May 25--St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, Virgin

 

Ecstasy of St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi by Allesandro Rossi

Mystics are a special breed of saint. They receive amazing visions and ecstasies that most people cannot even imagine. Some famous mystics are St. Catherine of Siena, St. Teresa of Avila, and in the 20th century, St. Faustina Kowalska and St. Pio of Pietralcina. Today’s saint, St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, was blessed with ecstatic visions on a daily basis for numerous years. Her confessor required them to be transcribed and preserved as a safeguard against deception. For six years five volumes were transcribed. However, she not only experienced great love for God, but also great trials. One was five years long!

St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi was born to a noble and wealthy Florence family during the Italian Renaissance in 1566. She made her first communion at the early age of ten, vowed virginity that same year, and at the age of twelve experienced her first ecstasy. She was allowed to enter a Carmelite convent at seventeen. It was during her novitiate that she became critically ill and thus allowed to take religious vows, after which she went into ecstasy for about two hours and then the following 40 days after receiving communion. She died in 1607 at the age of 41 and canonized a saint in 1669.

“Intimate union, God’s gift to mystics, is a reminder to all of us of the eternal happiness of union he wishes to give us. The cause of mystical ecstasy in this life is the Holy Spirit, working through spiritual gifts.” We may not have the gift of ecstasy, but we can meet Jesus in every person as Jesus tells us: “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt. 25:40). St. Mary Magdalene dé Pazzi, pray for us!

May 18--St. John I, Pope and Martyr

 

St. John I

“Habemus Papam!”  At the time of this writing, May of 2025, the conclave of cardinals in Rome elected Robert Prevost, of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., Pope Leo XIV.  We pray for him and his successful tenure as 267th pope and shepherd of the Catholic Church.  Well and good!

We also honor St. John I, pope and martyr, who was elected in AD 523 and was martyred in AD 526 at the hands of a heretic king.  St. Martin I was the last pope to be martyred in AD 653.  Nonetheless, every pope is the successor to Peter, the Rock, who was told by Jesus:  “‘Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’  He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

Pope St. John I was martyred because he succeeded in accomplishing what Theodoric, the Arian King of Italy, requested of him:  accommodations with the Byzantine emperor to avoid persecution of the Arians in the East.  Such was St. John’s success that Theodoric suspected him of conspiracy with the emperor and thus imprisoned him upon his return to Italy with the favorable news!  St. John died in prison.  

Every pope is called to witness the faith.  Pope Leo XIV stated: “I also want to … walk together with you, as a united Church always seeking peace, justice, always trying to work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear, to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries.”  St. John I, pray for us!

May 11--St. Ignatius of Laconi, Religious

 

St. Ignatius of Laconi

Which is it: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3) or “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours” (Lk. 6:20)? For our saint today, it is both! St. Ignatius of Laconi was born December 10, 1701 in Laconi on the island of Sardinia as the second of seven children to poor peasants. Thus, he truly was poor in the manner of Luke’s offering. He lived the peasant life until he joined the Franciscan Capuchin religious order in 1722. As a professed religious he dedicated himself to physical poverty, but also to poverty of spirit, whereby God calls us to depend wholly upon him. He died in 1781 on Sardinia.

He was the official beggar for his community. The people of his town appreciated his quiet and modest manner. They knew he gave to them more than he received! “He seldom spoke; when required he spoke with exceptional kindness and great affection. He would also instruct the children and the uneducated that he came across, and went out to comfort the sick and urge sinners to be converted and to perform penance.”

How about us? Are we called to voluntary poverty or are we called to total dependence on God? How about some of the first and all of the second! Almsgiving does not have to be done only during Lent. We can give of ourselves to others who need what we can give to them, whether it be our time, our treasure, or our talents. Nonetheless, we are all called to be poor in spirit, to absolute and total dependence on God, ALWAYS! One of St. Ignatius’s quotations is “Trust God.” How apt! And yet, how difficult! St. Ignatius of Laconi, pray for us!

