reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
Feastday: May 15 Patron: of those suffering for nervous and mental afflictions Birth: 7th century Death: 7th century Canonized: on 620
Dymphna was born in Ireland sometime in the seventh century to a pagan father and devout Christian mother. When she was fourteen, she consecrated herself to Christ and took a vow of chastity. Soon afterward, her mother died and her father - who had loved his wife deeply - began to suffer a rapid deterioration of his mental stability.
So unhinged was Dymphna's father, Damon, that the King's counselors suggested he remarry. Though he was still grieving for his wife, he agreed to remarry if a woman as beautiful as she could be found.
Damon sent messengers throughout his town and other lands to find woman of noble birth who resembled his wife and would be willing to marry him, but when none could be found, his evil advisors whispered sinful suggestions to marry his own daughter. So twisted were Damon's thoughts that he recognized only his wife when he looked upon Dymphna, and so he consented to the arrangement.
When she heard of her father's misguided plot, Dymphna fled her castle with her confessor, a priest named Gerebran, two trusted servants, and the king's fool. The group sailed toward what is now called Belgium and hid in the town of Geel.
Though it becomes uncertain what exactly happened next, the best-known version claims the group settled in Geel, where Dymphna built a hospital for the poor and sick, but in using her wealth, her father was able to discover her location.
When Damon found his daughter was in Belgium, he traveled to Geel and captured them. He ordered the priest's head to be separated from his body and attempted to convince Dymphna to return to Ireland and marry him.
When Dymphna refused, Damon became enraged and drew his sword. He struck Dymphna's head from her shoulders and left her there. When she died, Dymphna was only fifteen years old. After her father left Geel, the residents collected both Dymphna and Gerebran's remains and laid them to rest in a cave.
In defense of her purity, Dymphna received the crown of martyrdom around the year 620 and became known as the "Lily of Éire. In 1349, a church honoring St. Dymphna was built in Geel, and by 1480, so many pilgrims were arriving in need of treatment for mental ills, that the church was expanded. The expanded sanctuary was eventually overflowing again, leaving the townspeople to accept them into their homes, which began a tradition of care for the mentally ill that continues to this day.
Unfortunately, in the 15th century, the original St. Dymphna Church in Geel burned to the ground, and the magnificent Church of St. Dymphna was erected and consecrated in 1532, where it still stands above the location her body was originally buried.
Many miracles have been proven to take place at her shrine in the church erected in her honor, and her remains were placed in a silver reliquary in the church. Some of her remains can also be found at the Shrine to Saint Dymphna in the United States.
The priest who had helped Dymphna was also sainted, and his remains were moved to Xanten, Germany.
The United States National Shrine of Saint Dymphna is at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Massillon, Ohio and St. Dymphna's Special School can be found in Ballina, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland.
Saint Dymphna is the patroness of those suffering nervous and mental afflictions as well as victims of incest.
Traditionally, Saint Dymphna is often portrayed with a crown on her head, dressed in royal robes, and holding a sword. In modern art, Saint Dymphna is shown holding the sword, which symbolizes her martyrdom, quite awkwardly. She is also often shown holding a lamp, while some holy cards feature her wearing green and white, holding a book and white lilies.
Pope Leo XIV: Truth finds its identity in the person of Jesus Christ
In a letter commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Bolivian Catholic University “San Pablo,” Pope Leo reminds the academic institution that truth finds its identity in the person of Jesus Christ and reiterates that 'Veritas in Caritate' continues to serve as a criterion for academic and pastoral discernment.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
"In a cultural context marked by the fragmentation of knowledge, relativism, and the instrumentalization of understanding, [Benedict XVI's encyclical] Veritas in Caritate continues to serve as a criterion for academic and pastoral discernment, and as a demanding program for the future, in which you are called to be 'the light of the world'.”
Pope Leo XIV stressed this in the message he sent on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Bolivian Catholic University “San Pablo.”
The Pope began observing that commemorating sixty years allows us to recognize a fruitful trajectory of service to the Church and society.
He stressed that a university, in its deepest identity, "is not merely a center for technical training nor a mere space for producing utilitarian knowledge," but above all, 'an academic community which, in a rigorous and critical way, contributes to the protection and development of human dignity and cultural heritage...'"
