Dark hour of history

 

 

“Pope Leo urged Catholics to reject comfort, power and domination and instead embrace a mission rooted in self-giving love, even when it requires risk, vulnerability and suffering”.

 

Taken from:

'In this dark hour of history,' do not shy away from your mission, pope says - Detroit Catholic

 

‘In this dark hour of history’, do not shy away from your mission, pope says

 

Carol Glatz and Josephine Peterson

Apr 2, 2026

….

 

ROME (CNS) -- God doesn't exist to grant victories or to be useful by providing wealth or power, Pope Leo XIV said.

 

Through Jesus, he serves humanity by offering himself in a way that transforms human hearts so that they may then be inspired to love others unconditionally, in turn, he said in his homily during Mass of the Lord's Supper in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

 

"Jesus purifies not only our image of God -- from the idolatry and blasphemy that have distorted it -- but also our image of humanity," he said April 2, Holy Thursday. "For we tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared."

 

However, he said, "Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service and love" so that humankind can learn how to love according to what true love is.

In fact, he said, learning to act like Jesus "is the work of a lifetime."

 

The Lord loves not because those he reaches out to are good or pure, Pope Leo said, but simply because "he loves us first."

"His love is not a reward for our acceptance of his mercy; instead, he loves us, and therefore cleanses us, thereby enabling us to respond to his love," he said. "He does not ask us to repay him, but to share his gift among ourselves."

"In him, God has given us an example -- not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate; not of how to destroy life, but of how to give it," Pope Leo said.

"As humanity is brought to its knees by so many acts of brutality, let us too kneel down as brothers and sisters alongside the oppressed," he said. "In this way, we seek to follow the Lord's example."

 

Pope Leo XIV washes the foot of a priest during the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the

Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome April 2, 2026. The foot-washing ritual reflects the call

to imitate Christ by serving one another. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

 

The pope's words came during a Mass that commemorates Jesus' institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood, and includes the traditional foot-washing ritual, which reflects the call to imitate Christ by serving one another.

 

Pope Leo returned to an earlier practice of washing the feet of 12 priests from the Diocese of Rome in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. The pope poured water from a golden pitcher onto the foot of each priest, wiped each foot dry with a towel and then gently kissed each foot.

 

Pope Francis had departed from the norm after his election in 2013 by celebrating the Mass in one of Rome's "peripheries," such as prisons or nursing homes, and by washing the feet of men, women and their infants, Muslims or people of no faith, as a sign of his dedication to serve everyone unconditionally.

 

Pope Francis' predecessors had always chosen either 12 priests, laymen or boys from the diocese for the ritual held either in the Basilicas of St. John Lateran or of St. Peter.

By choosing 12 priests, 11 of whom he ordained last year, Pope Leo highlighted the Mass' commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist and of holy orders.

"The intrinsic bond between these two sacraments reveals the perfect self-gift of Jesus, the high Priest and living, eternal Eucharist," he said in his homily.

"Beloved brothers in the priesthood, we are called to serve the people of God with our whole lives," he said.

 

Jesus' disciples were astonished by their master's gesture and, like Peter, "we too must 'learn repeatedly that God's greatness is different from our idea of greatness … because we systematically desire a God of success and not of the Passion,'" he said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI.

"We are always tempted to seek a God who 'serves' us, who grants us victory, who proves useful like wealth or power. Yet we fail to perceive that God does indeed serve us through the gratuitous and humble gesture of washing feet," he said. "This is the true omnipotence of God."

 

Earlier in the day, Pope Leo urged Catholics to reject comfort, power and domination and instead embrace a mission rooted in self-giving love, even when it requires risk, vulnerability and suffering.

 

During the chrism Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, he called on the faithful in his homily to overcome fear and a sense of powerlessness in responding to the world’s crises.

"In this dark hour of history, it has pleased God to send us to spread the fragrance of Christ where the stench of death reigns," he said. "Let us renew our 'yes' to this mission that calls for unity and brings peace."

