sins to them.  Bishops are successors of the Apostles who receive the same power and Holy Spirit who pass it on to priests.
 
Frequently Asked Questions About Confession
Is this sacrament called confession, penance or reconciliation?
Yes! This sacrament involves all three elements and historically has been called by all three names. Today the Church refers to it as the Sacrament of Penance or the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
 
Why do we need a sacrament of Reconciliation?
"Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church…" (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 1440). Only God forgives sins. Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be a sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation (CCC1442). The priest "is not the master of God's forgiveness, but its servant" (CCC 1466).
 
What happens in the Sacrament of Penance?
"Through the sacrament of penance, we, the faithful, acknowledge the sins we have committed, express our sorrow for them, and, intending to reform our ways, receive God's forgiveness and become reconciled with God and with the Church" (USCCB Committee on Pastoral Practices). "Jesus' call to conversion and penance… does not aim first at outward works… but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion" (CCC 1430). Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him.
 
What sins should be confessed?
The Church teaches that "all serious (mortal) sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret… for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly" (CCC 1456). At the same time, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) "is strongly recommended… for it helps us to form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies (patterns of weakness that can lead us to sin), let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful" (CCC 1458).
 
What are the effects of this sacrament?
"The forgiven penitent is reconciled with himself in his inmost being… He is reconciled with his brethren whom he has in some way offended and wounded. He is reconciled with the Church. He is reconciled with all creation" (John Paul II). "The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God's grace (which was lost by Adam and Eve and confirmed by our personal sins) and joining us with him in an intimate friendship" (CCC 1468), "for those who receive the sacrament with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation" (CCC 1551) (i.e. you feel good after going to Confession).Did you know?
• In the early Church, the Sacrament of Penance could be received only once in a lifetime.
The penances assigned were often very long and severe, sometimes lasting several years. During this time penitents usually had special places in church, wore special clothes, and commonly left the Sunday liturgy after the homily, just like the catechumens.
 
• At one time the Church had a two-track system of public Penance and private Penance.
Public sins required public penance and private sins required private penance.
 
• For centuries penitents were required to do their assigned penance and then return to receive absolution. Practical difficulties with this became apparent when the confessor was a wandering missionary and when the penances sometimes took the penitent on a pilgrimage to foreign lands.
 HOW TO GO TO CONFESSION
 
Many people have avoided celebrating the Sacrament of Penance, sometimes for years at a time, because they “don’t know what to do.” But confession doesn’t need to be scary or intimidating! The following brief explanation will help you understand how the Sacrament is celebrated individually.
 
1 Preparation
The celebration of this sacrament begins at home, with the private preparation you make. This preparation is called the examination of conscience. “The penitent compares his or her life with the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the example of Christ and then prays to God for forgiveness.” The examination of conscience should take into account your relationship to God and to others. Usually, we know our sins all too well; the examination of conscience will help us to look at them in the light of the Gospel, and be better able to express them in confession.  Also, we are sometimes unaware of how serious some sins are and the effect they have on our lives.  A thorough examination of conscience will help us identify and remove all that is hindering us in our relationship with God, one another, and ourselves.  A doctor needs help to remove all the illness or cancer from a patient, thus we need help to remove all sin so as to have true health and divine life.  (Please pray over attached Examination of Conscience for Adults.)
 
2 Welcome of the Priest
You have the option of confessing your sins face to face, or of confessing anonymously. This is your choice. The priest welcomes you and then both you and he make the sign of the cross, saying, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Then in his own words the priest urges you to have confidence in God. Then you continue, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.  It has been (# weeks, months, or years) since my last Confession.”  If you don’t know the priest, you may want to indicate your state of life (i.e. married, single, widowed, divorced), and anything else that may help your confessor.  Be sure to mention how long it has been since your last confession.  The true priest will be glad you are there and not judging you on how long it has been since you lasted came to this Sacrament.
 
3 Confession of Sins
Next the priest invites you to confess your sins. Occasionally, the priest may ask questions to help you in making a full confession. The confession of sins should be as complete as possible. That doesn’t mean it needs to take a long time. The important thing is that the penitent “looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible” (Catechism 1455).  Venial sins and faults may be confessed in general, however, all mortal/serious sins must be confessed by their name and the number of times they were committed since the last Confession.  If you need help confessing your sins, let the priest know.  He can ask you questions or help you examine your life in light of God’s law.
 
4 Advice of the Priest
Sacramental confession is not therapy; the priest will not attempt to solve your problems for you.  What he will do, however, is offer some advice to help you in starting a new life. He will give a “penance,” which may take the form of prayer, self-denial, service to one’s neighbor, or works of mercy.
 
