Keep
your eyes open!...
November 26, 2025
(1Th
5:16-18) Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In all things give
thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all.
TWO MIN VIDEO: The First Thanksgiving Was Actually in St. Augustine
CERC: The Catholic Origins of Thanksgiving!
CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF LITTLE ROCK: First Thanksgiving began with the Mass
EXCERPT CATHOLIC SPIRIT: The Eucharist as thanksgiving
Everything that we receive over the course of a week is an undeserved
gift from our benevolent and generous God, and if all is a gift, the
least a person can do is set aside an hour a week to go to Mass to give
God praise and thanks.
Actually, once a week is not enough. At the parish where I served
on the South Side of Chicago, there was a spiritual hymn that was one
of the congregation’s favorites: “Every day is a day of
thanksgiving. God’s been so good to me. He’s been blessing
me. Every day is a day of thanksgiving. Glorify the Lord
today.”
When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he established it as an act of
thanksgiving. The Words of Institution are: “He took the bread,
and giving thanks, broke it,” and, “He took the chalice, and once more
giving thanks, he gave it to his disciples” (see Lk 22:19, 17 and 1 Cor
11:24). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes this as
“consecratory thanksgiving” (No. 1346). The two substances,
bread and wine, are signs of gratitude, as first seen when the priest
Melchizedek offered bread and wine to thank God the Creator for the
fruits of the earth (Gn 14:18-20).
The Greek word “eucharisteo” means “to give thanks.” The Catechism
states that the Eucharist “is an act of thanksgiving to God” (No.
1329). The entire Mass is a prayer of thanksgiving, which is
stated explicitly in some prayers and implied throughout. The
priest says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” and the
congregation replies, “It is right and just.” The Preface continues,
“It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and
everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father.” The Preface
concludes with the “Holy, Holy,” a hymn of praise that gives thanks to
God. Similarly, the words of the doxology are, “Through him and
with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever” — a joyful
song of praise to offer thanks to God.
After we receive holy Communion and Christ is really present to us in
an intensified sacramental way, it is a perfect time to have a chat
with the Lord, to mention a few of the blessings we have received over
the past week, and to tell Jesus just how grateful we are. All we
have is from God, and without God we would have nothing. It is an
empty argument to say, “I don’t get anything out of Mass.” We go
because we owe God our praise and thanks.
RELATED: How to Thank God in the Mass: An Essential Practice
BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: 10 Quotes on Gratitude for Catholics
Remembering the Past and Welcoming the Future in Gratitude
- “Thank God ahead of time.” – Blessed Solanus Casey
- “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” – St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
- “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” – St. Ambrose
- “O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to thee thy mercies toward me.” — St. Augustine of Hippo
- “Remember the past with gratitude. Live the present with
enthusiasm. Look forward to the future with confidence.” – Pope
Saint John Paul II
Joy and Gratitude
- “The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank
God for all that he, in his goodness, sends to us day after day.” —
St. Gianna Molla
- “The best way to show your gratitude to God and to people is to accept everything with joy.” — St. Teresa of Calcutta
Gratitude in Adversity
- “A single ‘Blessed be God’ in adversity is worth more than a
thousand acts of thanksgiving in prosperity.” — St. John of Ávila
- “Prayer is an aspiration of the heart. It is a simple
glance directed to heaven. It is a cry of gratitude and love in
the midst of trial as well as joy.” — St. Thérèse of Lisieux
- “Get used to lifting your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving,
many times a day. Because he gives you this and that; because you
have been despised; because you haven’t what you need or because you
have. Thank him for everything, because everything is good.” —
St. Josemaria Escriva
Let
us give thanks to God continually. For, it is outrageous that
when we enjoy His benefaction to us in deed every single day, we do not
acknowledge the favor with so much as a word; and this, when the
acknowledgment confers great benefit on us. He does not need
anything of ours, but we stand in need of all things from Him.
— St. John Chrysostom, Homily 25, Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
29. The sorrowful humility of the mourning is one
thing; the condemnation of the conscience of those who are still living
in sin is another; and the blessed wealth of humility, which the perfect
attain by the action of God, is yet another. Let us not be in a hurry to
find words to describe this third kind of humility, for our effort will
be in vain. But a sign of the second is the perfect bearing of indignity.
November 23, 2025
(Col
1:12-14)
Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be
partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from
the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the
Son of his love, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the
remission of sins:
EWTN: 100 Years of Christ the King: New EWTN Docu-Series Released
VULTUS CHRISTI BLOG: The 100th Celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King
YOUTUBE: Fulton Sheen - Christ The King
EXCERPT HOMILY: Feast of Christ the King
In the book of Hebrews, we learn that the eternal king, Jesus Christ,
is also our eternal high priest. He is both the priest and
sacrifice—the lamb that is slain. He is the king who sheds His
blood for His people and purchases them for His dominion of peace and
charity. For the Father has given him all of Creation, and all
things are subject to His empire.
Yet, to the power and might of Jesus Christ, we, his subjects, tell Him
the limits of His domain. We place restrictions on His authority
and mark off the boundaries of His kingdom. We tell Christ the
King, who purchased us by the Cross, where His blood does not
flow. We tell the Lord that he is king except for our
sexuality. We tell the Lord that His kingdom of order and peace
does not extend to the media we consume or to what we watch on the
internet. We tell Christ the King that his empire encompasses all
except for our corporate life and moneymaking. To the King who
died for us, we tell him what His precious blood does not cover—what is
exempt from His rule and reign.
