Pope Leo XIV to write a document concerning the needs of the poor

FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV blesses people as he holds a general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo© Thomson Reuters By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo is preparing to publish the first high-level document of his four-month papacy, which is expected to signal continuity with his predecessor Pope Francis and focus on the needs of the world's poor, three informed sources told Reuters. Pope Leo writing first document on needs of poor, sources say Story by Joshua McElwee The text, known as an apostolic exhortation, will likely take the name "Dilexit te" (He loved you) and be published in the next few weeks, they said. The title of the new text suggests a strong tie with Francis, who died in April after leading the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church for 12 years. His last major document, an encyclical, was issued in October 2024 with the name "Dilexit nos" (He loved us). Popes often write a document setting out their priorities in the first months of their tenure, but it is unclear if Leo's text will address several themes or focus on one issue. Francis shunned many of the trappings of the papacy. He often hosted meals with Rome's homeless population and frequently criticised the global market system as not caring for society's most vulnerable people. Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost and the first U.S. pope, was elected to replace Francis by the world's cardinals on May 8. Francis' last encyclical, "Dilexit nos," took a different approach from many of his other writings, largely abstaining from talking about political issues and instead focusing on spiritual themes. In that text, Francis urged the world's Catholics to abandon the "mad pursuit" of money and instead devote themselves to their faith. (Reporting by Joshua McElweeEditing by Gareth Jones) Pope Leo writing first document on needs of poor, sources say

St. Cardinal John Henry Newman to be made a Doctor of the Church

Lead, Kindly Light by John Henry Newman (1834) Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on; The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on. Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on; I loved to choose and see my path; but now Lead Thou me on. I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, pride ruled my will; remember not past years. So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still Will lead me on. O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till The night is gone; And with the morn those angel faces smile, Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. Fr. Juan Velez has written (2025): https://www.cardinaljohnhenrynewman.com/st-john-henry-newman-to-be-declared-a-doctor-of-the-church/ St. John Henry Newman to be Declared a Doctor of the Church Today, July 31, 2025, the Vatican published the wonderful news that Pope Leo XIV has approved the future declaration of St. John Henry Newman as doctor of the Church. We are delighted with this news and wanted to share with you even if you learned about it earlier today. We have already posted some blog posts on this topic and will soon publish others. Today we wanted to share the news with you and ask to invite friends to give thanks to God for this news and to follow our weekly podcasts. Here is a link to the news from the Vatican webpage and some words by the journalist Alexandro Carolis: “One of the great modern thinkers of Christianity, a key figure in a spiritual and human journey that left a profound mark on the Church and 19th-century ecumenism, and the author of writings that show how living the faith is a daily “heart-to-heart” dialogue with Christ. A life spent with energy and passion for the Gospel—culminating in his canonization in 2019—that will soon lead to the English cardinal John Henry Newman being proclaimed a Doctor of the Church. The news was announced today, July 31, in a statement from the Holy See Press Office, which reported that during an audience granted to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV has “confirmed the affirmative opinion of the Plenary Session of Cardinals and Bishops, Members of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church, which will soon be conferred on Saint John Henry Newman”. The saints give glory to God and teach us how to live as God’s children. We rejoice with the upcoming declaration of Newman as doctor of the Church. …. We read this by Dr. Samuel Gregg, at: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2025/07/31/john-henry-newmans-long-war-on-liberalism/ John Henry Newman’s long war on liberalism Saint John Henry Newman’s devastating critique of liberal religion remains even more relevant in our own time. Editor’s note: This article was originally posted on July 30, 2017, and is reposted today to mark the news that Newman has been named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Leo XIV. There is truly nothing new under the sun. That’s the pedestrian conclusion at which I arrived after recently re-reading the address given by one of the nineteenth century’s greatest theologians, Saint John Henry Newman, when Pope Leo XIII made him a cardinal on May 12, 1879. Known as the Biglietto Speech (after the formal letter given to cardinals on such occasions), its 1720 words constitute a systematic indictment of what Newman called that “one great mischief” against which he had set his face “from the first.” Today, I suspect, the sheer force of Newman’s critique of what he called “liberalism in religion” would make him persona non grata in most Northern European theology faculties. When reflecting upon Newman’s remarks, it’s hard not to notice how much of the Christian world in the West has drifted in the directions against which he warned. Under the banner of “liberalism in religion,” Newman listed several propositions. These included (1) “the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion,” (2) “that one creed is as good as another,” (3) that no religion can be recognized as true for “all are matter of opinion,” (4) that “revealed religion is not a truth, but a sentiment and a taste; not an objective faith, not miraculous,” and (5) “it is the right of each individual to make it say just what strikes his fancy.” Can anyone doubt that such ideas are widespread today among some Christians? Exhibit A is the rapidly collapsing liberal Protestant confessions. Another instance is that a fair number of Catholic clergy and laity of a certain age who shy away from the word “truth” and who regard any doctrine that conflicts with the post-1960s Western world’s expectations as far from settled. Yet Newman’s description of liberal religion also accurately summarizes the essentially secular I’m-spiritual-not-religious mindset. At the time, the directness of Newman’s assault on liberal religion surprised people. It wasn’t for idle reasons that the speech was reprinted in full in The London Times on 13 May, and then translated into Italian so that it could appear in the Holy See’s newspaper L’Osservatore Romano on 14 May. Everyone recognized that Newman’s words were of immense significance. The newly minted cardinal had hitherto been seen as someone ill at ease with the Church’s direction during Pius IX’s pontificate. Newman’s apprehensions about the opportuneness of the First Vatican Council formally defining papal infallibility was well known. Not well-understood was that concerns about Catholics being misled into thinking they must assent to a pope’s firm belief that, for example, the optimal upper-tax rate is 25.63 percent, didn’t mean that you regarded religious belief as a type of theological smorgasbord. Those who had followed the trajectory of Newman’s thought over the previous fifty years would have recognized that the Biglietto Speech harkened back to a younger Newman and a consistent record of fierce opposition to liberal religion. In 1848, for instance, Newman had lampooned liberal religion in his novel Loss and Gain (1848). One character in the book, the Dean of Nottingham, is portrayed as someone who believes that “there was no truth or falsehood in received dogmas of theology; that they were modes, neither good nor bad in themselves, but personal, national, or periodic.” Such opinions mirror the views of those today who primarily regard Scripture, the Church, and Christian faith as essentially human historical constructs: a notion that invariably goes hand-in-hand with a barely disguised insistence that the Church always requires wholesale adaptation to whatever happens to be the zeitgeist. The end result is chronic doctrinal instability (and thus incoherence) and the degeneration of churches into mere NGO-ism: precisely the situation which characterizes contemporary Catholicism in the German-speaking world. Another of the novel’s characters is Mr. Batts, the director of the Truth Society. This organization is founded on two principles. First, it is uncertain whether truth exists. Second, it is certain that it cannot be found. Welcome to the world of philosophical skepticism, which, Newman understood, is based on the contradiction of holding that we know the truth that humans really cannot know truth. Newman’s antagonism towards liberal religion, however, also reflected another side of his thought that, I suspect, some today would also prefer to ignore. This concerns Newman’s critical view of liberalism as a social philosophy. Newman was fully aware of the ambiguity surrounding terms like “conservatism” and “liberalism.” In his Apologia Pro Sua Vita (1864), Newman specified that his criticism of liberalism shouldn’t be interpreted as slighting French Catholics such as Charles de Montalembert and the Dominican priest Henri-Dominique Lacordaire—“two men whom I so highly admire”—who embraced the liberal label but in the context of post-Revolutionary France: a world which differed greatly from the Oxford and England of Newman’s time. We get closer to the “liberalism” against which Newman protested when we consider a letter to his mother dated 13 March 1829. Here Newman condemns, among others, “the Utilitarians” and “useful knowledge men” whose ideas were propagated by philosophical Radical periodicals such as the Westminster Review. These beliefs and publications were clearly associated with utilitarian thinkers and political radicals such as Jeremy Bentham (the Westminster Review’s founder), James Mill, and, later, John Stuart Mill. In this sense, liberalism was Newman’s way of describing what we today call doctrinaire secularism. This is borne out by the Biglietto Speech’s portrayal of a society’s fate as it gradually abandons its Christian character, invariably at the behest of those Newman calls “Philosophers and Politicians.” Newman begins by referencing their imposition of “a universal and a thoroughly secular education, calculated to bring home to every individual that to be orderly, industrious, and sober, is his personal interest.” Recognizing, however, that utility, pragmatism, and self-interest aren’t enough to glue society together, liberals promote, according to Newman, an alternative to revealed religion. This, he says, is made up of an amalgam of “broad fundamental ethical truths, of justice, benevolence, veracity, and the like; proved experience; and those natural laws which exist and act spontaneously in society, and in social matters, whether physical or psychological; for instance, in government, trade, finance, sanitary experiments, and the intercourse of nations.” But while liberals uphold this mixture of particular moral principles, matter-of-factness and science, Newman points out that they simultaneously insist that religion is “a private luxury, which a man may have if he will; but which of course he must pay for, and which he must not obtrude upon others, or indulge in to their annoyance.” It’s not, Newman says, that things like “the precepts of justice, truthfulness, sobriety, self-command, benevolence,” etc. are bad in themselves. In fact, Newman adds, “there is much in the liberalistic theory which is good and true.” Nor did Newman adopt an “anti-science” view at a time when some Christians worried about how to reconcile the Scriptures with the tremendous expansion in knowledge of the natural world which marked the nineteenth century. Newman wasn’t, for example, especially troubled by Darwin’s Origin of the Species. As he wrote to the biologist and Catholic convert St George Jackson Mivart in 1871, “you must not suppose I have personally any great dislike or dread of his theory.” What Newman opposed was a problem with which we are all too familiar today. This consists of (1) absolutizing the natural sciences as the only objective form of knowledge and (2) using the empirical method to answer theological and moral questions that the natural sciences cannot answer. In such cases, Newman wrote in his Idea of a University (1852), “they exceed their proper bounds, and intrude where they have no right.” It also fosters a mentality which has seeped into the minds of those Christians who prioritize sociology, psychology, opinion polls, and what they imagine to be the “established scientific position” when discussing what the Catholic position on any subject should be. More generally, Newman argued that it’s precisely because these principles are unobjectionable in themselves that they become dangerous when liberals include them in the “array of principles” they use “to supersede, to block out, religion.” In these circumstances, those who maintain that religion, in the sense of divinely revealed truths about God and man, cannot be relegated to the status of football teams competing in a private league are dismissed as unreasonable, intolerant, lacking benevolence, unscientific, and reflective of (to use the curious words employed in a L’Osservatore Romano opinion piece) a “modest cultural level.” In a word—illiberal. Newman well understood the ultimate stakes involved in the advance of liberal religion and the nihilism it concealed under a veneer of progressive Western European bourgeois morality. It was nothing less, he said, than “the ruin of many souls.” For Newman, there was always the serious possibility that error at the level of belief can contribute to people making the type of free choices that lead to the eternal separation from God we call hell. The good news is that Newman had “no fear at all that [liberal religion] can really do aught of serious harm to the Word of God, to Holy Church.” For Newman, the Church was essentially indestructible. That didn’t mean it would be free of disputation or disruption. Newman himself spent his life immersed in theological controversies. But Newman’s deep knowledge of the Church Fathers made him conscious that orthodoxy had been under assault since Christianity’s earliest centuries. Newman believed, however, in Christ’s promises to his Church. Moreover, Newman ended his Biglietto Speech by stating that “what is commonly a great surprise” is “the particular mode by which . . . Providence rescues and saves his elect inheritance.” Even in times where serious theological and moral error seems rampant, God raises up courageous bishops and priests, clear-thinking popes, new religious orders and movements, lay people who reject liberal Christianity’s mediocrity and soft nihilism, and, above all, great saints and martyrs. Against such things, Newman knew—and we should have confidence—liberal religion doesn’t have a chance.

