Fourth Sunday of Easter

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

May is the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary

She is clothed with strength and dignity, 

and she laughs at the days to come.

MARY, QUEEN OF MOTHERS,

PRAY FOR US.

On you have I leaned from my birth,

from my mother's womb you have been my help.

My hope has always been in you.

(Psalm 70:6)

Welcome to Good Shepherd Sunday and the celebration of Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day. We pray for all mothers, biological, psychological, or spiritual, that through the intercession of Mary, Mother of God, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will guide them, and bless and reward them for their sacrifices, love, and care. Bless the work of their hands and hearts. 

The loveliest masterpiece of the heart of God is the heart of a mother.

(Saint Therese of Lisieux, "The Little Flower", 1873-1897)

A woman by her very nature is maternal - for every woman, either married or unmarried, is called upon to be a biological, psychological, or spiritual mother - she knows intuitively that to give, to nurture, to care for others, to suffer with and for them - for maternity implies suffering - is infinitely more valuable in God's sight than to conquer nations and fly to the moon.

(Alice von Hildebrand, 1923-2022)

We invoke some of the saints who were mothers ...

SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN,

SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON,

SAINT PERPETUA,

SAINT HELENA OF CONSTANTINOPLE,

SAINT MONICA,

SAINT OLGA OF KIEV,

SAINT ADELAIDE OF BURGANDY,

SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND,

SAINT HEDWIG OF SILESIA,

SAINT FRANCES OF ROME,

SAINT RITA OF CASCIA,

SAINT MARGARET POLE,

SAINT MARGARET BALL,

SAINT MARIE OF THE INCARNATION,

SAINT MARIE-MARGUERITE D'YOUVILLE,

SAINT MARIA CRISTINA OF SAVOY,

SAINT ELISABETTA SANNA,

BLESSED EUROSIA FABRIS BARBARI,

SAINT HILDEGARD BURJAN,

BLESSED CONCEPCION CABRERA DE ARMIDA,

BLESSED WIKTORIA ULMA,

SAINT GIANNA MOLLA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Give her a reward of her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates.

© Gertrude Feick 2025

Eastertide 2025

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

April is the month dedicated to the Divine Mercy

May is the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary

June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

By the Lord has this been done.

MARY, MOTHER OF HOPE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

DIVINE MERCY, SOURCE OF MIRACLES AND WONDERS,

I TRUST IN YOU.

HEART OF JESUS, IN WHOSE FULLNESS WE HAVE ALL RECEIVED,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Papa Francesco, 

Requiescat in Pace.

We pray for all the Cardinals who gather to elect the Holy Father's successor. At the same time, we pray for all the faithful. We have our part to play too. May the Holy Spirit guide and direct us. 

Our prayers continue as we pray for our Holy Father,

Pope Leo XIV. 

Auguri Papa Leone XIV.

Lord, God, keep Pope Leo XIV close to Your Sacred Heart. 

Guide him in truth, strengthen him in grace, 

and let his every step draw the Church nearer to you.

Amen.

He is risen. Alleluia! Sing praise; sing praise. 🎶 We welcome all the newly baptized and confirmed. Benvenuti a tutti! Together, may we grow in faith, joy, and happiness.

HAPPY EASTER!

BUON PASQUA!

FROHE OSTERN!

JOYEUSES PAQUES!

FELIZ PASCUA!

We welcome too the Easter morning birds, busy as they "fly beneath the dome of the sky," and sing praise from this tree and that one. God looks at it all and finds it very good. As Pilgrims of Hope, we hear from Cardinal Basil Hume, from an Easter Sunday Morning Television Program, 1986.

Easter is so much more than a welcome spring holiday. It has its own special meaning and importance. It offers us real hope. It is the key that unlocks the secrets of life. It reveals the immensity of God's love and the future He has planned for each of us ... Easter gives us an idea of what our life is for. Through Easter we see how the love of God shines through darkness and discouragement and death. We now have sure hope that there is meaning and a purpose in all that happens to us, and a future beyond our wildest dreams.