No more is this more true with modern man than in politics. We
have set aside the reality of the Kingdom of Christ and tell Our Lord
that His precious blood did not purchase the public square. This
error is not new. In 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of
the “Kingship of Jesus Christ” to remind man that Our Lord held
dominion over all men, families, and nations. Politics is not
exempt from the Precious Blood of Jesus.
Pope Pius XI writes: “It would be a grave error… to say that Christ has
no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the
absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all
things are in His power.” Yet, we have rejected the Kingship of Christ
extends to politics. And, as Pope Pius XI notes, by attempting to
set boundaries to the kingdom of Jesus Christ “human society is
tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid
foundation.” We have been told not to proclaim Christ in the public
square. We have been told the reality of the empire of our Lord
has no claim on politics. We were told that secularism is
neutral. That the absence of true religion makes things fair for
all.
This is a lie. There is no neutral.
The evidence is all around us. An absence of Christ does not
create neutrality but a vacuum—and in its place new gods have arisen
with their own civic religions, anthropologies, definitions, and
rituals.
There are no exemptions to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ.
All is within His reign and rule. And we, His subjects, have no
power to limit His authority or to hold anything back from His
dominion. We are subjects of an empire of charity. We serve
the God of Love. We do not turn to the world to understand what
love is—we turn to our King, Jesus Christ.
We do not attempt to hold back His Precious Blood; rather, we embrace
it, we pray for its covering protection. For under the dominion
of His blood is true freedom, peace, and happiness. We should not
be ashamed of the Kingdom of Christ. We should not be shamed into
silence.
Who has the authority to tell Christ the limits of His rule? What
celebrity, media personality, or politician can tell Jesus, King of the
Universe, where the boundary of his authority lies?
Let us make Christ the king of our hearts, of our families, and of our
society. His kingdom has no bounds and neither should our faith
in Him. Let us offer every aspect of our lives to the dominion of
the Precious Blood. Hold nothing back.
Let us pray and labor for the restoration of the empire of our Lord Jesus Christ.
FATHER V (X): Promulgated by Pope Pius XI on December 11, 1925, the encyclical Quas Primas
established the Feast of Christ the King and reaffirmed the universal
kingship of Jesus Christ in response to the rising secularism,
aggressive nationalism, and atheism that followed World War I.
Christ’s kingship is spiritual yet
real, extending over every person, family, society, and
nation—irrespective of religious affiliation. Grounded in Sacred
Scripture (e.g., Matthew 28:18; Revelation 19:16) and Tradition, it is
exercised through truth, justice, and charity. The encyclical
insists that states and rulers must publicly acknowledge this authority
if genuine peace and social order—“the peace of Christ in the kingdom
of Christ”—are to be achieved.
To this end, Pius XI instituted the
Solemnity of Christ the King, originally celebrated on the last Sunday
of October (now observed on the final Sunday of the liturgical year),
and mandated the annual renewal of the consecration of the human race
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Through this recurring liturgical
celebration, the Pope sought to counteract the widespread denial of
Christ’s social reign and to reorient civilization toward divine law.
In summary, Quas Primas teaches
that authentic human flourishing and enduring peace can be secured only
through the public recognition of Jesus Christ as King of all
creation—a message that retains its full urgency a century later.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
28. It is impossible for us who have fallen into
the pit of iniquities ever to be drawn out of it, unless we sink into the
abyss of the humility of the repentant.
November 19, 2025
(Heb 12:1-2) And
therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head,
laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by
patience to the fight proposed to us: Looking on Jesus, the author and
finisher of faith, who, having joy set before him, endured the cross,
despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of
God.
CATHOLIC LIFE: What is the Communion of Saints?
YOUTUBE: The Communion of Saints — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY: Archbishop Fisher OP homily: The communion of saints
EXCERPT CATHOLIC HERALD: I believe in ... the Communion of Saints
The Catholic Faith is often seen as
highly centralised and dogmatic but the panoply of saints celebrates
the many ways we can live truth. You can be an intellectual giant
and public figure like Aquinas or Catherine of Sienna, a "dirty and
difficult" man of action like Damien of Molokai, or a bewildered
mountain teenager like St Bernadette.
If it's diversity you're after –
whether of race, class or mentality – the piety stall is the place to
look. The statues of saints that you'll find in that piety stall
are condensed stories, like movie trailers. Young woman with a
cartwheel? That will be Katherine of Alexandria (patron of
fireworks). Chap with three money bags? St Nicholas (patron
of pawnbrokers as well as Christmas). Young woman holding her own
severed breasts on a tray? St Agatha (patron – thanks to visual
confusion – of bell makers). The feast of St Agatha is
commemorated by the bakers of Catania by the making of some
embarrassingly mammary cakes.
Feast days are another of the ways
in which this vast heritage is kept alive. Take a minute to
appreciate how extraordinary it is that hundreds of years after their
deaths, people like St Patrick or St Anthony still provide the pretext
for street parties and community get-togethers. Does any field of
knowledge offer such a combination of the arcane and the
accessible? Is any invitation so open and inviting?
In the book of Millions, the child
narrator's mother, Maureen, has recently died. Throughout the
story, he questions the saints of his visions for news of her
whereabouts. The film ends with him finally encountering his
mother now St Maureen who promises that she will be with him always.