True education must promote formation of human person
The Holy Father noted that universities exist to promote the integral formation of the person, since true education "aims at the formation of the human person in the pursuit of his ultimate end and of the good of the societies of which, as man, he is a member..."
Within this horizon, he said, intellectual and moral faculties, responsible freedom, and commitment to the common good are "harmoniously cultivated," forming people capable of thinking "with rigour, dialoguing with openness, and acting with integrity."
Thus, Pope Leo said it is particularly meaningful to understand the academic institution's motto Veritas in Caritate, noting this expression is "an eloquent summary of the university’s mission, undertaken from the perspective of faith."
Truth finds its identity in the person of Jesus Christ
"For the Christian tradition," the Holy Father recalled that truth "is not merely an intellectual ideal or an abstract concept."
Rather, truth, he said, "finds its identity in the person of Jesus Christ Himself, who reveals Himself as the Truth, and who fully reveals man to himself and shows him his supreme vocation."
"From this perspective, truth sought with intellectual rigor and scientific honesty," he said, "finds in charity its horizon and ultimate criterion."
The reason for this, he noted, is that "for a Christian, speaking the truth is an act of love that builds up, heals, and guides the person toward fulfillment."
The Pope stressed how important it is to recognize that Truth has a personal and relational dimension.
Such recognition, he insisted, "preserves knowledge from becoming a tool of domination, exclusion, or mere utility," and instead "directs it toward the service of justice and the dignity of every human being, especially the most vulnerable."
Knowledge always at service of the human person
The Pope recalled that Veritas in Caritate expresses the vocation of an academic community that seeks to integrate knowledge and life, intellect and ethics, faith and reason, academic excellence and civic responsibility.
He stressed that research, teaching, and professional formation are not to be understood as services and not as self-referential ends, but as being "oriented toward the construction of a more humane, just, and transcendentally open society, where knowledge is always at the service of the person."
Pope Leo XIV concluded by encouraging them to let Veritas in Caritate guide their discernment and entrusting the academic, formative, and communal activities of the university to the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom.
Pope to ecumenical movement: We can give life to a new world of peace
On the first day of the ecumenical, global prayer movement, “Thy Kingdom Come”, Pope Leo sends a video message to participants, encouraging them in their mission of sharing the Gospel as it “is not something about which we can keep silent.”
By Kielce Gussie
Ahead of the ecumenical prayer event, “Thy Kingdom Come”, Pope Leo XIV sent a video message to all the participants, assuring them of his spiritual closeness.
The event, which takes place from May 14-24, is a prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray together from Ascension Thursday to Pentecost Sunday for more people to know Jesus.
“Thy Kingdom Come” (TKC) started in 2016 and has grown to involve more than a million Christians in almost 90% of nations around the globe, spanning 85 different denominations and traditions.
Come, Emmanuel
In his video message, the Pope reflects on the traditional phrase for the Advent season: “Come, Emmanuel.” With this, Christians call for the completion of Isaiah’s prophecy—the birth of Emmanuel, which means God is with us.
Throughout that season of waiting, Pope Leo highlights how our songs and carols grow ever more urgent for God to come down among us, to save us from sin and all that can hurt us. He notes that we are calling for God to heal what is broken in both us individually and in the world.
“Even though we know that God is almighty and transcendent, we are still bold enough to ask him to be truly with us – not distant, but close,” the Holy Father stresses.
Yet, sometimes, he points out, we forget that we need God and how only He can “satisfy our deepest longings and our inner restlessness.” In the person of Jesus Christ, God has come down to be close to us in the flesh. Now, “through His Holy Spirit He is with us.”
We are not left orphans
During these 50 days of Easter, “Alleluia” becomes the song of the season and a way to offer praise and thanksgiving for Jesus’ resurrection. “He is still God-with-us”, Pope Leo highlights, while pointing out that even His closest friends did not always recognize Him after His resurrection.
Though Jesus returned to the Father in Heaven, “He did not leave us orphans.” Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, He remains present to us all in the Church. Christ, the Holy Father continues, “is everything for us. In Him, we find the fullness of life and its meaning.” This gift, he stresses, is not something we can keep to ourselves. Rather, “it is something to proclaim boldly.”