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! 

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in.

(Psalm 24)

Life is not a waiting room leading to the void but the beginning of eternity ...

God does not live in a distance castle, nor does He hide Himself behind impenetrable anterooms. The door is open; it is called Jesus Christ. The celebration of Easter is intended to show us the radiant light that streams from this door.

(Pope Benedict XVI, 1927-2022)

Throw open the door of your heart ... let the radiant light that streams from the King of Glory enter. 

SAINT MARCELLINUS, VINCENT AND DOMNINUS,

SAINT BEUNO,

SAINT AGNES OF MONTEPULCIANO, OP,

SAINT ANSELM OF CANTERBURY,

SAINT MAELRUBHA,

SAINT CAIUS AND SOTER,

SAINT GEORGE,

SAINT ADALBERT OF PRAGUE,

BLESSED TERESA MARIA OF THE CROSS,

SAINT FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN,

SAINT ERKENWALD,

SAINT EGBERT,

SAINT MARK THE EVANGELIST,

BLESSED ROBERT ANDERTON AND WILLIAM MARDSEN,

OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL,

SAINT ASICUS,

SAINT MAUGHOLD,

BLESSED HOSANNA OF KOTOR, OP,

SAINT PETER CHANEL,

SAINT LOUIS GRIGNION DE MONTFORT,

BLESSED MARIA GUGGLIARI ECHEVERRIA,

SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, VIRGIN, DOCTOR,

POPE SAINT PIUS V,

SAINT MARIE OF THE INCARNATION,

OUR LADY, MOTHER OF AFRICA,

SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER,

SAINT ATHANASIUS, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINTS PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES,

SAINT HILARY OF ARLES,

THE ENGLISH MARTYRS,

BLESSED MARIE-LEONIE PARADIS,

SAINT CONLETH,

SAINT BRIGID,

THE BEATIFIED MARTYRS OF ENGLAND AND WALES,

SAINT JOSE MARIA RUBIO,

BLESSED ANGEL PRAT HOSTENCH AND COMPANIONS,

BLESSED EMILY BICCHIERI,

SAINT ASAPH,

BLESSED EDMUND RICE,

SAINT RICHARD REYNOLDS,

SAINT ANGELUS,

SAINT FRANCOIS DE LAVAL,

SAINT EVODIUS,

BLESSED CHRISTIAN DE CHERGE AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS,

SAINT PETER OF TARENTAISE,

SAINT JOHN OF BEVERLEY,

SAINT ROSE VENERINI, 

BLESSED ALBERT OF BERGAMO, OP,

BLESSED CATHERINE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE,

BLESSED JOHN SULLIVAN,

BLESSED ALOYSIUS RABATA,

SAINT GEORGE PRECA,

SAINT PACHOMIUS,

SAINT LOUISE DE MARILLAC,

SAINT DAMIAN OF MOLOKAI,

SAINT JOHN OF AVILA,

SAINT COMGALL,

SAINT ANTONIUS OF FLORENCE, OP,

THE CARTHUSIAN MARTYRS,

SAINT EPIPHANIUS OF SALAMIS,

SAINTS NEREUS AND ACHILLEUS,

SAINT PANCRAS, MARTYR,

BLESSED JANE OF PORTUGAL, OP,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: With help from a ladder, I managed this one.☺ Sing praise to the Lord for His glorious achievement. 

© Gertrude Feick 2025

Holy Saturday

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

April is the month dedicated to the Divine Mercy

The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens,

that He might fill all things.

DIVINE MERCY, SHIELDING US FROM THE FIRE OF HELL,

I TRUST IN YOU.

OUR LADY OF SORROWS,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Pilgrims of hope, we wait.

Something strange is happening-there is a great silence on the earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

However, as the Lord takes Adam by the hand, He says ...

Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light ...

I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only person and we cannot be separated.

(From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday, in Office of Readings, Holy Saturday)

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy. 

Pope Saint John Paul II offered this about Holy Saturday:

On Holy Saturday, the Church, once again, identifies herself with Mary: all her faith is gathered in her, the first believer. In the darkness that envelopes creation, she remains alone to keep the flame of faith alive, preparing to welcome the joyful and surprising announcement of the Resurrection. In memory of the Mother of the Lord, the Christian community on this aliturgical day is called to devote herself to silence and meditation, nourishing in expectation the blessed hope of a renewed encounter with the Lord.

(Pope Saint John Paul II, Wednesday General Audience, April 3, 1996)

Let us be silent this day and ask Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows to pray for us so that we, like her, be strengthened in our faith. 

Solitude can be very rewarding and full of blessing because in the silence of the inner being, 

one finds God.

(Venerable Fulton Sheen)

BLESSED JAMES OLDO,

SAINT ALPHEGE,

BLESSED ISNARD OF CHIAMPO, OP,

BLESSED SIBYLLINA BISCOSSI, OP,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: From the archives, February 6, 2023. Praise God in His holy place, praise Him in the mighty heavens. 

© Gertrude Feick 2025

Holy Week

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

April is the month dedicated to the Divine Mercy

By His wounds we are healed. 

DIVINE MERCY, INSPIRING HOPE AGAINST ALL HOPE,

I TRUST IN YOU.

OUR LADY OF SORROWS,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

And to strengthen Him an angel from heaven appeared to Him.

(Luke 22:43)

Welcome to Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord and our entrance into Holy Week 2025. 

You ask, "Why, why, why?" and rightly so. Look at the cross, venerate it, embrace it in your prayer. Jesus had to go through darkness, pain, and death so as to give meaning to our darkness, our pain, and our death. But more than this: suffering and death become friends because through them we have received new life which will be ours now and after death, and for always.

(Cardinal Basil Hume, The Mystery of the Cross)

For our reflection this Holy Week, here are the Communion Antiphons for each day. When was the last time you prayed with a Communion Antiphon? 

Father, if this chalice cannot pass without my drinking it, your will be done.

(Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord)

Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress. 

Turn your ear towards me; on the day I call, speedily answer me.

(Monday of Holy Week)

God did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all.

(Tuesday of Holy Week)

The Son did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

(Wednesday of Holy Week)

I will sing for ever of your mercies, O Lord, through all ages my mouth will proclaim your fidelity.

(Chrism Mass)

This is the Body that will be given up for you; this is the Chalice of the new covenant in my Blood, says the Lord, do this, whenever you receive it, in memory of me.

(Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper)

And for Friday, the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord, the verse before the Gospel.

Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because us this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name.

We continue to "look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing" (RB 49:7) and pray:

O God, who in this season

give your Church the grace

to imitate devoutly the Blessed Virgin Mary

in contemplating the Passion of Christ,

grant, we pray, through her intercession,

that we cling more firmly each day

to Your only Begotten Son

and come at last to the fullness of grace. 

Dear Jesus, grant us the grace to resolutely follow you all the days of our lives. Venerable Fulton Sheen gives us something else to ponder ...

So when God pulls down the curtain on the drama of the world's redemption, He will not ask what part we played, but only how well we the played the role assigned to us.

(The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen, Blue Sparrow, 2021, entry for April 13, p. 39)

POPE SAINT MARTIN I,

SAINT MARGARET OF CASTELLO, OP,

BLESSED LUCIAN BOTOVASOA,

BLESSED PETER GOONZALEZ, OP,

SAINT BERNADETTE SOUBIROUS,

SAINT DONAN,

BLESSED BAPTIST SPAGNOLI OF MANTUA,

BLESSED CLARA GAMBACORTA, OP,

BLESSED MARIA MANCINI, OP,

SAINT LASERIAN OR MOLAISE,

BLESSED MARIE-ANNE BLONDIN,

BLESSED MARY OF THE INCARNATION,

SAINT ALPHEGE,

BLESSED ISNARD OF CHIAMPO, OP,

BLESSED SIBYLLINA BISCOSSI, OP,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Passionflower. From the archives, July 11, 2018.