The real power of that phrase "the
communion of saints" surely comes in that word "communion", that sense
that they – those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith
– are all one. Yes, that we will meet again, as Thomas More
(patron saint of lawyers and large families) said, "merrily in Heaven".
But more immediately and profoundly
that we meet beyond the laws of past and future, life and death, we
meet eternally in communion.
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: Every saint was a sinner and every sinner should be a saint
We do well to remember that every saint was a sinner and every sinner
can be a saint. Not only can he be, but he should be, because
otherwise his life is a failure. A saint is simply someone who
has attained heaven. If you don’t, nothing else profited you
anything (cf Mk 8:36).
Considering the truth that every saint became a saint even though he
was a sinner ought to make us think in a new way about “all saints,”
the communion of saints. It’s not (just) a “winner’s circle” or
feast for those who “made it.” It’s an opportunity for us to consider
that they were just like us, with many of the same problems and sins,
but also many of the same spiritual opportunities.
They succeeded. Why can’t you and I do the same?
The catalog of the saints is full of examples of people who were
tempted, even sinned, by the same sins you and I face. The means
may change, but the primary drivers of evil–pride, envy, anger,
avarice, lust, gluttony, and sloth–remain pretty constant.
In invoking “all the saints,” try to find the ones who perhaps best
mirror your life circumstances and seek their intercession so that you
become one of them.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
27. I am fully aware, my good friends, that the
struggles I have described will seem to some incredible, to others hard
to believe, and will seem to some to breed despair. But to the courageous
soul they will serve as a spur, and a shaft of fire; and he will go away
carrying zeal in his heart. He who is not up to this will realize his infirmity,
and having easily obtained humility by self-reproach, he will run after
the former; and I do not know whether or not even overtake him. But the
careless man should leave my stories alone, lest he despair and squander
even the little he has accomplished, and thus correspond to the man of
whom it was said: 'But from him that hath no desire or eagerness, even
what he hath will be taken away from him.
November 17, 2025
(Rom 5:3-5) And
not only so: but we glory also in tribulation, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience; And patience trial; and trial hope; And hope
confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our
hearts, by the Holy Ghost who is given to us.
POPE LEO XIV: “The darker the hour, the more faith shines like the sun”.
CATHOLIC PHILLY: Called to Wait in Hope, We Persevere Through Persecution
CATHNEWS: ‘Suffering is immense’: Caritas appeals for more aid to Sudan
ACN: Red Week 2025: A global cry for religious freedom
Once again, hundreds of churches and landmarks will shine red — the
color of martyrdom — to honor those who suffer for their faith.
More than 635 churches will be illuminated around the world, in cities
such as Vienna, Rome, Zurich, Lisbon, London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris,
Dublin, Toronto, Mexico City, and Bogotá.
For the first time ever, the European Parliament approved that, in
representation of the 27 Member States, the seat in Brussels will be
illuminated in red on November 19. A conference will take place
early next year to reflect on religious persecution.
In France, Red Week will be marked by a series of “Nights of Witnesses”
held in various cities, offering moments of prayer and testimony.
For the first time, iconic Parisian landmarks such as the Luxor Obelisk
on the Place de la Concorde, Pont Neuf, and Pont des Arts will be
illuminated in red, creating a striking visual message in the heart of
the French capital.
In Germany, around 200 churches have registered. The Netherlands
will contribute another 200 illuminated churches, extending Red Week’s
visibility throughout the country. Portugal will light up key
sites in Lisbon, Braga, Porto, and Viana do Castelo.
Some of the world’s most emblematic cathedrals will also be illuminated
in red during Red Week 2025. These include St. Michael’s
Cathedral Basilica in Toronto and Mary Queen of the World Cathedral
Basilica in Montreal; Las Lajas Cathedral in Colombia; Regensburg
Cathedral and Worms Cathedral in Germany; and a remarkable number of
cathedrals in Australia and New Zealand, including those of Perth,
Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Bendigo and Palmerston North.
St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark, London, will be one of the
major buildings lit red for #RedWednesday and will be the venue for the
main national ACN (UK) event – a Mass on November 19 – celebrated by
Bishop Nicholas Hudson. At the Mass, catechist Tobias Yahaha from
Sokoto, northwest Nigeria, will receive the ACN (UK) Courage to be
Christian Award. He will also be guest of honor at a
Parliamentary Event at Westminster, earlier the same day. Other
European countries, like Hungary, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, will
mark Red Wednesday illuminating buildings, such as embassies and the
ministries of foreign affairs.
Religious Persecution: The Global Reality
According to the latest estimates from ACN’s Religious Freedom in the
World Report, 413 million Christians live in countries where religious
freedom is severely violated — of these, approximately 220 million are
directly exposed to persecution. This persecution takes many
forms and varies by region, but the figures offer a sobering view of
the scale of the challenge.
Christians are exposed to persecution or discrimination in 32
countries. In 68 countries, Christian property has been damaged
or destroyed with a clear religious bias, with churches being the main
targets in 62 of them. In 45 countries, Christians cannot
publicly express their faith using religious symbols in public
places. Discrimination in access to public office, education, and
justice affects Christians in 32 countries. Physical or verbal
attacks with religious motivation have been reported in 73 countries,
and in 57 countries, Christians face physical violence or detention
because of their faith. In 33 countries, Christians are forced to
flee, becoming internally displaced or seeking refuge abroad due to
religious persecution.
The color red, symbolizing the blood of martyrs, will serve as a visual
reminder of the suffering endured by millions for their faith.
