Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 05-22-14, OM, St. Rita of Cascia, Religious

Information: St. Rita of Cascia

Feast Day: May 22

Born: 1381, Roccaporena, Perugia, Umbria, Italy

Died: May 22, 1457, Cascia, Perugia, Umbria, Italy

Canonized: May 24, 1900, Rome by Pope Leo XIII

Patron of: Lost and impossible causes, sickness, wounds, marital problems, abuse, mothers

Interactive Saints for Kids

St. Rita of Cascia

Feast Day: May 22
Born: 1381 :: Died: 1457

Rita was born in a little Italian village called Roccaparena in Umbria. Her parents Antonio and Amata Lotti who did not have children, begged God to send them a child. God answered their prayer and they brought Rita up well.

From a young age Rita used to visit the Augustinian nuns at Cascia and wanted to enter the convent when she was fifteen. But her parents thought that she should marry Paolo Mancini. Only, Paolo turned out to be a mean and unfaithful husband. He had such a bad temper that everyone in the neighborhood was afraid of him.

Yet, for eighteen years, his wife patiently took all his insults. Her prayers, gentleness and goodness finally won his heart. He apologized to Rita for the way he had treated her and he returned to God. Rita's happiness over her husband's conversion did not last long. One day, shortly after, he was murdered.

Rita was shocked and heart-broken. But she forgave the murderers, and tried to make her twin sons forgive them, too. The boys, however, could not forgive them and were determined to avenge their father's death.

Rita prayed that they would die rather than commit murder. Within a few months, both boys became seriously ill. Rita nursed them lovingly. During their illness, she was able to help them to forgive, and to ask God's forgiveness for themselves. They did and both died peacefully.

Now that her husband and her children were dead and she was left alone in the world, Rita tried three times to enter the convent in Cascia. The rules of the convent did not permit a woman who had been married to join even if her husband had died.

Rita refused to give up, and at last, she was allowed to join them. In the convent, Rita lived in prayer, complete obedience and was know for her charity. She had great devotion to the crucified Jesus.

Once, while praying, she asked him to let her share some of his pain. One thorn from his crown of thorns pierced her forehead and made a sore that never healed. In fact, it grew so bad and smelled so bad that St. Rita had to stay away from the others. She was happy to suffer to show her love for Jesus.

St. Rita died on May 22, 1457, when she was seventy-six. Like St. Jude, St. Rita is often called "Saint of the Impossible."

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Thursday, May 22

Liturgical Color: White

St. Bobo a crusader and hermit, also
called Beuvon, was a knight of Provence,
France, who fought against the invading
Saracens and then became a hermit. He
died at Pavia, in Lombardy, Italy, while on
a pilgrimage to Rome.

Day 158 - Who can forgive sins?

Who can forgive sins?

God alone can forgive sins. Jesus could say "Your sins are forgiven" (Mk 2:5) only because he is the Son of God. And priests can forgive sins in Jesus' place only because Jesus has given them that authority.

Many people say, "I can go directly to God; why do I need a priest?" God, though, wants it otherwise. We rationalize our sins away and like to sweep things under the rug. That is why God wants us to tell our sins and to acknowledge them in a personal encounter. Therefore, the following words from the Gospel are true of priests: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (YOUCAT question 228)

Dig Deeper: CCC section (1441-1442) and other references here.

Part 2: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (1066 - 1690)

Section 2: The Seven Sacraments of the Church (1210 - 1690)

Chapter 2: The Sacraments of Healing (1420 - 1532)

Article 4: The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (1422 - 1498)

VI. THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION ⇡

Only God forgives sin ⇡

270
431
589
(all)

1441

Only God forgives sins.³⁹ Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven."⁴⁰ Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.⁴¹

39.

Cf. Mk 2:7.

40.

Mk 2:5,10; Lk 7:48.

41.

Cf. Jn 20:21-23.

983
(all)

1442

Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation."⁴² The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God."⁴³

42.

