August 6 2025 - Transfiguration and Cross

 

Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Why? Why August 6? It seems like such a random day. We read the account of the Lord’s Transfiguration of Mount Tabor every year on the 2^nd Sunday of Lent, but Scripture is not clear that the Transfiguration took place near Good Friday, only that the Transfiguration occurred shortly after the Lord made his first prediction of his Passion.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the feast was adopted in the liturgy about the tenth century in many dioceses, and was celebrated mostly on 6 August. In 1456, Pope Callixtus III extended the feast to the Universal Church in memory of a victory over the Ottoman Turks in Belgrade on August 6, 1456.

Many have noted that August 6 is 40 days prior to the feast of the Exultation of the Cross, which is a much older feast, going back to Constantine’s dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 335.

And that explanation makes sense to me, the Transfiguration cannot really be understood apart from the cross.

The Transfiguration occurs in Luke’s Gospel directly after Christ calls His followers to pick up their Cross and follow Him: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.”

The liturgy itself makes this connection. In the Eucharistic preface, we will hear that Jesus “revealed his glory in the presence of chosen witnesses and filled with the greatest splendor his bodily form which he shares with all humanity, that the scandal of the Cross might be removed from the hearts of his disciples”.

The Lord foretells how being his disciple includes carrying a cross, suffering, enduring challenge and trial, and dying to self in order to accomplish the Father’s will. And yet, in the Transfiguration, the Lord gives us a glimpse of heavenly glory. St. Paul writes to the Romans, that we have been made “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

Heavenly glory awaits those who are willing to suffer with Christ to accomplish God’s will on earth. This is why we labor and toil and risk persecution. The promise of heaven. The cross is the road to transfiguration.

May we bear our crosses with faith, hope, and live, dying to self, that we may live for God, dying with Christ, that we may live with Him forever, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

 

For the Church, that inspired by the glimpse of glory revealed in Christ's Transfiguration, we may have the courage to take up our crosses daily. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our parish community, that our participation in the Eucharist may transfigure us and provide us the strength to bear witness to Christ in our daily lives. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those facing trials and sufferings, that they may find strength and consolation in the promise of Christ's glory, just as the apostles were strengthened for the journey ahead. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who have died, that they may share in the fullness of Christ's glory in heaven, which was glimpsed on Mount Tabor, especially N, for whom this mass is offered. Let us pray to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, You revealed the glory of Your Son on Mount Tabor, strengthening the disciples for the journey ahead. As we bring these petitions before You, transfigure our hearts with Your grace, that we may faithfully bear our crosses and reflect Your light in the world.

 

August 05 2025 - St. Mary Major - Entrusting ourselves to Our Lady

 

Typically the Church’s Liturgical Calendar calls for the celebration of a holy person, but today we celebrate the dedication of a holy place: St. Mary Major, one of Rome’s four principal basilicas.  The others are St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul outside the Walls.

The basilica is the largest Marian church in the world.  It stands atop one of Rome’s seven hills, and despite many restorations, still has the character of an early Roman basilica, containing ancient mosaics and a breathtaking shrine containing the relics of the crib of Bethlehem.

The basilica is of particular importance to the Christians of Rome, for it contains the ancient and venerated image of Mary, the Salus Populi Romani, depicting the Blessed Virgin as the help and protectress of the Roman People.

According to legend, this image of Our Lady holding the Christ child, was painted by the St. Luke. The story goes that after the crucifixion, the pious women of Jerusalem urged St. Luke to visit Mary in the home of John the Apostle to memorialize her image. While he painted, the Mother of Jesus spoke of the life of her son. This explains how St. Luke’s Gospel contains the all those marvelous stories from prior to the birth of Jesus. St. Luke brought the painting back to Jerusalem where it remained until it was discovered by Saint Helen in the 4th century

Holy Father Pope Francis would visit this image of Our Lady before and after his apostolic journeys. In his last will and testament, the late Holy Father wrote, “I wish my last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine where I would go to pray at the beginning and end of each apostolic journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for the docile and maternal care.” And so, according to his wishes, it is now where Francis’ remains are laid to rest.

