Saint Dominic was born in Caleruega, Spain in 1170. His parents were members of the Spanish nobility and related to the ruling family. His father was Felix Guzman, and was the royal warden of the village. His mother, Bl. Joan of Aza, was a holy woman in her own right.
According to one legend, his mother made a pilgrimage to an abbey at Silos. Legend says there were many signs of the great child she would bear. One of the most common legends says that during the pilgrimage, Joan had a dream of …
Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay you with praise and thanks for having rescued a fallen world by your generous consent! Receive our gratitude, and by your prayers obtain the pardon of our sins. Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven and enable them to make our peace with God.
Holy Mary, help the miserable, strengthen the discouraged, comfort the sorrowful, pray for your people, plead for the clergy, intercede for all women consecrated to God. May all who venerate you feel …
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (MT 16:24) This is the first line from today’s Gospel. It always catches my attention. This sentence reminds me that I need to get out of the way, no matter what my current situation may be, and I must follow Jesus. It is my choice to make freely in each and every moment of my day.
I didn’t say this is something that comes easily to me. A cartoon I saw earlier this week sums up my daily challenge beautifully. Jesus is pictured with several followers (Bibles in hand). He says to them: ‘The difference between me and you is you use scripture to determine what love means and I use love to determine what scripture means.’ Wow, drop the mike!
Love is the answer! My cross must be looked at with eyes of Love! I must choose to carry on in my daily life through Jesus’ Way of Love.
At this point in life, my choices for the upcoming day are more easily made when I begin with prayer, scripture, or as my schedule now allows, morning Mass. I did not choose that as a youth or young adult. I typically made the choice to pray when in crisis or when reminded by a friend.
The Church honors today the love and choices of eight martyrs. Pope Saint Sixtus II (and his companions, all martyrs) chose the Love of Christ by defying the Emperor Valerian’s persecutions in the third century. Church services were forbidden, yet Pope Sixtus the Second held Mass in a cemetery chapel. The chapel was raided while the Pope was preaching. He was beheaded by soldiers along with four of his deacons. Three more deacons were executed later that day.
I am never sure how the next moment or day may unfold. I can, however, rely and count on the Lord, my God and Savior to be with me through each and every situation I find myself in.
As we begin this new day please pray with me the words of Blessed Charles de Foucauld.
Father, I abandon myself into your hands,
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you;
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father. Amen
Beth is part of the customer care team at Diocesan. She brings a unique depth of experience to the group due to her time spent in education, parish ministries, sales and the service industry over the last 25 yrs. She is a practicing spiritual director as well as a Secular Franciscan (OFS). Beth is quick to offer a laugh, a prayer or smile to all she comes in contact with. Reach her here bprice@diocesan.com.
In 1523, the Church was in sad shape. People could not get the spiritual nourishment they needed from the large numbers of uneducated and even immoral priests who took their money but returned nothing. When good priests and laypeople turned to the hierarchy for help, they found leaders at best apathetic and indifferent to their concerns. How should a good Catholic respond to this situation? We all known how Luther and others responded — by splitting away from the Catholic Church when their …
O Holy Ghost, divine Spirit of light and love, I consecrate to Thee my understanding, my heart and my will, my whole being for time and for eternity. May my understanding be always obedient to Thy heavenly inspirations and the teachings of the holy Catholic Church, of which Thou art the infallible Guide; may my heart be ever inflamed with love of God and of my neighbor; may my will be ever conformed to the divine will, and may my whole life be a faithful following of the life and virtues of Our …
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. People often ask for signs in moments of despair or hopelessness. No greater sign can be given than the Transfiguration. In order to strengthen the Apostles-specifically Peter, James, and John-and give the three of them a glimpse of His divinity, a sign of hope for what they believe in. Peter’s response to Jesus’ transfiguration and the appearance of Moses and Elijah is, “Lord, it is good that we are here.”
Lord, it is good that we are here.
What a powerful statement! It is good that we are here. Not only in His glory, but at the foot of His Cross, as John was. The Transfiguration is a sign of what Christ’s suffering will bring about for the world: glory! However, that glory was not attained without suffering. Jesus endured the Passion to bring about our redemption. When we unite our sufferings to the suffering of Christ, we are filled with the hope of the glory of the Resurrection. That hope is what Jesus gives to us in the Transfiguration. He gives us the hope that will get us through whatever present suffering we might be experiencing and the hope that guides our faith.
