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June 23 2020 Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiah with this message: “Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all other countries: they doomed them! Will you, then, be saved?’”Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then...

June 22 2020 Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Kgs 17:5-8, 13-15a, 18 Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, occupied the whole land and attacked Samaria, which he besieged for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel the king of Assyria took Samaria, and deported the children of Israel to Assyria, setting them in Halah, at the Habor, a river of Gozan, and the cities of the Medes.This came about because the children of Israel sinned against the LORD, their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt, from...

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles said June 16 that his recent virtual message to 2020 graduates -- posted on YouTube and shared on social media -- is "a sign of these unusual times" amid the coronavirus. He said his prayer is that the class of 2020 "will be remembered as a heroic generation that used the gifts of a Catholic education to love and serve and build a better world at a time of national distress, when society had been turned upside down by a deadly pandemic and faced widespread uncertainty about the future."...

Posts Posted on June 21, 2020June 21, 2020 The Measure You Measure Will be Measured Back to You (As seen on T.V.) The Gospel for today (Monday of the 12th Week) gives us an admonition that God will use attitudes we use for others as a standard in our own judgment. Consider well, right now, if being unkind, unmerciful, and unforgiving is a good strategy for your live, given that you will stand in judgment and need mercy, and forgiveness. There are many biblical texts that speak of being generous to the poor, for to do brings bountiful blessings....

June 21 2020 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Jer 20:10-13 Jeremiah said: “I hear the whisperings of many: ‘Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!’ All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. ‘Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him.’ But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. O LORD of hosts, you who test the...

June 20 2020 Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 2 Chr 24:17-25 After the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and paid homage to King Joash, and the king then listened to them. They forsook the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and began to serve the sacred poles and the idols; and because of this crime of theirs, wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Although prophets were sent to them to convert them to the LORD, the people would not listen to their warnings. Then the Spirit...

June 19 2020 Solemnity of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Reading 1 Dt 7:6-11 Moses said to the people: "You are a people sacred to the LORD, your God; he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly his own. It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the LORD loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had...

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope Seven Teachings on Hell From St. Thomas Aquinas The teachings of the Lord on Hell are difficult, especially in todayÂ’s climate. The most difficult questions that arise relate to its eternal nature and how to square its existence with a God who is loving and rich in mercy.1. Does God love the souls in Hell? Yes.How could they continue to exist if He did not love them, sustain them, and continue to provide for them? God loves because He is love. Although we may fail to be able to experience...

June 18 2020 Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Sir 48:1-14 Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace. Their staff of bread he shattered, in his zeal he reduced them to straits; By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens and three times brought down fire. How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Whose glory is equal to yours? You brought a dead man back to life from the nether world, by the will of the LORD. You sent kings down to destruction, and...

The Catholic Church could get its second Native American saint if a Vatican research trip to South Dakota this month leads to confirmation of two miracles performed by Nicholas Black Elk, a Lakota Sioux medicine man born in the Civil War era. Fr. Luis Escalante, a Vatican postulator, or researcher for sainthood candidates, recently spent several days in western South Dakota gathering information about Black Elk's life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Escalante spoke with local advocates for the cause, including some who testified to the reportedly miraculous powers of a man who practiced traditional Lakota rituals...

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope On the Power of One Small Prayer Praying the rosary today I marveled once again at the Fatima prayer, which is recited at the end of each decade:O my Jesus, forgive us our sins; save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy!I have often wondered how God reacts to a prayer like this. I am awed by the power of this simple prayer, even if said in a distracted way. God is surely pleased that we ask for...

This is the sacred, peaceful place in the United States where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared. It is a humble, quiet place of refuge, noble in simplicity, located at the core of a tri-county region in the heart of agricultural country in Northeast Wisconsin.

June 17 2020 Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here; the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you,” Elisha replied. And so the two went on together. Fifty of the guild prophets followed and when the two stopped at the Jordan, they stood facing them at a...

Petition asking DC’s Archbishop Gregory to apologize to President Trump hits 33,800 Using unusually caustic and unwelcoming remarks, Gregory called the president’s visit to a Catholic shrine in D.C. 'baffling and reprehensible.' Abp. Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C. PETITION: Ask Archbishop Gregory to apologize to President Trump and the Knights of Columbus! Sign the petition here. June 16, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — After less than only two weeks, LifeSite’s petition asking Washington’s Archbishop Wilton Gregory to apologize to President Trump and the Knights of Columbus has already attracted nearly 35,000 signatures. “Catholics are disappointed in their leadership,” said Scott Schittl, one of...

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope Of Hidden Manna and a Shining Stone: A Meditation on a Text From Revelation In the Office of Readings for Corpus Christi there is an antiphon rich in meaning yet at the same time mysterious:I will give to the one who is victorious the hidden bread and a new name (Antiphon 1 from Lauds).It is drawn from a longer text in the Book of Revelation, in the letter to the Church at Pergamum:He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one...

June 16 2020 Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 21:17-29 After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: “Start down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be in the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession. This is what you shall tell him, ‘The LORD says: After murdering, do you also take possession? For this, the LORD says: In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood, too.’” Ahab...

Posted on June 14, 2020June 14, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope On the Ministry of Angels in Creation The conclusion of the Book of Tobit features the Archangel Raphael revealing himself to Tobit and others and explaining his ministry to them. This post I write is not a full angelology, it is just a grateful reflection for God, his angels and his creation. Book-length treatments are necessary for a good angelology. If you are looking for a readable, and brief account of angelology I might recommend The Angels and Their Mission According to the Fathers of the Church, by...

June 15 2020 Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 21:1-16 Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it is close by, next to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or, if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.” Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral heritage.” Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answer...

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope Are You a Mouse or a Man? A Homily for the Feast of Corpus Christi In many places this Sunday, the (moved) Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Our Lord is celebrated.While you may puzzle over my title for todayÂ’s blog, allow me to delay the explanation to a bit later. On a solemn feast like this, many things might be preached and taught. LetÂ’s look at three areas for reflection: the Reality of the Eucharist, the Requirement of the Eucharist, and the Remembrance of the...

June 14, 2020 Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ Reading 1 Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a Moses said to the people: "Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by affliction and find out whether or not it was your intention to keep his commandments. He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word...