While grounding his remarks in the teaching of his predecessors, saints and clergy, the pope in this homily placed particular emphasis on the Church’s mission through his own eyes as a missionary.

The first step of accepting the Christian mission, he said, is to risk leaving behind what is familiar and certain, in order to venture into something new.

"Every mission begins with that kind of self-emptying in which everything is reborn," he said.

It is through this self-emptying that Christians encounter the love of Christ, the pope said.

 

Pope Leo XIV celebrates the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran

in Rome April 2, 2026. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

 

At the heart of his first Holy Thursday homily as pope, he reflected on the nature of Christian love, saying it is rooted not in power, but in self-giving.

"Jesus' journey reveals to us that the willingness to lose oneself, to empty oneself, is not an end in itself, but a condition for encounter and intimacy," Pope Leo said. "Love is true only when it is unguarded."

 

He said true peace is not found in remaining comfortable, but in embracing the risk and detachment that mission requires. Calling it a "fundamental secret of mission," the pope said "everything is restored and multiplied if it is first let go, without fear,” a process repeated “in every new beginning, in every new sending forth."

 

God calls upon the faithful to take risks, so "no place becomes a prison, no identity a hiding place," he said. Every mission requires reconciliation with the past, with the "gifts and limitations of the upbringing we have received," the pope said.

 

Once the faithful are able to detach from what is familiar and comfortable, Pope Leo said they must then "encounter" the other through selfless service and the sharing of life. This detachment, he said, creates the conditions for authentic encounter rather than control.

He emphasized that it is a priority that "neither in the pastoral sphere nor in the social and political spheres can good come from abuse of power."

 

He pointed to the example of missionaries, a role he held as an Augustinian in Peru, whose work must be rooted in service, dialogue and respect.

 

Rather than seeking to "reconquer" increasingly secular societies, the pope said Catholics must approach as guests, not to impose, but to listen and accompany.

 

The Church's mission, the pope said, is guided by the Holy Spirit, and the faithful must not try to control it but instead follow its lead, entering each culture with humility and "respecting the mystery that every person and every community carries within them."

 

In his third point, the pope explained that this mission is not a "heroic adventure" reserved only for a few, but rather the "living witness of a Body with many members," and every mission includes rejection and suffering.

 

He recalled that the people of Nazareth were filled with rage when they heard Jesus' words and drove him out of the town. Every Christian must "pass through" a trial just as Jesus did, the pope said.

 

"The cross is part of the mission: the sending becomes more bitter and frightening, but also more freeing and transformative," he said.

 

A successful mission is not about the results, but rather about the disciple's faithfulness and hope in God. Jesus embarked on a journey "in a world torn apart by the powers that ravage it," Pope Leo said.

"Within it arises a new people, not of victims, but of witnesses," he said.

 

 

Mary’s ‘Yes’ at the Annunciation was the turning point of history

 

 

Today is the feast-day of the Annunciation

(25^th March, 2026)

  

“Our affection for Mary of Nazareth leads us to join her in becoming disciples of Jesus. Jesus invites us to be part of his Kingdom, just as he asked Mary for her ‘yes,’ which,

once given, was renewed every day”.

 Pope Leo XIV

  

From Rome to the Holy Land: Annunciation of Mary

 

From Rome to the Holy Land: Annunciation of Mary

 

• Rudolf Gehrig

 

The place of the Incarnation. Credit: EWTN Vatican

 

It is a familiar scene in Rome. Every Sunday at noon, the Pope appears at the window of his apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square to greet the faithful gathered below and those watching around the world.

“Cari fratelli e sorelle, buona domenica!” Pope Leo XIV calls out, beginning a tradition that has endured for generations.

 

At the heart of this weekly encounter is the Angelus—a prayer recited by Catholics worldwide, rooted in one of the most decisive moments in human history: the Annunciation.

 

“The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived of the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, full of grace…” the Pope prays, echoing words that have been repeated for centuries.

 

The “Yes” That Changed History

 

The Angelus centers on Mary’s response to God’s plan—her “yes” to becoming the Mother of Christ. This moment, often described as the turning point of salvation history, continues to shape the Church’s life today.

