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Daily Readings from the USCCB“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.” John 21:18–19On this, the third time that Jesus appeared to His disciples, Jesus enters into a threefold discourse with Peter. Each time that Jesus...

As pilgrims walk across the country in public procession with the Eucharist, a group of protesters has begun to follow, shouting irreverent remarks that mock the Real Presence of Jesus in the consecrated host. Organizers of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage confirmed at a June 5 press conference that the protests, now estimated at 40 to 50 people, were not present during last year’s pilgrimage but have become a regular occurrence this year. Jason Shanks, president of the National Eucharistic Congress, described the protesters as “well-organized,” noting that while they have remained nonviolent so far, organizers are coordinating with dioceses and...

Daily Readings from the USCCBLifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” John 17:20–21Over the past couple of weeks, we have been continually reading from Chapter 14–17 of John’s Gospel. These chapters contain Jesus’ Last Supper Discourses and provide us with Jesus’ last sermon, so to speak. Chapter...

5 June 2025 Saint Boniface, Bishop, Martyr on Thursday of the 7th week of Eastertide St. Boniface Catholic Church - Sublimity, ORReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Red. Year: C(I).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingActs 22:30,23:6-11'You have borne witness in Jerusalem: now you must do the same in Rome'Since the tribune wanted to know what precise charge the Jews were bringing, he freed Paul and gave orders for a meeting of the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin; then he brought Paul down and stood him in front of them. Now Paul was...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One.” John 17:14–15Unfortunately, the evil one is real. He is the highest of the fallen angels who retain their natural spiritual power given them at their creation. God created all angelic creatures with the purpose of serving His holy will. The Scripture reveals that there are nine levels or “choirs”...

4 June 2025Wednesday of the 7th week of EastertideThe Bridgettine Chapel & Retreat in Columbus, OhioReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 20:28-38I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, and its powerPaul addressed these words to the elders of the church of Ephesus: ‘Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feed the Church of God which he bought with his own blood. I know quite well that when I have gone fierce wolves will invade you and will...

The FBI’s anti-Catholic Richmond memo was distributed to more than 1,000 employees in FBI field offices across the country before it was ever leaked to the public by a whistleblower, according to documents obtained and revealed by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, this week. What is more, Grassley found that the FBI had “produced at least 13 additional documents and five attachments that used anti-Catholic terminology and relied on information from the radical far-left Southern Poverty Law Center,” according to a June 3 press release from the senator’s office. Grassley also found that the FBI Richmond field office drafted an additional...

In his first prayer intention video of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has asked the faithful to pray that the world might grow in compassion during the month of June. “Let us pray that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his heart, learn to have compassion on the world,” the pope said in a video released June 3. The video also includes an original prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to which the month of June is dedicated. ---snip---Here is the full prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.” John 17:4–5Saint Ignatius of Loyola bases his spiritual masterpiece, The Spiritual Exercises, on one basic premise: Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. This is the essence of what Ignatius calls the “Principle and Foundation” of our lives. In other words, our goal in life is twofold: First, we must seek...

3 June 2025 Saints Charles Lwanga and his Companions, Martyrs on Tuesday of the 7th week of EastertideSaint Charles Lwanga Church, ZimbabweReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Red. Year: C(I).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingActs 20:17-27I have without faltering put before you the whole of God's purposeFrom Miletus Paul sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus. When they arrived he addressed these words to them: ‘You know what my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia, how I have served the Lord...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” John 16:33What did Jesus tell His disciples that produced the “peace” of which He spoke? He is especially referring to His entire Last Supper Discourse from which we have been reading. The words spoken throughout this discourse are meant to give the disciples, and us, “courage” and the ability to conquer the trouble imposed upon us by the world. Throughout Jesus’ discourse, He especially points to the unity...

2 June 2025 Monday of the 7th week of EastertideIn the north transept of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the first altar on the left is that of St. ErasmusReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 19:1-8The moment Paul laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on themWhile Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples. When he asked, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ they answered, ‘No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a...

Sunday 1 June 2025 The Ascension of the Lord Solemnity St. Justin Martyr Catholic Church, St. Louis, MissouriReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).These readings are for the Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.These readings are for the day of the feast itself.These readings are for the Vigil Mass on the evening before the feast.First readingActs 1:1-11Jesus was lifted up while they looked onIn my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit,...

By Dr. John BergsmaAscension Day, unfortunately, is not observed in a uniform manner across the United States. Catholics in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England will observe it on Thursday; the rest of the country observes it this Sunday. The First Reading and Psalm for this Solemnity are always Acts 1:1-11 and Psalm 47. Year C has the option to employ Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23 instead of Ephesians 4:17-23 as the Second Reading (both are discussed below) and proclaims Luke 24:46-53 as the Gospel. This is an unusual Lord’s Day, in which the “action” of the Feast Day actually takes...

Daily Readings from the USCCB⁕ (If you celebrate the Ascension in your diocese today, see the reflection below. Otherwise, see today's separate thread for the reflection on the 7th Sunday of Easter.) ⁕Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until...

By Dr. John BergsmaHere is a commentary on the Readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, and let me begin by saying, if you have a Seventh Sunday of Easter, you are indeed blessed! This is an important Sunday: it is climactic, the last Sunday before Pentecost in the Easter Season. The architects of the Vatican II lectionary saved very important readings for this date, notably the High Priestly Prayer of John 17. This magnificent prayer is the longest of Jesus’ prayers recorded in Scripture, and it is the climax of the Last Supper Discourse (John 13-17), the longest discourse...

Daily Readings from the USCCB⁕ (In many dioceses, the Solemnity of the Ascension is celebrated today. If you celebrate the Ascension in your diocese today, see the reflection on today's separate thread for the Ascension) ⁕Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have...

Saturday 31 May 2025 The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feast The Altar of Saint Petronilla in Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome. Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingZephaniah 3:14-18The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midstShout for joy, daughter of Zion,Israel, shout aloud!Rejoice, exult with all your heart,daughter of Jerusalem!The Lord has repealed your sentence;he has driven your enemies away.The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;you have no more evil to fear.When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:Zion, have no fear,do not let your hands fall limp.The Lord your God...

Daily Readings from the USCCBMary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Luke 1:39–42The beautiful feast we celebrate today depicts two miraculous pregnancies. One came about by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. The other was the miraculous conception in the womb...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.” John 16:21This truth can certainly be extended to any form of anguish we experience for a good reason. Note that the pain experienced in childbirth is pain for a good and holy reason. Therefore, the pain is forgotten, in a sense, when the mother sees and holds her newborn child. That suffering is...