From Season to Season

Ivan was born in 1896 in the village of Zhyvachiv (in modern-day Ukraine). He was ordained a priest in 1923. In April 1945, Bishop Hryhory Khomyshyn, Greek Catholic eparch of Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), ordained Ivan as coadjutor bishop with the right to succeed him in case Bishop Khomyshyn should be arrested or killed by the Communist leadership. However, on June 2, 1945, Ivan was arrested and deported to the labor camps in Vorkuta, Russia. In 1950, he was transferred to labor camps in Mordovia, Russia. Following his release in 1954, Ivan returned to Stanislaviv. He was arrested again in 1962 and imprisoned for five years in a camp known for its harsh treatment of prisoners. Although he was released on November 30, 1968, he was interrogated by KGB officials every few weeks. The last visit was two weeks before his death, which was on December 2, 1973, in Stanislaviv. Because of his imprisonment and suffering, Blessed Ivan Sleziuk is honored among the “ Martyrs Kill...

Lucina (or Lucy) was a wealthy Roman woman who, according to ancient legends, was converted to the Christian Faith by Saint Peter. When the persecution of the Emperor Nero began (in the year 64), Lucina showed kindness to the imprisoned Christians, including Saints Martinian and Processus , who had served as Saint Peter’s guards while he was in prison awaiting execution. These two men were converted to the Faith by Peter and were executed a few days after the Apostle. Saint Lucina is remembered for courageously giving proper burial to the martyrs. She is believed to have suffered martyrdom herself and has been honored as a martyr since the fourth century.   She is buried in the Catacomb of Saint Callistus in Rome. Today, the relics of Saints Martinian and Processes are enshrined in Saint Peter’s Basilica . Detail of the Catacomb of Callistus In today’s Gospel (Thursday of the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time) we hear how Jesus restored a paralyzed man to health. B...

Francisca was born in São João del Rei, Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1810. Born into poverty (with no record of her father), she and her brother were orphaned when their mother died in 1820. Francisca never received any formal education and remained illiterate throughout her life. As she grew into adulthood, she chose to never marry and devoted her life to her faith, particularly her devotion to the Blessed Virgin.    Blessed Francisca de Paula Jesus Isabel In time, she won the love of the local people, who came to honor her as Nha Chica —“Aunt Chica.” She eventually settled in the village of Baependi and many came to ask her counsel and prayers. She received everyone with a spirit of true hospitality. In time, she used her meager resources to begin construction of a chapel in honor of the Virgem da Conceição (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), next to her small home. This chapel remains a popular place of pilgrimage. Nha Chica died in Baependi on June 14, 1895, ...

According to the Acts of the Apostles , Matthias, a witness of the Lord’s ministry and resurrection, was chosen by the apostles to take the place of Judas Iscariot (cf. Acts 1:15-26 ). Saint Matthias received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and he is said to have preached the Gospel in Judea. Later traditions link him to the churches in Cappadocia and Ethiopia. Honored as a martyr, his relics were translated from Jerusalem to Rome by the Empress Saint Helena . Saint Matthias from the workshop of Simone Martini It is fitting that we celebrate the feast day of an Apostle on this final day before Pentecost . The witness of Saint Matthias and the other Apostles and early Church leaders who left behind home and family to preach and teach about Jesus is an important lesson for us today: Each of us has received the same Holy Spirit that inspired their ministry and service and we too are called to go out from our homes into our parishes and communities to invite others to follo...

On the 13th day of May, we celebrate the Virgin Mary who appeared to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917. In these encounters, Mary identified herself as “Our Lady of the Rosary” and urged the practice of penance, daily recitation of the Rosary, and devotion to the Immaculate Heart for the conversion of sinners and of Russia.   On May 13, 2000, Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Jacinta and Francisco Marto , two of the visionaries. The commemoration of Our Lady of Fatima was extended to the Universal Church in 2002. Although there are many who focus on the signs and wonders associated with the apparitions at Fatima, Mary’s message to the children—and to us—is very simple: Pray! And our commitment to prayer—for the Church, for those entrusted to our care, for the poor and forgotten—are the greatest acts of devotion we can show to the Mother of God. Take time today to pray the rosary for those who have no o...

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 1:9-11 In her novel  Gilead , Marilyn Robinson shares the story of Reverend John Ames who, looking back on a life of pastoral service, love, loss, faith, and hope, tells his young son: Sometimes the visionary aspect of any particular day comes to you in the memory of it, or it opens to you over time. For example, whenever I take a child into my arms to be baptized, I am, so to speak, comprehended in the experience more fully, having seen more of life, knowing better what it means to affirm the sacredness of the human creature. I believe there are visions that come to us only i...