 

During the Jubilee dedicated to Marian spirituality in October 2025, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the enduring significance of Mary’s response.

 

“Brothers and sisters, Marian spirituality is at the service of the Gospel: it reveals its simplicity,” he said. “Our affection for Mary of Nazareth leads us to join her in becoming disciples of Jesus. Jesus invites us to be part of his Kingdom, just as he asked Mary for her ‘yes,’ which, once given, was renewed every day.”

 

Mary’s fiat was not a single act confined to the past—it became a model of daily fidelity, a path of discipleship that continues to inspire believers. ….

 

 

 

Saint Joseph the perfect icon of God the Father

 

“This is the theological foundation of the holy Patriarch’s greatness as virginal, messianic father of the Only-begotten of the Father: shadow and transparent icon of Him who wished to make Joseph unique partaker of his fatherhood in order to prepare the human nature of Christ for the holocaust of Calvary”.

 Jonathan Fleischmann

  

Today is the feast-day of Saint Joseph

 19^th March, 2026

  

The Vertex of Love

October 8, 2012 by Jonathan Fleischmann

 

When Mary was predestined in one and the same decree with

Jesus Christ by the design of God—before the creation of angels or

the universe, and before the existence of sin or evil—she was predestined to be the Spouse of the Holy Spirit … to hold within herself 

all the love of creation.

Love’s Mechanics

 

In the return of all created things to God the Father (cf. Jn 1, 1; 16, 28), “the equal and contrary reaction,” says St. Maximilian Kolbe, “proceeds inversely from that of creation.”  In creation, the saint goes on to say, the action of God “proceeds from the Father through the Son and the Spirit, while in the return, by means of the Spirit, the Son becomes incarnate in (the Virgin Mary’s) womb and through Him, love returns to the Father.” …. 

The Saint of Auschwitz goes on:

 

In the union of the Holy Spirit with her, not only does love bind these two beings, but the first of them (the Holy Spirit) is all the love of the Most Holy Trinity, while the second (the Blessed Virgin Mary) is all the love of creation, and thus in that union heaven is joined to earth, the whole heaven with the whole earth, the whole of Uncreated Love with the whole of created love: this is the vertex of love. ….

 

Love’s Equilibrium

The form of the diagram shown in Figure 1 is not found in the work of St. Maximilian. 

     Figure 1:  The return of all created things to God the Father.

 

However, it accurately represents the state of equal and opposite action and reaction, that occurs when two bodies make contact.  In this case, the “bodies” represent heaven and earth:  the uncreated and created orders, God and his creation.  The first point I would like to make is that the state of equal and opposite contact forces in Newtonian mechanics requires “force equilibrium.”  It may then seem very wrong to use an image like this one, because how can the state shown between God and his creation be in equilibrium?  Isn’t God’s act of love so much greater than the return of his creation that no “equilibrium” would be possible?  This would certainly be the case if it were not for Emmanuel, that is, God with us.  Jesus, who is truly man, and truly God, belongs to both the created and uncreated orders simultaneously.  In his person, Jesus is both the son of Mary, fully human and like us in all ways except sin, and the Eternal Son of God the Father, infinite and equal in all ways to the Triune God.

....

Thus, the love of Jesus, the Word Made Flesh who is God, is by itself enough to “balance” the love of God.  However, there is even more in the equation of love’s equilibrium than the love of the Son, infinite and sufficient in itself, though it is.  According to St. Maximilian, the perfect love of the Trinity meets an adequate response in the perfect love of the Immaculate, which is the name St. Maximilian gives to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

 

How is it possible that Divine Love can find an adequate response in the love of a creature?  It is possible precisely because of the name that the Virgin Mary can claim for herself.  In 1854, the Blessed Virgin Mary proclaimed to St. Bernadette Soubirous: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” 

 

In the words of St. Maximilian, the Blessed Virgin is the created Immaculate Conception, as in the words of St. Bonaventure, the Holy Spirit is the uncreated Immaculate Conception. ….