Customarily, the pope celebrates Mass at Mary Major each year on the feast of the Assumption of Mary, Aug. 15. So Pope Leo will be celebrating at Mary Major on the upcoming Holy Day.

The Church universal calls upon our Lady today who we delight in honoring in statutes, shrines, churches, paintings, sculptures, medals, basilicas, and even naming our children after her. Like the late Holy Father, we do well to turn to her image or at least call upon her before and after our endeavors. In doing so, we give glory to God, we entrust ourselves to our spiritual Mother’s maternal care, and we seek her aid in living out our Christian duties, particular vocations, and apostolates, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For the Church, our Holy Mother: That she may continue to nurture and guide the faithful through her teachings and sacraments, bearing Christ to the world in word and deed. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those who feel distant from the Church: That they may experience anew the maternal love of Mary and the Church, finding their way back to the family of faith. Let us pray to the Lord.

For vocations to the priesthood and religious life: That many may respond generously to God's call to serve as instruments of His love and mercy within Mother Church. Let us pray to the Lord.

That all government leaders may be awakened to the supreme dignity of every human life, and that all people of our nation may work together for an end to the culture of death.

That members of the Church may be attentive to the needs of those who suffer, and that sick and the poor may be open to the merciful grace of God.

For the deceased members of our families and parishes, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, and for N., for whom this Mass is offered.

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

 

 

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - Vanity of vanities

 The book of Ecclesiastes was written about 300 years before the birth of Our Lord and is part of the Old Testament known as the Wisdom literature, along with the book of Proverbs and Psalms. The Jewish people read from the book of Ecclesiastes every year during the festival of Booths, when they celebrate the fall harvest. And there is some wisdom there. In the midst of the abundance of the harvest—the abundance of earthly things—they read “vanity of vanities all things are vanity”—a reminder that the things of the earth pass away, they are as ephemeral as a breath.

We are to take the wisdom of Ecclesiastes to heart: that the purpose of life isn’t simply to toil for earthly things—to hoard up earthly treasure. In the end our earthly pursuits really aren’t that important. Scripture calls it foolishness to spend your life toiling away just to make a bunch of money to pass onto children who will likely squander it.

Rather, we are to live wisely. Wisdom seeks what is highest and most important. We are to live in such a way in which we seek not what is earthly, but what is timeless, in which we are oriented not toward the earthly but to the eternal, to accumulate and pass on to future generation not simply earthly wealth but eternal wisdom. Wisdom is more valuable than wealth or earthly accolades. What good is winning an earthly race if you lose the heavenly one.

When confronted by someone from the crowd who is clearly overly concerned with earthly matters, Our Lord in the Gospel this today teaches, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Greed—the love of money—the love of possessions—is a powerful motivating factor for a lot of people, in ancient Israel, in Jesus’ day, and in our own. And so the Lord says, take care to guard against this temptation. Take care, exert effort, to make sure your life is properly oriented.

And then to drive home his point, the Lord tells a parable in which a man who foolishly hoarded earthly possessions dies and ends up with nothing.  “Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”

If we are focused more on earthly things than heavenly things we are dead inside, we are not on the path of life that leads to heaven.

The Scripture readings throughout Ordinary Time are wonderfully challenging. They help us to ensure that our priorities are straight, our lives are in order, that we are properly oriented to running the race that matters most to God.

Consider what we’ve heard over the last three weeks. Three weeks ago, we heard the story of the Good Samaritan. What matters to God is that we exercise charity to all, we expand our definition of a neighbor to include those whom the rest of the world overlooks. What matters to God is that we become Good Samaritans to all.

Two weeks ago, we heard of Jesus’ visit to the home of Martha and Mary. When Martha complained about being overwhelmed with earthly matters, we heard what mattered most to Jesus is what Mary was doing: she was nurturing a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus by listening to his words, sitting in his presence.