The “Thy Kingdom Come Novena” offers a perfect opportunity to share the Good News and pray “that others will also come to encounter the saving and liberating love of God revealed in Jesus.”
Going out to the whole world
Pope Leo concludes his video message recounting his Easter Vigil homily this year: “The encounter to which we want to bear witness – through the words of faith and the works of charity – we do so by “singing” with our lives the “Alleluia” that we proclaim with our lips (cf. Saint Augustine, Sermon 256, 1).
Like the women in the Gospel on Easter Sunday, the Holy Father notes that we should have the desire to be “set out” to bring the Gospel to people around the world. “We too can give life to a new world of peace and unity as a ‘multitude of people and yet […] a single person, for although there are many Christians, Christ is one’” (Saint Augustine, Commentaries on the Psalms, 127:3).
Before ending, the Pope invokes God’s abundant blessings on everyone.
Pope Leo to Rome's Sapienza University: ‘Be artisans of true peace’
Pope Leo XIV makes a special visit to Sapienza University of Rome, urging young people to reject resignation, become “artisans of true peace,” and warning against rising military spending and the dangers of artificial intelligence in war.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
“Be artisans of true peace: an unarmed and disarming peace, humble and persevering, working for harmony among peoples and for the care of the Earth.”
Pope Leo XIV expressed this during his address to the Sapienza University of Rome on Thursday, May 14.
Prior to delivering his remarks, the Holy Father paused in prayer and greeted members of the university community before proceeding to the rectorate and the Aula Magna for his address.
In his speech, Pope Leo said he accepted “with great joy” the invitation to meet the university community, praising the university as a center of excellence in many disciplines, while also recognizing its commitment to ensuring access to education for those with fewer economic resources, people with disabilities, prisoners, and refugees fleeing war zones.
In a particular way, the Holy Father expressed appreciation for the agreement signed between the Diocese of Rome and Sapienza to open a university humanitarian corridor from the Gaza Strip.
Pope Leo noted that, having served as Bishop of Rome for just over a year, he especially desired to meet the university community and, “with a pastor’s heart,” wished to address first the students and then the professors.
Young people and the search for truth
Reflecting on his arrival at the university, the Pope said the avenues of the campus are crossed every day by many young people and marked by “contrasting emotions."
While he acknowledged they likely have some carefree and joyful moments, he recognized that they undoubtedly are likewise troubled by the great injustices around the world.
Amid this reality, the Holy Father said studies, friendships, and encounters with “masters of thought” can transform people for the better even before changing the world around them.
“When the desire for truth becomes a search,” he continued, “our boldness in study bears witness to the hope of a new world.”
St. Augustine made serious mistakes, but never lost his passion for wisdom
Pope Leo reminded the students of his spiritual connection to Saint Augustine, his spiritual father, whom he recalled was as “a restless young man” who made serious mistakes, but never lost his passion for beauty and wisdom.
The Pope said he was pleased to receive hundreds of questions from students ahead of the encounter. Lamenting that it would be impossible for him to answer them all, he reminded the students that university chaplaincies exist for this very reason, as places “where faith encounters your questions.”
Pope Leo greeting students (@Vatican Media)
‘We are not an algorithm’
Turning to the struggles faced by many young people today, Pope Leo said “We must not hide from the fact that many young people are suffering.”
The Pope pointed to the “blackmail of expectations” and pressure to perform, calling it “the pervasive lie of a distorted system that reduces people to numbers, exacerbating competitiveness and abandoning us to spirals of anxiety.”
“This spiritual malaise,” he continued, “reminds us that we are not the sum of what we possess, nor matter randomly assembled in a mute cosmos.”
The Holy Father went on to remind the students they are not algorithms and that they possess a special dignity.
Becoming ourselves
Addressing young people directly, Pope Leo said modern malaise asks the question: “Who are you?” and said this question is one "we silently pose to God.”
“Becoming ourselves,” he observed, “is the characteristic task of every man’s and every woman’s life.”
““It is the question to which only we ourselves can respond,” he continued, “yet one that we can never answer alone,” stressing that human beings are shaped by our relationships.
‘What kind of world are we leaving behind?’