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and the Son, as the perfect and infinite love between the Father and the Son in the eternal interior life of the Blessed Trinity. Thus, the Holy Spirit is truly all the love of the Most Holy Trinity.  The Holy Spirit is also called the “Complement” of the Blessed Trinity, because he is the completion of the Trinity, not in “number” (quantitatively), but in essence (qualitatively).

 

When Mary was predestined in one and the same decree with Jesus Christ … by the design of God—before the creation of angels or the universe, and before the existence of sin or evil—she was predestined to be the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.

 

So she was predestined to hold within herself all the love of creation.  Thus, St. Maximilian says that the Blessed Virgin Mary “inserted into the love of the Most Holy Trinity becomes, from the very first moment of her existence, always, forever, the Complement of the Most Holy Trinity.” We may paraphrase the thoughts of St. Maximilian Kolbe on the spousal relationship between the Holy Spirit, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the words of Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner:

 

In virtue of this spousal union formally denoted by the title, Complement, Mary is able to enter, as no other, into the order of the hypostatic union, her soul being wholly divinized, because by the grace of the Immaculate Conception, it has been ‘transubstantiated’ into the Holy Spirit. ….

 

It is for this reason that Mary—though she is a creature in both her person and her nature—is herself the created Immaculate Conception, and, therefore, all the love of creation. She can actually provide an adequate response to the love of the Holy Spirit, who is the uncreated Immaculate Conception, and, therefore, all the Love of God.  Thus, the equation of love’s equilibrium is balanced again.

 

Now that we have balanced the equation of love’s equilibrium twice over, we could certainly stop. However, there is reason to continue. St. Maximilian does not expressly mention St. Joseph in the context of these reflections. 

 

However, the diagram in Figure 1, based entirely on the saint’s own reflections, certainly suggests the presence of St. Joseph in the order of the response of creation to God the Father. The order of Father, Son, and, Holy Spirit, shown in the diagram, reflects the order of God’s loving act of creation.

 

This was initiated by the zeal of the Father, designed by the wisdom of the Son, and effected by the action of the Holy Spirit. This is the order referred to by St. Maximilian when he says that: “the equal and contrary reaction (i.e., the return of all creation to God) proceeds inversely from that of creation.” We see this reflection in the diagram, where the reaction “force” of love is inverted, and the order of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as the “action force,” is reversed to give the order of Holy Spirit, Son, and Father.

 

Notice, however, that in the return to God, it is creation that is reacting. Thus, the individuals reacting—while reflecting the Holy Spirit, Son, and Father to greater or lesser degrees—are all creatures.  We have Mary, who is the perfect similitude (St. Bonaventure), transparent icon (St. Maximilian), or even quasi-incarnation (St. Maximilian) of the Holy Spirit, but who is still a created person, with a created human nature. We have Jesus, who is the Word Incarnate, the same Person as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, but who is still in possession of a created human nature. St. Maximilian stops here, but must we stop here? I would dare to say that the analogy we have carried out so far on the inspiration of St. Maximilian suggests an obvious completion. We have St. Joseph, who has been called the “perfect icon of God the Father” by more than one saint. …. In the words of Fr. Joachin Ferrer Arellano:

 

In the light of the Scotistic thesis on the Primacy of Christ, to take one example, one discovers (…) how the virginal marriage of Mary and Joseph was predestined “ante mundi constitutionem” (before the constitution of the world), as an essential part of the one decree of the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of the Immaculate “ante praevisa merita” (before any consideration of antecedent merit). Such is the saving plan, “the mystery hidden before the ages in God,” (cf. Eph 3:9) to be accomplished at the high point in the history of salvation. That high point is the fullness of time (cf. Gal 4:4) when God sent his Son into the most pure bosom of Holy Mary Ever Virgin, espoused to a man of the house of David (cf. Lk 1:26) in fulfillment of the prophecy of Nathan. 