“The greatest destroyer of peace today is the cry of the innocent unborn child”

“To me the nations who have legalized abortion, they are the poorest nations. They are afraid of the little one, they are afraid of the unborn child, and the child must die because they don’t want to feed one more child, to educate one more child, the child must die”. Mother Teresa Nobel Peace Prize 1979 Mother Teresa Acceptance speech Mother Teresa’s Acceptance speech, held on 10 December 1979 in the Aula of the University of Oslo, Norway. Let us all together thank God for this beautiful occasion where we can all together proclaim the joy of spreading peace, the joy of loving one another and the joy acknowledging that the poorest of the poor are our brothers and sisters. As we have gathered here to thank God for this gift of peace, I have given you all the prayer for peace that St Francis of Assisi prayed many years ago, and I wonder he must have felt the need what we feel today to pray for. I think you have all got that paper? We’ll say it together. Lord, make me a channel of your peace, that where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that where there is error, I may bring truth; that where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that where there is despair, I may bring hope; that where there are shadows, I may bring light; that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted; to understand, than to be understood; to love, than to be loved. For it is by forgetting self, that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying, that one awakens to eternal life. Amen. God loved the world so much that he gave his son and he gave him to a virgin, the blessed virgin Mary, and she, the moment he came in her life, went in haste to give him to others. And what did she do then? She did the work of the handmaid, just so. Just spread that joy of loving to service. And Jesus Christ loved you and loved me and he gave his life for us, and as if that was not enough for him, he kept on saying: Love as I have loved you, as I love you now, and how do we have to love, to love in the giving. For he gave his life for us. And he keeps on giving, and he keeps on giving right here everywhere in our own lives and in the lives of others. It was not enough for him to die for us, he wanted that we loved one another, that we see him in each other, that’s why he said: Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. And to make sure that we understand what he means, he said that at the hour of death we are going to be judged on what we have been to the poor, to the hungry, naked, the homeless, and he makes himself that hungry one, that naked one, that homeless one, not only hungry for bread, but hungry for love, not only naked for a piece of cloth, but naked of that human dignity, not only homeless for a room to live, but homeless for that being forgotten, been unloved, uncared, being nobody to nobody, having forgotten what is human love, what is human touch, what is to be loved by somebody, and he says: Whatever you did to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. It is so beautiful for us to become holy to this love, for holiness is not a luxury of the few, it is a simple duty for each one of us, and through this love we can become holy. To this love for one another and today when I have received this reward, I personally am most unworthy, and I having avowed poverty to be able to understand the poor, I choose the poverty of our people. But I am grateful and I am very happy to receive it in the name of the hungry, of the naked, of the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the leprous, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared, thrown away of the society, people who have become a burden to the society, and are shunned by everybody. In their name I accept the award. And I am sure this award is going to bring an understanding love between the rich and the poor. And this is what Jesus has insisted so much, that is why Jesus came to earth, to proclaim the good news to the poor. And through this award and through all of us gathered here together, we are wanting to proclaim the good news to the poor that God loves them, that we love them, that they are somebody to us, that they too have been created by the same loving hand of God, to love and to be loved. Our poor people are great people, are very lovable people, they don’t need our pity and sympathy, they need our understanding love. They need our respect; they need that we treat them with dignity. And I think this is the greatest poverty that we experience, that we have in front of them who may be dying for a piece of bread, but they die to such dignity. I never forget when I brought a man from the street. He was covered with maggots; his face was the only place that was clean. And yet that man, when we brought him to our home for the dying, he said just one sentence: I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die like an angel, love and care, and he died beautifully. He went home to God, for dead is nothing but going home to God. And he having enjoyed that love, that being wanted, that being loved, that being somebody to somebody at the last moment, brought that joy in his life. And I feel one thing I want to share with you all, the greatest destroyer of peace today is the cry of the innocent unborn child. For if a mother can murder her own child in her own womb, what is left for you and for me to kill each other? Even in the scripture it is written: Even if mother could forget her child – I will not forget you – I have carved you in the palm of my hand. Even if mother could forget, but today millions of unborn children are being killed. And we say nothing. In the newspapers you read numbers of this one and that one being killed, this being destroyed, but nobody speaks of the millions of little ones who have been conceived to the same life as you and I, to the life of God, and we say nothing, we allow it. To me the nations who have legalized abortion, they are the poorest nations. They are afraid of the little one, they are afraid of the unborn child, and the child must die because they don’t want to feed one more child, to educate one more child, the child must die. And here I ask you, in the name of these little ones, for it was that unborn child that recognized the presence of Jesus when Mary came to visit Elizabeth, her cousin. As we read in the gospel, the moment Mary came into the house, the little one in the womb of his mother, leapt with joy, recognized the Prince of Peace. And so today, let us here make a strong resolution, we are going to save every little child, every unborn child, give them a chance to be born. And what we are doing, we are fighting abortion by adoption, and the good God has blessed the work so beautifully that we have saved thousands of children, and thousands of children have found a home where they are loved, they are wanted, they are cared. We have brought so much joy in the homes that there was not a child, and so today, I ask His Majesties here before you all who come from different countries, let us all pray that we have the courage to stand by the unborn child, and give the child an opportunity to love and to be loved, and I think with God’s grace we will be able to bring peace in the world. We have an opportunity here in Norway, you are with God’s blessing, you are well to do. But I am sure in the families and many of our homes, maybe we are not hungry for a piece of bread, but maybe there is somebody there in the family who is unwanted, unloved, uncared, forgotten, there isn’t love. Love begins at home. And love to be true has to hurt. I never forget a little child who taught me a very beautiful lesson. They heard in Calcutta, the children, that Mother Teresa had no sugar for her children, and this little one, Hindu boy four years old, he went home and he told his parents: I will not eat sugar for three days, I will give my sugar to Mother Teresa. How much a little child can give. After three days they brought into our house, and there was this little one who could scarcely pronounce my name, he loved with great love, he loved until it hurt. And this is what I bring before you, to love one another until it hurts, but don’t forget that there are many children, many children, many men and women who haven’t got what you have. And remember to love them until it hurts. Sometime ago, this to you will sound very strange, but I brought a girl child from the street, and I could see in the face of the child that the child was hungry. God knows how many days that she had not eaten. So I give her a piece of bread. And then the little one started eating the bread crumb by crumb. And I said to the child, eat the bread, eat the bread. And she looked at me and said: I am afraid to eat the bread because I’m afraid when it is finished I will be hungry again. This is a reality, and yet there is a greatness of the poor. One evening a gentleman came to our house and said, there is a Hindu family and the eight children have not eaten for a long time. Do something for them. And I took rice and I went immediately, and there was this mother, those little ones’ faces, shining eyes from sheer hunger. She took the rice from my hand, she divided into two and she went out. When she came back, I asked her, where did you go? What did you do? And one answer she gave me: They are hungry also. She knew that the next door neighbor, a Muslim family, was hungry. What surprised me most, not that she gave the rice, but what surprised me most, that in her suffering, in her hunger, she knew that somebody else was hungry, and she had the courage to share, share the love. And this is what I mean, I want you to love the poor, and never turn your back to the poor, for in turning your back to the poor, you are turning it to Christ. For he had made himself the hungry one, the naked one, the homeless one, so that you and I have an opportunity to love him, because where is God? How can we love God? It is not enough to say to my God I love you, but my God, I love you here. I can enjoy this, but I give up. I could eat that sugar, but I give that sugar. If I stay here the whole day and the whole night, you would be surprised of the beautiful things that people do, to share the joy of giving. And so, my prayer for you is that truth will bring prayer in our homes, and the fruit of prayer will be that we believe that in the poor, it is Christ. And if we really believe, we will begin to love. And if we love, naturally, we will try to do something. First in our own home, our next door neighbor, in the country we live, in the whole world. And let us all join in that one prayer, God give us courage to protect the unborn child, for the child is the greatest gift of God to a family, to a nation and to the whole world. God bless you!