© Gertrude Feick 2025

Ash Wednesday/Lent

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

March is the month dedicated to Saint Joseph

April is the month dedicated to the Divine Mercy

Thoroughly wash me from my guilt.

MARY, VIRGIN MOST POWERFUL,

MARY, MOTHER OF HOPE,

SAINT JOSEPH, SUPPORT IN DIFFICULTIES,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

DIVINE MERCY, SWEET RELIEF FROM ANGUISHED HEARTS,

I TRUST IN YOU.

Welcome to Ash Wednesday and the days following up to the First Sunday of Lent, now in March dedicated to Saint Joseph, the month that leads us to the month of April, the month dedicated to the Divine Mercy. 

Often, we enter the holy season of Lent with vigor and enthusiasm. We pray to cleanse ourselves of all that keeps us from growing closer to the Lord. We repent and ask our Lord for forgiveness for our faults and failings, to seek reconciliation with our neighbors, especially those with whom we live and work. And with that we add to the usual measure of our service something by way of private prayer and abstinence from food and drink, or in other words, we deny ourselves some food, drink, sleep, needless talking and idle jesting, as Saint Benedict teaches in Chapter 49 of the Holy Rule, "The Observance of Lent." As laudatory as all this is, it came to me this morning, tired already, that perhaps it might help to enter these holy days gently. It can happen that our initial vigor wanes as the days go on. The daily happens and we experience setbacks and just do not seem to be following our initial Lenten program so to speak. So, why not enter these days fully engaged, with a certain vigor, but simultaneously remember the God of mercy who loves us tenderly, with compassion and love. Remember, as Venerable Fulton Sheen said, "You are infinitely precious because you are loved by God." Infinitely precious; no matter what. Together, united in faith and prayer, whatever we offer to God these days, we want to offer it with the joy of the Holy Spirit so as to look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing (See RB 49).  We are in the Jubilee Holy Year of Hope. And, as Saint Paul writes, "Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). Be full of the love of God that has been given to you. His Love will sustain you. And remember with me: "I have the strength for everything through Him who empowers me" (Philippians 4:13). 

Hope is knowing that I have

been forgiven, my guilt removed.

Hope is knowing that there is a future,

a life after death.

Hope is knowing that there is love,

that there is a God,

and I am loved by Him.

Whatever happens He does care.

Hope is knowing that He has plans,

even if I do not understand them.

(Cardinal Basil Hume, The Mystery of Love)

As it has become an annual Lenten practice, I offer the following passed along to me some years ago by a friend of Cardinal Basil Hume, Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments. 

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ indwelling in them.

Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on unity of life.

Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.

Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.

Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger; feast on patience.

Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.

Fast from worry; feast on trust.

Fast from compliance; feast on appreciation.

Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.

Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.

Fast from hostility; feast on nonviolence.

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.

Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.

Fast from discouragement; feast on hope.

Fast from facts that depress; feast on truths that uplift.

Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.

Fast from suspicion; feast on truth.

Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.

Fast from idle gossip; feast of purposeful silence.

Gentle God, during this season of fasting and feasting, gift us with Your presence, so that we can be a gift to others in carrying out Your work. Amen.

Some other voices for this holy season ...

In this Holy Lent, let us lift up our hearts and always go forward to the triumph of the reign of Christ in society.

(Blessed, soon to be Saint, Pier Giorgio Frassati, 1901-1925)

Preparation for Lent begins with desire. We exist to desire God. As Saint Augustine says, "My heart is restless until it rests in Thee." In this is the preparation for Lent; touching a desire for God that is deep down in the heart. Desire is like a flame, it starts small and it grows. Lent should fan our desire for God into a bonfire ...