ACN invites all parishes, schools, and communities to join this
international gesture of solidarity by illuminating their churches in
red, organizing moments of prayer, and sharing a message during Red
Week 2025 on social media using the hashtags #RedWeek2025 and
#RedWednesday2025.
X: The First Holy Communion of Catholic children in Nigeria
The first Holy Communion of Catholic children in Nigeria stands as a
powerful testament to the enduring faith of its people, occurring
amidst severe persecution. Despite ongoing violence from groups
like Boko Haram and Fulani herders, 94% of Nigerian Catholics attend
Mass at least weekly or daily, the highest rate globally, according to
a 2023 study by Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in
the Apostolate.
This remarkable devotion persists even as Nigeria ranks among the most
dangerous countries for Christians, with over 5,600 killed in 2023
alone, primarily in attacks on Christian communities.
- The high rate of Mass attendance, with 94% of self-identified
Nigerian Catholics participating weekly or daily, is attributed to the
Church's vital role in providing education, healthcare, and social
services where the government has failed, fostering deep community
trust and hope.
- The Church's resilience is further demonstrated by the
significant number of young people receiving the sacraments; for
instance, nearly 1,000 Catholics were confirmed in Enugu in June 2025,
with youth making up the majority, highlighting the faith's vitality.
- Despite intense persecution, including massacres, kidnappings,
and the destruction of churches, Catholic leaders emphasize peace and
reconciliation, with priests and bishops urging forgiveness and
non-retaliation, reinforcing the Church's witness of faith under fire.
- The Catholic Church in Nigeria continues to grow, with thriving
religious vocations, a large number of nuns serving in education and
healthcare, and a strong presence in media and youth programs, ensuring
the faith remains relevant and dynamic.
ZENIT: One in five Catholics worldwide is African, as is one in three seminarians: the impressive statistics of African Catholicism
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
9. Others were continually beating their breasts,
and recalling their past life and state of soul. Some of them watered the
ground with their tears; others, incapable of tears, struck themselves.
Some loudly lamented over their souls as over the dead, not having the
strength to bear the anguish of their heart. Others groaned in their heart,
but stifled all sound of their lamentations. But sometimes they could control
themselves no longer, and would suddenly cry out.
November 14, 2025
(Col
3:1-4) Therefore if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Mind the
things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you
are dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ shall
appear, who is your life, then you also shall appear with him in glory.
OCARM.ORG: All Carmelite Saints Feast
"Like the prophet Elijah, all the
Saints of Carmel have been shaped through a school of spiritual
fire. They also intimated the example of Mary and made their
truest expression in the experience of love and that love makes the
history of the Order. They became a hymn of praise to offer to
our God."
We receive the great gift from our
brothers and sisters who have consecrated their lives to God.
They embraced the teachings of the Divine Master and lived their lives
in “allegiance to Jesus Christ”. They gave themselves to the
service of God in prayer, in evangelical self-denial, and in loving for
souls. At times, they have shed their own blood to testify this
love.
Who are the saints of Carmel?
They are hermits of Mount Carmel who “lived in small cells, similar to
the cells of a beehive, they lived as God’s bees, gathering the divine
honey of spiritual consolation.” They are mendicants of the first
medieval communities, who discovered the presence of God in the events
of ordinary daily life and especially seeing God in his brothers and
sisters. They are teachers and preachers, missionaries and
martyrs who searched for the face of God among the people. They
are nuns who have contributed to the growth of God's people by their
mystical experience and especially through their fervent prayer and
contemplative life. They are religious, who showed us the face of
Christ through their apostolate in hospitals or schools, especially in
the mission lands. They are laity, who were able to embody the
spirit of Carmel and lived that spirit in the midst of the
people. Simon Stock, Andrew Corsini, Albert of Trapani, John of
Cross, Teresa of Ávila, Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Edith Stein, Titus
Brandsma, Angelo Paoli and countless saints and blesseds of Carmel
together with Mary, the Mother of Carmel, are now singing a song of
praise to the Father in Heaven.
They can be great saints that the
whole Church venerates and invokes in the liturgy, or they are humble
saints, who are known and venerated by only a few outside the
Order. But all of them, through their lives, have offered us a
secret of holiness to become saints. They can teach us how to
live virtues of hope, love and faith and how to make our daily
commitment to God. And they show us how to dedicate their whole
heart to Christ.
All Carmelite Saints let themselves
be shaped according to the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who lived
in intimacy with her Son. It is from her that they have learned
to live in Christ and to live the love of Christ. From her they
were inspired to consecrate their lives for the Church and for
souls. In short, the life of the Virgin has an absolute
importance in the experience of all the Carmelite Saints.
We pray that the example of these
saints will continue to inspire holiness in a new generation of our
brothers and sisters. Like them, we can live in allegiance to
Jesus Christ and serve Him with a pure heart and a good
conscience. Like them, we can know how to devote ourselves day
and night to the contemplation of the Word and to generous service for
the humanity. Finally, we ask that the examples of Carmelite
saints may impact us immensely and concretely and make us have a deeper
love for Christ, for the Church and for the whole world.
CARMELITE QUOTES BLOG: 14 November: All Carmelite Saints
From the works of Saint Teresa of Jesus
We belong to a race of saints
All of us who wear this holy habit
of Carmel are called to prayer and contemplation. This explains
our origin; we are the descendants of those who felt this call, of
those holy fathers on Mount Carmel who in such great solitude and
contempt for the world sought this treasure, this precious pearl of
contemplation that we are speaking about.
