O Lord, my God,
Creator and Ruler of the universe,
it is Your Will that human beings accept the duty of work.
May the work I do bring growth in this life to me
and those I love and help to extend the Kingdom of Christ.
Give all persons work that draws them to You
and to each other in cheerful service.
I unite all my work with the Sacrifice of Jesus
in the Mass that it may be pleasing to You and give You glory.
I beg Your Blessing upon all my efforts.
With Saint …
Month: June 2022
A Whole New Game
Today we encounter one of the most difficult teachings of Jesus – to “love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” These words, central to all of Christian teaching and thought, have troubled our broken human nature since they were uttered. Jesus then goes on to give examples of exactly how just God is with His creatures and how equal His love for all of them is. The sun shines on the good and bad, and rains fall on the just and the unjust. Being good earns you no special favors, and equally important, doing evil does not cut you out of God’s gracious consideration.
Our human sensibilities bristle at this type of world order. We expect just punishment for crimes committed. We expect those who have done evil to have evil befall them and are quick to associate unfortunate circumstances with poor decisions. And, because our egos are so massive, we would like to see God follow in our footsteps. How naïve and illogical we are! The created do not lead the Creator. It is the Creator who shapes the creature and gives it space to move in.
Jesus is truly God and truly man. This means that while He is fully God, he also fully understands human nature. Understanding, however, doesn’t mean that Jesus made accommodations for it. Instead, as St. Anselm so captivatingly put it, “The Son of God became man so that we might become God.” Jesus takes our human nature and draws us up into the divine nature. We aren’t supposed to remain on our playing field. We are called to a wholly new game, one with divine rules.
One of the most fundamental rules is what Jesus teaches us today. That all people, no matter who they are, or aren’t, to us, are worthy of our love and prayers.
Kate Taliaferro is an Air Force wife and mother. She is blessed to be able to homeschool, bake bread and fold endless piles of laundry. When not planning a school day, writing a blog post or cooking pasta, Kate can be found curled up with a book or working with some kind of fiber craft. Kate blogs at DailyGraces.net.
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St. Methodius I: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Patriarch of Constantinople, modem Istanbul. He was born in Syracuse, Sicily, and builta monastery on the island of Chios. After some time in Constantinople, he was sent to Rome in 815 as the representative of Patriarch Nicephorus, who was exiled by Emperor Leo V the Armenian for refusing to yield to the imperial decrees on the destruction of icons. Methodius returned in 821 and was himself scourged and imprisoned for seven years. Finally, in 842, Empress Theodora arranged for his elevation as …
Prayer for America: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Father, once again we are reminded that any security we have as individuals
and as a nation comes only from the abiding hope and trust we have in You.
Once again, we are cut to the heart
at the loss of life and damage to peace
that we have suffered as a nation.
So, Father, today we come to You
and we seek Your peace for the families and victims of the horrible tragedy.
For those still lost in the rubble of destruction,
we ask for the safety of Your hand.
For …
Love’s Response to Evil
In today’s Gospel we hear the famous words of Christ to “turn the other cheek” to those who are evil. The command “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was an Old Testament law intended as part of a justice system. By Jesus’ time, however, the law was no longer being used as it was intended. It is for that reason, therefore, that Jesus elevates the Old Testament law and instead calls us to return evil with love rather than revenge.
This is not an easy thing for us to hear or an easy command for us to follow. Oftentimes we do not return “an eye for an eye” out of revenge but we do so in self defense and out of a sense of self preservation. Our intention is to look out for ourselves. I think it is easy for us to fixate on questioning why Jesus would want us to simply accept evil when we encounter it rather than combating it. He is not telling us that we should endure hateful, abusive, or uncharitable relationships. Rather, I think He is saying that evil does not go away when fought with more evil. I am reminded of the words of Martin Luther King, Jr: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that”. This is what Jesus wants us to understand. We are called to be the light that drives out darkness and the love that drives out hate in our world. Jesus came as the Light of the World and it is our mission to continue to be that light until we are united with Him in His heavenly kingdom.
Christ is the perfect example of turning the other cheek. He faced immense hate and evil in His life but He responded to everything He endured with love. The very reason He endured His Passion and Death was out of love for us. He gave His life for us who have nothing to give Him out of pure love and so that we can be fully united with Him.