Megiddo Mosaïc called the “greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls”

“This discovery rewrites our understanding of early Christian worship and the theological convictions of its followers”. Alegre Savariego We read at: https://aleteia.org/2024/11/27/megiddo-mosaic-earliest-evidence-of-jesus-proclaimed-as-god/ Megiddo Mosaic: Earliest evidence of Jesus proclaimed as God Daniel Esparza - published on 11/27/24 The Greek inscription reads, “The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” An 1,800-year-old inscription, described as the “greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls,” is captivating historians and believers alike. The Megiddo Mosaic, unearthed beneath an Israeli prison floor, is now on display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., drawing global attention as the earliest physical proclamation of Jesus Christ’s divinity. A window into early Christianity Dating to 230, the mosaic once adorned a private chapel in what is considered the earliest known Christian house of prayer. Its Greek inscription reads, “The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” This phrase is remarkable for its clear declaration of Jesus as God, predating the official recognition of Christianity as the Roman Empire’s state religion by nearly a century. “This discovery rewrites our understanding of early Christian worship and the theological convictions of its followers,” states Alegre Savariego, director of the mosaic’s exhibition. The mosaic’s location near a Roman military camp, coupled with the name of Gaianus, a Roman officer credited with commissioning the artwork, suggests surprising levels of coexistence between Romans and early Christians. The legacy of Akeptous and early Christian women The Times of India notes that another striking feature is the inclusion of Akeptous, a woman who donated the table mentioned in the inscription. Her contribution highlights the significant role of women in the nascent Church. “This mosaic reminds us that early Christianity was a community effort, where both men and women played integral roles in the faith’s survival and growth,” says Carlos Campo, CEO of the Museum of the Bible. Symbols of faith and hope Covering 581 square feet, the mosaic is a masterpiece of early Christian art. Alongside the inscription are other traditional early Christian symbols. most prominently, the fish. In Greek, this symbol is known as the Ichthys, the word that simply means “fish.” But the Greek letters — ΙΧΘΥΣ — can also be an acronym, as they are the initials of the words in the Greek phrase that translates “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” The presence of the fish symbol offers a glimpse into the lived faith of early Christians and their methods of covert expression during times of persecution. A revolutionary discovery Excavated over four years by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Megiddo Mosaic bridges historical and theological gaps. Its exhibition in Washington has allowed countless visitors to connect with the roots of their faith. “It is truly the greatest discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Campo affirms. After its U.S. exhibit concludes in 2025, the mosaic will return to Israel, where it will be displayed at its original site. There, it will continue to inspire pilgrims, scholars, and all who seek to understand early Christian practices. This extraordinary find enriches our historical understanding and reminds us of the enduring faith of early Christians, whose belief in Christ’s divinity laid the foundation for centuries of spiritual tradition.

Sacred Heart an antidote to Pharisee-like smugness, complacency and presumption

by Damien F. Mackey One rarely hears even mentioned the Nine First Fridays (Five First Saturdays) – the Communion of Reparation package so desired by Heaven. Here it was mentioned but not explained; mentioned in a negative context without its benefits being proclaimed. Keeping all the Jewish Law - impossible. We used to be told that if you go to Mass on Sundays and say the Rosary you’re right. So said a Dominican priest during a homily in the context of smug Pharisaïsm. Keep the whole Law and you will be pleasing to God. Jesus, of course, turned all that on its head, calling the Scribes and Pharisees ‘hypocrites’ (Matthew 23:13): ‘Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to’. Similarly, the Dominican priest noted that there was far more to it than just going to Mass on Sundays and saying the Rosary. [There is a verse in Acts (15:29) that almost seems to support the simple view: Do this, and you will be OK: ‘You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well’]. Sadly, there are those who make the effort to have their children baptised and confirmed, thinking, then, they are “done”. Now they can freely get on with their lives, often making quite a success of things in a worldly sense, while ever remaining at an immature level of faith. The Dominican went on to include the Nine First Fridays, the completion of which can be considered by some faithful to make them right. Nothing he said was at all incorrect within its context. We do need to be warned against smugness, complacency and presumption. One rarely hears even mentioned the Nine First Fridays (Five First Saturdays) – the Communion of Reparation package so desired by Heaven. Here it was mentioned but not explained; mentioned in a negative context without its benefits being proclaimed. [A few weeks later, at the same church, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, a Dominican priest in his 90’s did mention the Nine First Fridays, with a brief explanation of them, though he said that they were “not compulsory”]. I could not help wondering that instead of the Nine First Fridays being brought up in passing, in a negative context, wouldn’t it be far better to proclaim the devotion and its marvellous effects and the promises associated with it? Surely Heaven’s remedy will provide a perfect antidote to any tendency to Pharisaïc smugness and the like, promising, as it does, that: “Tepid souls shall grow fervent … Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection”. At the end of the 17th century Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) and asked her to spread devotion to His Most Sacred Heart. In a letter written to her Mother Superior in May 1688, St. Margaret Mary set out what is called The Great Promise Our Lord made regarding the Nine First Fridays and what we must do to earn it: “On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to His unworthy slave, if I mistake not: ‘I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that Its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under My displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, My divine Heart making Itself their assured refuge at the last moment.'” We need help with our complacency and presumption, and this is it! We’d be silly to neglect it. If we do these devotions properly, to the best of our ability, the Promises are beyond all telling: https://holycross-olog.vermontcatholic.org/nine-first-fridays-devotion-of-reparation-to-the-sacred-heart-of-our-lord 1. I will give them all of the graces necessary for their state of life. 2. I will establish peace in their homes. 3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions. 4. I will be their strength during life and above all during death. 5. I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings. 6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy. 7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent. 8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection. 9. I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored. 10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts. 11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out. 12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant all to those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment. First Friday Requirements: To meet the requirements for the First Friday Devotion a person must, on each First Friday for nine consecutive months: 1. Attend Holy Mass 2. Receive Communion 3. Go to Confession