2 Cor 5:18.

43.

2 Cor 5:20.

Church to celebrate feast of St. Rita, 'expert in suffering' (Sat, May 22)
Saint Rita of Cascia
Saint Rita of Cascia

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for:May 22, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Bestow on us, we pray, O Lord, the wisdom and strength of the Cross, with which you were pleased to endow Saint Rita, so that, suffering in every tribulation with Christ, we may participate ever more deeply in his Paschal Mystery. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

o Fig Swirl

ACTIVITIES

o Marian Hymn: Stella Matutina

o May, the Month of Mary

o St. Rita of Cascia

PRAYERS

o Litany of St. Rita of Cascia

o Daily Prayer to St. Rita

o Prayer to St. Rita in Special Need

o Novena to St. Rita

LIBRARY

o A Life of Heroic Humility and Obedience | Pope John Paul II

o St. Rita of Cascia | Rev. Vincent F. Kienberger O.P.

· Easter: May 22nd

· Optional Memorial of Saint Rita of Cascia, religious

Old Calendar: St, Rita of Cascia ; Other Titles: Margarita of Cascia; Rita La Abogada de Imposibles

After eighteen years of married life, St. Rita lost, by death, her husband and her two sons. Called afterwards to the religious state, she professed the Rule of St. Augustine at Cascia her native town, in central Italy. In a life-long and terrible malady her patience, cheerfulness, and union by prayer with almighty God, never failed her. Jesus imprinted on her brow the mark of a thorn from His crown. She died May 22, 1456, and both in life and after death has worked many miracles. This optional memorial is new to the USA liturgical calendar.

St. Rita of Cassia
Rita's childhood was one of happiness to her parents. To satisfy her desire of a life of union with God by prayer, her parents fitted up a little room in their home as an oratory, where she spent all her spare moments. At the age of twelve, however, she desired to consecrate herself to God in the religious state. Pious though her parents were, their tearful pleadings to postpone her noble purpose prevailed on Rita, and they gave her in marriage, at the age of eighteen, to an impulsive, irascible young man, who was well fitted to try the patience and virtue of the holy girl. Two sons were born to them, each inheriting their father's quarrelsome temperament. Rita continued her accustomed devotions, and her sanctity and prayers finally won her husband's heart so that he willingly consented that she continue her acts of devotion.

Eighteen years had elapsed since her marriage, when her husband was murdered by an old enemy; both of her sons died shortly after. Rita's former desire to consecrate herself to God again took possession of her. Three times she sought admittance among the Augustinian Nuns in Cascia, but her request was refused each time, and she returned to her home in Rocca Porrena. God Himself, however, supported her cause. One night as Rita was praying earnestly in her humble home she heard herself called by name, while someone knocked at the door. In a miraculous way she was conducted to the monastic enclosure, no entrance having been opened. Astonished at the miracle, the Nuns received Rita, and soon enrolled her among their number.

St. Rita's hidden, simple life in religion was distinguished by obedience and charity; she performed many extreme penances. After hearing a sermon on the Passion of Christ she returned to her cell; kneeling before her crucifix, she implored: "Let me, my Jesus share in Thy suffering, at least of one of Thy thorns". Her prayer was answered. Suddenly one of the thorns detached and fastened itself in her forehead so deeply that she could not remove it. The wound became worse, and gangrene set in. Because of the foul odor emanating from the wound, she was denied the companionship of the other Sisters, and this for fifteen years.

Miraculous power was soon recognized in Rita. When Pope Nicholas IV proclaimed a jubilee at Rome, Rita desired to attend. Permission was granted on condition that her wound would be healed. This came about only for the duration of the trip. Upon her return to the monastery the wound from the thorn reappeared, and remained until her death.

As St. Rita was dying, she requested a relative to bring her a rose from her old home at Rocca Porrena. Although it was not the season for roses, the relative went and found a rose in full bloom. For this reason roses are blessed in the Saint's honor.

