A Bethany - for you and for me...

 "Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle 

of Christian friends by a good fire?” – CS Lewis

 

The sun sets the sky on fire behind St John the Baptist Catholic Church, Jordan, Minnesota - USA.  
The Son sets a fire on the inside! 

"I cannot see how anyone could live as a Christian and not feel the need for the constant friendship of Jesus in the word and in the bread, in prayer and in the Eucharist. ... And so we learn to thank our Lord for His kindness in not limiting His presence to the time of the sacrifice of the altar. He has decided to stay with us in the host which is reserved in the tabernacle.

For me the tabernacle has always been a Bethany, a quiet and pleasant place where Christ resides. A place where we can tell Him about our worries, our sufferings, our desires, our joys, with the same sort of simplicity and naturalness as Martha, Mary and Lazarus.

That is why I rejoice when I stumble upon a church in town or in the country; it's another tabernacle, another opportunity for the soul to escape and join in intention our Lord in the Sacrament. 

St Josemaria Escriva

Christ is Passing By, 154

More oneself...

"Help me to journey beyond the familiar 

and into the unknown. 

Give me the faith to leave old ways 
and break fresh ground with You." - St Brendan

"The Mass is not only about

God becoming man,

it is about Man

becoming more himself."

GK Chesterton

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Painting:  Man receiving Communion before Battle

 in the Thirty Years War by Nils Forsberg 

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Blessed Mother’s Day to all!

"A partnership with God is motherhood.

What beauty, what love, what self control

must belong to her who helps God

fashion an immortal soul!" (Author Unknown)

Some have had kings in their lineage,

Some to whom honor was paid.

Not blest of my ancestors - but,

I have a mother who prays.

I have a mother who prays for me

And pleads with the Lord every day for me.

Oh what a difference it makes for me - 

I have a mother who prays.

Some have worldly success

And trust in riches they've made - 

This is my surest asset,

I have a mother who prays.

My mother's prayers cannot save me,

Only mine can avail;

But mother introduced me to Someone - 

Someone who never could fail.

Oh yes... I have a mother who prays for me

And pleads with the Lord every day for me.

O what a difference it makes for me - 

I have a mother who prays.

Author Unknown

The world needs Christ's light...

  "Peace be with all of you." 

Pope Leo XIV first public statement 
8 May 2025

"The world needs Christ’s light. 
Humanity needs Him 

to be the bridge so that 

God and His love can reach us.”

Pope Leo XIV

Painting:  Christ the Savior with the Eucharist - Juan de Jaunes

Episcopal motto:
In the one Christ we are one.
In illo uno unum

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Offer your favorite prayer for Pope Leo NOW!

First Holy Communion (3rd in series of 3)...

 "How lovely it was, that first kiss of Jesus in my heart — 

it was truly a kiss of love." - St Thérèse of Lisieux

St. Thérèse of Lisieux tells of the experience of her First Holy Communion...

"I would not tell you everything, even if I could, for there are certain things which lose their fragrance in the open air, certain thoughts so intimate that they cannot be translated into earthly language without losing at once their deep and heavenly meaning. How lovely it was, that first kiss of Jesus in my heart — it was truly a kiss of love. I knew that I was loved and said, “I love You, and I give myself to You forever.”

Jesus asked for nothing, He claimed no sacrifice. Long before that, He and little Thérèse had seen and understood one another well, but on that day it was more than a meeting — it was a complete fusion. We were no longer two, for Thérèse had disappeared like a drop of water lost in the mighty ocean. Jesus alone remained — the Master and the King. Had she not asked Him to take away her liberty, the liberty she feared? She felt so weak and frail that she wanted to unite herself forever to His Divine Strength. And her joy became so vast, so deep, that now it overflowed. Soon she was weeping, to the astonishment of her companions, who said to one another later on: “Why did she cry? Was there something on her conscience? Perhaps it was because her mother was not there, or the Carmelite sister she loves so much.”

It was beyond them that all the joy of Heaven had entered one small, exiled heart, and that it was too frail and weak to bear it without tears. As if the absence of my mother could make me unhappy on the day of my First Communion! As all Heaven entered my soul when I received Jesus, my mother came to me as well. Nor could I cry because you were not there, we were closer than ever before. It was joy alone, deep ineffable joy that filled my heart."

Excerpt from St. Thérèse’s autobiography, The Story of a Soul

St Thérèse of Lisieux

France ~ 1873-1897

Carmelite, Doctor of the Church

First Holy Communion date: May 8, 1884

Painting above: Ecce Agnus Dei - Albert Chevallier Tayler

A day in HISTORY:  Today, May 8, is not only the Anniversary of St Therese's First Holy Communion, but also the Birthday Anniversary of both St John Vianney and Ven Fulton J Sheen, and also the election of Pope Leo XIV and another - the Anniversary of my First Holy Communion - oh-so-many years ago. Earlier in that week I had contracted the measles and so was home convalescing, but I remember the day vividly! 

Everything was made ready:  Two tiny beeswax candles were lit from the Crucifix Sick Call set.  A silver spoon lay ready next to a glass of water in case I needed assistance. 

When Fr.Kern brought the Blessed Sacrament into our home a sweet, holy hush blanketed the living room. The relatives that had gathered to celebrate my private First Holy Communion, reverently bowed very low.  I listened, I watched and I pondered all - fittingly dressed in my white dress and veil.  My polka-dotted face held a beaming grin and my heart nearly burst! ~ Janette

Translation for Holy card: "The things of earth seem of little account when one possesses the highest good." 

Oh, happy, holy day!

Do you remember/can you figure out 

your First Holy Communion date? 

Do HEARTILY celebrate it!

First Holy Communion (2nd in series of 3)...

 "Today I have received Jesus, 

and now I possess Him entirely in my 

miserable soul...."- St Gemma Galgani

An excerpt from a letter of St Gemma, 

happily describing her First Communion Day

to her Spiritual Director, Fr Gernamus Ruoppolo, C.P:

"I prepared myself, with much work on the part of those 

good nuns, for my general Confession.  I made it 

in three sessions to Msgr. Volpi. I finished it 

on Saturday, the vigil of that happy day.

Finally, Sunday morning came. I arose early and ran 

to Jesus for the first time.  At last my desires were 

realized.  I understood for the first time the promise 

of Jesus: 'He who eats of Me shall live of My life.'

Dear Father, I do not know how to tell what passed 

between Jesus and me at that moment.  Jesus made 

Himself felt very strongly by my poor soul. I understood 

at that moment that the delights of heaven are not 

like those of the earth.  I felt myself overcome by the

desire to render that union with my God continual.  

I felt weary of the world more and more, 

and more disposed to recollection. 

It was that same morning that Jesus gave me 

the great desire to be a religious."

St Gemma Galgani

1878-1903

Patron Saint of Children and First Communion

St Gemma received her First Holy Communion (age 9) 

on June 17, 1887, the Solemnity of the 

Sacred Heart of Jesus that year.

Top Photo image hat tip: Click here: Trust Like A Child - Totus Tuus Family & Catholic Homeschool
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Do you remember/can you figure out 

your First Holy Communion date? 

Do HEARTILY celebrate it!