[ad_1] April 4, 2020 The Spanish bishop and scholar St. Isidore of Seville (560?-636) was born in Cartagena; there were three other canonized saints in his family, including his older brother St. Leander. Leander, who was twenty years older than Isidore, was responsible for his education; because he was so strict, Isidore ran away. Sitting alone in the woods, he noticed a stone worn down by water, one drop at… Read More »St. Isidore of Seville (Bishop and Doctor)

[ad_1] “Charity of St. Elizabeth of Hungary” (detail)by Edmund Blair Leighton In 2005 while undergoing chemotherapy, I was sitting in an uncomfortable recliner on the sixth floor of the medical facility. An IV dripped poison into my veins that would simultaneously cure me of the cancer in my body, and wreak havoc on it, sending waves of nausea, chills, malaise. The concoction did not discriminate between healthy and cancer cells.… Read More »How to Respond When You Meet Suffering — Integrated Catholic Life™

[ad_1] Where do love and sin meet?  They meet in the persecution, ridicule and malice inflicted upon our Lord.  He was the Incarnation of perfect love.  The Mercy in His Heart was infinite.  His care and concern for all people was beyond imagination.  And yet the soldiers mocked Him, laughed at Him and tortured Him for entertainment and fun.  He, in turn, loved them with a perfect love.  This is… Read More »Reflection 93: The Meeting of Love and Sin

[ad_1] VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As national and local governments have been issuing stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Pope Francis asked people to pray for and assist those who are homeless. He offered his morning Mass March 31 for those who are homeless “at a time when people are asked to stay at home.” At the start of a livestreamed Mass from the chapel… Read More »As people are ordered to stay home, pope calls for help for homeless

[ad_1] “To yourself you seem of little worth, but in reality you are precious. Insofar as you forsook Him whose image you are, you have taken on the colors of strange images. But when you begin to breathe in the atmosphere wherein you were created, if perchance you embrace discipline, you will quickly shake off and renounce this false make-up which is only superficial and not even skin-deep. Be wholly… Read More »Giving Up The Self-Talk

[ad_1] “The Raising of Lazarus” (detail) by Carl Bloch The Final Journey to Jerusalem Begins The account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead by Jesus is the seventh of the seven signs in St. John’s Gospel that announce the fulfillment of the Old Covenant in the New Covenant and the passing away of the old rites, replaced by the grace and sacraments of Jesus Christ. It is also the last of… Read More »The Resurrection and the Life — Integrated Catholic Life™

[ad_1] There are so many souls who are in need of our prayers and are in need of the Mercy of God.  These are those souls who are stuck firm in their sin.  We may pray for them but it seems to have little effect.  What more can we do?  Sometimes, the greatest intercession we can make is a heart filled with the most generous love.  We must strive diligently… Read More »Reflection 89: The Power of a Generous Love

[ad_1] ROME (CNS) — When Father Mario Carminati went to bless the remains of one of his parishioners, he called the deceased man’s daughter on WhatsApp so they could pray together. “One of his daughters is in Turin and couldn’t take part,” he said, the Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana reported March 26. “It was very emotional,” as she was able to pray with them through the messaging service, said the… Read More »During pandemic, priests work to bridge distance between deceased, family

[ad_1] Library of the Apostolic PalaceWednesday, 25 March 2020 Dear Brothers and Sisters: Twenty-five years ago today, on the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Saint John Paul II issued his Encyclical Evangelium Vitae on the value and inviolability of human life. The Gospel of life lies at the heart of Christ’s message, and resonates in a particular way in the current context of a pandemic that threatens the human family. With gratitude… Read More »General Audience

[ad_1] The Annunciation (St. Gabriel and the Blessed Virgin Mary) by Paolo de Matteis [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons The Moment There is a singular moment which defines all history; a moment to which all that came before, all that has come after, and all that is yet to come points as supremely significant—the Incarnation. On March 25th of each Liturgical Year, we remember the event that took place—the moment when the Blessed… Read More »When All Creation Held its Breath — Integrated Catholic Life™