Turning to older generations, the Pope said the malaise of youth also asks: “What kind of world are we leaving behind?”
The Holy Father lamented that today’s world is “disfigured by wars and by words of war,” describing this as “a pollution of reason” that invades social relationships from the geopolitical level downward.
Pope Leo XIV at the Sapienza University of Rome (@Vatican Media)
The Pope warned that the simplification that “constructs enemies” must be corrected, especially in universities, through “care for complexity and the wise exercise of memory.”
“In particular,” he added, “the tragedy of the twentieth century must not be forgotten.”
Warnings against military spending and rearmament
“The cry ‘never again war!’ of my predecessors,” Pope Leo said, “urges us toward a spiritual alliance with the sense of justice dwelling in the hearts of the young.”
The Holy Father noted that military spending around the world, especially in Europe, has grown enormously over the past year.
“Let us not call ‘defense’ a rearmament that increases tensions and insecurity, impoverishes investment in education and health, denies trust in diplomacy, and enriches elites that care nothing for the common good,” he warned.
Moreover, Pope Leo insisted that society must remain vigilant regarding the development and application of artificial intelligence in both military and civilian spheres.
“This is particularly important,” he said, “so that it does not strip human choices of responsibility and worsen the tragedy of conflicts.”
Warning against a 'spiral of annihilation'
The Pope pointed specifically to Ukraine, Gaza and the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Iran as examples of what he called “the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation.”
“Let study, research, and investment move in the opposite direction,” the Holy Father urged.
“Let them be a radical ‘yes,’" he said, "to life — yes to innocent life, yes to young life, yes to the life of peoples crying out for peace and justice.”
Safeguarding creation
A second area of common commitment, Pope Leo said, concerns ecology.
Recalling Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment Laudato si’, the Holy Father cited the warning that “we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system.”
More than a decade later, Pope Leo observed, “beyond good intentions and some efforts directed toward this goal, the situation does not seem to have improved.”
In this context, the Pope encouraged young people not to surrender to resignation but instead “to transform restlessness into prophecy.”
The insight of those who believe
“Those who believe,” he continued, “know in a special way that history does not helplessly collapse into the hands of death.”
Rather, he said, history is always safeguarded by “a God who creates life from nothing, who gives without taking, who shares without consuming.”
“Today,” the Holy Father declared, “the implosion of a possessive and consumerist paradigm clears the ground for the new that is already sprouting forth: study, cultivate, safeguard justice!”
Pope Leo then invited students and professors alike to join him in pursuing peace.
“Be artisans of true peace: an unarmed and disarming peace, humble and persevering, working for harmony among peoples and for the care of the Earth,” he said.
Your intelligence and boldness are needed, the Pope said.
Pope Leo at the Sapienza University of Rome (@Vatican Media)
‘Believe in your students’
Turning specifically to professors, Pope Leo described Sapienza as “a place of study and a center of experimentation” that for centuries has formed minds in critical thought.
In this context, he reminded professors they have the responsibility and privilege of cultivating “fruitful contact with the minds and hearts of young people.”
“It is of the utmost importance to believe in your students,” the Pope stressed.
“Therefore, ask yourselves often: do I trust them?” he said.
Teaching as a form of charity
The Pope also described teaching as “a form of charity,” comparing it to “rescuing a migrant at sea, a poor person on the street, or a despairing conscience.”
Teaching, he continued, “means loving human life always and in every circumstance, esteeming its possibilities.”
Pope Leo said education should speak “to the hearts of young people” and not focus solely on intellectual knowledge.
The Pope went on to ask what would be the point of forming researchers or professionals who fail to cultivate conscience, justice, and respect for what “can neither nor should be dominated.”
A new educational alliance
“Knowledge,” he said, “serves not only to achieve professional goals, but to discern who one is.”
Through lectures, internships, interaction with the city, theses, and doctoral studies, he reminded that students can continually discover new motivations and learn to bring order “between study and life, between means and ends.”
Finally, Pope Leo XIV reminded that his visit was intended to serve as “a sign of a new educational alliance” between the Church in Rome and the university community, before assuring those present of his prayers and imparting his Apostolic Blessing.
