[Salvation]

Doctors of the Catholic Church

Saint Isidore is the Educational Doctor. In the ancient church language, he is the schoolmaster of the middle ages. This saint wrote an entire encyclopedia used as a textbook for 900 years and a history of the world.

Isidore yearned to learn to become holy and shared his gifts and knowledge with the uneducated, those desiring to learn more, and those who needed to be reeducated due to ignorance or misconceptions.

He came from a three-bishop family. Spain honors him as its chief preserver of the Catholic Faith, which it had received from apostolic times. He combined holiness with learning and practiced it daily. He knew that learning without holiness would lead to pride and pain in the soul. He used his home as school from sunrise to sunset to teach and minister to the poor, sinners , and the uneducated. This holy man knew that sins can cloud the mind with erroneous thinking and that accurate knowledge can dispel ignorance and guide one's intelligence to a higher clarity and insight into the things of God and humankind.

Because of his great emphases to "yearn to learn" and his vast accomplishments for hundreds of years, he has been proposed as the Patron Saint of Internet Users.

St Isidore, 560-636. Doctor of Education, Feast April 4th

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Matthew 26:14-25

“My appointed time draws near.” (Matthew 26:18)

We are only two days away from Good Friday. Each year this bitter­sweet occasion moves us to focus on the injustice, humiliation, and the suffering that Jesus endured. At the same time, Jesus’ death can cause us to rejoice as we focus on all the blessings that flow from his cross.

When Jesus said that his appointed time was fast approach­ing, he was preparing his disciples for the sacrifice he was about to make for them—and for all of us. He was preparing them for the Last Supper, when he would tell them— and all of us— “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). He was prepar­ing them for the time when his body would be sacrificed on the cross and when his own flesh and blood would become the bread of life and the cup of salvation.

Brothers and sisters, the Eucharist that Jesus was preparing for is not an aspirin. It’s not a vita­min pill. It’s not something we just swallow and then hope it works. It’s much more like a precious gem or a bar of gold. It is the most valu­able treasure in the entire world. It is God’s presence in us. It is the Bread of Life, which unites heaven and earth.

Money, possessions, a good job, even a wonderful spouse—none of these can compare to this gift. When we talk about the Eucharist, we are talking about God giving everything he has, his whole self, to us. He has given us something we do not deserve. He has given us something we have not earned, a gift we can never repay.

Soon we will be commemorating Jesus’ death on the cross. His time is near. So as you prepare your heart today, let your meditation show you how this very sad moment in history is also a joyful moment because it is the greatest gift God could ever give. And every time you “do this” in his memory, remember too how deeply he loves you.

“Jesus, show me how your death has brought me life. I want to take hold of all your grace as I prepare to enter the holiest days of the year. Help me to experience the power of your resurrection in my life today.”

Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 69:8-10,21-22,31,33-34