Bishop of Trier, Germany, from 332, and a miracle worker. He was probably born at Silly, France, and succeeded St. Agritus as bishop of Trier, giving refuge to St. Athanasius in 336. St. Paul, the patriarch of Constantinople, was also given MaximinusÂ? protection. Maximinus was an ardent enemy of the Arian heretics, opposing them in the councils of Milan, Sardica, and Cologne. He was a known miracle worker and apologist for orthodox Catholicism and was called Â?one of the most courageous bishops …
Month: May 2022
To St. Joseph for Protection: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, May 29, 2022
Gracious St. Joseph, protect me and my family from all evil as you did the Holy Family. Kindly keep us ever united in the love of Christ, ever fervent in imitation of the virtue of our Blessed Lady, your sinless spouse, and always faithful in devotion to you. Amen.
On Speaking Boldly and Correcting Quietly
As a cradle Catholic with 16 years of Catholic school, I estimate that I attended Mass close to 7,000 times. And yet occasionally one of the day’s readings surprises me. “I’ve never heard that before!” I think, while knowing this cannot possibly be true!
That’s how I felt when reading today’s passage from Acts. Apollos was unfamiliar. Priscilla I remembered, less so Aquila. Some quick research informed me that Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple, were tentmakers, friends of Paul, and leaders in the early Church. Apollos, mentioned here for the first time, became an important leader and rumored author of the Letter to the Hebrews.
The first thing I noticed in this reading was the boldness of Apollos. He did not wait for permission. In fact, he did not even wait until he knew everything there was to know! Instead, he “spoke boldly.” He knew he was a scholar of Scripture and a gifted speaker, and he did not hesitate to use these talents in service of Christ and his Church.
Priscilla and Aquila were already leaders. They heard Apollos preaching something a little off (what exactly is unclear). They were not jealous of his oratory skills or worried that he was infringing on their territory. They did not denounce him publicly for his mistakes in doctrine. Instead, they “took him aside and explained to him the Way of God more accurately.” And when he wished to preach in other places, they and other leaders encouraged him, writing a letter of introduction for him so that he was able to give “great assistance” to the Christian community.
We can learn much from the example of these early Church leaders. Like Apollos, we have gifts that God wants us to place at the service of the Church. We may not be Scripture scholars or orators, but we ALL have gifts. But how many of us never use them? We worry we do not know enough, that we are not ready, that we might look stupid or make a mistake. So we miss doing the work God wanted us to do.
Apollos spoke boldly, and he got a few things wrong. We can learn from Priscilla and Aquila’s reaction. They spoke to him privately and did not embarrass him. They did not shut him down; they rather instructed him and encouraged him in his ministry. They saw him as a partner, not a rival, because they shared a goal: to bring souls to Christ.
I cringe when I imagine how this scenario might play out today. If Apollos ever worked up the courage to speak at all, he would probably be attacked for his mistakes. We can and should do better. We can learn from our predecessors to lift each other up and encourage one another in sharing the love of Christ.
Leslie Sholly is a Catholic, Southern wife and mother of five, living in her hometown, Knoxville, Tennessee. She graduated from Georgetown University with an English major and Theology minor. She blogs at Life in Every Limb, where for 11 years she has covered all kinds of topics, more recently focusing on the intersection of faith, politics, and social justice.
Feature Image Credit: kasosita, www.cathopic.com/photo/13983-compartiendo-con-otros-palabra-dios
Bl. Margaret Pole: Saint of the Day for Saturday, May 28, 2022
Martyr of England. She was born Margaret Plantagenet, the niece of Edward IV and RichÂard III. She married Sir Reginald Pole about 1491 and bore five sons, including Reginald Cardinal Pole. Margaret was widowed, named countess of Salisbury, and appointed governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Hemy VIII and Queen Catherine of Aragon, Spain. She opposed HenryÂ?s marÂriage to Anne Boleyn, and the king exiled her from court, although he called her Â?the holiest woman in England.Â? When her son, …
Strength: Prayer of the Day for Saturday, May 28, 2022
I ask the Lord to give me the strength to lead my Marines and to retain the knowledge that will help me do my job and bring all my Marines home in one piece.
Who is Your Neighbor?
The Lord does not allow the big stuff to happen without letting his people know first. I had a bad day yesterday. It seemed like a lot of the darkness in the world was coming in at me at the same time. I knew I would survive. I just needed to be patient and to trust in the Lord to help me get back on track. That early evening, I watched a program on EWTN on Adoration. I felt refreshed. In Acts 18 today, once again, Jesus in a vision tells Paul after all those beatings and shipwrecks, “Do not be afraid”. Why would he say that? Because, Paul seemed to have a price on his head. Because, he was teaching something other than the Mosaic law. Jesus needed to give Paul some reassurance that all was well. That was enough for Paul to carry on and spend 1 1/2 years in Corinth preaching and teaching.
Jesus carries that theme, kind of, telling us we will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. Certainly, this is going on in the present moment. I can’t imagine the horror the people in the Ukraine are having with such great destruction and killing. Three million plus people have left the Ukraine and most of them were the elderly and women and children. They traveled to neighboring countries that would let them in. The men of fighting age were not allowed to leave. Which means there are thousands of children that no longer have a father and women that do not have a husband. God help them.
I heard a few months ago that the shift of wealth today is the greatest in our history. Would it be too much of a stretch to say that the wealthy might be rejoicing? The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. We must remember what God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. The 10 commandments. The second command of those commandments is to love our neighbor. Again. We come to that same conundrum of “Who is our neighbor?” Let me make it easy. It is anyone that the Lord places before you and me.