Peace is much more than simply the absence of war

“As [Jesus] approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace— but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you’.” Luke 19:41-44 “Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss”. Pope Leo XIV Alison Sampson given to Sanctuary on 10 April 2022: https://sanctuarybaptist.org/2022/04/10/the-things-that-make-for-peace/ Luke | The things that make for peace …. Disciples praise his deeds of power and sing of peace; yet Jesus weeps. … Once upon a time, a baby was born. Angels announced it, and a heavenly host sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to God’s people on earth!” (Luke 2:13). The little one grew in wisdom and stature, and soon enough taught the ways of peace: good news for the poor; release for the captives; recovery of sight for the blind; freedom for the oppressed; and cancellation of all debt (Luke 4:18). People listened, and followed, and noticed his deeds of power. And in the place where the prophet Zechariah had foreseen a humble king riding on a donkey, a king who would rout all their enemies and send them packing, his disciples gathered with him and walked towards the debt-ridden, cross-encircled, oppressed and occupied city of Jerusalem, a city which longed for deliverance, a city which groaned for peace; and mirroring the words of the angels, a crowd of people sang, “Blessed is the king who comes in the Name of the Lord! Peace in heaven! And glory in highest heaven!” (Luke 19:38). The angels sang of peace on earth; the people sang of peace in heaven: and all to the glory of highest heaven: the very throne room of God. This was a song of mutual hope and blessing so powerful, so viral, that all creation sang! For if they were silent, said Jesus, even the stones would shout! They sang of a glorious peace: God’s peace. Not the bland peace of conflict-avoidance. Not the violently enforced Roman Peace. Instead, they sang of shalom: right relationship between God and people and land. Shalom: the integration of all things: a cosmic harmony. For in Jesus’ storyworld, everything is connected: God and people; heaven and earth; economic justice and the health of the land; and through Jesus, shalom flows from God through the whole cosmos: from the highest reaches of heaven down, down through the skies right down into sheep and shepherds and earth and stones; and so angels and people and even boulders sing. All creation hums with this promise of right relationship between heaven and earth, a promise fulfilled by the one who comes in God’s blessed Name. So surely Jesus is singing and dancing, swept up in this cosmic celebration of love, healing and redemption: but instead, we are told that he stops. While his disciples are praising his deeds of power and raising their voices in song, he looks over the suffering city, and his heart cracks wide open: he weeps. And with tears in his eyes, he turns to his disciples and says, “If you, even you, had only recognized the things that make for peace!” Wait a minute! They’re right there, aren’t they, praising his deeds of power, singing of peace, and joining in the cosmic parade? Haven’t they recognized the things which make for peace? On the surface, it’s all very puzzling; so let’s zoom out. In Luke chapter 9, we are told that Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem; then for the next ten chapters, he taught. He told parables about the kingdom. He preached. He commissioned; he debriefed; he explained; he exhorted; he encouraged; and he told many, many stories. In everything, he taught. Through all this teaching, he revealed the promise at his birth: the way of peace. He showed that it’s all about trusting him, and only him: not our right theologies, not our moral behaviour, not our own efforts, and not our bank accounts. He called on his little flock to free themselves of their possessions and all false reliances, and he promised that in God’s kingdom they would have enough. He taught that the faithful can be rejected, and suffer, and die; and he located his own body among the marginalized poor. In stories such as the neighbourly Samaritan, he raised up hated enemies as righteous; and he repeatedly shared meals with all the wrong people, breaking bread, drinking wine, and revealing a culture in which everyone is welcome at the table and the greatest are those who serve. Through these and similar teachings, he showed his disciples how to live. But as they are walking towards Jerusalem, his disciples seem to forget his teaching. Instead, they seek the destruction of a Samaritan village. They argue and jostle among themselves for high status in the kingdom of God. Outside Jericho, they try to block a blind man from receiving sight. And once they are in Jerusalem, rather like many observers of a certain mega-church today, they praise the awe-inspiring Temple, while the impoverished widows who gave everything for its construction and maintenance are completely invisible to them. And as they walk and sing, his disciples are praising not his teaching, but his deeds of power: for perhaps they long for this power to crush their enemies and save them. The sort of power promised by Zechariah, whose humble king would lead an army to devour their enemies and “drink their blood like wine” (Zechariah 9:15-16). Perhaps now, even now, they still long for a triumphant military peace. A routing of the Romans. A renewed autonomy. Blood running through the streets. And so Jesus weeps, because even his disciples have not internalized his teaching, and he sees where this will lead: Betrayal. Denial. Humiliation. Crucifixion. And some years later, the brutal destruction of the city and all of its inhabitants. So he weeps, and he says to those who are walking with him, “If you, even you, had only recognized the things that make for peace!” You want deeds of power: but not my teaching. You want financial security: but not kingdom economics. You want love: but not for your enemies. You want forgiveness: but not to forgive. You want good news: but not for others. You want shalom: but you will reject the fulfilment of God’s peace: indeed, you will reject me. And so disaster is coming, “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” (Luke 19:44) As people who lift their voices with the cosmic choir in the company of our weeping Saviour, I wonder: What blocks us from living by his teaching? Do we, too, want God’s peace, but not the uncomfortable person of Jesus? What are the many ways we betray and deny him, and undermine and avoid his teaching? And on the other side of denial and disaster, will we accept the sting of forgiveness, and his renewed words of peace, and commission, and blessing? …. Pope Leo XIV led a peace plea at St. Peter’s Square amid Donald Trump-approved U.S. strikes on Iran. Mega© OK Magazine (AU) Pope Leo XIV issued a stark warning of an "irreparable abyss" as U.S. forces conducted airstrikes on Iran following President Donald Trump's go-signal to target the nation’s critical nuclear sites. The Pope used his Sunday Angelus prayer at St. Peter's Square to emphasize the need for peace and global diplomacy amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. On June 21, Trump approved the strikes in coordination with an Israeli offensive, marking a larger hostility as Iran pledged to protect its territory. "Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss," the Pope declared during his weekly address in Piazza San Pietro. He urged for "rational attention" to peace negotiations and noted that "now, more than ever, humanity calls out for peace, a plea that requires rational attention and should not be silenced." Pope Leo continued, "No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflict." The pontiff did not shy away from addressing the ongoing strife between Israel and Palestine, highlighting the suffering of civilians in Gaza and other areas. He pointed out that humanitarian needs are becoming increasingly urgent amid the dramatic circumstances. …. In Iran, anxiety mounts over the potential for a deeper, more chaotic conflict as tensions rise, particularly following a week marked by conflict with Israel. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the U.S. military actions on Sunday, calling it a "dangerous military operation" and warned of "everlasting consequences." During a rapid press briefing the evening before, Trump praised the armed forces and expressed gratitude to God for their success in the operations. …. Former Pope Francis, who served for 12 years, previously criticized Trump's mass deportation plans and the president's approach to immigration, asserting that "a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian."