And then last week, we heard how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He taught his disciples the perfect prayer, the Our Father. What matters to God is that we seek His Will over our own, that we approach him with open-hands daily instead of relying on our own self-sufficiency, that we practice unconditional forgiveness, that we seek God’s protection and deliverance from all evil every day. The Our Father is a sort of checklist. Are you seeking God’s will every day, are you turning to God for your daily bread, the help you need that can only come from God, are you seeking to become more merciful every day. If not, conversion, change is needed.

Then today’s parable about earthly stuff reminds us that God is not impressed by the quantity of our assets. Heaven—eternal life— is not obtained by the number of trophies, degrees, social media followers and likes.

What impresses God is the quality of our our souls, whether our lives are filled with his truth, goodness, and beauty, or not.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul says bluntly: “put to death, the parts of you that are earthly:” Here’s the remedy for our tendency to love the things of earth more than the things of heaven.

The parts of us that are obsessed with storing up things that do not matter to God, put them to death, bury them and leave them behind. The things that cause you to forget about heaven, your Christian duties, your Christian identity, sever your relationship with them.

Paul says put to death “immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.”  Do everything you can to stop following impulses which are soley focused on earthly pleasure, earthly gain.

God wants to share his very life with us, to make us like himself, full of generous self-giving and limitless charity. But we need practice discipline toward the earthly, so that we may say yes to God.

At this Holy Mass Jesus comes once again to renew us in Word and Sacrament, may he continue to free us from the desire for earthly things and increase our hunger and thirst for holiness, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

17th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Monday - Growth of the Kingdom of Heaven

 In the course of his public ministry, the Lord employed parables to teach about discipleship, faithfulness, and charity.

Today’s Gospel contained two short parables to describe growth—growth in the kingdom of heaven.

Before we consider the parables, what does the Lord mean when he uses that phrase, “the kingdom of heaven”. The kingdom of heaven is a constant topic in the Lord’s teaching. The phrase is used over 30 times in the Gospel of Matthew. A number of the parables describe what the “kingdom of heaven” is like. So, it’s a multi-faceted idea. Sometimes the kingdom of heaven seems to be describing the body of believers, sometimes the dominion of God, sometimes the presence of God in the individual soul, sometimes all these things at once.

Today’s parables speak of the kingdom of God as a reality that experiences growth. It starts off small, even barely visible, even undetectable to physical sight, but it can grow, and grow even beyond our human expectations.

The small seed growing into a large bush big enough for all of the birds of the sky to dwell in its branches makes us think of the Church. The Lord’s mission in establishing the kingdom of heaven began with very small beginnings but encompasses all nations, all people, and all time.

So too with the life of charity in the individual soul. It often starts off small, the small seed planted at baptism, the first hearing and reception of the Gospel. And then it has the potential to bloom into a magnificent sight, as seen in the lives of the saints. We must certainly do all that we can to cultivate the life of the kingdom of heaven in our hearts. 

But also, this Gospel certainly challenges us to never underestimate the power and importance of small acts of charity and sharing the Gospel with single individuals. This is how the kingdom of heaven grows. Again look at the saints. Most of these people started off as uneducated unremarkable people, and became bright, shining, majestic souls because someone, often a parent, or an ordinary Catholic like you and me, took the time, took the risk, to share the Word of God with them.

I remember, Pope Benedict warning Catholics to resist what he calls “the temptation of impatience”, that is the temptation to insist on “immediately finding great success” in “large numbers”.  “For the Kingdom of God and for evangelization, the parable of the grain of mustard seed is always valid.”  This new modern phase of the Church’s evangelization mission is likely not one of immediately attracting the large masses from the secular world or people who have distanced themselves from the Church” to begin attending mass. 

Rather, start with your neighbor, the individual looking for God, looking for fulfillment in something more than the culture has to offer. Believe in the power of God to transform the mustard seed, and act accordingly, to build up the kingdom of heaven, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Trusting in the power of God’s grace, let us bring our petitions to the Lord:

For the Church throughout the world: That she may remain faithful in planting the seeds of the Kingdom through word, sacrament, and service.

For all Christians engaged in the work of evangelization: That they may resist the temptation of impatience and find renewed hope in the slow but steady growth of God’s grace in the hearts of others.