François Laval was born in 1623 into one of the most distinguished families in France. He received the tonsure at age twelve (a symbol of his status as a cleric) and, later, he became a canon of the cathedral of Evreux. Following his ordination in 1647, he was named archdeacon of Evreux. At the age of thirty he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of present-day Vietnam, but he was unable to take up residence there because of the wars that plagued the country during that period; he resigned from that office one year later. In 1658, François was appointed Vicar Apostolic of New France. He arrived in Canada in May 1659, and reached Quebec one month later. During the next thirty years of his life he founded parishes, fought against the exploitation of the Native Americans, and opposed the Gallicanism of the civil authorities. He founded the first seminary in New France in 1662 and in 1674 he was appointed as first bishop of Quebec. François died in 1708 at the age of eighty-five. Saint Fr...

Anselm was born of noble parents in Piedmont (Italy) around the year 1033. At the age of twenty-seven he entered the English Benedictine abbey of Bec, where he became abbot in 1078. As abbot, he gained renown for his preaching and reforming spirit. In 1093, he succeeded his former teacher, Blessed Lanfranc , as Archbishop of Canterbury. Anselm soon found himself at odds with King William Rufus, whose unjust policies compelled Anselm to leave England. After traveling to Cluny and Rome, the Anselm returned to England only after he had received word of the king’s death. Conflicts with the new king caused him to flee to Rome where Pope Paschal II defended Anselm’s claim to authority over the English church. In 1106, he returned to Canterbury, where he died on April 21, 1109. Known as a man of recollection and erudition, Anselm’s writings have had a profound impact on Catholic thought and he has been called the “Father of Scholasticism.” Especially remembered for his Prosologion , the ...

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” —John 10:27-28                                                           In his message for the 50 th World Day of Prayer for Vocations (which is celebrated each year on the Fourth Sunday of Easter) Pope Benedict XVI observed, “ Hope is the expectation of something positive in the future, yet at the same time it must sustain our present existence, which is often marked by dissatisfaction and failures… To have hope, therefore, is the equivalent of trusting in God who is faithful, who keeps the promises of the covenant.” This sense of hope is at the heart of this Sund...

An Italian by birth, Martin became Pope in 649. Immediately after his election he convoked a council in Rome to condemn both the Monothelite Heresy (which denied that Jesus had a human will and freedom), and the involvement of Emperor Constans II in Church affairs. In response, the outraged emperor had Pope Martin kidnapped and imprisoned in Constantinople. Saved from execution only through the intervention of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Martin was exiled to Kherson, in the Crimea, where he eventually died as a result of starvation and abuse in 655. He is the last of the Bishops of Rome to be honored as a martyr. The feast of Pope Martin I is celebrated in both the Eastern and Western Churches. Today’s First Reading tells us of a dark time in the life of the Early Church, as the first Christians faced severe persecution and exile following the martyrdom of Saint Stephen, the Church’s first martyr. The experience of this early Christians—and other saints, including Pope ...

Marie Rose Julie Billiart was born in Picardy in 1751. An intelligent and devout child, she was forced to perform heavy manual labor to support her impoverished family. After making a private vow of chastity when she was fourteen, she worked among the poor children within her parish, teaching catechism and visiting the sick. In 1773, she witnessed the attempted murder of her father, and as a result she developed a nervous paralysis that gradually prevented her from walking and caused her severe pain. She was an invalid by the age of thirty, but from her bed she carried on an apostolate of prayer and spiritual counsel to the many men and women who sought her advice and direction. During the French Revolution she was accused of harboring priests, but she was saved from the authorities by friends who helped her escape to Compiègne. Her illness continued to worsen, and for several months she was unable to speak. Following the end of the Revolution, Julie resumed her teaching and, gat...

Francis was born around the year 1416, at Paola, a small city in Calabria.   Educated by the Franciscans, he lived as a solitary about a half mile from Paola. He was eventually joined by two companions, and he built three cells and a chapel, in which the local priest would say Mass for them. This is regarded as the foundation for the Order of Friars Minims . In 1454, Francis constructed the new community’s first monastery, and their Rule of Life was approved by Pope SixtusIV in 1474. Francis soon established monasteries in Germany, France, and Spain.   Following the example of his patron, Saint Francis of Assisi, Francis was never ordained a priest and he was credited with a number of miracles, even during his life. Although none of his own words have survived, we know that he was completely devoted to solitude and self-denial, and that he had a special devotion to the Passion of Christ and the Mother of God.   In 1506, he wrote a Rule for nuns and accepted lay peo...

Shortly after he arrived at a compound for patients of Hansen’s Disease (a leper colony) in India, Doctor Paul Brand , a specialist in hands and tendons, quietly slipped into a community meeting, sitting on a mat behind the group in the courtyard. All around were smells of disease and decay, of cooking spices, and medical ointments. His eyes were drawn to the patients’ hands, most of which had missing or deformed fingers that were turned in—hands that were often called “lepers’ claws.” Some of the patients were sitting on their hands or trying to keep them hidden. When the patients realized Doctor Brand was there, they asked him to speak. So, moving to the center of the group, he began by saying, “I am a hand surgeon. So, when I meet people, I can’t help but look at their hands. [Palm readers claim] that they can look at your future by looking at your hands. I can tell your past. For instance, I can tell what your trade has been by the position of the callouses and the condition...