The first act of the apostles after the Ascension of Jesus was to find a replacement for Judas. With all the questions, doubts, and dangers facing them, they chose to focus their attention on finding a twelfth apostle. Why was this important? Twelve was a very important number to the Chosen People: twelve was the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. If the new Israel was to come from the disciples of Jesus, a twelfth apostle was needed.
But Jesus had chosen the original twelve. How could they know whom he would choose?
One hundred and twenty people were gathered for prayer and reflection in the upper room, when Peter stood up to propose the way to make the choice.
Peter had one criterion, that, like Andrew, James, John, and himself, the new apostle be someone who had been a disciple from the very beginning, from his baptism by John until the Ascension. The reason for this was simple, the new apostle would must become a witness to Jesus' resurrection. He must have followed Jesus before anyone knew him, stayed with him when he made enemies, and believed in him when he spoke of the cross and of eating his body -- teachings that had made others melt away.
Two men fit this description -- Matthias and Joseph called Barsabbas. They knew that both these men had been with them and with Jesus through his whole ministry. But which one had the heart to become a witness to his resurrection. The apostles knew that only the Lord could know what was in the heart of each. They cast lots in order to discover God's will and Matthias was chosen. He was the twelfth apostle, and the group was whole again as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
That's the first we hear of Matthias in Scripture, and the last. Legends like the Acts of Andrew and Matthias testify to Matthias' enthusiastic embrace of all that being an apostle meant including evangelization, persecution, and death in the service of the Lord.
How does one qualify to be an apostle?
Clement of Alexandria says that Matthias, like all the other apostles, was not chosen by Jesus for what he already was, but for what Jesus foresaw he would become. He was elected not because he was worthy but because he would become worthy. Jesus chooses all of us in the same way. What does Jesus want you to become?
Find out when the Solemnity of the Ascension is observed in the different Dioceses of the United States.
Throughout the United States the Solemnity of the Ascension has different observances. Depending on what diocese your state is in, the celebration of the feast might actually fall on different days.
So what's the deal? How can a feast day fall on different days?
Traditionally the feast is celebrated exactly 40 days after Easter. That's the origin of "Ascension Thursday."
Following the liturgical reforms begun by the Second Vatican Council, it became possible for the different national conferences of Catholic bishops to transfer the feast. The "General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar" - issued in Rome on February 14, 1969 - states:
"In those places where the solemnities of Epiphany, Ascension, and Corpus Christi are not observed as holydays of obligation, they are assigned to a Sunday, which is then considered their proper day in calendar."
Holy Days of Obligation
In the United States the following six Holy Days of Obligation are observed throughout the country: 1) Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, 2) Ascension of the Lord, 3) Assumption of the Virgin Mary, 4) All Saints' Day, 5) Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, 6) Christmas.
You might be surprised to see Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday, and Ash Wednesday missing from the list. Since Easter and Palm Sunday both fall on Sunday, we're bound by the normal Sunday obligation to attend Mass on those days. The fact that so many people show up for Ash Wednesday without it being "required" is worth further reflection...but we digress.
Decision of the US bishops
In 1991, the US bishops decided to permit different Ecclesiastical Provinces to make the decision to transfer the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord to the Seventh Sunday of Easter or to observe the feast on the customary Thursday. (An Ecclesiastical Province is the grouping of dioceses which are set under an archdiocese; the bishops of these dioceses are "headed" by the archbishop, called a "metropolitan bishop").
In accord with the provisions of canon 1246, §2 of the Code of Canon Law, which states: "... the conference of bishops can abolish certain holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday with prior approval of the Apostolic See," the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States decrees that the Ecclesiastical Provinces of the United States may transfer the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter to the Seventh Sunday of Easter according to the following procedure.
Ascension on Thursday
Accordingly, these Ecclesiastical Provinces in the United States have chosen to continue to observe the Solemnity of the Ascension on Thursday: Boston, Hartford, New York, Omaha, and Philadelphia. The decision impacts 9 different U.S. states overall.
After several years of transferring the solemnity to Sunday, in March 2022, the bishops of the Ecclesiastical Provinces of New Jersey decided to transfer the solemnity permanently to Sunday in their respective dioceses.
Additionally the Anglican Ordinariate, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, observes the feast on Thursday, regardless of the geographic location of their parishes.