After St. Rita's death, in 1457, her face became beautifully radiant, while the odor from her wound was as fragrant as that of the roses she loved so much. The sweet odor spread through the convent and into the church, where it has continued ever since. Her body has remained incorrupt to this day; the face is beautiful and well preserved.

When St. Rita died the lowly cell was aglow with heavenly light, while the great bell of the monastery rang of itself. A relative with a paralyzed arm, upon touching the sacred remains, was cured. A carpenter, who had known the Saint, offered to make the coffin. Immediately he recovered the use of his long stiffened hands.

As one of the solemn acts of his jubilee, Pope Leo XIII canonized St. Rita on the Feast of the Ascension, May 24, 1900.

— Excerpted from Heavenly Friends, Rosalie Marie Levy.

Patron: Abuse victims; against loneliness; against sterility; bodily ills; desperate causes; difficult marriages; forgotten causes; impossible causes; infertility; lost causes; parenthood; sick people; sickness; sterility; victims of physical spouse abuse; widows; wounds.

Symbols: Nun holding a crown of thorns; nun holding roses; nun holding roses and figs; nun with a wound on her forehead.

Things to Do:

From the Catholic Culture library: St. Rita of Cascia and A Life of Heroic Humility and Obedience.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Acts 15:7-21

Saint Rita of Cascia, Religious

He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts. (Acts 15:9)

Are you tired of memorizing passwords for websites, bank machines, and mobile phones? What if there were a pill that could turn you into a “human password”?

Consider Motorola’s Edible Password Pill, which is currently in development. When you swallow this pill, your stomach acid activates a tiny chip that gives off an electronic signal that unlocks your computer or phone. If this pill ever comes to market, people would no longer need locks or keys. It would be almost like a superpower, since our bodies alone could do all the unlocking!

In a sense, we can see a similar concept at work when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles at Pentecost. The Spirit pulsed through them, opening their hearts and minds to the Lord. They were delighted to be able to speak to foreigners in their own language, to heal, to prophesy, and to baptize. It must have felt as if they were alive with spiritual superpowers!

But now the apostles are discovering that some Gentiles have also received the Holy Spirit and are exhibiting the same superpowers. How could this be? The Jews always looked down on the Gentiles as being unclean and outside of God’s covenant. But if Gentiles had been given the Holy Spirit, that meant that the Jewish Christians had to embrace them as brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s a good thing they had the “superpower” of the Spirit to help them!

Today, try to recognize the Holy Spirit working in you, but try to be just as aware of the way the Spirit is at work in the people around you—especially the ones you may not like so much. Perhaps it’s that man with body piercings and tattoos in the back row of your church. Maybe it’s someone at work from another religion. Perhaps it’s the neighbor who always drives too fast in your neighborhood or plays his music too loud. Whatever the situation, try to recognize and welcome the Holy Spirit in these people. Try to look at them through God’s eyes, just as the apostles learned to look at the Gentiles. God makes no distinction, and neither should we!

“Thank you, Holy Spirit, for calling us all into one body. Help me to see your grace and power at work in all my brothers and sisters.”

Psalm 96:1-3, 10; John 15:9-11

John
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	John 15
9.	As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.	Sicut dilexit me Pater, et ego dilexi vos. Manete in dilectione mea.	καθως ηγαπησεν με ο πατηρ καγω ηγαπησα υμας μεινατε εν τη αγαπη τη εμη
10.	If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father's commandments, and do abide in his love.	Si præcepta mea servaveritis, manebitis in dilectione mea, sicut et ego Patris mei præcepta servavi, et maneo in ejus dilectione.	εαν τας εντολας μου τηρησητε μενειτε εν τη αγαπη μου καθως εγω τας εντολας του πατρος μου τετηρηκα και μενω αυτου εν τη αγαπη
11.	These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled.	Hæc locutus sum vobis : ut gaudium meum in vobis sit, et gaudium vestrum impleatur.	ταυτα λελαληκα υμιν ινα η χαρα η εμη εν υμιν μεινη και η χαρα υμων πληρωθη

9. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue in my love.
10. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love--even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11. These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

AUG. Made bright or glorified; the Greek word may be translated in either way. In Greek it signifies glory; not our own glory, we must remember, as if we had it of ourselves: it is of His grace that we have it; and therefore it is not our own but His glory. For from whom shall we derive our fruitfulness, but from His mercy preventing us.