Holy importunity – boldly audacious and faith-filled praying to the Lord

“I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need”. Luke 11:8 (NIV) This, the way that the Patriarchs and holy men and women of the Bible, and the Saints ever since, have prayed to God, is well explained in A BIBLE DEVOTION article, entitled “Importunity” (Tuesday, July 16, 2024): https://www.adevotion.org/archive/importunity LUKE 11:5-8 KJV 5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. The lesson of this parable is NOT that we must persist in prayer to obtain an answer from an unwilling God. But that we should be bold in asking. A parable may teach by showing similarity or by contrasting differences. The point here is based on contrast. This becomes more clear, just a few verses later, in verse 13. LUKE 11:13 KJV 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? How much more willing is God -- than any earthly friend! Friends may sometimes be undependable, but God is always dependable! God is "rich unto all that call upon Him" (Romans 10:12). Read the story again and you will see that Jesus was asking a question: "Who would have a friend that would not help in a time of need?" Someone like that would not really be a friend. A friend would not say, "Don't bother me!" However, even if the friendship was not that strong, if someone has the boldness and audacity to ask for help in the middle of the night, they would not be refused by someone they knew. Even if it was inconvenient and they really didn't want to help, if you have the nerve to knock on their door and present your request, they will not ignore you. Your audacity and boldness will overcome any reluctance they might have, and you will get your request. This assumes some relationship was already established. For if you knock on a stranger's house at midnight insisting they give you something, you are more likely to be met with a weapon, instead of having your request granted. Understanding this about human friends, HOW MUCH MORE your Father in Heaven, who is perfect, can be counted on to help whenever you come to Him. The key is that you must have the confidence to come and make the request. Note that this person was coming to get something for someone else. There is nothing wrong with asking for help when we need it for ourselves. But Jesus was especially encouraging us to ask boldly for help for other people. They may not have a relationship with God, so they can't ask Him for help and have confidence in receiving an answer, but you do, and you can! Why was the person shameless in asking? Because he was his friend. He had a relationship, so he boldly did something out of the ordinary, knowing he was being unreasonable, but having confidence to do it because he knew his friend. Although the friend, at first, realizing how unreasonable the request was, talked reluctantly, nevertheless, granted what was asked. The word translated "importunity" in verse 8 is a Greek word, used only once in the New Testament, which literally means "without shame." It pictures someone without bashfulness or reluctance. Someone who did not hold back, or hesitate. Someone with audacity, even recklessness in their disregard of anything stopping them. These descriptions indicate faith -- a belief that if I make the request, it will be granted. Unfortunately, some modern Bible translations translate this word as "persistence." This is simply because many people, even translators, have not clearly understood this parable. Translation is not an exact science, but is subject to the bias and level of understanding of the translator. So every translation is affected by the beliefs of those who do the translating. In this parable, the person did not stand outside the door for days on end while continuing to ask for bread. So the point cannot be to just keep on asking for a long time, but to be bold in asking, instead of being held back by fear or doubt. Persistence in prayer (in the sense of keeping on asking for a long time) is not the idea Jesus was encouraging in this parable. The point isn't that God is reluctant and needs to be persuaded. But that we should not be reluctant asking God for help. Jesus makes the point clear in the next verse by saying, ask and you will get, etc. LUKE 11:9-10 KJV 9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Some translations insert the idea in verse 9 of "keeping on" asking, seeking, and knocking, but that idea is not from the Greek New Testament text, but from the Latin translation. Nothing in this parable gives us any evidence it took a long time for the request to be granted. Instead of getting the idea of knocking on a door for several years from this parable, we should realize Jesus was encouraging us to be bold in asking for God's help, especially for others. So don't hesitate! Don't think God is too busy, or the need is too small or too big for God. Even a human friend will help, if asked. HOW MUCH MORE will your Heavenly Father who loves you, and also loves those you want to help. SAY THIS: I will be bold in asking God for help -- especially for other people's needs.

Cosmic significance of Fatima 13th May 1917

“The candlelight procession is the most eagerly awaited moment of the pilgrimage, the first after the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV”. Shrine of Fatima in Portugal packed for first pilgrimage after Pope Francis' death Story by euronews Shrine of Fatima in Portugal packed for first pilgrimage after Pope Francis' death Thousands of pilgrims have arrived at the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal for the 13 May celebrations. The candlelight procession is the most eagerly awaited moment of the pilgrimage, the first after the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV. Thousands of pilgrims arrived at the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal this Monday for the May 13th celebrations.© AP Photo The faithful have come from all over the country and the world to fulfil promises, give thanks or simply reflect, and there are many people who don't hide their emotion during the procession. Monday night saw a candlelight procession with nearly 270,000 pilgrims taking part. Thousands of lights illuminate the shrine, through which the image of Our Lady of Fatima passes. Today is the 13th May, 2025 May 13 is the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in the small village of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. She appeared six times to Lucia, 9, and her cousins Francisco, 8, and his sister Jacinta, 6, between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917. The story of Fatima begins in 1916, when, against the backdrop of the First World War which had introduced Europe to the most horrific and powerful forms of warfare yet seen, and a year before the Communist revolution would plunge Russia and later Eastern Europe into six decades of oppression under militant atheistic governments, a resplendent figure appeared to the three children who were in the field tending the family sheep. “I am the Angel of Peace,” said the figure, who appeared to them two more times that year exhorting them to accept the sufferings that the Lord allowed them to undergo as an act of reparation for the sins which offend Him, and to pray constantly for the conversion of sinners. Then, on the 13th day of the month of Our Lady, May 1917, an apparition of ‘a woman all in white, more brilliant than the sun’ presented itself to the three children saying “Please don’t be afraid of me, I’m not going to harm you.” Lucia asked her where she came from and she responded, “I come from Heaven.” The woman wore a white mantle edged with gold and held a rosary in her hand. The woman asked them to pray and devote themselves to the Holy Trinity and to “say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.” She also revealed that the children would suffer, especially from the unbelief of their friends and families, and that the two younger children, Francisco and Jacinta, would be taken to Heaven very soon but Lucia would live longer in order to spread her message and devotion to the Immaculate Heart. …. https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/may-13-our-lady-of-fatima/74854

Celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday

Celebrate with us Divine Mercy Sunday on April 27, 2025. The Feast of Divine Mercy was established by Pope John Paul II who canonized St. Faustina on April 30, 2000, and declared the Second Sunday of Easter (the Sunday after Easter Sunday) as “Divine Mercy Sunday”. “On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity”. Jesus Divine Mercy https://www.thedivinemercy.org/celebrate/greatgrace/dms What is Divine Mercy Sunday? Find out the basics. In a series of revelations to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s, our Lord called for a special feast day to be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter. Today, we know that feast as Divine Mercy Sunday, named by Pope St. John Paul II at the canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000. The Lord expressed His will with regard to this feast in His very first revelation to St. Faustina. The most comprehensive revelation can be found in her Diary entry 699: My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and a shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My mercy. In all, St. Faustina recorded 14 revelations from Jesus concerning His desire for this feast. Nevertheless, Divine Mercy Sunday is NOT a feast based solely on St. Faustina's revelations. Indeed, it is not primarily about St. Faustina — nor is it altogether a new feast. The Second Sunday of Easter was already a solemnity as the Octave Day of Easter[1]. The title "Divine Mercy Sunday" does, however, highlight the meaning of the day. …. Extraordinary Graces What graces are available and how do we receive them? In her Diary, St. Faustina records a special promise given to her by Jesus. He told her to communicate it to the whole world: My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy (699). In three places in her Diary, St. Faustina records our Lord's promises of specific, extraordinary graces: I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (1109). Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (300). The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (699). To receive these graces, the only condition is to receive Holy Communion worthily on Divine Mercy Sunday (or the Vigil celebration) by making a good Confession beforehand and being in the state of grace and trusting in His Divine Mercy. By these conditions, our Lord is emphasizing the value of confession and Holy Communion as miracles of mercy. The Eucharist is Jesus, Himself, the Living God, longing to pour Himself as Mercy into our hearts. In addition, our Lord says through St. Faustina that we are to perform acts of mercy: "Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be acts of mercy" (742). "The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive" (1578). The worthy reception of the Eucharist on Divine Mercy Sunday is sufficient to obtain the extraordinary graces promised by Jesus. A plenary indulgence[1], obtained by fulfilling the usual conditions, also is available. For those who cannot go to church and the seriously ill. ________________________________________ [1]The extraordinary graces promised to the faithful by our Lord Himself through St. Faustina should not be confused with the plenary indulgence granted by Pope John Paul II for the devout observance of the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday). The Decree of the Holy See offers: "A plenary indulgence, granted under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of Supreme Pontiff) to the faithful who, on the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, in a spirit that is completely detached from the affection for a sin, even a venial sin, take part in the prayers and devotions held in honour of Divine Mercy, or who, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. Merciful Jesus, I trust in You!)..." Fatima and Divine Mercy “Mary’s Immaculate Heart begins to triumph today because you can expect real miracles where the Divine Mercy is venerated and when people trust in the Divine Mercy”. Fr. Kazimierz Pek, MIC Taken from: https://iheartworks.wordpress.com/resources/devotion-to-the-divine-mercy/pope-john-paul-ii-links-fatimadivine-mercy/ John Paul II: Fatima & Divine Mercy Pope John Paul II Links Fatima to the Divine Mercy From September 4th to the 10th, 1993, John Paul II took his apostolic mission to the three former Soviet Baltic republics, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. It was a miracle – a word not commonly heard in these countries – that the head of the Catholic Church stood among Lithuanians on that September day in Vilnius, and knelt together with them before the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Mercy of Ostra Brama. Only after his consecration of Russia in 1984, was the Pope able to go on pilgrimage to countries of the former atheist empire, pray the rosary for peace, undertake acts of entrustment, and preach the mercy of God. When John Paul II knelt in prayer at the feet of Our Lady, Mother of Mercy, at her Sanctuary of Ostra Brama, his presence there in a remarkable way, linked the Message of Fatima with the Divine Mercy. He also thereby fulfilled both aspects of the words of the Angel to the children of Fatima in the second apparition in 1916: “The most holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy upon you.” Just five months before his visit to Vilnius, on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 18, 1993, the Pope had declared Blessed the Polish nun, Sister Faustina Kowalska, to whom Our Lord had revealed His Divine Mercy in the 1930s. When in September, 1993, the Holy Father knelt beneath the image of the Woman of the Apocalypse at Ostra Brama (and Our Lady’s intervention at Fatima is accepted by many authorities as a fulfillment of chapter 12 of the Apocalypse), he would certainly have recalled that the image of the Divine Mercy was painted in Vilnius, and was first exposed precisely in the shrine of the Mother of Mercy in Ostra Brama. Sister Faustina briefly describes this event on page 44 of her Diary. The proclamation of God’s Mercy at the present time coincides distinctly with the proclamation of the Message of Fatima, for the Mother of God of Fatima is also the Mother of Mercy, Stella Orientis, the Patroness of the East. This became apparent at the meeting of John Paul II with two Polish priests of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. In February, 1994, Father Adam Boniecki, MIC, Superior General of the Marian Fathers, and Fr. John Nicholas Rokosz, MIC, Superior of the Polish Province, had a private audience with the Pope and presented him with two books, the Russian version of Blessed Faustina Kowalska’s Diary and the extended Polish version of Fatima, Russia and Pope John Paul II (from which we cite this material). The Pope was very pleased with this gift – holding them in his hands he said, “Good. Let the people read them. Let them know who brought them their freedom.” On Divine Mercy Sunday, April 10, 1994, the editor-in-chief of the Marian Fathers’ publishing house in Warsaw, Fr. Kazimierz Pek, MIC, distributed the first Russian copies of the Diary in Moscow to the people gathered in the Immaculate Conception of Mary church. Here is part of what he said in his homily: “The Divine Mercy begins to be proclaimed in Russia just from here, from the church dedicated to Our Holy Mother, immaculately conceived. It flows from the throne of a Woman, whose Heart was ever immaculate, filled with joy, because she experienced that “from age to age his mercy extends to those who live in his presence.” And she, who lives in his presence, is inviting all of us to do the same –by experiencing the Divine Mercy in our lives. Mary’s Immaculate Heart begins to triumph today because you can expect real miracles where the Divine Mercy is venerated and when people trust in the Divine Mercy (iHeartworks emphasis)…The statue of Our Lady of Fatima…is a sign. Our Lady seems to be saying: “Let them read. Let them know who brought them their freedom.” This is a way to fulfill all the promises and plans God has for Russia…” The connection between Fatima and the Divine Mercy was further emphasized by Fr. Rokosz in the homily he delivered in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on the same day of Divine Mercy, April 10, 1994. Referring to his meeting with the Pope in February, Fr. Rokosz said in his sermon: Brothers and Sisters! do you realize what the Pope said? It is the Divine Mercy that freed the Soviet nations from the chains of Communism! And the further fate of these nations and even of the entire world depends on it. The Pope points out that the message of Fatima and Divine Mercy meet again. The history of the world is entering a new phase. This epoch, at the dawn of which we are living, is the epoch of Divine Mercy. And, for further evidence of the connection between Fatima and Divine Mercy, we have Our Lady’s words of Divine Mercy given at Fatima. • As noted above, a year prior to Our Lady’s apparitions in 1917, the Angel appeared to the three seers . During the second apparitions, the Angel said to them, “Pray! Pray very much! The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you.” • In the third apparition, the Angel taught them the moving Trinitarian prayer of Eucharistic reparation (see below), which bears a noteworthy similarity to the prayer to the Eternal Father in the Divine Mercy chaplet (see Chaplet Prayers). • In July, 1917, Our Lady revealed God’s plan of mercy, to save the souls of poor sinners from going to hell by establishing in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart. Participation in this merciful work of salvation is extended to all the faithful who comply with Our Lady’s requests for prayers, sacrifices and acts of reparation, and is one of the principle elements in the Fatima Message. • Finally, in the last apparition of Our Lady at Tuy on June 13, 1919, Sr. Lucia was granted a vision of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, in which “under the left arm of the cross, large letters, as if of crystal clear water ran down upon the altar, formed these words, “Grace and Mercy’. Our Lady then said to me: “The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, 9th edition, page 235).