May 4--St. Florian, Martyr

 

St. Florian

The Catholic Church has patron saints for just about everything under the sun: animals–St. Francis of Assisi; Catholic schools–St. Thomas Aquinas; actors–St. Genesius; soldiers–St. George; bakers–St. Elizabeth of Hungary; and today’s saint, St. Florian, patron of firefighters. St. Florian was born in AD 250 in present-day Austria. He joined the Roman army and was in charge of fire brigades as part of his duties. He became a Christian, was discovered, arrested, and sentenced to be burned at the stake in 304 under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. “Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying ‘If you wish to know that I am not afraid of your torture, light the fire, and in the name of the Lord I will climb onto it.’ Apprehensive of his words, the soldiers did not burn Florian, but executed him by drowning him in the Enns River with a millstone tied around his neck instead.”

The reason we have patron saints is because they are men, women, and children to whom we can relate, whether because of their lives, their jobs, their circumstances, their deaths or what have you! Patron saints are people who we appeal to for help because we can relate to their experiences and we know they can relate to ours. St. Florian was a firefighter and a martyr. He lived his faith through his life and through his death. People look to us as role models as well! We are husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, workers, victims of illness or accidents. We need to live our faith through our lives. We can guide others and pray for them as their patrons, just as the patron saints guide us and pray for us. St. Florian, patron of firefighters, pray for us!

May 19--Pentecost

 

El Greco, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Happy Birthday to our dear Mother Church! It was on Pentecost thousands of years ago when the Church was born to continue Jesus’ mission in the world; to help bring about forgiveness and offer salvation to humanity through Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples so they could share the love of God with everyone they met. They were bestowed the gifts of the Holy Spirit so those gifts could enable others to come to God’s love.

Jesus commissioned them to spread the Good News: "Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn. 20: 21). But first he said to wait for the Advocate, the Holy Spirit who would come upon them: “‘When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning’” (Jn. 15:26-27).

So now we have been commissioned and anointed. We have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. We use them when we are called to testify to our faith. We have been given the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We live lives that demonstrate our commitment to Christ and his bride, the Church.

We trust in God to love us, to guide us, and to grace us so that we may be his witnesses and ambassadors to the world:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created,
and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

May 17--St. Paschal Baylon, Religious

 

Art Credit: Saint Paschal Baylon Adoring the Blessed Sacrament (Detail) by Claude Francois (1615-1685); Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access)

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress is scheduled to take place July 17-21 in Indianapolis. One of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes is through the Omaha Archdiocese with a Mass at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral June 23. We are in the midst of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival to help Catholics “revive our understanding of and devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist!” It is exactly what our saint of the day, St. Paschal Baylon, would have approved because he is the patron saint of Eucharistic Congresses.

St. Paschal lived in Spain from 1540-1592 during the Golden Age of the Church in Spain. He was a shepherd during his youth and became a Franciscan friar at the age of 24. As such he was a cook, gardener, beggar, and porter. “He is best remembered, however, as a contemplative and a mystic who experienced ecstatic visions during extended periods of prayer before the Holy Eucharist. It was the joy of his life to pray in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.” Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him the patron saint of Eucharistic Congresses, calling him the “seraph of the Eucharist”: “Now, in the glorious ranks of those, the ardor of whose piety towards the great Mystery of the faith was more evident and overflowing, Paschal Baylon holds a most prominent place; for, being gifted with a soul which aspired above all things to Heaven, he embraced a severer mode of life, entering the Order of Minors of the Strict Observance, and from the contemplation of the Holy Eucharist he derived that science and wisdom which placed him, though formerly an unpolished and illiterate man, in a position to solve the most difficult questions of the faith.”

Let us pray before the tabernacle and adore Our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist. St. Paschal Baylon, pray for us!

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

 

Ascension by Giotto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

“When they had gathered together they asked him,
‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
He answered them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.’
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, ‘Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven’” (Acts 1:6-11).

“Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Go into the whole world
and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.’
So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs” (Mk. 16:15-16, 19-20).

There we have it! Jesus’ mission is completed, but it is still ongoing. We are called to continue his mission; to go forth and evangelize and love and serve as he has done for us. We are called to participate in his mission so that we will also receive glory and honor as members of his body.