Jesus’ purpose in His command is to urge us to be humble and charitable in all situations, not just those in which it is easy to practice humility and charity. If we return evil with love, we will be that much more willing and able to show charity to those who ask a service of us. We will also be more able to give more to those who have nothing.
Today, on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, may our prayer be that of St. Anthony: “Lord Jesus, bind me to You and to my neighbor with love. May my heart not be turned away from You. May my soul not be deceived nor my talent or mind enticed by allurements of error, so that I may never distance myself from Your love. Thus may I love my neighbor as myself, with strength, wisdom, and gentleness, with Your help, You who are blessed throughout all ages. Amen.”
Dakota lives in Denver, CO with her husband, Ralph, and their two sons, Alfie & Theophilus. She is the Dean of Enrollment Management for Bishop Machebeuf High School where her husband also teaches. You can find Dakota at the zoo or a brewery with her family or with her nose in a book at home. For more of Dakota’s writing check out https://dakotaleonard16.blogspot.com/
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St. Anthony of Padua: Saint of the Day for Monday, June 13, 2022
Saint Anthony was born Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal. He was born into a wealthy family and by the age of fifteen asked to be sent to the Abbey of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, the then capital of Portugal. During his time in the Abbey, he learned theology and Latin.
Following his ordination to the priesthood, he was named guestmaster and was responsible for the abbey’s hospitality. When Franciscan friars settled a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to Saint Anthony of Egypt, Fernando …
Saint Anthony of Padua: Prayer of the Day for Monday, June 13, 2022
Holy Saint Anthony, gentle and powerful in your help, your love for God and charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were always ready to request for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain for me (request). The answer to my prayer may require a miracle. Even so, you are the Saint of miracles. Gentle and loving Saint Anthony, whose heart is ever full of human …
Three Persons in One God
Today is Trinity Sunday. The First and Second Reading, as well as the Gospel, all speak to the reality of the Trinity. The First Reading foreshadows what we will come to understand more deeply through the person of Christ and his apostles in the New Testament. Namely that the Trinity is three persons in one God…existing from all eternity.
“Wisdom” in Proverbs 8:30-31 it says: “I [was] beside [the Lord] as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the human race.”
Wisdom foreshadows the Holy Spirit. The phrase “…playing on the surface of the earth” brings to mind the “wind” referred to in Genesis 1:1, which at the dawn of creation “swept over the waters.”
This personification of wisdom also foreshadows the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, the Word made flesh: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things came to be through him, and without Him nothing came to be.”
The concept of the Trinity, three persons in one God, who has no beginning and no end, is mind-boggling. If you have ever tried to explain the triune God to a young person or a person who has never heard of it, you will know how intimidating such a task can be. There is no easy way to explain the Trinity. Maybe that’s because there is no way to explain it, period! We can explore it intellectually, but we will always fall short. The Godhead is simply too big for our finite minds to comprehend.
When one of my children was 7 years old, I heard her talking out loud to herself while she was slowly raking leaves into a huge pile in our front yard. “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” she said meditatively, “Three persons in one God.”
Yes, the doctrine of the Trinity is a great mystery! But even little ones can be sure that it is true, because it has been revealed to us by Christ Himself and, for 2000 years, has been taught by His Church. Happy Trinity Sunday!
Christine Hanus is a thwarted idealist who, nevertheless, lives quite happily in Upstate NY. She is a wife and mother of five grown children.
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St. John of Sahagun: Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 12, 2022
John Gonzales de Castrillo was born at Sahagun, Leon Spain. He was educated by the Benedictine monks of Fagondez monastery there and when twenty, received a canonry from the bishop of Burgos, though he already had several benefices. He was ordained in 1445; concerned about the evil of pluralism, he resigned all his benefices except that of St. Agatha in Burgos. He spent the next four years studying at the University of Salamanca and then began to preach. In the next decade he achieved a great …
Prayer to St. Gabriel, for Intercession: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, June 12, 2022
O Blessed Archangel Gabriel, we beseech thee, do thou intercede for us at the throne of divine Mercy in our present necessities, that as thou didst announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation, so through thy prayers and patronage in heaven we may obtain the benefits of the same, and sing the praise of God forever in the land of the living. Amen.