Christianity can quickly surge

“And suddenly as no one planned, Behold the kingdom grow!” Professor James McAuley Australian poet, Professor James McAuley, was my (Damien Mackey’s) English teacher at the University of Tasmania, in 1970. I recalled this time in my article: Memories of Australian poet, professor James P. McAuley (1) Memories of Australian poet, professor James P. McAuley Greg Sheridan quoted Professor McAuley’s words concerning “the kingdom grow” in his Easter article for The Australian (April 19, 2025): https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/the-most-extraordinary-thing-about-this-easter-the-surge-towards-christianity/news-story/81f9acba04311a0755a32f8e1e970e14?giftid=yHc2bCOjw9 The most extraordinary thing about this Easter? The surge towards Christianity Resurrection, heaven, and even the most unpopular doctrine, hell, are essential to the elevated Christian vision of human dignity. Easter Sunday is the most revolutionary day the world has known. For an atheist it’s the day of the greatest hoax in human history. For a Christian, it’s the day Jesus triumphed over death, the day the meek inherited the earth, the last became the first, the promise of eternal life became physical reality. If that’s true, it’s true for everyone in the world, not just for Christians. No Christian believes the resurrection was a metaphor, a psychological or purely spiritual experience, an apparition without substance. As St Paul wrote: If Christ is not risen our faith is in vain, and we are the most to be pitied of all people. The resurrection imposes a startling, unavoidable binary on everyone who encounters it. Either you believe it’s a lie, and Christianity worthless, or you believe it happened, and Jesus is God. One reason novelist Graham Greene gave for his conversion to Christian belief was the detail, the physicality, the feel of truth, not to mention the raw emotional honesty of the gospels, especially John’s gospel, especially its account of the resurrection. Mary Magdalene is the first to discover Jesus’ tomb is empty: “Mary stood weeping outside the tomb.” As she weeps, she tells a stranger: “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then she meets Jesus; she’s the first of the Christians to meet the risen Jesus, yet doesn’t recognise him immediately. There is so much good news for the human race in this passage, so many clues about this life, about eternal life. But let’s pause for one other bit of good news. For the past decade I’ve been writing about the decline of Christianity in the West (not elsewhere, it’s on fire in Africa and Asia). This seemed overwhelming and it was hard to know where it would lead. A few months ago I noticed something strange going on and wrote about the conversion of the great historian Niall Ferguson and his wife, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, to Christian belief in the Anglican communion. I noticed the surge of numerous leading Western intellectuals, by no means all conservatives, coming to Christianity. Now, the weirdest thing is happening. The statistical decline of Christianity in the US, in parts of Europe, even perhaps in Australia, has puzzlingly stopped. The Economist reports that a surprising number of American Gen Z and millennials have “got religion”. The Pew polling organisation records the proportion of adults in the US identifying as Christian has remained stable over the past five years at about 62 per cent. Here’s an even more startling statistic from Britain. Based on YouGov surveys, in 2018 some 4 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds went to church once a month. In 2024 that figure was 16 per cent. Christianity’s still a minority of that cohort, but that’s dramatic growth. In France, a bastion of anti-Christian secularism, the Catholic Church will baptise more than 10,000 new converts this Easter, nearly half as many again as in 2024, and the biggest number since statistics of this kind have been kept over the past 20 years. Nearly half these converts are aged 25 and under. Similar things are happening elsewhere in Europe. Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop, Peter Comensoli, noted in his recent Patrick Oration that there will be 400 converts to Catholicism in Melbourne at Easter. In his diocese, Sunday mass attendance has gone from 84,000 in 2022 to 103,000 in 2024. … Every Christian leader I’ve consulted about this responds in the same way, with caution and humility. Let’s see if it’s sustained. Let’s not celebrate too soon. Let’s not be unseemly in rejoicing. Still, my own reaction would be: what a miracle! What a time it is to be alive. These startling trends recall the prophetic words of one of the greatest Australian poets, James McAuley, in Retreat, which, after describing the difficulties communicating the truth, unexpectedly concludes: “And suddenly as no one planned, Behold the kingdom grow!” Among Catholics the two movements with the most energy among young people are the rad trads, the highly traditionalist, and the charismatics, Catholic first cousins of the Pentecostals. Like the Pentecostals, these movements emphasise a personal encounter with God, with the transcendent. Christians should never shy away from how utterly weird, how completely gobsmackingly strange, their core beliefs are. Christians believe that God became man, born of a virgin, suffered humiliation and death, and rose from the dead. Christians believe that every week at church they eat the flesh of this God and drink his blood. Christians believe that every human being will live for all eternity in a transformed version of their body. Christians believe in the Four Last Things – death, judgment, heaven, hell. I’ve recently been reading a great deal about early Christians, after the apostles, mainly in their own words. Like the Christian movements experiencing success today, one striking feature of early Christians was that they leaned right into the essential weirdness of their beliefs. Nobody rejected Christianity in the first century Roman Empire because it was too bland. Both heaven and hell, in my view, are more than a bit neglected these days in much Christian discourse. Nobody spoke about heaven and hell more frequently than Jesus himself. We have the experience during his crucifixion, when he tells the good thief, dying beside him: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” These words rightly offer hope, but they also offer information, teaching. It’s possible to be with Jesus, in paradise, after death. The relationship with Jesus is everything. We don’t know in detail what heaven will be like. Christian scripture deals mainly in metaphor in describing the indescribable – the pearly gates and so on. John, in his first letter, sensibly comments: “What we will be has not yet been revealed.” But he continues: “What we do know is this, we will be like him (God) for we will see him as he is.” We know something of what even our risen bodies will be like from the encounter Mary Magdalene had with the risen Jesus. She doesn’t recognise him at first, then she does. His body is transformed. It’s no longer bound by the physical limitations of the pre-resurrection body. And yet it’s a physical body still. Thomas, the doubting apostle, places his hand in Jesus’ wounds to prove they are real. Jesus eats and drinks with the apostles, at one point cooking them breakfast. Vince Gair, a long-forgotten DLP politician, used to say: if you must be a dog, be an Alsatian. That’s a very inapt comparison, but let me make it anyway. The message is, be wholeheartedly the thing you’re going to be. There are some tough words about the lukewarm in the New Testament. I always think of any Christian movement – if you believe in the supernatural, talk about the supernatural, if not all the time, at least pretty frequently. Heaven is part of the Good News. It’s not just an image or outside possibility to provide modest consolation, a sporting chance so to speak, for mourners at funerals. It’s a solemn promise of the living God. It’s the promise of Jesus in crucifixion. But if Christians avoid heaven, these days they almost never mention hell. That too is a mistake. It’s surely the case that some Christians previously used the fear of hell in emotionally manipulative ways. It’s also true that concern for the supernatural is no excuse for neglecting the poor or those in need today. Again Jesus has some pretty tough words on such neglect. But heaven and hell together are part of the strikingly elevated conception of human dignity that Christianity, and indeed the whole Judeo-Christian tradition, uniquely teach. As John says about heaven, we will be like God. That should inspire awe. It also goes right back to the beginning of the Bible, to Genesis, and the most radical statement in celebrating human nature, and therefore human rights, ever made in the ancient world – that God created humanity in the image of God. Human nature is exceptional in every way. Atheists often demand Christians explain human evil. Christians could point out that atheists can’t explain human virtue, human heroism. When God became man, in Jesus, this further elevated humanity’s nature. In some ways, people share in the nature of God and share some God-like qualities. One is human creativity. Another is language. God spoke the world into being. God spoke something and it existed. Human beings think something and in a sense a version of it exists in their mind. This power of proactive creation is God-like. Yet of course human nature is also flawed, limited and fallen. One of the most extraordinary gifts God gave is free will. Our age in particular, though in love with freedom at the trivial levels, always shies away from the responsibility that goes with real freedom. When there is a mass murder the explanation is routinely medicalised. Psychologists, sociologists, many other “ologists” incline to erase human agency and responsibility. But the Jewish and Christian scriptures, and every aspect of our own lived experience, show us that human beings have agency, they make choices, including moral choices, their choices have consequences, they are responsible for their choices. The Christian story is also that God offers forgiveness to anyone who is genuinely sorry. Many Christians feel they couldn’t bear the weight of their own sins without the promise of God’s forgiveness. At the same time, God respects the free will of human beings. Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist who survived Adolf Hitler’s death camps and wrote about them in the magnificent Man’s Search for Meaning, concluded that there was one final value no one, not even the Nazis, could take from any person. He wrote: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Frankl described the systematic Nazi effort to dehumanise the inmates of the concentration camps. Central to dehumanising them was to remove the faculty for moral choice. But Frankl observed that in the end nothing absolved a human being of moral choice. A human being can be coerced into actions but still there is the spirit of resistance, the decision on whether this action is willing or forced. Moral choice is inescapable. Throughout history there are endless efforts and conspiracies to deprive humanity of the reality of moral choice, of free will with consequences, as though we just can’t cope with it. Some Christians so emphasise God’s sovereignty, that he can save or not whoever he likes, that they understate the majesty of his gift of free will. No one earns heaven. It’s rather that they accept God’s gracious gift and also repent of their wrongdoing. A range of early Christian heresies held that salvation, entry to heaven, to ultimate friendship with God, was either so difficult that only a tiny number of the elect could attain it, or conceived it as effectively universal. Our psychobabulous and neurotically therapeutic age similarly hates individual responsibility, preferring often to vest responsibility in racial or gender categories, or in national histories or even the impersonal movements of history. Of course, in truth, human history is driven by individual human beings, who make individual choices. Sam Harris, one of the New Atheists (I must honestly confess to finding this group’s logic-chopping arguments tedious and unimpressive, but that’s a matter of taste), in Free Will argues that effectively there’s no such thing as free will. Whereas in reality everyone is influenced by their background, by their experiences, but if there is really no free will then we’ve never done anything wrong. Does that describe you? For all that, Christians have always grappled uneasily with the idea of hell. How could a good God allow an eternity of punishment for anyone he created? The New Testament talks of hell in metaphor and it may be that its awful suffering is simply the realisation of losing the chance of intimate friendship with God. CS Lewis famously argued that the door to hell is always locked from the inside; that is, it contains people who continue to reject God, who remain in rebellion. Some Christian theologians hope that hell is empty, which is a reasonable hope. Others believe hell cannot possibly be consistent with a loving God. That’s not the mainstream Christian position. For if there is no hell, or rather no possibility of hell for it may well indeed be empty, there’s no real free will. Human beings exist then just like animals, faithful to their nature, doing as they will, not capable of a lasting moral choice. Instead, for free will to be real, there must be the possibility of rejecting God and God’s honouring that rejection. Rejecting God is not exactly the same as rejecting Christianity. God is not just good, God is goodness itself. The Catholic catechism, for example, teaches that someone who doesn’t know about God, or doesn’t know about Jesus, but honestly seeks out the good, in other words seeks out God, may also find salvation. Of course, notwithstanding how much there is about this in the New Testament, and in Christian tradition, the truth is many things remain a mystery. Many things are beyond our understanding, approached only in metaphor. Nonetheless, death and judgment, heaven and hell, are elements of the uniquely elevated, truly glorious conception of human nature that Christianity teaches. The triumph of Easter is full of hope. As one of the early Christians, Irenaeus, argued: “The glory of God is man fully alive.” And never more alive than Easter Sunday.