5 Act of Contrition, the Prayer of the Penitent
Next the priest invites you to pray an act of contrition. There are many different options for this prayer. There is one on the Examination of Conscience that you may take with you.  It should also be available for you in the Confessional.
 
6 Prayer of Absolution
Now the priest extends his hands over your head and prays the prayer of absolution, making the sign of the cross over you during the final words: “through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” You respond, Amen.  These are generally considered the sweetest words this side of heaven for those who know anything can be forgiven in this life if we confess it with true sorrow.
 
7 Dismissal
Now the priest dismisses you. You respond, “Thanks be to God.” If you are making your confession as part of a communal celebration, remain in the church for the conclusion of the celebration. If not, ‘go in peace to love and serve the Lord’!
 
Based on Celebrating the Sacrament of Penance: Questions and Answers, a publication of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
   
 Guide for Examination of Conscience for Confession of Sins
 6 STEPS FOR A GOOD CONFESSION
1)  Examine your conscience - what sins have you committed since your last good confession.
2)  Be sincerely sorry for your sins.
3)  Confess your sins to the priest.
4)  Make certain that you confess all your mortal sins and the number of them.
5)  After your confession, do the penance the priest gives to you.
6)  Pray daily for the strength to avoid the occasion of sin, especially for those sins you were just absolved from.
 ACT OF CONTRITION
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.
Amen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. You shall not have other gods before Me.
___How have I acted toward God?
___ Do I think of God and speak to Him by
praying to Him every day?
___ Have I made a bad confession (purposely
avoiding to confess a mortal sin)?
___ Have I received Jesus in Holy Communion
unworthily (with mortal sin on my soul)?
2. You shall not take the Name of the
Lord your God in vain.
___ Have I used bad words?
___ Have I jokingly or irreverently spoken about
God or holy things?
___ Have I tried hard to keep the promises and
resolutions which I have made to God?
___ Have I spoken God’s Name in anger?
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
___ Do I go to Mass on Sunday?
___ Do I do all I can to make Sunday a day of rest
and joy for my family?
___ Do I take part in the Mass, or do I distract
others by laughing, talking, or playing?
___ Have I deliberately failed to pay attention at
Mass?
___ Am I generous in helping the Church,
contributing some of my allowance or savings
at collection time to help the Church in her
necessities as much as I can?
___ Have I fulfilled my yearly Easter duty of
receiving Holy Communion (and going to
Confession, if necessary)?
4. Honor your father and your mother.
___ Do I pay attention to my parents, priest, and
teachers, especially when they talk to me about
God?
___ Do I obey my parents and teachers quickly and
cheerfully, or must I be reminded many times?
___Do I tell my parents or those in authority over
me that I am sorry and ask them to forgive me
when I have not obeyed them or have not been
respectful toward them?
___ Have I failed to express my love for my
parents?
___ Do I nurse angry feelings or show resentment
when I am corrected by my parents?
___ Do I obey the rules of my home and school?
___ Do I pray every day for the help I need to be a
holy child, and a holy brother or sister?
5. You shall not kill.
___ Have I treated other people badly?
___ Do I help my brothers, sisters, and classmates
when they need my help?
___ Am I kind to everyone?
___ Did I hurt anyone on purpose?
___ Have I fought with my brothers, sisters, or
friends?
___ Am I willing to talk or play with everyone?
___ Have I forgiven all those who have hurt me,
for love of Jesus?
___ Did I make fun of anyone, put anyone down,
or tease anyone to the point of upsetting
them?
___ Have I hated anyone or nursed bad feelings,
resented, or refused pardon toward any
person?
___ Have I sought pardon of those whom I have
offended?
___ Do I do all my class work and my chores at
home well?
___ Do I take care of my health by eating the
right food, getting enough sleep, and doing
other things that I know are good for me?
6. You shall not commit adultery.
___ Have I kept my mind, heart, and body pure,
as the dwelling, or temple, of God?
___ Have I been impure with touches (by myself
or with another person)?
___ Have I been impure with words or thoughts?
___ Have I watched impure movies or television
programs or listened to music that offended
God?
___ Have I engaged in impure conversations?
Did I begin them?
___ Have I neglected to dress modestly or to
otherwise safeguard purity?
___ Have I willfully looked at immodest pictures?
___ Have I displayed immodest looks or glances at
myself or others?
7. You shall not steal.
___ Did I steal or keep things that are not mine?
___ Am I willing to share my things with others?
___ Did I return things I have borrowed or stolen?
___ Have I seriously entertained temptations to
steal?
___ Have I been greedy?
8. You shall not lie.
___ Did I tell the truth?
___ Have I lied?
___ Did I say things about other people that are not
true?
___ Did I cheat in class or in games?
___ Have I gossiped about another person?
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
___ Do I think mostly about myself and what I
want?
___ How often do I think about other people and
what they would like?
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s
goods.
___ Do I thank God for the things that He has
given me?
___ Do I thank my parents and relatives for the
things they have given me?
___ Do I spend more time thinking about things
that I want than I do talking to God?
Steps to a Good Confession:
1. Carefully examine your conscience.
2. Be sincerely sorry for your sins.
3. Make a firm resolution not to sin again and to
avoid the near occasion of sin.
4. Tell your sins to the priest and receive
absolution.
5. Do the penance the priest gives you.
Suggested Dialogue:
Priest: May the Lord be on your heart, on your
mind, and on your lips so that you may know your
sins, and confess them with true repentance and a
firm purpose of amendment.
Penitent: Bless me Father, for I have sinned.
It has been ________ since my last confession.
Here state your sins.
Priest gives counsel and penance.
Penitent makes Act of Contrition:
Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having
offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because
I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all because they have offended Thee,
my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my
love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend
my life. Amen.
Receive absolution and then respond “Thanks be to God.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the Body and Blood of the Lord. ... He who eats and drinks without recognizing the Body eats and drinks judgment on himself." (1 Cor 11:27-29)
 
