Sunday, May 31, 2026

1+1+1 = One...

  "The Best ideal is the true and other truth is none. 
All glory be ascribed to the holy Three in One."  
Gerard Manley Hopkins

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Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
"All three in a great dynamic of love, are so close 
that they are One God." - Fr. John Foley, S. J.

Trinity Sunday, officially "The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity," is one of the few feasts of the Christian Year that celebrates a reality and doctrine rather than an event or person. On Trinity Sunday we remember and honor the eternal God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday is celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost, and lasts only one day, which is symbolic of the unity of the Trinity. The Eastern Churches have no tradition of Trinity Sunday, arguing that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday. Westerners do as well, although they set aside a special feast day for the purpose.

Horae ad usum Parisiensem [Grandes Heures de Jean de Berry]. Auteur : Jacquemart de Hesdin. Enlumineur Auteur : pseudo-Jacquemart. Enlumineur Auteur : Maître de Boucicaut. Enlumineur Auteur : Maître du duc de Bedford. Enlumineur Date d'édition : 1400-1410 Type : manuscrit Langue :  Latin:


"O Trinity, eternal Trinity! 
Fire, abyss of love
was it necessary that You should give
even the Holy Trinity as food for souls?

You gave us not only Your Word
through the Redemption and in the Eucharist,
but You also gave Yourself
in the fullness of love for Your creature.
St Catherine of Siena

Painting above:  Holy Trinity ~ Jacquemart de Hesdin




O Sisters, if we would only comprehend the fact 
that while the Eucharistic Species remain within us, 
Jesus is there and working in us
inseparably with the Father and the Holy Spirit
and therefore the whole Holy Trinity is there."
St Mary Magdalene di Pazzi
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"In the communion of grace with the Trinity, 
man's 'living area' is broadened
and raised up to the supernatural level of divine life."
Pope St John Paul II
______________________

"The Eucharistic gift assumes even more awesome proportions 
when we reflect that the Son of God present herein is ever united, 
intimately and indivisibly, with His co-Persons in the Trinity
His Eternal Father and their mutual Spirit of Love; which means 
that they, too, are mysteriously yet really with Him, 
and consequently with us no less.  In effect, then, 
the total Eucharistic mystery includes the presence of both 
the Father and the Holy Spirit as an inseparable concomitant.  
That is, the Blessed Sacrament embraces the 
Trinitarian mystery within its compass." 
Fr Richard Foley, SJ - Excerpt from Mary and the Eucharist

______________________

______________________________________

All glory be to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Saturday, May 30, 2026

Uncomplicated: "They're just one thing..."..

    "If I am not in God's grace, may God put me there;
and if I am, may God so keep me there." 
 St Joan of Arc


"About Jesus Christ and the Church, 
I simply know they're just one thing, 
and we shouldn't complicate the matter."
- St Joan of Arc, as recorded at her trial

St Joan of Arc
France ~ 1412-1431
Mystic, Patriot, Martyr 
aka - "Maid of Orleans"
Patron of France, soldiers
Feast Day - May 30
Painting:  Allegory of the Holy Eucharist - Miguel Cabrera


"I am not afraid.  I was born to do this." 
 St Joan of Arc
_____________________

"She chose a path and 
went down it like a thunderbolt."
- GK Chesterton in Orthodoxy

Friday, May 29, 2026

The living heart...

 "Authentic evangelization is not about 
imposing our beliefs on others, 
but about sharing the joy of the Gospel 
and inviting others to encounter Christ."
St Paul VI


"Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament 
is the Living Heart of 
each of our parishes."

St Paul VI
Italy: 1897-1978
Doctorate in Canon Law
Pope: 1963-1978
First Pope to visit USA
Had 2 Papal mottos:
"With Him on the holy mountain"
and "In the name of the Lord"
Patron: Vatican Council II
Feast Day - May 29


"Modern man listens more willingly 
to witnesses than to teachers
if he does listen to teachers, 
it is because they are witnesses."
St Paul VI

St Paul VI, pray for us!

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Sweet fact: Real Presence...

    Then you will know the truth, 
and the truth will set you free. - John 8:32


"The Blessed Sacrament is God.
Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament 
is simply divine worship.

Turn it which way we will, 
throw the light of love and knowledge
now on one side of it, now on another, 
still the result is the same,
the one inexhaustible sweet fact 
of the Real Presence. 

In the hands of the priest, 
behind the crystal of the monstrance,
on the tongue of the communicant, 
now, and for a thousand times, 
and 
almost at our will and pleasure, there are 
the Hands and Feet, the Eyes and Mouth, 
the swift Blood and living Heart of Him whom 
Thomas touched and Magdalen was fain to touch,
the Soul that ... set the prisoners free."
Fr Frederick W Faber
____________________________

O, Come let us adore Him...
Christ the Lord!

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Thou, O Lord, are my portion...