Wherefore He adds, As My Father has loved Me, even so love I you. This then is the source of our good works. Our good works proceed from faith which works by love: but we could not love unless we were loved first: As My Father has loved Me, even so love I you. This does not prove that our nature is equal to His, as His is to the Father's, but the grace, whereby He is the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. The Father loves us, but in Him.

CHRYS. If then I love you, be of good cheer; if it is the Father's glory that you bring forth good fruit, bear no evil. Then to rouse them to exertion, He adds, Continue you in My love; and then shows how this is to be done: If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love.

AUG. Who doubts that love precedes the observance of the commandments? For who loves not, has not that whereby to keep the commandments. These words then do not declare whence love arises, but how it is shown, that no one might deceive himself into thinking that he loved our Lord, when he did not keep His commandments. Though the words, Continue you in My love, do not of themselves make it evident which love He means, ours to Him, or His to us, yet the preceding words do: I love you, He says: and then immediately after, Continue you in My love.

Continue you in My love, then, is, continue in My grace; and, If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, is, Your keeping of My commandments will be evidence to you that you abide in My love. It is not that we keep His commandments first, and that then He loves; but that He loves us, and then we keep His commandments. This is that grace, which is revealed to the humble, but hidden from the proud. But what means the next words, Even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love: i.e., the Father's love, wherewith He loves the Son.

Must this grace, wherewith the Father loves the Son, be understood to be like the grace wherewith the Son loves us? No; for whereas we are sons not by nature, but by grace, the Only Begotten is Son not by grace, but by nature. We must understand this then to refer to the manhood in the Son, even as the words themselves imply: As My Father has loved Me, even so love I you.

The grace of a Mediator is expressed here; and Christ is Mediator between God and man, not as God, but as man. This then we may say, that since human nature does not pertain to the nature of God, but does by grace pertain to the Person of the Son, grace also pertains to that Person: such grace as has nothing superior, nothing equal to it. For no merits on man's part preceded the assumption of that nature.

ALCUIN. Even as 1 have kept My Father's commandments. The Apostle explains what these commandments were: Christ became obedient to death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8).

CHRYS. Then because the Passion was now approaching to interrupt their joy, He adds, These things have I spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you: as if He said, And if sorrow fall upon you, I will take it away, so that you shall rejoice in the end.

AUG. And what is Christ's joy in us, but that He deigns to rejoice on our account? And what is our joy, which He says shall be full, but to have fellowship with Him? He had perfect joy on our account, when He rejoiced in foreknowing, and predestinating us; but that joy was not in us, because then we did not exist: it began to be in us, when He called us. And this joy we rightly call our own, this joy wherewith we shall be blessed; which is begun in the faith of them who are born again, and shall be fulfilled in the reward of them who rise again.

Catena Aurea John 15

Crucifix

Coppo di Marcovaldo

after 1261
Tempera on wood, 296 x 247 cm
Pinacoteca Civica, San Gimignano

Marriage=One Man and One Woman 'Til Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for May 22, 2014:

The Church remembers St. Rita of Cascia today. St. Rita suffered a difficult marriage and the deaths of her children. She is considered a patron for those undergoing marital difficulties. Learn about her today, and ask her prayers if you or others you know are struggling.

