All that is known of Dismas is that he is the Good Thief crucified with Christ on Calvary. The other thief is known as Gestas. A completely unsubstantiated myth from the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy that enjoyed great popularity in the West during the Middle Ages had two thieves who held up the Holy Family on the way to Egypt. Dismas bought off Gestas with forty drachmas to leave them unmolested, whereupon the Infant predicted that they would be crucified with Him in Jerusalem, and that Dismas …
Author: WebDept ParishAdmin
Saint Anthony, Performer of Miracles: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, March 25, 2021
Dear St. Anthony, your prayers obtained miracles during your lifetime. You still seem to move at ease in the realm of minor and major miracles. St. Anthony, Performer of Miracles, please obtain for me the blessings God holds in reserve who serve Him. Pray that I may be worthy of the promises my Lord Jesus attaches to confident prayer. (Mention your special intentions.)
Freedom
“And the truth will set you free” is a phrase we often hear thrown around in movies but did you know it came from Jesus himself? I didn’t.
It wasn’t until I was reading today’s Gospel reading in which Jesus says, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” to his believers (John 8:32).
Their response, much like my response would have been, is one of confusion because they have never been enslaved. Weren’t they already free? Aren’t we already free? But Jesus goes on to explain that it is through sin that they, and we, are slaves.
As we sin, we become slaves to the actions, the inactions, and the impulses that cause us to turn away from God. It is through Christ’s goodness, our Heavenly Father’s favor, that we find ourselves more free than we could possibly imagine.
Living a life of love and mercy provides us with a joy that will pervade all of our actions. We know this is true because how many hearts have we met that are on fire for the Lord and have that bright glow around them? Just being near them, you feel joy in the Lord. Just by joining in prayer and praise to God with them, you can feel the freedom of peace and of love.
So today, as we stand only days from Holy Week, I ask you…
Will you choose freedom?
Veronica Alvarado is a born and raised Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has published various articles in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, the Catholic Spirit, and other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.
Feature Image Credit: Austin Schmid, https://unsplash.com/photos/hRdVSYpffas
St. Aldemar: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Abbot and miracle worker, called “the Wise.” Born in Capua, Italy, he became a monk in Monte Cassino and was called to the attention of a Princess Aloara of the region. When she built a new convent in Capua, Alder became the director of the religious in the established house. He performed many miracles in this capacity. Aldemar was reassigned by his abbot to Monte Cassino, a move that angered the princess. As a result, Aldemar went to Boiana, Italy, where a companion involved in the …
Prayer to the Holy Spirit # 1: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Come, Holy Spirit,
fill my heart with Your holy gifts.
Let my weakness be penetrated with Your strength this very day
that I may fulfill all the duties of my state conscientiously,
that I may do what is right and just.
Let my charity be such as to offend no one,
and hurt no one’s feelings;
so generous as to pardon sincerely any wrong done to me.
Assist me, O Holy Spirit,
in all my trials of life,
enlighten me in my ignorance,
advise me in my doubts,
strengthen me in my …
Winter Waves
The wind today is particularly aggressive and our little portion of Lake Michigan is turbulent. As I drove up the lakefront after work I noticed how violent and unsettled the water was. I could see the whitecaps all the way to the horizon and the waves breaking closer to shore reminded me of the ocean, crashing into each other at improbable angles. They seemed to be approaching from both the southeast and the northeast. The water was the color of coffee with just the right amount of cream.
It wasn’t the first time I sat in that lot and took a crummy phone video of the waves to show my family. There is something that pulls me in there whenever they are active.
I wasn’t alone. Several photographers arrived with cameras with long lenses around their neck. One squatted down to get the perfect angle. Another set up a tripod. Over on the beach, surfers were rejoicing. A mother shivered next to her son who pointed at the breaking waves. A father called his daughter off the rocks. Couples walked past and a runner stopped and sat on the rocks for a few minutes. People in work clothes jumped out with their phones for a few shots and people in sweats posed for pictures with the waves behind them. We were all pulled to the water.
I realized the waves looked like how my heart feels – unsettled, at odds, moving in different directions. I wondered if others’ hearts felt the same.
In this time of an unsettled heart, I am consoled by the plea heard in today’s Responsorial Psalm. “Let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress.” (Ps 102: 2-3) Yes! This is our cry when the waves are crashing.
I wonder if God sees the same beauty in our turbulent hearts that we see in the turbulent lake. I think he does. I think it is in those times when we feel out of control and we cry out to him that he smiles, not because he is glad we are troubled, but because we go to him. At any moment he can still the water and our hearts.