 

God acted thus, that through the obedience of the Spouses of Nazareth the Son might be freely welcomed into history on behalf of all mankind in order to save it. This welcome took place in the virginal womb of Mary, the Daughter of Zion, and in the house of Joseph, in the family home established by the marriage of the two Spouses (Mary and Joseph), “sanctuary of love and cradle of life.” 

 

This is the theological foundation of the holy Patriarch’s greatness as virginal, messianic father of the Only-begotten of the Father: shadow and transparent icon of Him who wished to make Joseph unique partaker of his fatherhood in order to prepare the human nature of Christ for the holocaust of Calvary. In this way, He made Joseph Father and Lord of the Church gushing forth from Christ’s opened side and born of the sword of sorrow of the Woman. ….

 

In addition to being the transparent icon of God the Father, St. Joseph was the true, virginal husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ….  In fact, it can even be said that St. Joseph is the virginal father of Jesus Christ.  For, again in the words of Fr. Joachin Ferrer Arellano:

 

Although singular, unique, and not univocal with fatherhood as this is ordinarily understood and commonly found among men, the position more common and traditional among theologians upholds the truly real fatherhood of Joseph in relation to Jesus, based 1) on his marriage to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and 2) on the right of the husband over his wife. He, therefore, who is born virginally of Mary, by reason of his birth, intimately pertains in some manner to Joseph as father. … In view of the dignity of Joseph as husband of Mary, to whom belongs the fruit of his wife’s womb, one is not permitted to overlook … how the indivisible virginity of both spouses—not simply that of Mary, but also that of her husband, the son of David—is ordered to the virginal fatherhood of Joseph according to the Spirit, in virtue of the obedience of faith to the saving plan of God. This plan includes the messianic fatherhood of Joseph as son of David in relation to his virginal Son, constituted Son of David, the messianic King, because He was Son of Joseph. ….

 

In the return of all created things to God the Father, it is under the leadership, and in imitation of, St. Joseph, our patriarch, that the individual members of the Church must, by the merits gained for us through the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, be transubstantiated into Mary, who is the Virgo Ecclesia Facta (Virgin-Made-Church). ….

 

It is only by being transubstantiated into Mary, the created Immaculate Conception, that we can be united to God as she is uniquely united to God, being transubstantiated with her into the uncreated Immaculate Conception, who is the Holy Spirit. In virtue of this transubstantiation, we are possessed by the Immaculate, and we are thereby formed into a single community, or Church, sharing her personality. To St. Maximilian, this is the only way that we can be members of Christ’s Church, and thereby united to God. 

….

 

Taken from: http://www.hprweb.com/2012/10/the-vertex-of-love/

 

 

Humanity will not have peace until it turns to Divine Mercy

 

 

 

“God wants us to know that all the graces of His mercy

can only be received by our trust.

The more we open the door of our hearts and lives to Him with trust,

the more we can receive”.

 

 

The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion

 

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us – all of us. And, He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. 

The Divine Mercy message is one we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC: 

A - Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world. 

 

B - Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us. 

C - Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that all the graces of His mercy can only be received by our trust. The more we open the door of our hearts and lives to Him with trust, the more we can receive.

 

This message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God's mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread. 

 

The message and devotional practices proposed in the Diary of Saint Faustina and set forth in this web site and other publications of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception are completely in accordance with the teachings of the Church and are firmly rooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Savior. Properly understood and implemented, they will help us grow as genuine followers of Christ.

 

….

Jesus told St. Faustina, “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy” (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 300; see also 699).

 

The five elements of the devotion (represented by the acronym F.I.N.C.H., for Feast, Image, Novena, Chaplet, Hour) have attached to them some of the most powerful and extraordinary promises of any devotion.

 

Spend time to learn more about the mercy of God, learn to trust in Jesus, and live your life as merciful to others, as Christ is merciful to you. 

 

For a full understanding of Divine Mercy, we recommend Divine Mercy Message and Devotion, by Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC.

 

The Divine Mercy Message | The Divine Mercy

 

 

 

‘Father … let this Cup pass from me’

 

 

“Why did Jesus speak about his death as “drinking” a “cup”?

What cup is he talking about?”