Let us remember our holy forebears
of the past, those hermits whose lives we aim to imitate. We must
remember our real founders, those holy fathers whose descendants we
are. It was by way of poverty and humility, we know, that they
came to the enjoyment of God.
On the subject of the beginnings of
Orders, I sometimes hear it said that the Lord gave greater graces to
those saints who went before us because they were the
foundations. Quite so, but we too must always bear in mind what
it means to be foundations for those who will come later. For if
those of us who are alive now have not fallen away from what they did
in the past, and those who come after us do the same, the building will
always stand firm. What use is it to me for the saints of the
past to have been what they were, if I come along after them and behave
so badly that I leave the building in ruins because of my bad
habits? For obviously those who come later don’t remember those
who have died years before as clearly as they do the people they see
around them. A fine state of affairs it is if I insist that I am
not one of the first, and do not realize what a difference there is
between my life and virtues, and the lives of those God has endowed
with such graces!
Any of you who sees your Order
falling away in any respect, must try to be the kind of stone the
building can be rebuilt with—the Lord will help to rebuild it.
For love of our Lord I beg them to
remember how quickly everything comes to an end, and what a favor our
Lord has done us in bringing us to this Order, and what a punishment
anyone who starts any kind of relaxation will deserve. They must
always look at the race we are descended from—that race of holy
prophets. What numbers of saints we have in heaven who have worn
this habit of ours! We must have the holy audacity to aspire,
with God’s help, to be like them. The struggle will not last
long, but the outcome will be eternal.
CATHOLIC 365: Places of Worship
There are multitudes of churches, monasteries, convents and chapels
across the world served by the Carmelite Family and under the patronage
of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Seek out a local venue on November 14th such as Our Lady of Grace Church in West Sacramento, CA or Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Littleton, CO
Or visit one of these National Shrines of Our Lady of Mount Carmel:
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
8. Others sat on the ground in sackcloth and ashes,
hiding their faces between their knees, and they struck the earth with
their foreheads.
November 12, 2025
(Wis
6:3-6) Give ear, you that rule the people, and that please yourselves
in multitudes of nations: For power is given you by the Lord, and
strength by the most High, who will examine your works: and search out
your thoughts: Because being ministers of his kingdom, you have not
judged rightly, nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to
the will of God. Horribly and speedily will he appear to you: for a
most severe judgment shall be for them that bear rule.
BISHOP STRICKLAND VIDEO: Is the Catholic Church in the Age of Apostacy?
LIFESITE: Moroccan cardinal says Church must ‘abandon’ idea of ‘true religion, false religion
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT (2021): German Catholic bishops call for change to Catechism on homosexuality
SUBSTACK EXCERPT: Gio Benitez: A Confirmation That Confirmed the Revolution
This week the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan, the
Jesuit-minded parish famous for rainbow banners and Broadway Masses,
offered a sacrament that would have baffled every catechism before
1962. ABC News anchor Gio Benitez, openly homosexual and civilly
“married” to another man, received the sacrament of confirmation with
his husband standing beside him as sponsor. If this same priest
had said a Latin Mass without permission he would have been
suspended. Instead, cameras rolled. Applause
followed. Father James Martin, ever the apostle of affirmation,
commented beneath the video with a single word: “Welcome!”
No one in authority objected. No one questioned whether the rite
was valid, licit, or simply insane. In the new ecclesiology,
publicity is proof of holiness.
Confirmation, by every traditional definition, seals the soul already
living in fidelity to the creed it professes. It means renouncing
sin and the world, not canonizing them with lighting and
applause. Yet the modern liturgy of “inclusion” has turned the
sacrament from a weapon of grace into a prop of self-expression.
The Spirit no longer descends as fire; it poses for photos.
Benitez marked the occasion online with a caption fit for a meditation
app: “I found the Ark of the Covenant in my heart, stored there by the
One who created me … exactly as I am.” To a generation catechized by
Francis rather than Trent, that line sounded profound. To anyone
who remembers that grace perfects nature by correcting it, not
indulging it, the statement was pure sentimental heresy.
Benitez thanked the late Francis for inspiring him with “a legacy of
inclusivity.” That legacy, amplified now under Leo XIV, has made
“inclusion” the eighth sacrament. The old catechism begins with
the question, Why did God make you? The new one begins with Why
shouldn’t He affirm you?
The tragedy here is a clergy class eager to baptize confusion for
clout. They could have guided him toward repentance; instead,
they staged a photo shoot. The same priests who agonize over
whether kneeling during Communion is “divisive” will cheer as a
same-sex couple approaches the altar, because that spectacle tells the
world that the Church has finally caught up. It has caught up,
that is, with the world it was sent to convert.
The Church was never a therapist’s couch. It is a hospital for
the soul, and the first medicine it offers is truth. Mercy
without conversion becomes morphine. “Love one another” was never
permission to ignore the moral law; it was the command to will
another’s salvation, even when that love wounds pride. The
sentimental Gospel on display in Manhattan was not Christianity, but
emotional relativism.
The old catechism still whispers beneath the din: grace and public
contradiction do not cohabit. Either the Cross reshapes the
person, or the person refashions the Cross. Only one of those is
Catholic.
Epilogue: Back to the Narrow Door
From Manhattan to Munich to the mortuary chapel in Freising, the
revolution preaches one creed: you are fine as you are. It has
its theologians, its sacraments, and its saints; none of whom require a
change of life. But the Gospel does not share the delusion.