First Sunday after Pentecost--Trinity Sunday

Photo of Prayer Card of the Holy Trinity licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pentecost signals the end of the Easter Season. But there are more solemnities that occur throughout Ordinary Time; the first of these is Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is the most fundamental dogma of the Church because it is about God. The Church in the fourth-seventh centuries dealt with the Arian Heresy, which stated that Jesus was not the same substance as the Father, in other words, Jesus was not God. This resulted in much tribulation in the Church. St. Jerome once wrote: “The whole world groaned, and was astonished to find itself Arian.” The Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 and the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381 brought forth the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, which is recited at every Sunday Mass. This contained the key word, homoousios, which is translated into English as “consubstantial.” God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three persons in one God, a “triunity.”

The great defender of orthodoxy, St. Athanasius of Alexandria, taught: “We acknowledge the Trinity, holy and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In this Trinity there is no intrusion of any alien element or of anything outside, nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being. It is a wholly creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in its active power, for the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit, and in this way the unity of the holy Trinity is preserved.”

At every Mass we have the great doxology before the Great Amen: “Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours almighty Father, forever and ever Amen.” We are united in our faith in God, who created us and saves us.

 

Second Friday after Trinity Sunday—Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

*

The heart is a common symbol of love in our day, used in song and poetry, as well as everyday speech. So, it should be no surprise that the Church has a feast day dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the one who loves us beyond love. The most significant promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart was St. Margraret Mary Alacoque of France in the 17th century. She received apparitions of the Sacred Heart and promoted its devotion. 

The first papal approval came from Pope Innocent VI in 1353 when he instituted a Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart. Pope Pius IX authorized the feast for the whole Church in 1856. Pope Leo XIII decreed a consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1899 as well as First Friday Devotions. Pope Pius XII wrote a letter instructing the Church on the devotion to the Sacred Heart in 1956 and Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the importance of this devotion in 2006. 

Pope Benedict wrote, “When we practice this devotion, not only do we recognize God's love with gratitude but we continue to open ourselves to this love so that our lives are ever more closely patterned upon it. God, who poured out his love ‘into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us’ (cf. Rom 5: 5), invites us tirelessly to accept his love. The main aim of the invitation to give ourselves entirely to the saving love of Christ and to consecrate ourselves to it is, consequently, to bring about our relationship with God. This explains why the devotion, which is totally oriented to the love of God who sacrificed himself for us, has an irreplaceable importance for our faith and for our life in love.”

*https://live.staticflickr.com/2327/2317894926_8585f50d6b_c.jpg

May 26—St. Philip Neri, Priest

*

Who doesn’t love a joyful person? We tend to gravitate toward people who are filled with a sense of love and peace and joy even in times of serious difficulty. The same is true of today’s saint, St. Philip Neri. He was born in Florence in 1515, but moved to Rome, where, as a layman, he would talk to people on street corners in an effort to re-evangelize and promote morality amidst the corruption he found there. He became a priest in 1551 and gathered men around him, founding the Congregation of the Oratory in 1575, a society of apostolic life whereby the men lived together and ministered to others but without taking vows.

St. Philip Neri has been called the “prophet of Christian joy.” Even Pope St. John Paul II called him the “saint of joy.” He was generous and patient and taught by means of short and wise maxims: “Be good, if you can”; “Scruples and melancholy, stay away from my house”; Be simple and humble”; “He who does not pray is a speechless animal”; “A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than a downcast one”.

St. Philip Neri lived in a time of spiritual turmoil and was trying to convert “the culture of his time, which in many respects is particularly close to that of today.” He lived in the world among the people of Rome, bringing them the Good News through promotion of perseverant “prayer, frequent Communion, rediscovery and use of the sacrament of Reconciliation, daily and familiar contact with the word of God, the fruitful exercise of fraternal charity and service; and then devotion to Our lady, the model and true cause of our joy” (John Paul II). St. Philip Neri, guide us so that we may be joyful through our difficulties and calamities!