(Servant of God Catherine de Heuck Doherty, 1896-1985)

No sound ought to be heard in the Church but the healing voice of Christian charity.

(Edmund Burke, 1729-1797, in Taylor Caldwell, No One Hears But Him)

Lord, Jesus, open our hearts that we may hear, so that when we open our lips, our utterances may build up your Church.

(Father Richard Veras, in Magnificat, "The Sacred Act of Listening," February 2, 2025, p. 34)

Charity is a right attitude of mind which prefers nothing to the knowledge of God.

(From the chapters On Charity by Saint Maximus the Confessor, abbot, in Office of Readings, 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist in love? - "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you" ... Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ? - "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" ... Was not Thomas Jefferson and extremist? - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists will we be. Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love ...

(Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968, Letter from Birmingham Jail)

You must be in right earnest, or you will do little or nothing for God.

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

And parting words from a fellow American, enough to keep us busy for the days which make up a life that, as Saint Benedict says, should be a continuous Lent ...

To a great extent the world is what we make of it. We get back what we give. If we sow hate, we reap hate; if we scatter love and gentleness we harvest love and happiness. Other people are like a mirror which reflects back on us the kind of image we cast. The kind person bears with the infirmities of others, never magnifies trifles, and avoids a spirit of fault finding.

(Venerable Fulton Sheen, 1895-1979)

SAINT CHAD,

SAINT DAVID,

BLESSED CHARLES THE GOOD, COUNT OF FLANDERS,

SAINT KATHERINE DREXEL,

SAINT VIGNAL,

SAINT CASIMIR,

SAINT KIERAN, 

SAINT KYNEBURGHA,

POPE SAINT LUCIUS I, MARTYR,

SAINT JOHN JOSEPH OF THE CROSS,

SAINTS PERPETUA AND FELICITY,

SAINT STEPHEN OF OBAZINE, CISTERCIAN ABBOT,

SAINT JOHN OF GOD,

SAINT SENAN, BISHOP,

SAINT DUTHAC,

SAINT FELIX,

SAINT AENGUS,

SAINT CONSTANTINE, 

SAINT AUREA,

SAINT JOHN OGILVIE,

SAINT RODERICK,

SAINT THEOPHANUS,

BLESSED JOHN ANNE,

SAINT MATILDA,

SAINT LOUIS DE MARILLAC,

SAINT PATRICK, BISHOP, MISSIONARY,

SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT EDWARD THE MARTYR, 

BLESSED JAN TYRANOWSKI,

SAINT JOSEPH,

SERVANT OF GOD BLANDINA SEGALE,

SAINT HERBERT,

SAINT CUTHBERT,

SAINT BENEDICT,

SAINT ENDA,

SAINT DEOGRATIUS, 

SAINT NICHOLAS OWEN, 

SAINT LEA OF ROME,

BLESSED CLEMENS AUGUST VAN GALEN,

SAINT JOHN OF EGYPT,

SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON,

POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II,

SAINT FRANCIS OF PAOLA, HERMIT,

SAINT ISIDORE OF SEVILLE, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT VINCENT FERRER, PRIEST,

SAINT JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE,

SAINT STANISLAUS, BISHOP, MARTYR,

SAINT PETER CHANEL, PRIEST, MARTYR,

SAINT LOUIS MARIE GRIGNION DE MONTFORT,

SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, VIRGIN, DOCTOR,

POPE SAINT PIUS V,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: And of my sin cleanse me.

© Gertrude Feick 2025

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

February is the month dedicated to the Holy Family

Reading from the Rule of Saint Benedict for February: Chapter 7:35 through Chapter 23 Excommunication for Faults

Who is this king of glory?

JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH,

    MARY, MOTHER OF MERCY

MARY, HEALTH OF THE INFIRM,

MARY, CONSOLER OF THE AFFLICTED, 

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Welcome to February, the month dedicated to the Holy Family. Today is the day we officially end the holy Christmas Season with the Presentation of the Lord, also called Candlemas. Behold, our Lord will come with power, to enlighten the eyes of His servants, alleluia. At the same time, we mark the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life.

And if that’s not enough, we celebrate the World Day of the Sick on February 11. We pray for all the sick this month, and those who suffer in any way be it physical, mental, or spiritual. Remember that Our Lord, the Divine Physician, came for the sick; those who are well do not need a physician. Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners (See Mark 2:17). Watch out. There is some moving and shoving going on to get to the head of the line.☺ Jesus, heal us according to Your divine will. May Our Lady of Lourdes cover us in her protective veil. May she sustain our faith and hope and help us care for one another in fraternal love.* As Saint Benedict says: "Care of the sick must rank above and before all else, so that they truly be served as Christ" (RB 36:1).

About the Presentation of the Lord then. When I pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and it's time for the Fourth Mystery, the Presentation of Jesus, I reflect on how I present Jesus in me to others. And how I welcome the Jesus presented to me in others. Hmmm. What will it be at any given moment or anytime of the day. Saint Teresa of Calcutta offers this: "We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do." Some years ago, I saw this little saying on the counter of a restaurant: "Kindness is free. Sprinkle that stuff everywhere." And I remember what Saint Benedict says about guests: "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ" (RB 53:1). So what is the Jesus in me and the Jesus in you about this month. 

Our voices are a little of this and a little of that, all though encourage us and add a few more words of wisdom to pray with. 

We sometimes feel more troubled and preoccupied by the suffering of a friend or a child than by our own suffering. In itself, this may be fine and good, but it must never become an occasion for despair ... our distress is legitimate, but we must remain peaceful.

(Father Jaques Philippe, b. 1947, Searching for and Maintaining Peace: 

A Small Treatise on Peace of the Heart)

Like action, suffering is part of our human existence ... Certainly we must do whatever we can to reduce suffering: to avoid as far as possible the suffering of the innocent; to soothe pain; to give assistance in overcoming mental suffering. These are obligations both in justice and in love, and they are included among the fundamental requirements of the Christian life and every truly human life.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi On Christian Hope, 36)

It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi On Christian Hope, 37)

The glory of the living God is made manifest to the eyes of faith and hope in the frail flesh of a child, In baptism we have been made the temple of the living God. Let us welcome the Lord of glory in whatever guise He comes to us in, receiving Him in joyful prayer, in purity of heart, and in charity toward all.

(Magnificat, February 2, 2025, commentary of Psalm 24, p. 37)

Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do ... but how much love we put in that action.

(Venerable Fulton Sheen, 1895-1979)

Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.

(Fruits of the Holy Spirit)

God loves a cheerful giver.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 5:16/2 Cor 9:7)

We conclude with a doozy we've heard before. Shout it out, Sister. Let your light shine for all to see. 

Every day we are called to be salt for the world, bringing the flavor of [Jesus' love] to a culture bland from disillusionment. Spending my daily life on plans that are focused merely on myself is putting a bushel basket over what Jesus wants others to see and witness: 

His love radiating uniquely through you.

(Sister Faustina Maria Pia, S.V., the Sisters of Life)

SAINT ANSGAR, BISHOP,

SAINT BLAISE, BISHOP, MARTYR,

SAINT AGATHA, VIRGIN, MARYTR,

SAINTS PAUL MIKI AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTRYS,

SAINT JEROME EMILIANI,

SAINT JOSEPHINE BAKHITI, VIRGIN,

SAINT SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN,

SAINT TEILO,

OUR LADY OF LOURDES,

SAINT GOBNAIT,

SAINT JULIAN THE HOSPITALLER,

BLESSED REGINALD OF ORLEANS,

SAINT HUMBELINE OF JULLY,

SAINT CYRIL, MONK,

SAINT METHODIUS, BISHOP,

THE SEVEN HOLY FOUNDERS OF THE SERVITE ORDER,

SAINT PETER,

SAINT GREGORY OF NAREK, ABBOT, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH,

PRAY FOR US.