 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; 
surely I have a delightful inheritance. - Psalm 16:6


"God, in His promises to hear our prayers, 
is desirous to bestow Himself upon us;
if you find anything better than Him, ask it; 
but if you ask anything beneath Him,
you put an affront upon Him, and hurt yourself 
by preferring to Him a creature which He framed.
Pray in the spirit and sentiment of love, 
in which the royal prophet said to Him,
'Thou, O Lord, are my portion.'
Let others choose to themselves portions among 
creatures, for my part, You are my portion,You 
alone I have chosen for my whole inheritance."

St Augustine of Canterbury*
*Not to be confused with St Augustine of Hippo
+605
Italian Benedictine monk
sent by Pope Gregory the Great 
as missionary to England
His passionate preaching and witness 
to the Faith converted the king
Established monastery in Canterbury
First Archbishop of Canterbury
Patron of England
Feast Day: May 27

"He who would climb to a lofty height 
must go by steps, not leaps."

St Augustine of Canterbury, pray for us!

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

The fragrance of Paradise...

"God makes all His own the soul 
that is wholly given to Him." - St Philip Neri


“Can you feel the fragrance of Paradise 
which diffuses Itself from the Tabernacle?"

St Philip Neri
Italy ~ 1515 - 1595
Priest, bears title "Second Apostle of Rome"
Founder - Congregation of the Oratory 
(Oratorians)
Known for his great JOY
Counter-reformer
Advice regarding prayer:  "Be humble 
and obedient and the 
Holy Spirit will teach you."
Feast Day - May 26

 

"The true servant of God acknowledges
no other country but heaven." - St Philip Neri

"Cheerfulness strengthens the heart and makes us 
persevere in a good life.  Therefore the servant of God 
ought always to be in good spirits." - St Philip Neri


 St Philip Neri, pray for us!

Monday, May 25, 2026

Mary, we have recourse to thee...

 The Blessed Virgin Mary, 
Mother of the Church
Memorial
Instituted in 2018 for celebration on Pentecost Monday
_____________________
 
"The veneration of the Virgin Mary has accompanied 
the path of the Church from the beginning; 
Marian feast days began to appear already 
in the fourth century: in some the role of the Virgin
in the history of salvation is exalted; in others the 
principal moments of her earthly life are celebrated." 
Pope Benedict XVI


Prayer After Communion (Today's Liturgy)
Having received the pledge of redemption and of life, 
we humbly pray, O Lord, 
that, with the Blessed Virgin's motherly help,
your Church may teach all nations
by proclaiming the Gospel and, 
through the grace of the outpouring of the Spirit, 
fill the whole earth.
Through Christ our Lord. 
___________________________________________
 
"May the mother of Jesus and our mother, 
always smile on your spirit, 
obtaining for it, 
from her most holy son, 
every heavenly blessing."
St Padre Pio
(Today is the birthday anniversary of St Pio)
_______________________________

“In an instant the Holy Spirit overshadows her, 
making her a living ciborium privileged 
to bear within herself for nine months 
the Guest who is the Host of the world.” 
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen



 MEMORIAL DAY - 25 May 2026
Let us HONOR and REMEMBER
Eternal remembrance and gratitude for the innumerable, 
generous, courageous, self-sacrificing and heroic 
acts of service seen and unseen.
We don't know them all, but we owe them all.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all of the faithful departed 
through the mercy of God rest in peace. AMEN

Sunday, May 24, 2026

Solemnity of Pentecost - Wear RED today to Mass...

     Solemnity of Pentecost
Fifty days after Easter
In honor of the Holy Spirit - wear RED to holy Mass today!

Today is Pentecost. It is not merely a reminder of a past event, but a continuation of the Spirit renewing the face of the earth (Psalm 104:30). Today's Pentecost will not be a shadow of the first Pentecost, rather the first Pentecost is a shadow of today's Pentecost. God's grace is abounding all the more (Romans 5:20). The Spirit is not diminishing His work in our world, but increasing it. It will not be only thousands who come to Jesus today (Acts 2:41), but millions. The waters of the Spirit become deeper as they flow further around the world and into history (Ezekiel 47:5). 

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world and that 
which contains all things understands what is said, alleluia
-Entrance antiphon, today's liturgy


"The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. 
This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, 
but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church
In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences 
the constant fulfillment of the promise
“Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20),
 but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and 
wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this 
presence with unique intensityEver since Pentecost,  
when the Church, the People of the New Covenant, 
began her pilgrim journey towards her heavenly homeland, 
the Divine Sacrament has continued to mark the passing of 
her days, filling them with confident hope." (Introduction, 1)

Pope St John Paul II
Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia
On the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church

  Pentecost image above: Juan Bautista Maino, public domain


https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/feast-weeks-significance-pentecost
Christ the Giver of the Spirit - The Catholic Thing
_______________________

In the Pantheon in Rome, thousands of rose petals are dropped
from the oculus after the celebration of Pentecost Mass!



  
The Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your seven-fold gift descend:

Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.


With the Holy Spirit within us, "it is quite natural for people
who had been absorbed by the things of this world to become 
entirely otherworldly in outlook, and for cowards to become
people of great courage." - St Cyril of Alexandria

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!