*[[File:Guido Reni - St Filippo Neri in Ecstasy - WGA19295.jpg|thumb|Guido Reni - St Filippo Neri in Ecstasy - WGA19295]]

May 21—St. Cristóbal Magallanes, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

*

Would the state ever decide to make the celebration of Mass or the reception of Baptism a crime? It happened in North America just about one hundred years ago, in Mexico. Today’s saint, Cristóbal Magallanes and his 24 companion martyrs, were victims of the anti-Catholic government of Mexico between 1915 and 1937. Mexico was afraid of the power and influence of the Catholic Church and outlawed seminaries, Masses, and the sacraments. St. Cristóbal responded to the closure of the seminary he was trained at by opening his own. He preached and ministered to the faithful in secret. He was also a member of the Cristero movement, which was tied to a violent rebellion against the state for persecuting Catholics. He was accused of trying to start a rebellion, even though he preached against any violence. He was arrested on his way to celebrate Mass, convicted without a trial, and executed on May 21, 1927. His last words were, “I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may serve to unite my Mexican brethren.”

Governments are instituted by God for the benefit of the common good of the people in order to protect divinely instituted human rights and the dignity of every person, to bring about the well-being of society, and serve the needs of the people, especially the poor and needy. Governments are NOT about the manipulation of people, the maintenance of power, or the imposition of discovered and dictated supposed “freedoms”. Serving God and bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth is for the good of the world. We do that by sharing our faith, whether it be freely or under the duress of persecution. It is up to the state to determine how believers will proceed.
*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cristobal.jpg

May 27—St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop and Missionary

Our country is tilted toward England more than the other European countries that colonized this land. So, in many respects our culture leans toward the British. We follow English common law, the Magna Carta is a basis for the Constitution, and we speak English, allowing us to enjoy the great literature of our common tongue. So, it is worth considering the saint that brought the Church back to England in 597, St. Augustine of Canterbury.

England was Christian when the Roman empire was Christianized. But with the withdrawal of Roman legions from England in the 5th century, the island was overrun by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes from Germany. The king of Kent in southeastern England was Æthelbehrt, who married a Frankish princess, who was Catholic. This allowed St. Gregory the Great to send St. Augustine and a number of monks to Canterbury to convert the king and his kingdom. St. Augustine, not the great philosopher from Africa, was a Benedictine monk from Rome. Although his group of 40 companions were daunted by their task, St. Gregory encouraged them onward. Soon after his arrival they met with the king who converted that same year. Large-scale conversions of the people occurred quickly, although King Æthelbehrt never coerced his subjects to do so. He died in 604. St. Augustine of Canterbury is called the “Apostle to the English”.

Some say that King Æthelbehrt was predisposed to receive the Gospel by virtue of his marriage to a Catholic princess. It gives us a chance to keep in mind how we can predispose others to a deepening of their faith. WE MUST PRACTICE OUR FAITH! We are disciples called to spread the Good News. Our actions and our words show the depth of our discipleship.

May 25--St. Bede the Venerable, Monk and Doctor of the Church

“History is more or less bunk,” according to Henry Ford. On the other hand, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” said George Santayana. So, which is it? Do we need history, or can we skip it? St. Bede the Venerable would probably disagree with both statements. St. Bede was the author of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, a book about how the Church was established in England. This work established his claim to the title, “The Father of English History”. 

St. Bede, who became known as the Venerable Bede for his holiness, was educated in a monastery in the north of England, in the 7th century. He became a monk and then a deacon and priest. He wrote volumes on theology, including commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, as well as educational works and poetry. He knew science, philosophy, astronomy, arithmetic, and more. He is patron of scholars. He died in 735 and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1899 by Pope Leo XIII.

History is more than just a remembrance of things past. For Christians, history is about remembering where we came from and why. We came from men and women who followed Jesus. During the Mass, we respond to the Mystery of Faith: “We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again.” Or, “When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.” Or finally, “Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free.” Each of these is an “anamnesis”, which means “remembering” of the mystery of our faith. History is a good thing. We remember that Jesus saved us and continues to save us each day because he loves us.

May 29: St. Paul VI, Pope

St. Pope Paul VI is a much-misunderstood pope. He was elected after the death of Pope St. John XXIII in 1963 and continued Vatican II. He then implemented the reforms until his death in 1978. The reforms of Vatican II included reforming all the sacraments so that they were better understood and celebrated by the people; the understanding of who we are as Church; what the Church’s relationship with the world is; and relations with non-Catholic Christians and non-Christians.