“If any man will come after Me,” says Christ, “let him deny himself.”
Denial is the mark of discipleship.
A Church that confirms the
unrepentant, theologizes disobedience, and cosplays resurrection will
keep attracting cameras but not converts. The applause of the
world is the laughter of hell. The saints were mocked for warning
souls away from sin; today they would be canceled for “pastoral
insensitivity.” Yet only their path leads anywhere but the grave.
The true renewal of the Church will
not come from synodal listening sessions or ecological
conferences. It will come from silence before the tabernacle and
the rediscovery of the fear of God. That fear is not servile; it
is the beginning of wisdom. Without it, mercy curdles into
sentimentality, theology into poetry, and worship into pantomime.
The door remains narrow. The
way remains hard. No amount of fog, hashtags, or press releases
will widen it. But for those who still kneel, who still confess,
repent, and adore, the light beyond that door has not dimmed.
The rest may find their Ark of the Covenant wherever they like; the Church’s treasure is still nailed to a Cross.
Cardinal Müller:
“As a dogmatic theologian I don’t want to be diplomatic. The
Catholic Church must proclaim the truth but also contradict lies.”
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
7. Others stood in prayer with their hands tied
behind their backs like criminals; their faces, darkened by sorrow, bent
to the earth. They regarded themselves as unworthy to look up to Heaven.
Overwhelmed by the embarrassment of their thoughts and conscience, they
could not find anything to say or pray about to God, how or with what to
begin their prayers. But filled with darkness and a blank despair, they
offered to God nothing but a speechless soul and a voiceless mind.
November 10, 2025
(Isa 5:20) Woe
to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light,
and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
NEWS: Illinois Senate passes bill to legalize medical assistance in dying
NCR: Uruguay Legalizes Euthanasia
REPORT: Canada has adopted assisted dying faster than anywhere on Earth
LIFESITE: Bishop Paprocki denounces passage of Illinois pro-euthanasia bill
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois has denounced the
passage of a pro-euthanasia bill by the state’s Senate earlier this
week.
In a blistering critique of SB 1950, Bishop Paprocki rebuked not only
the manner in which the legislation was approved but the attack it
launches on human dignity.
“It is quite fitting that the forces of the culture of death in the
Illinois General Assembly passed physician-assisted suicide on October
31 —a day that, culturally, has become synonymous with glorifying death
and evil,” Paprocki noted in his statement. “It’s also ironic
that these pro-death legislators did it under the cloud of darkness at
2:54 a.m.” According to CatholicVote.org, the bill also requires the
patient to make the request to end their life both verbally and in
writing and to repeat their request verbally at least five days after
their first request. Other guidelines are put into place
purportedly to ensure that the request is made with full knowledge and
consent.
The Catholic Church teaches that suicide or the intentional ending of
one’s own life is gravely evil as man is not the author of his own
life. “Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is
murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person
and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator,” the Catechism
of the Catholic Church (CCC 2324) affirms.
Paprocki defended the Church’s magisterium later in his statement.
“Make no mistake: killing oneself is not dying with dignity.
Doctors take an oath to do no harm. Now, they can prescribe
death,” he said.
“There are documented cases of patients being denied treatment and
instead offered life-ending drugs. Individuals could also be
coerced into taking the lethal drug. Physician assisted suicide
undermines the value of each person, especially the vulnerable, the
poor, and those with disabilities.” Paprocki also called on Catholics
to pray for Pritzker to veto the legislation. “Illinois should be
a state that offers compassion, care, and hope—not death—as the answer
to human suffering,” he said.
EDITORIAL: USF professor argues case against physician-assisted suicide
CNA: ‘Don’t kill me’: Empty wheelchairs dramatize campaign against assisted suicide in Italy
EXCERPT SACRED CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH: Declaration on Euthanasia (1990)
Human life is the basis of all goods, and is the necessary source and
condition of every human activity and of all society. Most people
regard life as something sacred and hold that no one may dispose of it
at will, but believers see in life something greater, namely, a gift of
God's love, which they are called upon to preserve and make
fruitful. And it is this latter consideration that gives rise to
the following consequences:
1. No one can make an attempt on the life of an innocent person
without opposing God's love for that person, without violating a
fundamental right, and therefore without committing a crime of the
utmost gravity.[4]
2. Everyone has the duty to lead his or her life in accordance
with God's plan. That life is entrusted to the individual as a
good that must bear fruit already here on earth, but that finds its
full perfection only in eternal life.
3. Intentionally causing one's own death, or suicide, is
therefore equally as wrong as murder; such an action on the part of a
person is to be considered as a rejection of God's sovereignty and
loving plan. Furthermore, suicide is also often a refusal of love
for self, the denial of a natural instinct to live, a flight from the
duties of justice and charity owed to one's neighbor, to various
communities or to the whole of society - although, as is generally
recognized, at times there are psychological factors present that can
diminish responsibility or even completely remove it. However,
one must clearly distinguish suicide from that sacrifice of one's life
whereby for a higher cause, such as God's glory, the salvation of souls
or the service of one's brethren, a person offers his or her own life
or puts it in danger (cf. Jn. 15:14).
CARDINAL SARAH: "Euthanasia is the most acute indication of a Godless, subhuman society that has lost hope."
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
6. Others lifted up their eyes to Heaven, and with
wailings and outcries, implored help from there.