And he does. “The LORD looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” (Ps 102: 20-21) He hears our cry, he sees our distress, and he rescues us. He sent his Son to save us from death and he comforts us when the waves in our heart are churned up. He is so very good.
Merridith Frediani’s perfect day includes prayer, writing, unrushed morning coffee, reading, tending to dahlias, and playing Sheepshead with her husband and three kids. She loves finding God in the silly and ordinary. She writes for Ascension Press, Catholic Mom, and her local Catholic Herald in Milwaukee. Her first book Draw Close to Jesus: A Woman’s Guide to Eucharistic Adoration is expected to be released summer 2021. You can reach her at merridith.frediani@gmail.com
Feature Image Credit: photo taken by Merridith Frediani
St. Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Bishop and defender of the rights of the native Indians in Peru, Born in Mayorga, Spain, he studied law and became a lawyer and then professor at Salamanca, receiving appointment-despite being a layman-as chief judge of the court of Inquisition at Granada under King Philip II of Spain. The king subsequently appointed him in 1580 to the post of archbishop of Lima, Peru. After receiving ordination and then consecration, he arrived in Peru in 1581 and soon demonstrated a deep zeal to reform the …
Prayer for the Church the Authorities, Etc…: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, March 23, 2021
(Composed by Archbishop Carroll in 1800.)
We pray Thee, O Almighty and Eternal God,
who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations,
to preserve the works of Thy mercy;
that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world,
may continue, with unchanging faith,
in the confession of Thy name.
We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy,
to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal,
and sanctity of life our chief bishop, N.,
the Vicar of our Lord …
Silent Trust
“Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil, for you are at my side.”
What do you think of as you hear these words from today’s Responsorial Psalm?
Trust? Courage?
Trust and courage, two essential virtues, go hand in hand through today’s Responsorial Psalm, readings, and Gospel, which is rather a fitting theme as the dangers of COVID-19 still surround us.
Trust is complete surrender to the One who knows what the plan is, whereas courage is the guts to actually do it.
Courage, in its simplest form, is the guts to trust in the Lord, the one who holds everything in the palm of his hand. In the readings today we have examples of two women who display both of these virtues.
In the First Reading, we read about a young woman named Susanna, who was unjustly accused of adultery. Susanna, as we all know, was completely innocent of this crime, but notice that she does nothing to contradict the elders who accused her, save pray to God.
“Here I am about to die, though I have done none of these things which these wicked men have charged against me.” She does not even ask to be spared from execution, she trusts the Lord completely, that only his will will come to pass, even if it results in her death.
Trust. She trusts that the Lord’s plan will shine through in the end, and so she is not afraid. She is brave in the midst of dangers because she knows that “You are at my side.”
In the Gospel, again, we come across a woman accused of committing adultery. She, too, was to be sentenced to death (though the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus into condemning her, which, of course did not work). For a second time we see men testify to a crime with little to no evidence as proof.
Jesus is not a man to be taken lightly in the matters of condemning someone. He is also not a man to be tricked into condemning someone. Notice that this woman, too, does not say a single thing except answering Jesus. “No one, sir.”
Trust.
Like Susanna, she did not ask for pardon. She does not blurt out her story, or even demand to be heard. I wonder if she was praying. Jesus ultimately saw in her something that the Pharisees missed: courage and trust. The woman, silent yet brave, trusted completely. That is why she stayed silent. It was not that she did not value her life, it was because she knew that God was in control. She did not have to speak to be saved. Courage does not need words; neither does trust.
Both women had courage, they both trusted in the Lord, and as a result they were delivered from death.
“Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil, for you are at my side.” These words are very true, as outlined in the readings of today. Be brave. Trust in the Lord. And above all, do not fear any evil, for he is at your side.
Perpetua Phelps is a high school student residing in West Michigan and is the second of four children. Apart from homeschooling, Perpetua enjoys volunteering at her church, attending retreats, studying Latin and French, and reading classics such as Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, and Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc. She also spends much time writing novels, essays, and poetry for fun and competition. A passionate Tolkien fan, Perpetua is a founding member of a Tolkien podcast.
Feature Image Credit: Exe Lobaiza, https://www.cathopic.com/photo/3758-mujer-contemplando
St. Lea: Saint of the Day for Monday, March 22, 2021
A letter which St. Jerome wrote to St. Marcella provides the only information we have about St. Lea, a devout fourth century widow. Upon the death of her husband, she retired to a Roman monastery and ultimately became its Superior. Since his correspondence was acquainted with the details of St. Lea’s life, St. Jerome omitted these in his letter. He concentrated instead on the fate of St. Lea in comparison with that of a consul who had recently died. “Who will praise the blessed Lea as she …