St. Pope Paul VI also served the Church during the times of great social upheaval and changes in social and sexual mores throughout the world. He issued his last encyclical, Humanae Vitae to help the Church and the world deal with many issues concerning sexual behavior and family life. Many in Europe and America opposed it. It condemned artificial birth control as intrinsically evil on the grounds that it is opposed to the generation of life in the act of contracepting, which is contrary to Catholic Church teaching as well as natural law. Sacramental marriage is about being in union with God as well as one’s spouse: “Love is total—that very special form of personal friendship in which husband and wife generously share everything, allowing no unreasonable exceptions and not thinking solely of their own convenience. Whoever really loves his partner loves not only for what he receives, but loves that partner for the partner's own sake, content to be able to enrich the other with the gift of himself” (8,9).

St. Pope Paul VI also reaffirmed other doctrines of the Church, including a male priesthood, which was declared dogma by St. John Paul the Great in 1994. He may have been misunderstood, but that is the lot of prophets, and Saint Pope Paul VI is our modern-day prophet.

May 31--The Visitation

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant." The Virgin Mary spoke these words in response to her cousin Elizabeth's greeting on the day that Mary visited her, which we celebrate today. Mary gave glory to God in recognition of the grace that God had given to her in being the Mother of God. When Mary had agreed, the angel Gabriel told her of Elizabeth's pregnancy. Mary immediately set out to help her.

When Elizabeth heard Mary, her son John leapt in her womb for joy. John the Baptist was filled with joy, Elizabeth was filled with joy, Mary was filled with joy. Mary, in her humility, knew her role: "From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name."

What is our role? To be filled with joy! Even in our griefs and anxieties we can remain joyful for God has done great things for us! "He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit." We know that Jesus saves us! "He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly." We know that heaven awaits us! "He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty." We know that God takes care of us! "He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever." We know that God keeps his promise! We can rejoice with our Blessed Mother.

May 25--St. Gregory VII, Pope

What happens when a ruler wants to take over the Church?  Our saint today had that problem back in the  eleventh century.  Pope St. Gregory VII was pope at a time when the emperor was trying to control the Church through his investing of authority to bishops.  If Emperor Henry IV could "hire" the bishops, then he could control them and rule them, and the Church, the way he ruled the empire.  This corrupt use of power was called lay investiture, giving authority to leaders of  the Church by lay rulers.

Pope St. Gregory VII was a reforming pope.  Before he became pope he was an advisor to popes in their efforts to help the Church retain their religious rights and liberties against local rulers who wanted to make those bishops and abbots another part of the government.  Gregory excommunicated Henry at one point, but Henry repented and Gregory lifted the excommunication.  Whereupon, Henry consolidated his power, gathered his forces, arrested Gregory, and exiled him, where Gregory died.

The Church as the right to minister as she sees fit without restriction by the government.  She has the right to teach the faith.  She has the right to choose who may teach the faith and the right to require those teachers to be faithful to her teachings. She as the right to serve the poor without being required to follow the latest government dogmas on a new and unjust standard of equality.  She has the right to speak out against injustices perpetrated by the government.  Pope St. Gregory VII would recognize ours as a time of struggle between Church and State.  Pope St. Gregory VII, pray for us.

May 14--St. Matthias, Apostle

"Hi. I'm the guy who replaced Judas!"  That might be the opening line for today's saint, because that was precisely who he was, the successor to Judas!  Why did the apostles choose a successor to Judas?  Because Jesus chose twelve apostles to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.  The apostles were going to be the foundation for the New Israel, the new People of God, the members of the New Covenant.  So when Judas committed suicide the apostles continued with the first example of apostolic succession.  

Peter led the apostles after Jesus' ascension and said, "For it is written in the Book of Psalms:  May another take his office.  Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which was was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection"  (Acts 1: 20-22). So they chose Matthias from among two suggested.  Thus, he became the next apostle.