Mary can serve us our spiritual helpmate, she being more intimate with Christ than anyone else, more open to the Holy Spirit

“No One Has Ever Seen God … Behold Your Mother”: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary Jenny duBay December 3, 2019 (2) “No One Has Ever Seen God ... Behold Your Mother”: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary The Blessed Virgin Mary has always held an esteemed role within Catholic faith. From her willing fiat, her sacrifice as she witnessed the excruciating death of her Son, and her Spirit-filled presence at Pentecost, sacred Scripture repeatedly attests to Mary’s devoted witness to God. Through the hundreds of apparition claims (the first dating before her death, to St. James the Elder in Zaragoza, Spain) … the declared doctrine of Mary as Theotókos (Mother of God) at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., and a wide range of testimony from the Church’s most trusted theologians, Mary has always played an active role in the living Tradition of the Church. However, there has been considerable debate regarding the cult of the Virgin Mary. It has been repeatedly claimed that Catholics worship Mary, yet this argument is based on a misunderstanding of what Marian devotion truly is. It’s crucial to remember that “the maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or diminishes [the] unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power” (Lumen Gentium, 60; henceforth LG). …. In fact, “since the Church’s earliest days, Marian devotion has been meant to foster faithful adherence to Christ.” …. Although two thousand years ago “the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14, RSV), Christ was still not truly seen, for “the world knew Him not” (John 1:10), a truth that remains to this day. Even those who understand the Incarnation of Christ and authentically seek His ways cannot grasp the fullness of Truth which is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The vulnerability of humanity, mired by original sin, by necessity needs a guide, a spiritual helpmate who is more intimate with Christ than anyone else; someone who is more open to the Holy Spirit, more willing to unreservedly do God’s will, and who can show believers “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) in a deeper way than can be attained on their own. Humanity was made by God “to come to the fullest development of our own powers in total union with Him” … but only one human being has ever achieved this goal to the fullest extent—the Blessed Mother. That’s why emulating her, seeking her intercessory assistance, and even consecrating oneself to her, is not a slight to Jesus but rather the best and quickest way individuals have develop the deepest possible relationship with Christ. This is the reason Catholics turn to Mary. Without any possible stain of error it’s she, and she alone, who can hold the hands of believers as she urges them toward her Son. She’s enthusiastic--as only a proud mother can be—to not only introduce individuals to Christ, but to encourage them to draw closer to Him. She, and only she, can show them how to cultivate that relationship. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17; see also Mark 1:11, Luke 9:35). … St. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716) wrote about the “virginal path to find Jesus” which is the path guided by Mary. “Virginal” in this sense speaks of complete devotion, uncluttered and untouched by any other distraction. Mary, as maternal guide, provides the “easy, short, perfect and secure way to attaining union with Our Lord.” …. For this reason, de Montfort not only dedicated his life to the Blessed Mother, but he became the premier saint in promoting consecration to her. This devotion is a secure means of going to Jesus Christ, because it is the very characteristic of our Blessed Lady to conduct us surely to Jesus, just as it is the very characteristic of Jesus to conduct us surely to the Eternal Father … It is the way which Jesus Christ Himself trod in coming to us. …. Consecration to Mary has proven spiritually fruitful for centuries, and is now more popular than ever. Pope Leo XIII approved a plenary indulgence to those who consecrate themselves to the Blessed Mother, while Popes Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI and XII, and most famously St. John Paul II advocated and consecrated themselves using Louis de Montfort’s trusted formula. …. Perhaps the most famous Marian devotion is that of the Rosary, a string of beads consisting of five decades of the Hail Mary between one Our Father and one Glory Be (a full Rosary consists of fifteen decades). The Rosary is considered the most powerful Marian prayer, so esteemed that it’s “second only to the liturgical prayer of the Church centering around the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” …. …. Although Christ is the only true Mediator between God and man, in the fallen state of humanity it can be difficult to approach Him. Who better to turn to than His own Mother, who desires nothing more than to reveal the glory of her Son? As theological historian Luigi Gambero observed … “the importance of Mary’s role stems from the fact that she contributed to bringing man closer to God, to making God more accessible to man.” …. This is a role she continues to fulfill through her constant, loving intercession. In conclusion, Catholics don’t worship Mary as if she’s a pagan goddess exclusive of God’s grace. Rather, hyperdulia means Catholics honor and venerate the Blessed Mother while fully recognizing her humanity and dependence upon the pure grace of God. The faithful see in her a mirror, a reflection of Eden: God’s perfect creation without blemish or stain of sin. It is she whom believers gaze upon as a model for their own aspiring spiritual perfection. St. Irenaeus of Lyons stated that Mary was the “cause of salvation” in contrast to Jesus, who is salvation. …. “This devotion consists, then, in giving ourselves entirely to Our Lady, in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her.” ….

Ash Wednesday provides an ideal opportunity to repent

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’. This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’”.” Matthew 3:1-3 Today (5th March, 2025) is Ash Wednesday. What is Ash Wednesday? That question is asked, and answered at: https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent/ash-wednesday.html?srsltid=AfmBOopjUijbPKBfV2-941XYjz2QeJqG_2PqluhcTVKeS6HnSmb3DnwD What is Ash Wednesday? Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent—and a wonderful opportunity to make yourself 100% available to God! How available to God are you? 50%? 75%? 96.4%? No matter what your answer, Ash Wednesday is the perfect time to decide that you will spend this Lent increasing that number. On Ash Wednesday, you can get your forehead blessed with ashes at Mass or a prayer service. These ashes are a reminder that we need to repent. Repentance is a powerful invitation. When John the Baptist first appeared in the desert of Judea, this was his message: “Repent, prepare the way of the Lord” (Matthew 3:2). Later, when Jesus began his ministry, he led with this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). But what does it mean for us to repent, here and now, more than two thousand years later? It means the same as it did to the people walking around the dusty pathways in their sandals, trying to inch closer to Jesus as he passed through their town or village. Repent means “to turn back to God.” We all find ourselves needing to turn back to God many times a day, in ways small and large. It is not a matter of guilt and it is not a shameful thing. It is simply that we are a better version of ourselves when we return to his side! When is Ash Wednesday 2025? This year Ash Wednesday is on March 5, 2025. The History of Ashes on Ash Wednesday You might be wondering why we get ashes on our foreheads for Ash Wednesday. Throughout history, ashes have been a powerful outward symbol of interior repentance and spiritual awareness. Here are some examples of ashes in the Bible: • "Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6) • "Daughter of my people, dress in sackcloth, roll in the ashes." (Jeremiah 6:26) • "I turned to the Lord God, to seek help, in prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes." (Daniel 9:3) • "When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles, no man or beast, no cattle or sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water. Man and beast alike must be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; they all must turn from their evil way and from the violence of their hands." (Jonah 3: 6-8) The Early Christians used ashes to show repentance as well, but not just on Ash Wednesday! After going to confession, it was common for the priest to give the person ashes on their forehead. Catholics have been receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday since the time of St. Gregory the Great. In 1091, Pope Urban II encouraged the entire Church to use ashes on Ash Wednesday. If you want to get blessed with ashes this Ash Wednesday, be sure to check with your local parish. Most churches celebrate Mass or have a prayer service on Ash Wednesday, and all are welcome to attend and be blessed with ashes. Sign up for this year’s Is Ash Wednesday a Holy Day of Obligation? Contrary to popular belief, Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation. Even though you’re not required to attend Mass, Ash Wednesday is a wonderful opportunity to rearrange your priorities and feed your soul before one of the most important seasons of the entire year! Can you eat meat on Ash Wednesday? No. Unless you have a medical exemption, Ash Wednesday is a day of Abstinence for Catholics. Avoiding meat can be difficult, but it’s a powerful way to be disciplined about your priorities. When you make little sacrifices a part of your everyday spirituality, amazing things happen! For example, suppose you have a craving for a Coke, but you have a glass of water instead. It is the smallest thing. Nobody notices. And yet, by this simple action you strengthen your willpower and become an even better-version-of-yourself. Or, say your soup tastes a little dull. You could add salt and pepper, but you don’t. It’s a little thing. It’s nothing. But by saying no to yourself in small ways, it makes you even freer to say yes to the things that truly matter. If you want to grow in strength this Lent, there’s one simple thing you can do: Try to never leave a meal table without practicing some form of sacrifice. It is these tiny acts that will strengthen your will for the great moments of decision that are a part of each of our lives! What are the fasting rules for Ash Wednesday? The Church requires all Catholics from ages 14-59 to fast on Ash Wednesday. As long as you are in good health, this means that you should only eat one full meal, plus two smaller meals that do not equal a full meal. Ash Wednesday is also a day where Catholics avoid eating meat. There is great wisdom in the Christian practice of fasting—even though its benefits are largely forgotten! Fasting is a spiritual exercise, and as such is primarily an action of the inner life. Authentic fasting draws us nearer to God and opens our hearts to receive his many gifts. Fasting is also a sharp reminder that there are more important things in life than food. Authentic Christian fasting helps to release us from our attachments to the things of this world. It is often these worldly attachments that prevent us from becoming the-best-version-of-ourselves. Fasting also serves as a reminder that everything in this world is passing and thus encourages us to consider life beyond death. Go without food for several hours and you quickly realize how truly weak, fragile, and dependent we are. This knowledge of self strips away arrogance and fosters a loving acknowledgment of our utter dependence on God. Ash Wednesday is a powerful day to rediscover the power of fasting in your life! Make It Personal Ash Wednesday is the perfect time to decide if you want to have the kind of Lent that’s easy to forget…or the kind that changes your life. Do you want a renewed commitment to prayer? More discipline in a specific area of your life? A stronger marriage? More peace? This Ash Wednesday, set aside 15 minutes to set your intentions for the season of Lent!