So, to receive Holy Communion while in the state of mortal sin (having committed a mortal sin which has not been confessed and forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession) is itself a mortal sin - a mortal sin of sacrilege.
 
"When he celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God's merciful love for the sinner." -Catechism of the Catholic Church #1465

+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Fifth Sunday of Lent – Sunday, April 6th, 2025

The First Reading- Isaiah 43:16-21
Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick.  Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new!  Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.  Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, for I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.
Reflection
The liturgy this Lent has shown us the God of the Exodus. He is a mighty and gracious God, who out of faithfulness to His covenant has done “great things” for His people, as today’s Psalm puts it. But the “things of long ago,” Isaiah tells us in today’s First Reading, are nothing compared to the “something new” that He will do in the future. Today’s First Reading and Psalm look back to the marvelous deeds of the Exodus. Both see in the Exodus a pattern and prophecy of the future, when God will restore the fortunes of His people fallen in sin. The readings today look forward to a still greater Exodus, when God will gather in the exiled tribes of Israel that had been scattered to the four winds, the ends of the earth.
Adults - Are you holding onto something from the past that you need God’s help to resolve?
Teens - Is God preparing to do something new in your life? How is He “making a way” for you?
Kids - How does God take care of you?

Responsorial- Psalm 126: 1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Reflection
-Look up and reflect on the meaning between joy and happiness.


The Second Reading- Philippians 3: 8-14
Brothers and sisters: I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  It is not that I have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it, since I have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.  Brothers and sisters, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession.  Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.
Reflection
Saint Paul talks to us of having been “possessed by Christ”; that Jesus lives in his heart and directs him, but it’s not all up to Jesus. Through our baptism, Jesus entered our hearts, too, and it’s up to us to accept direction from him and to take the next steps to living that direction.
Do you ask for guidance from God in all parts of your life?

The Holy Gospel according to John 8:1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.  But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them.  Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle.  They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.  So what do you say?”  They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.  Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.  But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.  And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders.  So he was left alone with the woman before him.  Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”    
Reflection
In the Gospel, a woman is brought to Jesus who was caught being unfaithful to her husband. This is often an image that God uses for the people of Israel being unfaithful to God. The men who brought her in front of him claimed to have the right to kill her for what she did. They ask Jesus because they want to trick him into denying what the Law of God says. His response is simple—whoever among them has never sinned has the right to carry out the punishment. None of them can do it, because all of them have sinned.  They have all been unfaithful to God in one way or another, and the only one fit to punish is the one who has never sinned—Jesus. But, the story doesn’t end there—Jesus asks the woman who has condemned her. No one has. He tells her that he doesn’t either, that she is free to go, and that she should, “not sin any more.” She has more steps to take. She has to choose every day to accept the forgiveness that she has been given, and to choose every day to make avoid sin and do good to become more like Jesus. We are all called to the very same thing in our baptism.
Adults - The barbaric practice of stoning thankfully is not something that is acceptable today. We can, however, stone people in our own ways - with our words, actions, resentments, etc. How can we make sure we aren’t guilty of modern day stoning.
Teens  - How can you reach out to someone who is being treated unfairly?
Kids - Say a special prayer thanking Jesus for His mercy.


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! –‘See what follows: 'Go and sin no more.' Therefore, the Lord also condemned sin, but not the woman' (St Augustine, In Ioann. Evang., 33, 5-6).  Jesus, who is the just One, does not condemn the woman; whereas these people are sinners, yet they pass sentence of death. God's infinite mercy should move us always to have compassion on those who commit sins, because we ourselves are sinners and in need of God's forgiveness.” —The Navarre Bible—St. John, Year C