November 7, 2025
(Joh 19:25-27)
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother's
sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had
seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to
his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the
disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her
to his own.
BISHOP JOSEPH E. STRICKLAND: She Who Stands Beneath the Cross
CRISIS MAGAZINE OPINION: Mary Helped Jesus Save the World
SUBSTACK: Mariologists critique Vatican note against Mary Co-redemptrix
A MOMENT WITH MARY: Today’s world is in urgent need of the devotion to Immaculate Heart of Mary (I)
Italian Franciscan Father Alessandro Maria Apollonio, a teacher of
philosophy and theology currently living in Slovakia, believes that the
image of true love par excellence can be witnessed through devotion to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary, “the first maternal cooperator, closest
to us, of our joy, which will only be complete in paradise.” In this
recent interview with the Register on the sidelines of “A Day With
Mary” conference in London, Father Apollonio observed the inadequate
response to the Lord’s invitation to establish a global devotion to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary and why a proper response by mankind is so
urgently needed.
Father Apollonio, what to you is
the most urgent aspect of Mariology that you think needs to be conveyed
at this conference? I think the first object of this conference
is to realize that there has been a poor general response to the
request of God to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary. This request is so deep, so demanding, that it is
necessary first to understand better the singular words of this request.
For those unaware, what is the
importance of distinguishing between the Immaculate Heart of Mary and
her other titles, Our Lady or the Blessed Virgin Mary? We enter
here a theological field. My opinion, shared by many others, is
that the Immaculate Heart of Mary represents the mystery of her
immaculate love towards God and towards man. And this word “love”
is the center of Revelation because in ancient times, pagan
philosophers, for example, didn’t understand what true love was.
They confused love with the passions, with concupiscence or blind
ineluctable attraction. On the contrary, according to Catholic
theology, true love is the higher expression of human freedom and
dignity.
The pure concept of love is the
center of Revelation because “God is love” (1 John 4:16) and the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is the image
par excellence of this mystery: the pure love shared with creatures,
starting with those closest to him.
ANTONIO CARDINAL BACCI: Hail Mary
1. After the Lord’s Prayer there is no more beautiful prayer than
the Hail Mary, which we should recite with particular devotion in the
decades of the Holy Rosary. At the beginning of the Rosary we can
imagine that we are witnesses of the Annunciation to Mary in her home
at Nazareth. An Angel descends from Heaven and bows before the
Blessed Virgin as she kneels absorbed in prayer. “Hail, full of
grace,” he says, “the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among
women.” (Luke 1:26-28) We should join with the Angel of God in
repeating these words fervently and devoutly.
The constant repetition of this prayer is very pleasing to Mary, the
Mother of God and our Mother. When we greet her with the words of
the Angel, we remind her of the great mystery of the Incarnation, which
was the beginning of her lofty mission as co-redemptrix and the dawn of
Christian civilisation.
Even when we say these words over and over again, they can never become
monotonous. When a son is speaking to his mother, every word
possesses an unlimited warmth and meaning because it is the expression
of a boundless love. When we recite the decades of the Rosary, we
should think of the heavenly Mother who is watching over us and
listening to us, eager to console and assist us. She loves us
with a maternal love, but she requires us to love her also and to prove
that we are her children by imitating her virtues.
2. The Angel’s greeting was later completed by the salvation of
St. Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth saw the Blessed Virgin
coming to visit her, she cried out in humble veneration: “Blessed art
thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!” (Luke 1:42)
In the first part of the Hail Mary, then, we pay her in the words of
the Gospel the highest tributes ever accorded to any human creature,
proclaiming her to be full of grace, blessed among women, and Mother of
the Redeemer. The second part, which was later added by the
Church, is a heartfelt supplication addressed to Mary as the Mother of
God and our Mother. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” It would be
hard to find a more touching plea. We ask our heavenly Mother to
intercede for us now because we have such great need of her assistance
in this vale of tears and temptations. May she be always by our
side to shelter us beneath her mantle.
3. We seek her intercession, moreover, at the hour of
death. Death must come, but if we have prayed often to our
heavenly Mother she will certainly be with us in those final and
decisive moments of our lives. If Mary is there to help us, we
may be sure that death will come as a consolation, for it will be a
peaceful journey towards everlasting happiness.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 5- "On painstaking and true repentance"
5. I saw some of those guilty yet guiltless men
standing in the open air all night till morning, and never moving their
feet; by force of nature pitifully dazed by sleep, yet they allowed themselves
no rest, but reproached themselves, and drove away sleep with dishonours
and insults.
November 5, 2025
(Eph 6:11-12) Put
you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the
deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood;
but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world
of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.
BISHOP BARRON: Followers of Jesus
are meant to look at the world with clear eyes, to see what is
happening, to be attentive. But this attention is of a particular
type. It is not the attention of the scientist or the philosopher or
the politician—though it can include those. It is an attention to the
things of God.
MARK MALLET BLOG: The New Tree of Knowledge
THE CATHOLIC TELEGRAPH: The Catholic Family’s Guide to Protection in Spiritual Warfare
PODCAST: Ancient Weapons for an Ancient Enemy: Spiritual Warfare with Dr. Dan Schneider
VIDEO: Spiritual Warfare Explained: Inside the Battle for Life | Fr. Boquet
EWTN: The Powerful ‘Prayer for Deliverance from Evil’ Written by Pope Saint John Paul II
Immaculate
Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily
takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable
effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the
paths towards the future!