Blessing of Roses in Honour of Saint Rita

Thursday, 22 May 2014 12:04

The blessing of roses takes place at the end of Mass on the feast of Saint Rita. It recalls an episode in the life of the Saint of Desperate Causes. In January 1457 Saint Rita, lying ill in her monastic cell in Cascia, asked a cousin to bring her a rose. Tradition affirms that God granted this desire: Saint Rita’s relatives were able to pick for her a rose found blooming amidst the winter snow. In exchange for the thorn in her forehead that she bore for fifteen years as a sign of her participation in the redeeming Passion of Jesus, Saint Rita was miraculously given a rose in winter.

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who hath made heaven and earth.

O God, whose word sanctifieth all things,
pour forth, we beseech Thee, the dew of Thy blessing + upon these roses
that we present to Thee in memory of Saint Rita,
and grant that Thy faithful who will make use of these roses with devotion,
may by the merits of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
receive from Thy merciful goodness
health in sickness and consolation in every suffering.
Through the same Christ our Lord.

The roses are sprinkled with Holy Water.

Vultus Christi

Evviva Santa Rita!

Thursday, 22 May 2014 16:44

Visiting Saint Rita

When I was a lad growing up in Fair Haven, I would occasionally venture beyond the boundaries of my immediate neighborhood and visit a parish church on the other side of the great divide that was Grand Avenue. Saint Rose Church on Blatchley Avenue had a unique attraction: a life-size and very realistic statue of Saint Rita of Cascia kneeling in front of a life-size and equally realistic crucifix. To my ten-year-old eyes, Saint Rita’s glass eyes looked positively alive. More than once I thought, just for a moment, that they were moist with real tears. Saint Rita’s face was turned upward to meet the gaze of the Crucified, and embedded right in the middle of her forehead was a thorn from His Crown of Thorns.

Children Need Images

First lesson: for children, images are more important than words. Children of all ages need to be surrounded with images, with holy images, with representations of the saints. If you have outgrown your need for images, you may have outgrown your capacity for wonder and your capacity for seeing the invisible. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:4).

A Thorn in the Flesh

Second lesson: intimate participation in the Paschal Mystery of Christ — the very grace we ask for in today’s Collect — begins when our gaze meets the gaze of the Crucified Lord. When the encounter is real, the equivalent of a thorn from Jesus’ Crown of Thorns will be embedded, not in our foreheads, but in that secret place of weakness within us that God has destined to receive it. Saint Paul says: “A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Cor 12:7-9).

Go to the Saints

Third lesson: the saints are present to us and wait for us to approach them. Sometimes they approach us first, offering friendship, insight, and assistance. Visiting the statue of Saint Rita kneeling before her crucifix in Saint Rose Church was like visiting a favorite aunt. Go to the saints, certain of their interest in whatever interests you. You can count on their sympathy, on their readiness to listen, and on their help.

Sacred Signs

There is a cold, reasonable, and altogether too “grown-up” form of religion that fails to address the needs of the heart. Chilly and cerebral, it is foreign to the spirit of the Gospel because it is so far removed from things that children need and understand. In many places, the past fifty years saw the imposition of a new iconoclasm, an elitist religion without warmth, a religion for the brain with precious little for the heart, a religion stripped of images and devoid of the sacred signs that penetrate deeply those places in the human person where mere discourse cannot go.

The Grace of Folklore

This is the religion of barren churches, white-washed and devoid of transcendence. This is the religion of those who sniff uncomfortably at what they dismiss as folklore, forgetting that folklore is, more often than not, the expression of an ancient wisdom, piety, and fear of the Lord. This is the sterile religion of those who, in the name of “discretion and good taste” displaced tabernacles, and removed crucifixes and images of the saints. You can find them now for sale on E-bay and in trendy antique shops.

In A Single Generation

This is the religion that destroyed priceless works of art and consigned to antiquarian booksellers or, even worse, to flames, the musical heritage of 1500 years. This is the religion that, in many instances, has brought about the loss of the true faith in a single generation. This is the religion of a humanistic idealism bent on building a better world and, paradoxically, uncomfortable with bending the knees in adoration.