 Dr. Brant Pitre

  

 

In the Foreword to Scott Hahn’s book, The Fourth Cup (2018), Dr. Brant Pitre writes:

The Fourth Cup

 

Jesus of Nazareth was a man of many mysteries. He taught in puzzling parables, he performed strange signs and wonders, he asked riddle-like question after question. And his Jewish disciples and the Jewish crowds he taught—although he frequently stumped them—loved it.

But the mysteries of Jesus didn’t end with his public ministry. According to the Gospels, he continued to do and say puzzling things right up to the moment of his death. One of the greatest riddles of Jesus’ Passion involves the mysterious vow that he made during the Last Supper. On the night he was betrayed, toward the end of the meal, Jesus solemnly declared that he would not drink “the fruit of the vine” again until the coming of “the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:18; cf. Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25). Later on, when he was on the way to Golgotha and the soldiers tried to offer him wine, true to his word, “he would not drink it” (Matthew 26:34; cf. Mark 14:23). On the other hand, according to the Gospel of John, at the very last moment of his life, right before he died on the cross, Jesus requested for wine to be given to him, saying: “I thirst” (John 19:28). Even more mysterious, after drinking the wine he declared, “It is finished,” bowed his head, and gave up his spirit (John 19:30).

What are we to make of this riddle? How could Jesus vow at the Last Supper not to drink wine again, refuse it on the way to the cross, then turn around and ask for a drink right before he died? How can we reconcile Jesus’ words at the Last Supper with his words on the cross? Was he breaking his vow? Or was something else going on?

To top it all off, there’s one more puzzle to ponder—one that takes place between the upper room and Calvary. In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus was praying about his death, he said something odd: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). And then again: “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). Now, if you were about to be crucified, is this how you would have prayed? Why did Jesus speak about his death as “drinking” a “cup”? What cup is he talking about?

In The Fourth Cup, Dr. Scott Hahn gives us the keys to unlocking this mystery—the mystery of the Last Supper and the cross. He does this in two ways: first, by going back to the Jewish roots of Jesus’ words and deeds, and second, by telling you the story of his own personal journey from Protestantism to Catholicism. The result reads almost like a detective novel—an exhilarating journey of discovery that will change the way you see the Last Supper, the Passion of Christ, and the Eucharist forever. 

I’ll never forget the first time I heard one of Dr. Hahn’s presentations on the fourth cup. I was completely blown away. It was like reading the Passion of Christ again for the first time. Don’t get me wrong: it’s not as if I had spent nights lying awake wondering why Jesus vowed never to drink wine again at the Last Supper and why he asked for a drink on Good Friday. Nor had I wondered all that much about why Jesus talked about his crucifixion as drinking a “cup.” I just took these things for granted. But after listening to Dr. Hahn’s lecture, it was like the pieces of a puzzle that I didn’t even realize were there suddenly fell into place. What I had always wondered about was this: Why do Catholics believe that the Eucharist is a sacrifice? Didn’t Jesus offer himself “once and for all” on Calvary? What is the link between Jesus’ offering of his body and blood at the Last Supper and his death on the cross?

 

If you’ve ever wondered the same thing, or if you’ve ever celebrated a Passover seder, or if you’ve ever just wanted to deepen your understanding of the Jewish roots of the Eucharist, then I’ve got one message for you, read this book. And don’t just read it. Pray about it. Reflect on it. And share it with others.

Because if you’re anything like me, once you begin to see the mystery of the Last Supper and the cross through ancient Jewish eyes, it will completely change your life. For, as r. Hahn shows, the Passover of Jesus that began in the upper room and was consummated on Calvary is still with us today. Whenever and wherever Mass is celebrated, the Paschal Mystery—that is, the “Passover” mystery—is made truly present. The Fourth Cup not only solves the mystery of Jesus’ vow, it will also give you the missing link between the upper room and Golgotha and help you to see more clearly how the sacrifice of Christ at the Last Supper and the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary are the same sacrifice “poured out for the forgiveness of sins” and the redemption of the world (Matthew 26:28).