*Pope Francis, Prayer for Those Who are Sick.

Today's photo: From the Joyful Mystery of the Birth of Jesus to the Joyful Mystery of the Presentation of Jesus. May we bear the fruits of Love of God and Sacrifice. A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel. 

© Gertrude Feick 2025

The Baptism of the Lord

Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

Reading from the Rule of Saint Benedict for January 1-21: The Prologue of the Holy Rule - Chapter 4 The Tools for Good Works.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

JESUS, MODEL OF GOODNESS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, QUEEN AND MOTHER,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Dear faithful readers, I thought to give a brief shout today. After all, it is the Baptism of the Lord, the day the Holy Father, following a tradition established in 1981 by Pope Saint John Paul II, baptized 21 babies in the Sistene Chapel. For a bit of history then, it was in 1981, when then Pope John Paul II began baptizing children in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, a ceremony that was reserved for children of Swiss Guards. In 1983, the Mass was moved to the Sistene Chapel and eventually extended to children of all Vatican employees. Give God the praise! 

Today is a day when, as Pope Francis preached, "Each of you, parents, and the Church itself are giving the greatest gift, the greatest gift: the gift of faith to the children." Our baptism is the greatest day of our lives, and, as such, is a day when we remember our date of baptism. Do you remember the date of your baptism? If you don't, why not contact the parish where you were baptized and ask. Mark your calendars and celebrate each year. As a voice from heaven came to Jesus, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased," the voice comes to each one of you, "You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased." Grateful for the gift, may we receive the grace this week to live our baptismal promises with deeper authenticity and fervor.*

Now with a few voices to encourage us ...

Baptism is the "the sacrament of faith" in a particular way, 

since it is the sacramental entry into the life of faith.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1236)

Jesus listened with an open ear and an open heart to the voice of His Father. Listening, He obeyed. Let us, who have been baptized in Him, listen to the voice that calls us beloved children and gives us a work to do, the work of the Gospel proclaimed and lived in love for God and neighbor.

(Magnificat, Prayer for the Morning, commentary on Psalm 40, January 12, 2025, p. 161)

At your baptism, Jesus entered the world in a new way through His union with you and all that is unique in you.

(Father Richard Veras)

The soul is regenerated in the sacred waters of baptism and thus becomes God's child.

(Saint Maximilian Kolbe, 1894-1941)

Christ is baptized, not to be made holy by the water, but to make the water holy, and by His cleansing to purify the waters which He touched.

(Saint Maximus of Turin, 380-465)

Baptism places upon our souls a mark that forever will identify it as one privileged of God.

(Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, OP, 1914-1988)

In baptism we have been made the temple of the living God. Let us welcome the Lord of glory in whatever guise He comes, receiving Him in joyful prayer, in purity of heart, and in charity toward all.

(Magnificat, Prayer for the Morning, commentary on Psalm 24, February 2, 2024)

And as Pilgrims of Hope in this Jubilee Year ...

In Your sacrament we daily embrace You and receive You into our bodies; make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope. We have had Your treasure hidden within us ever since we received baptismal grace; it grows ever richer at Your sacramental table. Teach us to find our joy in Your favor! Lord, we have within us Your memorial, received at Your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new.

(From a sermon by Saint Ephrem, deacon, in Office of Readings, June 9)

* See Magnificat, January 11, 2025, Suggested Prayer of the Faithful, p. 160.

Today's photo: On a recent visit to "back home again in Indiana," I took this on a snowy and cold day while on a long walk. See the White River, with floating mallards, view from a bridge on College Avenue, Indianapolis, IN. I bet Jesus was glad he wasn't baptized in this frigid river. Burr ...😊 The Lord, over vast waters.

© Gertrude Feick 2025