The pandemic taught us about weeping and mourning. It isn’t just about the physical damage, but also the emotional damage. Being in lockdowns, wearing masks, social distancing, and on and on. Many were necessary, but some were not. There have been plenty of opportunities for us to help our neighbor. How? Perhaps picking up groceries for them or giving them a ride to church or just visiting them or being a friend, etc., etc.
I went back to College in the mid 90’s. The curriculum was Family Life Education at Spring Arbor University. In one of our classes, our professor told us that there was a big culture shift in our country in the last generation. None of us could come up with what it could be. She said a generation ago towns were smaller and everyone knew their neighbors. And it went beyond that. If a neighbor needed help, there was someone nearby that would reach out and help. So, what is the big shift? It is the fact that our country has moved from a family and community-oriented world to a world of individuals. It didn’t take us long to agree with that culture shift. Many people care only about themselves. So, when it comes to needing help, the population of helpers has become much smaller. We need to help change that.
We need to hang out with kindred spirits. I will close with this last example. Last week our little church south of town had special devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary in celebration of Our Lady of Fatima. So what’s the big deal, you say? Afterwards the parish hall was set up for people to socialize. It included a light lunch, card games, etc. A little deal becomes a big deal because we are hanging out with kindred spirits. The spirit in the room changes when kindred spirits gather!
Serving with joy!
Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 50 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
Featured Image Credit: Omar Lopez, https://unsplash.com/photos/rwF_pJRWhAI
St. Augustine of Canterbury: Saint of the Day for Friday, May 27, 2022
At the end of the sixth century anyone would have said that Augustine had found his niche in life. Looking at this respected prior of a monastery, almost anyone would have predicted he would spend his last days there, instructing, governing, and settling even further into this sedentary life. But Pope St. Gregory the Great had lived under Augustine’s rule in that same monastery. When he decided it was time to send missionaries to Anglo-Saxon England, he didn’t choose those with restless …
Prayer for the Salvation of the World.: Prayer of the Day for Friday, May 27, 2022
Father, hear our prayers for the salvation of the world.
Grant Mercy to all souls that turned away from You.
Open their hearts and minds with Your light.
Gather Your children from the east and the west,
from the north and the south.
Have mercy O God on those who do not know You.
Bring them out of darkness into Your light.
You are our saving God
Who leads us in our salvation.
Protect us from evil.
Bless and praise You O Lord,
hear our prayers and answer us.
You, …
Now Heaven Is Present On The Earth
The Solemnity of the Ascension can be eclipsed for most of us by the Resurrection, Good Friday, and Christmas. For me, the Ascension is a liturgical feast that draws me inward and upward. Pope Benedict stated in his homily for the Ascension in 2013: “Christ’s Ascension means that he no longer belongs to the world of corruption and death that conditions our life. It means that he belongs entirely to God. He, the Eternal Son, led our human existence into God’s presence, taking with him flesh and blood in a transfigured form.”
My human existence led into God’s presence as Jesus took with him flesh and blood in a transfigured form….
My human existence led into God’s presence…
My human existence…
St. Augustine said that although Jesus ascended to the Father alone, “we also ascend, because we are in him by grace.”
We are led by Christ into the new world of the resurrection, where all the members of his body are drawn upwards to the Father in heaven.
The apostles, in the reading today, were still wondering when Jesus was going to restore the kingdom to Israel. His answer to them is that they “would receive power” when the Holy Spirit was given to them:
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
In other words, Jesus directs their attention to this “new world of his resurrection.” After being brought to the life by the Spirit, they were to set their minds and hearts on things above where Christ is, not on earthly things (cf. Col 3:1-2).
In the early Church the Christians placed the Christ of the Ascension in the dome of their Churches to remind them that Christ ascended to his Father in heaven and that he was returning.
“Come, Lord Jesus!”
In a world of turmoil and crisis in which so many are suffering unjustly and needlessly, we can pray daily, “Thy Kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
“Come, Lord Jesus!”
Perhaps we feel that we cannot effect the change the world so needs, but we can be that change. With our faith in Jesus Christ who is real, the strength of our belief in the kingdom present and among us in Christ who is close to us in our every need, we can experience how we are changed, how heaven is present on the earth and every sorrow, every closed door, every crisis is but a window to his drawing us with him to the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, is the author of the newly released title: Reclaim Regret: How God Heals Life’s Disappointments, by Pauline Books and Media. An author and spiritual mentor, she offers spiritual accompaniment for the contemporary Christian’s journey towards spiritual growth and inner healing. She is the director of My Sisters, where people can find spiritual accompaniment from the Daughters of St. Paul on their journey. Website: www.touchingthesunrise.com Public Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srkathrynhermes/ For monthly spiritual journaling guides, weekly podcasts and over 50 conferences and retreat programs join my Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/srkathryn.
Feature Image Credit: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
St. Philip Neri: Saint of the Day for Thursday, May 26, 2022
St. Philip Neri was a Christian missionary and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, a community of Catholic priests and lay brothers.
He was born in Florence on July 21, 1515 as one of four children to Francesco Neri.
From a very young age, Philip was known for being cheerful and obedient. He was affectionately referred to as “good little Phil.” He received his early teachings from friars at the Dominican monastery in Florence, San Marco.
At 18-years-old, Philip went off to live with …