For those who have strayed from the faith or feel distant from the Church: That through the witness of faithful individuals and small acts of love, they may rediscover the beauty and truth of the Gospel.

For those who suffer in body or spirit, especially the lonely and forgotten: That they may find shelter and hope in the branches of God’s mercy and the compassion of His people.

For the faithful departed: That the seed of faith planted in their lives may now blossom into the fullness of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

God of mercy and love, hear our prayers and give us the grace to cooperate in Your work of salvation, trusting always in Your power to transform our efforts, through Christ our Lord.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - Purification from Pride

 The Catholic poet, Dante Alighieri, wrote a famous poem, over 700 years ago now, called the Divine Comedy—La Comedia Divina.  In the three books of La Comedia, Dante chronicles a pilgrimage he makes through hell, purgatory, and heaven.   He describes the horrific sights and sounds of the punishment of the wicked in hell for their failure to repent from their self-centeredness. He then makes his way up the mountain of purgatory, where he meets the repentant souls undergoing purification from the effects of their life’s sinfulness. Dante finally visits heaven, il paradiso, where amidst glorious celestial light he meets the blessed saints, who free from all selfishness, now enjoy the beauty of being in God’s presence.

Of the three books of La Comedia, I always enjoy reading the purgatorio. Dante structures the purgatorio according to the seven deadly sins: pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust, in that order. Even in structuring the book this way, Dante is inspiring hope. Because what is he saying? He’s saying that even if you’ve committed these sins—if you repent and do penance, you can begin to make your way to heaven.

As he first arrives at the base of the mountain of purgatory, Dante meets a very large group of souls, the largest he encounters in purgatory—those needing to be purified from sins of pride. And this is the largest group because for Dante, every sin can be traced back to pride. In a sense, all sin involves that prideful turning away from God, claiming to know better than God, pridefully rejecting God’s will.

Pride is a sin condemned by Jesus himself. Explicitly, Jesus condemns the pride of the Pharisees: not only have they pridefully placed themselves in the place of God and misguided God’s people, they pridefully refuse to recognize Jesus. 

The prideful in purgatory are the largest group also because pride, for most of us, takes the longest and most effort to be freed from. How many people here are totally free from pride: not me. And we are the ones that recognize that we have a problem! Consider all the people out there that don’t even recognize the need to pray, to come to church, to keep God’s commandments, and to repent from sin.

As a remedy for their pride--as part of their purification--Dante describes the repentant souls as willingly doing two things: firstly, he describes them as carrying a huge weight on their back which weighs them down to the ground. Why? For, in life the prideful refuse to bow as we should: we pridefully refuse to humbly bow to God as we should, to God’s will, we pridefully refuse to bow in deference to the needs of our neighbor. So the souls willingly carry this heavy spiritual weight, to teach them how to bow. 

Additionally, the souls are depicted engaging in an act of humility taught by the Lord himself in today’s Gospel. Until they are totally freed from their pride, they pray—they pray the prayer taught by Jesus himself, the Our Father, the Lord’s prayer.  Their purification from pride, the healing of their willfulness and self-centeredness, the conversion of their sinful egotism, was to recite over and over, humbly and devoutly, the Lord’s prayer.

Why does Dante see the Our Father as a fitting purification for pride? Sinful Pride claims “MY WILL BE DONE”, you should all bow to me, my way of doing things, my wishes, my desires, my plans, my whims. And the Our Father prays, the opposite, not my will, but God’s will be done. It is a prayer of true humility. 

And, this is the fundamental disposition of the Christian, to acknowledge that this life is not about me. The point of all of this, the meaning of life, if you will is to learn to bow to the Father in all things. Anyone who is serious about obtaining Everlasting Life in Heaven will do all he can to bow to the Father’s Will.  Obedience to God is to be given without limit. For, there is no room in heaven for disobedience, just as there was no room in the Garden of Eden for the disobedience of Adam and Eve. Jesus shows us that the way to the Father is one of obedience. And Jesus doesn’t simply give lip-service to the Father, he doesn’t just tell us to be obedient. He is obedient “even to death, death on a cross” as St. Paul writes. 