“What will you give me if I had him over to you?” “What’s that man’s life worth to you?” “How much is your power, your agenda, your comfort, your security worth to you?”   We’ve heard the story and we know the answer: 30 pieces of silver.   It’s a very specific amount. In Exodus we read that 30 pieces of silver was the value of a slave. Later in the Old Testament, the Prophet Zechariah received 30 pieces of silver as payment for his work as a shepherd. Saint Matthew wants us to make those connections. And we could, of course, spend time reflecting on the theological or symbolic value of those pieces of silver, and perhaps you can do that on your own today.   But as I reflected on the Readings of this “Traitor Wednesday,” I found myself coming back to the Lenten series on morality and the Ten Commandments that led at Saint Pius X Church [in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin] these past six weeks. And, one of the basic ideas of morality that we explored in the ser...

Today--the Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent--is a day traditionally set aside to honor to Seven Sorrows of Mary. Although the reforms of the Church's Calendar after Vatican II elimitated this duplicate celebration of the Mary's "Dolours," opting to focus on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15, the liturgy does include an optional collect (opening prayer) for today's Mass which reminds us of the special role Mary played in the Passion. And so, today, we remember Mary as the Woman of Compassion . Madonna in Sorrow by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato In our culture, compassion is often equated with kindness or even with mercy, but there is a much more dynamic meaning to this word. It comes to us from two Latin words ( cum =with and passio =to suffer) and literally means "to suffer with." And so, to be a person of compassion means that we literally share in the sufferings of another person. This isn't simple empathy, eit...

John Amias and Robert Dalby were Yorkshire men who studied for the priesthood at the English College in Douai, France. John, a widower, was ordained in 1581 and traveled to England with Blessed Edmund Sykes that same year. He successfully ministered for seven or eight years before being arrested. Robert, who had formerly been a Protestant minister, was arrested as he landed in England in 1588. The two priests were tried and condemned together. Showing great joy and a spirit of prayerful resignation at their execution, Blessed John Amias and Robert Dalby were hanged, drawn, and quartered on March 16, 1589, and beatified in 1929. In today’s First Reading we hear about the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, young men who refused to worship a false God set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. The king’s golden calf was a symbol of his own authority and by forcing the enslaved Jewish community to worship this idol, he was undermining their identity as God’s Chosen People. Bles...

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.   Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” …   Jesus [said to the woman], “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.”   Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” — John 8:1-7, 10-11 Blessed Charles de Foucauld (d. 1916), a soldier and explorer, monk and priest, missionary and martyr, once wrote, “We are all children of the Most High. All of u...

This Lent, I have been especially mindful of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Although this isn't a specifically Lenten devotion — bringing together as it does events drawn from the entire life of Jesus — it nonetheless invites us to reflect on the role Mary played in the full story of salvation, particularly in those times of sadness and fear that are an essential part of the Gospel story. A strong tie of faith binds Mary’s sorrows to those we experience throughout life. Her faith, resilience, courage, and (especially) hope allowed her to find the hand of God at work, even in the most devastating events of her life. The Seven Sorrows of Mary are: 1. The Prophecy of Simeon (cf. Luke 2:34-35 ) 2. The Flight into Egypt (cf. Matthew 2:13-14 ) 3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (cf. Luke 2:43-45 ) 4. Meeting Jesus As He Carries the Cross (cf. Luke 23:27 ) 5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (cf. John 19:18, 25-27 ) 6. Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross (cf. Mark 15:43-4...

While the young son was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But his father ordered his servants, “Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.” —Luke 15:20-24 On October 1, 1950, a 27-year-old man was executed in Paris for murdering a police officer during a botched robbery. Jacques Fesch, the murderer, was a victim of neglect by his parents and the isolation and boredom that can accompany a life of privilege. He was a rake. He lived an restless life, wandering from relationship to relationship, job to job, eventually finding himself the fath...

The daughter of one of the wealthiest men in America, Katherine Drexel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1858. While visiting Europe, Katherine worked to recruit priests and religious to minister to Native Americans, and it was during this trip that Pope Leo XIII suggested that Katherine herself become a missionary. The following year, she established schools in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, California, Oregon, and New Mexico. In 1889, Katharine entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy, and in 1891 she professed her vows as the first member of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People . Opening a novitiate in Philadelphia, she received twenty-one new sisters in the first year. The new community’s first mission was in New Mexico. Following the death of her father in 1901, Katherine and her sister each received an inheritance amounting to one thousand dollars a day. Other missions and schools soon followed, including Xavier University in New Or...