Religious Snobbery

This is the religion that smiles condescendingly on practices dear to those dear to God: the little and the poor. This is the religion that smirks with snobbish condescension at things like blessing roses in honor of Saint Rita, or lilies in honor of Saint Anthony, or bread in honor of Saint Joseph. Those who ascribe to this religion need to hear again the timeless message of the Doctor of Grace: “The Word became flesh so that flesh might become word.”

A Fleshy Affair

Catholicism is a fleshy affair: it is the religion of thorns in the flesh and roses in the snow. It is the religion of little children making furtive neighborhood pilgrimages, weaving crowns of flowers for the Mother of God, and secretly lighting candles to the saints. It is the religion of men quietly telling their beads, interceding for their families. It is the religion of those who kneel in prayer at at the tombs of the saints and shed tears over holy relics. Catholicism is the religion of little old ladies stopping in church laden with plastic shopping bags and burdened, even more, with concern for their children and their children’s children. It is the religion of the lonely, the confused, the broken, and the wounded who know that, in spite of everything, there is no shame in going to the Crucified Jesus, for He was “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is 53:3).
An Untidy Religion

Catholicism is the religion of those tormented by gnawing hungers of the heart and thirsts of the spirit who, with faith and the fear of God, approach the inexhaustible Chalice of the Holy Mysteries for healing and relief. It is the untidy religion of those who trust that God and his saints can sort out whatever mess we have made of our lives and, in the end, by grace alone set all things aright. It all makes one supremely happy, and grateful, to be Catholic.

A Messy Life

This was the religion of Saint Rita of Cascia, the wife of a husband who was murdered, the mother of two sons set on vengeance, a widow marked by emotional scars and lacerated by the cruel tongues of the pious. Finally, the doors of the cloister opened to admit her for the last stage of her life, one marked by sickness. Saint Rita’s life was messy.

The Gaze of Christ

Saint Rita lifted her eyes to meet the gaze of Christ and lived in His radiance; He blessed her with a thorn from His bloody crown and with a rose to console her in her final hour. By means of these very material signs, “the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth” (Jn 15:26) bore witness in Saint Rita’s life and in the Church to the abiding presence of the Crucified and Risen Lord.

Mother Church

Saint Rita, pray for us today, that we may not live in denial of the messiness of our lives but, rather, find comfort in the bosom of a Church warm with the intercession of the saints, a Church wide open to little children, a Church hospitable to failures and to fools, a Church who knows the value of the “little things” by which all of life can be suffused by paschal grace.

Regnum Christi

My Love for the Church

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

John 15: 9-11

Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father´s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for granting me the opportunity to be with you. There are things in life, Lord, that attract me, but you attract me more. I hope in you, and I love you. Maybe I don’t really understand what it means to love, and maybe I don’t love the way I should, but I do love you.

Petition: Lord, increase my love and appreciation for the Church and her leaders.

1. Christ and His Church: When Christ says, “Keep my commandments and remain in my love,” he is talking not only about the Ten Commandments but also about the Church. What is the Church? It is Christ’s extension through time. We cannot say, “Christ, yes; the Church, no,” because the Church is the mystical body of Christ; the two are inseparable as head and body. The Church, through its sacraments and its solid teachings, makes Christ present for me now, today. It is through this Church that I received the gift of faith. I want to remain in Christ. I want to remain enthusiastically in his Church.

2. God’s Chosen Ministers: You chose the Apostles to continue your work of redemption throughout the ages. Therefore, Lord, I want to love your priests and your bishops. I know how hard their job is. I see their perseverance. The Eucharist is available all over the world because of the fidelity of priests. Thank you for bishops and priests. Thank you for our parish. I want to support the parish with joy; giving of my time and my financial sacrifices.