From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us.
Accept, O Mother of Christ, this
cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden
with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy
Spirit to conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world”,
sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed, once more,
in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the
Redemption: the power of merciful Love! May it put a stop to
evil! May it transform consciences! May your Immaculate
Heart reveal for all the light of Hope!
FATHER V (X):
I know that many, myself included, are growing increasingly weary with
much that is happening both in our country and in our Church. First
and foremost, we must recall that we are in a spiritual combat, and
goading us into despair is a very effective tool of the devil. “Fight,
therefore, with great determination. Do not let the weakness of your
nature be an excuse. If your strength fails you, ask more from God.
He will not refuse your request. Consider this—if the fury of your
enemies is great, and their numbers overwhelming, the love which God
holds for you is infinitely greater. The Angel who protects you and
the Saints who intercede for you are more numerous.” (Dom Scupoli, The
Spiritual Combat)
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 4- "On blessed and ever-memorable obedience"
4. The beginning of the mortification both of the
soul's desire and of the bodily members is much hard work. The middle is
sometimes laborious and sometimes not laborious. But the end is insensibility
and insusceptibility to toil and pain. Only when he sees himself doing
his own will does this blessed living corpse feel sorry and sick at heart;
and he fears the responsibility of using his own judgment.
November 2, 2025
(Joh 6:40) And this is the will of my Father
that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son and believeth in him may
have life everlasting. And I will raise him up in the last day.
BISHOP BARRON:
Listen again to the words of Jesus in our Gospel today: “Everything
that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone
who comes to me.” As you pray for the souls of your beloved dead, take
comfort in those words. They will be raised again.
BISHOP BARRON VIDEO: Why We Pray for All Souls
CHURCHPOP: 'There Is My Father, Going to Heaven!': Child’s Vision Reveals the Power of the Mass for Souls in Purgatory
EWTN: Why do Catholics celebrate All Souls’ Day?
FR. VICTOR FELTES VIA X: Q&A on Indulgences
Christ’s Catholic Church grants that visiting a cemetery and praying
for the dead on any day between November 1st and 8th can gain a plenary
indulgence for a soul in Purgatory. So what are indulgences all
about?
What’s an indulgence? An indulgence cancels before God the temporal punishment due for forgiven sins.
Forgiven sins can have
punishments? The forgiveness of mortal sin absolves its eternal
punishment; that is, restores our friendship with God and saves us from
Hell. However, “temporal punishment” remains for sin for the
purpose of the soul’s rehabilitation and to satisfy justice. This
is why the priest in the confessional gives you a penance to do after
you leave with all your sins absolved. Note what Nathan told King
David after the Lord forgave him. (2nd Samuel 12:9-14) Even after
forgiveness, there may be punishments to be paid.
CATHOLIC DAILY REFLECTIONS: Commemorating All Souls
Today, we commemorate the fact that
many who die in a state of grace are not immediately ready to stand
before the glorious throne of God and see Him face-to-face. The
only way this is possible is if every sin and every attachment to sin
is purged from our souls. We must have nothing but pure charity
alive within us if we are to enter the eternal glories of Heaven.
But how many people die in such a state?
The Church, in her wisdom and
holiness, has taught clearly through the centuries that when a person
passes from this world to the next while still attached to less serious
sin, they need to be fully purified in order to enter Heaven.
This is Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly
purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after
death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness
necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name
Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely
different from the punishment of the damned” (#1030–31a).
For some, Purgatory can be a
frightening and even confusing thought. Why doesn’t God, in His
infinite mercy, simply take all our loved ones who followed Him
straight to Heaven? The answer is simple. He does!
And the path for them to Heaven is this incredible mercy of their final
purification.
Purification of all attachment to
sin within our soul is a mercy beyond what we can imagine.
Through this final purification, God prepares the holy souls who have
died for an eternity of joy. But this purification is necessary
because God, in His love, does not want any soul to live eternally with
even a minor attachment to sin. God wants us all free. The
truth is that every sin on our soul, even the smallest one, is reason
enough for us to be excluded from Heaven. So Purgatory must be
seen as a final mercy from God by which He lifts every last burden that
keeps us from perfect love, so that our eternity will be one of utmost
freedom and ecstasy. God wants us to be filled only with the
purity of love forever. Thus, upon our death, we are graced to
enter into a final and intense purification of every minor sin, so that
when we see God in all His glory, we will see Him with the perfection
to which we are called. Purgatory is a gift, a grace, a
mercy. It will be painful to go through in the same way that
overcoming any sin is painful. But the good fruit of freedom from
sin makes every final purification we must endure worth it a
hundredfold and more.
Reflect, today, upon the spiritual
truth that God wants you to be a saint. If you are among those
few who die in a state in which you are purified from every sin, then
be assured that you have already completed your purgatory on
earth. But if you or your loved ones are among the many who still
hold some minor attachment to sin at the time of death, then rejoice
that God is not done with you yet. Anticipate with much gratitude
the final purification that awaits and look forward to the freedom that
ultimately comes from that purification.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 4- "On blessed and ever-memorable obedience"
3 (cont.). Obedience is the tomb of the will and
the resurrection of humility. A corpse does not argue or reason as to what
is good or what seems to be bad. For he who has devoutly put the soul of
the novice to death will answer for everything. Obedience is an abandonment
of discernment in a wealth of discernment.
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