May we remember that it is good that we are “here”…wherever “here” is. Be it with our families, with our friends, at work, at the grocery store. It is good that we are here and that we know the Glory of God. When “here” is a place of despair, loneliness, or suffering, may we remember the Transfigured Lord and pray, “Lord, it is good that we are here.”
Dakota currently lives in Denver, CO and teaches English Language Development and Spanish to high schoolers. She is married to the love of her life, Ralph. In her spare time, she reads, goes to breweries, and watches baseball. Dakota’s favorite saints are St. John Paul II (how could it not be?) and St. José Luis Sánchez del Río. She is passionate about her faith and considers herself blessed at any opportunity to share that faith with others. Check out more of her writing at https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com.
Pope from 514-523, successor to St. Symmachus, and father of Pope St. Silverius Born in Frosinone, Campagna di Roma, Italy, he was an Italian, although he had a Persian name. Married and widowed prior to ordination, he succeeded St. Symmachus on July 21, 514. One of his great achievements was the ending of the Acacian Schism which had divided the Eastern and Western Churches since 484. The Church in Constantinople was reunited to Rome in 519 as a result of the confession called the …
The Holy Rosary is one of three Sacramentals that the Blessed Virgin Mary has given to the Holy Catholic Church. In the thirteenth century, Mary gave the Rosary as a powerful weapon to mankind to combat the evils that were in this world as a result of the spiritual battle that is taking place between Satan and God. Since then, the blessings received through this Sacramental are beyond man’s count.
STEP 1: Make the sign of the Cross:
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son
and of …
If I can be completely honest I am facing a great time of spiritual dryness in my life. I have so many blessings and I know God is present in my life, and He always will be, but I feel so distant from Him. How do I draw closer to Him in these times of feeling down and out, of feeling like I don’t know my place or just a lack of inspiration to draw closer to Him?
I know we have all experienced times like these, including the saints. Mother Teresa is one of the saints infamously known for not feeling God’s presence for 50 years. She devoutly served Him and trusted His presence even though she experienced this dryness for decades. I cannot imagine how much of a struggle this must have been for her, trying to serve individuals with great needs in Calcutta within the spiritual desert she found her soul in. Ultimately she knew God was with her and she had one key source that continued to keep her going – Jesus in the Eucharist.
Mother Teresa made it a priority to ensure that she and her sisters had time before Jesus in the Eucharist every single day. The source and summit of our faith was the center of her ministry and provided her with the grace she needed to keep going, loving God and loving others with the love of Christ. The graces received from the Eucharist are beyond our human understanding.
At the end of the day, we can all learn from Mother Teresa. We must draw our strength from the Eucharist. Jesus is there waiting for us. Whether we visit Him in person or watch a live stream (I have one in Poland that I love to watch on Youtube) Jesus is with us and we are with Him. During these times of uncertainty, He wants to remain hopeful in Him, no matter where we are at on our spiritual journey. I feel as though I write often on struggle, anxiety, and spiritual dryness but I hope that this honest post will bring you hope. Know that you are not alone in the desert, Christ remains with us always (no matter if we feel distant from Him – He never leaves our side), and go forward with courage on the mission God has for you. Draw close to Him in the Eucharist, whether online or in-person and trust Him to be with you as you find your Calcutta.
Nathalie Shultz is a joyful convert to the Catholic faith and a competitive swimmer with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She loves to share her passion for Catholicism with others, including her conversion story and how God continues to work miracles in her life through her OCD. She is the Director of Religious Education for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative of parishes. Nathalie is married to her best friend, Tommy Shultz. Her favorite saints include St. Peter the Apostle, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II. She is also a huge fan of C.S. Lewis. If you have any questions for Nathalie, or just want her to pray for you, you can email her at rodzinkaministry@gmail.com.
A disciple of Christ sent by St. Thomas to the court of King Abgar the Black, the second century Osroene ruler. Legendary accounts claim Abgar wrote to Christ asking Jesus to cure him of an intolerable and incurable illness. Abgar’s court was in Edessa in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Addal cured Abgar and converted the king and his people to the faith. One of these was Addai, who became Addal’s successor. Addal is also supposed to have sent another disciple, Man, to various sites along the …