Tree of Life

 June 23 and 24 marks St. John’s Eve and the Nativity of John the Baptist respectively. This is the celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist the forerunner of Christ. As today is celebrated by French Canadians in a special way called St. Jean-Baptiste Day , today is a day for French culture as St. Patrick is for Irish Culture. An interesting astronomy note is that St.John was born as the days grow shorter in reference to the scripture where St. John says in  John 3:30, "He (Christ) must increase, but I must decrease." This is similar to when Christ is born and the days get longer because the Light of the World has come.  Strawberries are often eaten on this day as it is their harvest season so thus they are picked for the honor of St. John.  Strawberries are symbolic of the Trinity, Our Lady and righteousness because their seeds represent the fruitfulness of good works and of Mary’s Maternity and the white flower of the strawberry plant is white of the p...

In the Name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit!                                                                                                      After the Descent of the Holy Spirit last Sunday on Pentecost, the Holy Trinity has been revealed in a complete way. The Holy Spirit appeared at Christ's Baptism, but wasn't received by the faithful until Pentecost and thus a new era begins in Salvation History. Today we give thanks to the Holy Trinity for the work of creation, salvation and sanctification as we reflect once more on the mysteries of Easter and Pentecost as pr...

  Come Holy Spirit!  “Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well-beloved Spouse.” Today, 50 Days after Easter and  10 days after Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Holy Spirit descends on the Virgin Mary and the Apostles. Mary and the Apostles prayed for Nine Days, marking the first Novena, fulfilling Jesus’ command to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came, He further sanctifies the Apostles and fills once more the soul  of the Virgin Mary, His Spouse . Today is the birthday of the Church and it is a great day of Christian unity where we remember the great gift of the Holy Spirit given to us after Jesus promised to do so. We rejoice in the liberating power of the Holy Spirit and as we are “enkindled with the fire of His love” we rejoice and recall the unity amidst diversity from even the earliest days of the Church. Today is a good day to pray the Third Glorious Mystery of the R...

“God mounts His throne to shouts of joy, Alleluia!” To all dioceses that celebrate the Ascension today*, I wish you many blessings! We rejoice in the Risen Christ, Who Ascends to Heaven by His own power to prepare a place for us. Now to Heaven is our humanity glorified. For the scrupulous and the anxious, it is a day to recall as humanity is glorified in Christ's Ascension, we submit not to the fears of Earth below but keep our hearts and minds in Heaven. In a certain way as we recall Christ’s glorification of His Humanity united to His Divinity we recall the dignity of every human life and lament the ethnic cleansing and genocide taking place now in Gaza. Today let us pray in a special way for the people of Gaza that Christ’s triumph may be theirs as a permanent ceasefire may finally be implemented. We pray also for peace in all the places throughout the world torn by violence. We also remember the Souls of the Faithful Departed and pray that they might enter Heaven with Christ W...

INDULGENCES:  A Brief on Indulgences: Although mortal sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession, we still have to do penance and shorten our time in Purgatory. A Plenary indulgences “cancels” all our time while a partial indulgence shortens it. We can gain one plenary indulgence a day and they can be applied to purgatory but not another living person. An indulgence is not based on the abuse of God’s mercy of paying into Heaven but doing good works and having the merits of Mary and the Saints applied to you.  The Handbook of Indulgences  How to Gain Indulgences  1) Have the right intention of gaining the indulgence.  2) Be in the state of grace (Confession 20 days before or after receiving the indulgence. One confession suffices for all indulgences obtained in this period.)  3) Fulfillment of the good work prescribed.  4) Receive Holy Communion within 20 days of gaining the indulgence, for every indulgence desired Communion should be received....

Please call 988 whenever you need someone to talk to and feel alone, someone is always there for you, you are loved and you matter!! Also see “Letters to Stay” below. The following is information I found helpful during my own mental health journey with anxiety, depression and OCD.         Note for this chart, there are some things that you "can do something about it", but are products of overthinking and obsession, in these cases seek help. A big help to me is to stop in the moment, recognize my intention and keep justice in mind and ask What Would Jesus Do? If experiencing worrisome thoughts, I let them pass and if I find it too difficult I write them down to save for later and ask my therapist. Next to sin anxiety is what God wants us to stray from. Below I have included resources for those who are scrupulous, anxious or experiencing any mental health concerns. God is merciful and kind and will not let those who love Him be lead astray, that is our first and...