The Our Father is one of the first prayers we learn as Catholics: we commit it to memory; we pray it at every celebration of Mass. I remember committing it to memory in first grade PSR. 

Having committed the prayer to memory, the danger of course, is that we just rattle off the words without considering how their meaning is to shape our life. God preserve us from praying this most fundamental prayer mindlessly. 

A good priest once suggested to me that our holiness as a Christian can be measured by our ability to pray the Our Father from the heart. In Dante’s purgatory, the Our Father is prayed over and over as an act of purification from pride, until these souls truly learn to pray it from the heart, with a heart in union with the heart of Jesus. 

To pray the Our Father from the heart means to pray it from your very depths, to mean every phrase of it, to pray it with the heart and the mind of Jesus Christ.  As a spiritual exercise it is helpful from time to time to pray the Our Father, very slowly, reflecting upon every word, what those words really mean for us as Christians.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church, by the way, is a wonderful resource for this, the entire final 100 paragraphs of the Catechism deal with each line and each phrase of the Lord’s Prayer.

Consider even the very first word of Jesus’ prayer. Where pride focuses on me, me, me.  The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to focus on us, on we.  We are to address God as part of a community.  The first word of the Our Father is Our.  

In teaching us to pray, Jesus teaches us to focus not just on ME, my life, my needs, my desires, rattling off my wish list. For Christianity is not a mere private affair.  The Church Jesus founded is not just a gathering of isolated individuals, but persons who have been brought into a new communion with God and one another.  We go to God together.  

Look at Sunday Mass.  We cannot fulfill our Sunday obligation by sitting in a room, by ourselves, communing with God.  We are meant to come together, at least every week, in united prayer. Anyone who claims that they don’t need the Church to be Christian needs to reexamine the data and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I think that may be another reason why Dante depicts those in purgatory repentant of pride as this large group of people—it’s reminiscent of the Church. We are this large of group of people, who pray the Our Father together, who learning how to be humble, how to serve, how to obey, together. 

That’s why even leaving early from mass right after receiving communion doesn’t make a lick of sense. What are you saying, “I’ve got my jesus, I don’t need you people, I’m leaving, I’ve got places to be”. Stay, slow down. We need each other if we are going to fulfill our mission. Pray for each other, be blessed together, and go out together. Care about each other.  The people in this church with you aren’t meant to be strangers. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ. And we’ve got work to do, together, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

July 25 2025 - St. James the Greater - A pilgrimage lesson from the Camino de Santiago

 

You may have heard that as part of our seminary formation program here in Cleveland, the bishop has instituted what is called a propaedeutic immersion year. It is a year just prior to beginning formal theological studies. Propaedeutic means preparatory. So the seminarians prepare for the more intense years of seminary formation in this propaedeutic year. And they do so by adopting a rather monastic schedule of prayer and study. Except for a few hours once a week, they fast from technology, media and commerce—so they are only able to use a cell phone or internet on Saturdays. In an age filled with so many distractions—the propaedeutic year is aimed at becoming a little bit more still in order to listen to God more deeply. Once a week they also dedicate to service projects and apostolic ministry. They had an inner city immersion experience in January. And, they just returned from walking the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim way of St. James.

The Camino follows the way that the apostle we honor today, St. James, walked, bringing the Gospel 3000 miles from the shores of the Sea of Galilee where he was first called by the Lord.

I had the opportunity to speak with one of the seminarians this week who made the pilgrimage--not the whole way from the Holy Land, but a good chunk! They would walk for a major portion of the day, then stay in hostels. He said they would walk through towns and meet people on some days. Other days, were very boring, walking through pretty desolate, unpopulated areas. And all you had was your faith, and companionship with the other pilgrims.

I think that speaks pretty well for the nature of the Christian life, which itself is a pilgrimage. Sometime the Christian pilgrimage is filled with excitement and activity, sometimes it is lonely or kind of empty. But it’s in those empty times when we are really challenged to open ourselves to the experience of God with us.