 

 

 

 

Pope Leo XIV: Lenten ashes carry ‘the weight of a world that is ablaze’

 

 

Reflecting on the meaning of the ashes traditionally imposed on the heads of the faithful, Leo recalled a 1966 catechesis by St. Paul VI, who described the public celebration of the rite as a “severe and striking penitential ceremony” and as “a realistic pedagogy,” intended to cut through modern illusions and widespread pessimism that can reduce life to “the metaphysics of the absurd and of nothingness.”

 

“Today, we can recognize that his words were prophetic as we perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war,” Leo said.

 

He said that devastation is echoed in “the ashes of international law and justice among peoples,” “the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples,” “the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom,” and “the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature.”

 

In the same homily, the pope urged Catholics to treat Lent as a time when the Church is renewed as a true community, even as modern society finds it harder to come together in communion.

 

Leo stressed that sin is never only private because it shapes and is shaped by the real and digital environments people inhabit. “Naturally, sin is always personal, but it takes shape in the real and virtual contexts of life… and often within real economic, cultural, political, and even religious ‘structures of sin,’” he said. Against idolatry, he added, Scripture calls Christians to dare to be free and to rediscover freedom through “an exodus, a journey,” rather than remaining “paralyzed, rigid, or complacent.”

 

The pope also pointed to what he described as a renewed attentiveness among young people to Ash Wednesday’s call to accountability.

 

“Young people especially understand clearly that it is possible to live a just lifestyle, and that there should be accountability for wrongdoings in the Church and in the world,” he said, urging Catholics to “start where we can, with those who are around us,” and to embrace “the missionary significance of Lent” for “the many restless people of goodwill” seeking genuine renewal.

 

The pope also highlighted the ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten station churches, which begins each year with Santa Sabina. “The ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten ‘stationes’ — which begins today with the first station — is instructive,” he said, noting that it points both to moving, as pilgrims, and to pausing — ‘statio’ — at the memories of the martyrs on which Rome’s basilicas were built.

 

This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

 

Religious persecution rampant in our world

 

 

 

“Christianity began in persecution, and Christians are the most persecuted

believers today – 160,000 killed in Nigeria alone in the past 15 years”.

 Barney Zwartz

 

©Sydney Morning Herald Lifestyle

 

Persecution peaks, and Christians are most at risk

Story by Barney Zwartz

 

Persecution is one of the ugliest behaviours people are capable of, and we’ve been doing it since the dawn of humanity.

 

In fact, it is more widespread today than at any point in history, yet few in the secular West realise that much the most endangered group is Christians. Some 400 million Christians, more than one in seven, are at daily risk of persecution, especially in Africa and Asia. According to a 2019 British government report, they make up 80 per cent of those being persecuted for their religion.

 

Christianity began in persecution, and Christians are the most persecuted believers today – 160,000 killed in Nigeria alone in the past 15 years.

 

Genocide by Muslim groups in Nigeria alone has claimed 160,000 Christian lives in the past 15 years, yet Western media usually reports this as ethnic conflict, if it even notices. The causes, as always, are complex and mixed, but there is no doubt that religious conquest is the main motivation behind groups such as Boko Haram.

 

Why does the plight of Christians attract so little attention from Western activists who care about rights abuses? I suspect the most important factor is that they have been taught to see Christianity as the religion of Westerners, colonialists who deserve opprobrium. In fact, the vast majority live in Africa, South America and Asia, and have little political power.

 

It is not only Christians who are persecuted. India has the third-highest Muslim population, more than 200 million, and many are under intense pressure, as are Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Numerically, the worst persecutors of Muslims are other Muslims.

 

Atheists are persecuted in many nations, Baha’is in Iran, while China has targeted political dissidents, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims, Catholics, Protestants and the Falun Gong. Then there’s perennial antisemitism.

 

Paradoxically, persecution has always strengthened the church, in faith and numbers, from first- century Rome to 21st century Iran and China. Tyrants fear people of faith, because they may torture the body but they cannot own the soul.

 

Persecution peaks, and Christians are most at risk