3. The Pope: Lord, I want to love the Holy Father. He is the rock on which you chose to build your Church. Because he has kept the straight path, the world recognizes his moral authority. Lord, I want to learn more about what he is saying. Today with the Internet, it is so easy. It just takes a little interest and a little time. This is one way I can remain in your love. Thus, my joy will be complete.

Conversation with Christ: When you came, Lord, you wanted to heal us through the sacraments, and you set up the Church to administer them. Because you are present in your Church, it has lasted two thousand years. Thank you for giving us this instrument of salvation.

Resolution: I will read something Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI or Pope Francis has written. (Much can be found on the Vatican website.)

Homily of the Day

May 22, 2014

God’s love for us is expressed in the graces He showers us. In today’s Gospel God says if we want to stay in His graces, He expects, not demands, that we obey Him. There is a big difference: expecting means a package deal while demanding means there are strings attached. While there is no conditionality for staying in God’s love, it is our job to be worthy of or to deserve those graces because in the first place we are not and we do not. When we say we love God but disobey His commandments, disharmony sets in. A simple bother is when our troubled conscience kicks in. But more painful is when God starts to take back what was given.

To illustrate how hard yet how rewarding it is to consistently stay in God’s grace, here is the story St. Rita of Cascia whose feast we celebrate today. Young Margherita was a beautiful woman who wanted to be a nun. But instead she followed her parents’ wishes in an arranged wedding with a man she barely knew. She became a battered wife but events took over when the belatedly remorseful husband was murdered. She had two sons who planned for revenge. Again St. Rita expressed her wish in a prayer that instead of the sons becoming murderers, “may God take them both.” Shortly, both sons got sick and eventually died. Widowed and alone in her old age, St. Rita decided to pursue her previous plan to be a nun. Three times she was turned down. One night she returned to the convent after all doors were locked. When she was able to open the doors without keys, the community took this as a sign from God and she was finally admitted. She stayed in the convent for the next 44 years strictly observing her vows.

Although she by then had attained her single ambition, her fierce devotion to God further gained her a distinct honor of feeling the pain of Jesus’ thorn on her forehead complete with a deep wound that remained open up to her death on May 22, 1457 at the age of 76. Nearing death, she asked for a rose from the monastery garden. It was deep in winter, but a nun found roses blooming amidst the snow. As with all her wishes, she did not demand for results. She knew it would be given. So great was her love of God and her devotion to His will. Indeed God’s joy was in her and her joy was complete.

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 3

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St. Rita of Cascia

Acts 15:7-21
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Psalm 96:1-3, 10

John 15:9-11
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SUBMISSION, UNITY, AND WORK

"It is my judgment, therefore, that we ought not to cause God's Gentile converts any difficulties." —Acts 15:19

The early Church had been working for almost twenty years in proclaiming the Gospel and building God's kingdom. Many of them had been martyred. Many had sacrificed everything to live a new community life (see Acts 2:44ff; 4:32ff).

Finally, the devil decided to put a stop to the Church and to nullify the grace, faith, love, sacrifices, prayers, and work of the previous twenty years. He encouraged dissension from which a major controversy developed (Acts 15:2). This situation became so volatile that it was almost certain to result in the splitting, splintering, and dismantling of the Church. Then a great miracle occurred. The love and unity of the Church was maintained through the authoritative leadership of Peter, James, and the Jerusalem community, and the subsequent submission by the Antioch community and other Gentile Christian communities.

Without unity, we can lose everything we've worked for. Without authority and submission, we can lose unity. Thank God for authority and submission!

Prayer: Father, may we all receive the anointed power which comes from unity (see Ps 133:1-2). St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, pray for us to be one (see Jn 17:21).

Promise: "You will live in My love if you keep My commandments, even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and live in His love." —Jn 15:10

Praise: St. Rita, in deference to her parents, did not become a nun but married a man who caused her nothing but grief and sorrow. St. Rita became a widow at age thirty, and eventually God enabled her to achieve her goal of becoming a religious sister.

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