Apostolic succession is crucial in our understanding of the authority of the Church. From the apostles came the Apostolic Fathers, men who were instrumental in spreading the faith, including bishops like Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, and Clement of Rome.  After them came the Fathers of  the Church for the first centuries, most of them bishops, like Irenaeus of Lyons, Ambrose of Milan, Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil of Caesarea, Augustine of Hippo, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, and more.  These are not just names of dead men from long ago, but rather the patriarchs of the Church who handed down the faith they received from the apostles, like Matthias.

May 3--Sts. Philip and James, Apostles

So you know the names of all the apostles.  Okay, who was St. Philip and what did he do?  How about St. James the Less?  We know about these two only because they are mentioned in the Gospels as two of the twelve apostles.  We know that Philip was from the same town as Peter and Andrew and that he brought Nathanael to Jesus, but other than that we have only a few stories about Philip; one when Jesus asked him where they should buy enough food to feed the 5000.  Philip responded, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit]" (Jn 6:7).  This would seem to indicate that Philip had some knowledge of logistics and supplies.  Beyond those few stories, we have from legend that he was stoned to death after preaching the Gospel.  

Of St. James, son of Alphaeus, also known as James the Less to distinguish him from James, the brother of John, we only know his name and the fact that he was an apostle.  That's it!  However as an apostle, he was chosen by Jesus to go forth and spread the Good News.  His anonymity did not prevent him from doing God's will once he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  According to legend, he also died a martyr's death.

What can we learn from these two apostles?  Don't worry about fame.  Don't worry about prestige.  Don't worry about worldly success.  Be faithful to the mission that we have been given.  Be faithful to our calling as disciples.  Be faithful to our faith.  Sts. Philip and James, pray for us.

May 15—St. Isidore the Farmer, Holy Man

What does it mean to be a farmer? It means constant chores, days out in the fields, weeding rows of beans, detasseling corn, caring for animals, watching the sky for rain, haying during the summer’s heat, harvesting past sundown, worrying about prices, and more. But it also means satisfaction for feeding the hungry.

Today’s saint is the patron of farmers.  St. Isidore was a day laborer who would go to Mass first thing in the morning and then head out to the fields, still completing his required chores.  He was married to St. Maria de la Cabeza and together they showed “commitment to family, love for the land, service to the poor and a deep spirituality.”  Their love and piety was simple, yet profound.  They were not theologians nor clergy nor members of a religious order.  St. Isidore was a worker.  St. Maria served in the home.  They lived their daily lives in much the same way as the Holy Family, although their one child died in infancy.

Farmers and workers need to live their faith in their farming and working and family life.  We need to live our faith in our jobs and family life.  We have a myriad of chores, but each can be done with the joy of service.  We have a plethora of problems, but with the grace of God, each can be resolved.  We have relationships that deserve our love and time.  This is what St. Isidore and St. Maria did.  They worked; they lived; they loved.  It is a simple formula, but it fulfills Jesus’ prayer:  “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.”

May 10—St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai, Priest

“Unclean, unclean.”  These words were shouted by those in the Bible who had the disease of leprosy, what is now called Hansen’s Disease.  It is mentioned in the Bible 68 times, 15 in the New Testament and was often thought of as curse from God for sin.  It is a highly infectious disease that affects the nervous system and causes disfigurement.  One of the amazing effects of Hansen’s Disease is that the infected cannot feel pain, leading to lack of awareness of harm caused to the body.

St. Damien of Molokai dedicated his life to serving the leper colony on Molokai in the 19^th century.  The lepers of Molokai were shunned by the rest of society.  St. Damien did what he could to return their sense of God-given dignity by his service.  He persuaded another saint, St. Marianne Cope to bring her sisters to help minister to them.  He buried many of his people, digging their graves himself.  Eventually, he contracted Hansen’s Disease and had to stay as a member of his beloved community.  He also died, and was buried on Molokai, where part of his body remains to this day.

When Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI canonized St. Damien he remarked:  “He invites us to open our eyes to the forms of leprosy that disfigure the humanity of our brethren and still today call for the charity of our presence as servants, beyond that of our generosity."  Who among us is disfigured and shunned?  Is it the homeless, those with mental diseases or syndromes, the unborn, the poor, the marginalized?  We need to hear the unheard cry of “Unclean, unclean” and minister to them.