5th Sunday of Easter

Do not let your hearts be troubled…

Let us trust in God lest we become fearful. Any and every form of trust implies a source of reliance or dependence. Children trust their parents. We only trust a person or institution that bears the hallmark of authentic authority. The greater the voice of authority the more likely one is to trust, listen and obey. Do people trust the Church today? Does the Church still have authority? The historical foundations of the Church cannot be shaken nor moved. The Church today is the Church of the twelve Apostles, founded by Christ, who is its Head, guided by the Holy Spirit, who is its Heart, to praise and give glory to the Father, who is its Origin. Of all the thousands of communities that claim Christ to be their Lord, only one Church can claim to have an unbroken chain that links us to Jesus, the King of kings. The more one studies Church history the more Catholic one becomes. When one probes the trials and tribulations of the Church over the centuries the greater one’s conviction that this Church is not of human origin or design. So learn your history, steep yourself in the past, so as to be convinced of the future and be able to trust in God, and not be afraid.

4th Sunday Easter Good Shepherd Sunday and Mothers Day

The family is the foundation for education and development. This development is not only physical, emotional and psychological, but also spiritual. Thus the family is referred to as the domestic church – A microcosmic expression of the Church itself. Within this domestic church there is a hierarchy. A husband and father Father leads the family, not with domination, but with a spirit of loving service and an eye for protection of his family from the dangers associated with living in the world. A wife and mother has the role of following her husband’s lead, not in subjugation, but in loving support. She has the task of helping her husband discern the virtuous path forward for the family, and when he forgets the purpose for which he and his family are made – ie. the glorification of God and the sanctification of neighbour, she is able to boldly turn his head in the right direction. Together, as husband and wife, they will teach their family what it is to love God and be loved by him. As a mother, a woman has the task of imaging the love of Mary to her family – boldly following God’s word, and allowing that word to transform instinctual tenderness into a divine love which, when experienced by her children will open them up to the possibility of a life dedicated to the glory of God and the service of man. By following Jesus the good shepherd, Families become faithful and bold witnesses of God’s mercy and compassion.

Habemus Papam!

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost arrives on the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter’s Basilica for the first time, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on May 8, 2025. Robert Francis Prevost was on Thursday elected the first pope from the United States, the Vatican announced. A moderate who was close to Pope Francis and spent years as a missionary in Peru, he becomes the Catholic Church’s 267th pontiff, taking the papal name Leo XIV. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

A brief history of Pope Leo XIV

The new Bishop of Rome was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph.

He spent his childhood and adolescence with his family and studied first at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and then at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where in 1977 he earned a Degree in Mathematics and also studied Philosophy.

On September 1 of the same year, Prevost entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in Saint Louis, in the Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel of Chicago, and made his first profession on September 2, 1978. On August 29, 1981, he made his solemn vows.

In Rome, he was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, at the Augustinian College of Saint Monica by Archbishop Jean Jadot, then pro-president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, which later became the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and then the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.

On September 26, 2015, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo by Pope Francis. In March 2018, he was elected second vice-president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, where he also served as a member of the Economic Council and president of the Commission for Culture and Education.

On January 30, 2023, the Pope called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, promoting him to the rank of Archbishop.

Pope Francis created him Cardinal in the Consistory of September 30 that year and assigned him the Diaconate of Saint Monica. He officially took possession of it on January 28, 2024.

On the 8th of May 2025, Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the 267th successor of St Peter.

Link to Bishop-Elect Peter Murphy’s Episcopal Ordination – 8th May 2025

3rd Sunday of Easter 4th May 2025

In Greek, there are four word for love they are:

Storge – Familial bond

Eros – Love which seeks communion

Philia – Friendship love

Agape – Divine love

When Jesus asks Peter 3 times ‘do you love me’ (to make up for Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus at the crucifixion) he uses two different words for love. The first two times he uses the Greek word agapas. So he is essentially asking Peter, Peter do you love me completely and totally, with a divinely inspired love? The answer Peter gives in English is ‘Yes, Lord you know that I love you’. However, Peter’s response to these first two questions about his love look quite different in Greek. He actually responds “Yes Lord, you know that I philo you”. In other words he responds to Jesus’ questions of love with ‘I’m fond of you.’ The third time Jesus asks Peter ‘Do you love me?’ he does something Peter doesn’t see coming. He meets Peter in his weakness. He asks Peter ‘Are you fond of me?’ He accepts the little that Peter has to offer, but notice this: He loves him too much to leave him in his weakness. At the end of each question the Lord attaches a mission ‘feed and look after my sheep’ And the Lord tells Peter how he will accomplish his mission: “come, follow me.” Right now, Peter has only fondness for the Lord. But in following Jesus, Peter will grow in love, and will one day love Christ with an undivided love, which will cause him to give his life in offering to the Lord.

Divine Mercy Sunday

27th April 2025

In May 2000 John Paul II established the feast of the Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter. Devotion to the Divine Mercy constitutes an authentic spiritual movement within the Catholic Church, promoted by St. Faustina, who was canonized in 2000. Sr. Faustina Kowalska died in Krakow on Oct. 5, 1938. While living her hidden, humble life, she began to be favored with mystical experiences: visions, revelations and the stigmata. At the suggestion of her spiritual director, she began to write about these experiences in her diary in 1934. Sister Faustina Kowalska’s life centered on the proclamation of Divine Mercy to every human being. Her spiritual legacy to the Church is devotion to the Divine Mercy, inspired by a vision in which Jesus himself asked that a portrait be painted with the inscription “Jesus I trust in you.” On this feast day we can receive a plenary indulgence, remission of temporal punishment, and forgiveness for all our sins by:
1. Confession – within the week;
2. Holy Communion – on the day;
3. Venerate the image of Divine Mercy;
4. Creed and Our Father for the Pope.
ABC of Mercy:
A = Ask for mercy – honour the image;
B = Be merciful to others;
C = Complete trust in God’s mercy.