If you are experiencing some dryness in your faith or prayer life, or have a special petition—like the discernment of your vocation or the repose of the soul of a dear loved one, perhaps you carry a great guilt or a great grief, make a pilgrimage. Detach from the things of the world for a bit, in visit a holy place. Make an intentional spiritual journey to a holy place to seek the special intercession of the saint honored there.  

Likely, on that pilgrimage you will also discover, how you, like St. James, are called to share the Gospel with others.

Each day is part of the pilgrimage of the Christian life, in which we are called to practice perseverance, detachment, trust, and friendliness to those we meet. May St. James the example and intercession of St. James urge us on in our apostolic efforts in this our pilgrim journey, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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May we join the Holy Apostles in our prayer for the world and the Church.

As the Apostles witnessed to the Resurrection of the Lord, may we be witnesses to the farthest corners of the world.

For the bishops, the successors of the apostles: That they may be courageous in stirring up the flame of faith and defending the Church from error.

For all of the sick and suffering, especially victims of natural disaster, poverty, and addiction, may they be comforted and supported by God’s healing love. We pray to the Lord.

For all who long to see the face of the Father, for all our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. We pray to the Lord.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord

July 23 2025 - St. Bridget of Sweden - Union with the Cross and Abundance of Life

 

The Opening Prayer mentions how God guided Saint Bridget of Sweden “along different paths of life.”  Bridget was a wife, a mother, a lady-in-waiting in the royal court, a mystic, a third Order Franciscan, and finally a foundress of a religious order.  

At ten years of age young Bridget had a mystic vision of Jesus on the cross, covered with fresh blood and speaking to her about his Passion.  She received many such revelations which fill 8 volumes. 

Through all those different paths of life, she sought to unite herself ever more closely to the suffering Christ.

She and her husband, the Prince of Sweden, had 8 children, for whom she set the powerful Christian example of faith and charity. After her husband’s death, she renounced her wealth and joined the Franciscans, at a monastery which she and her husband had built. 

In 1999, Pope John Paul II declared St. Bridget a Co-Patroness of Europe, along with Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Theresa Benedicta of the Cross.

In his declaration naming Bridget a Co-Patroness of Europe, the Pope said, that Bridget of Sweden is not just a model for those in consecrated religious life, but especially for married people—that those who have “the high and demanding vocation of forming a Christian family will feel that she is close to them.”  

The Pope emphasized how “she and her husband enjoyed a married life in which conjugal love was joined to intense prayer, the study of Sacred Scripture, mortification and charitable works. Together they founded a small hospital, where they often attended the sick. Bridget was in the habit of serving the poor personally. At the same time, she was appreciated for her gifts as a teacher”

We see in the Saints what life is supposed to look like.  The Lord guides us along many different paths and desires to teach us, like St. Bridget, the wisdom of the cross: that fulfillment in this life is found, not in wealth and possessions and making a name for ourselves, but seeking the Lord’s will in all things, particularly in accepting the cross for the sake of the kingdom.

There is a famous mosaic in the ancient basilica of St. Clement in Rome of the crucified Christ, and from the cross come an abundance of vines and branches, spoken of in our gospel today. When we are united to Christ, there is an abundance of life. Just like we see in saints like St. Bridget, union with Christ brings life in the spirit, an abundance of spiritual gifts and good works which are to be used for the building up of the church, for the spread of the Gospel, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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That members of the Church, priests, religious, married, and single, may seek the kingdom of God His and righteousness and the Divine Will above all.

For an increase in vocations to the religious life, for the spiritual good of the Bridgettine Order, for third Order Franciscans, and that consecrated religious may continue to bless the Church by their faithful living of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Through the intercession of St. Bridget, co-patroness of Europe, for the conversion of the people of Europe from all that keeps them from following Christ.

That the sick, suffering, and sorrowful may know the consolation and peace of the living God.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the souls in purgatory, for deceased priests and religious, and for N. for whom this mass is offered.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Bridget of Sweden, help us, as we walk the many paths of life, to serve you in all things and come to the eternal kingdom of heaven. Through Christ. Our Lord.