MONDAY, MAY 24
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

“A Church that is a mother walks along the path of tenderness and compassion. Whoever is a child of the Church is a gentle, tender, smiling person, full of love.” With these words, Pope Francis recalled today’s liturgical memorial.
These words invite us to contemplate Mary, while at the same time living according to her example.
Emphasizing the profound bond between the Holy Spirit and Mary, and therefore between the solemnity of Pentecost and this memorial, he added: “She was there with the Apostles when the Holy Spirit came, a protagonist with the first Community in the wondrous experience of Pentecost, and we pray to her that she may obtain for the Church an ardent missionary spirit.”

For further reading:
• With Living Water May-June 2021
• On Your Word – May-June 2021 Mass booklet

MONDAY, MAY 24
Our Lady of Laus

For more than fifty-four years, from 1664 to 1718, one of the longest-lasting apparitions took place in Laus, in the heart of the southern French Alps. The “Lady” of Laus appeared to a humble shepherdess, Benoîte Rencurel, as a mother and educator full of tenderness and gentleness: she taught her to pray and guided her along an intense spiritual journey. Numerous charisms accompanied Benoîte’s mission, the most extraordinary of which was the gift of reading souls.

Laus became, according to Our Lady’s wish, the “refuge of sinners,” where the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist are administered abundantly. The oil of Laus, which burns constantly in the lamp before the Blessed Sacrament and was offered by the Virgin as a remedy, continues to bring about numerous healings of souls and bodies. The Church, always cautious in the face of the phenomenon of apparitions, officially recognized the apparitions at Laus on May 4, 2008.

For further reading:
• Our Lady of Laus
• Novena to Our Lady of Laus

TUESDAY, MAY 25
Beginning of the nine Tuesdays in honor of Saint Anne

Saint Anne is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary; «she is the woman who prepared her daughter to become queen, to become the queen of heaven and earth» (Pope Francis).
Although there is little information about Saint Anne, and what there is comes from nonofficial texts, since the Gospel never mentions Anne, her veneration is extremely widespread throughout the world.
The nine Tuesdays to Saint Anne constitute a devotional practice consisting of praying and meditating, according to various formats and prayer suggestions, on the nine Tuesdays preceding the feast of Saint Anne (July 26).
We entrust mothers especially to Saint Anne, particularly those who are hindered in defending nascent life or who encounter difficulties in raising and educating their children. 

For further reading:
• Prayers to Saints Anne and Joachim

WEDNESDAY, MAY 26
Saint Philip Neri

We remember Saint Philip Neri with the words Saint John Paul II addressed to him: «The lovable figure of the “Saint of joy” still retains intact that irresistible appeal which he exerted on all those who approached him to learn about and experience the authentic sources of Christian joy.
When reviewing the biography of Saint Philip, one is indeed surprised and fascinated by the cheerful and relaxed way in which he knew how to educate, standing beside each person with fraternal understanding and patience. As is well known, the Saint used to sum up his teaching in brief, pithy sayings: “Be good, if you can”; “Scruples and melancholy, out of my house”; “Be humble and keep a low profile”; “A person who does not pray is an animal without speech”; and, bringing his hand to his forehead, “Holiness consists of three fingers’ breadth of space.”
Behind the wit of these and many other “sayings,” one can perceive the keen and realistic knowledge he had acquired of human nature and the workings of grace. In these brief and concise teachings, he translated the experience of his long life and the wisdom of a heart inhabited by the Holy Spirit. These aphorisms have by now become, for Christian spirituality, a kind of storehouse of wisdom». Saint Philip Neri contemplated and lived the mystery of love; let us learn from his example and confidently ask for his help.

For further reading:
• The Heart of Saint Philip Neri. A Thought for Each Day

SATURDAY, MAY 29
Blessed Rolando Rivi

Rolando Rivi, born on January 7, 1931, was only 11 years old when he told his parents: «I want to become a priest, to save many souls». At 14, in 1945, having become a seminarian, he was captured and killed by partisans: «One fewer priest tomorrow»—this was the reason given by the political commissar of the partisan formation.
Here is the father’s account: «When I returned around noon, I did not find Rolando at home. My sister-in-law told me that he had gone to study in his usual place, a small grove not far from home… Together with his mother, I went there… but a sad surprise awaited us. His books were scattered on the ground, and on a sheet torn from one of his notebooks, these words had been written: “Do not look for him. He is coming with us for a while. Partisans”».

For further reading:
• Blessed Rolando Rivi

SUNDAY, MAY 30
Most Holy Trinity

Let us reflect on the beauty and meaning of this solemnity in the words of the Servant of God Tonino Bello: «One of the most beautiful and practical things brought to light by theology in recent years is that the Most Holy Trinity is not only the principal mystery of our faith, but also the supreme architectural principle of our morality. The Trinitarian mystery, that is, is not merely a doctrine to contemplate, but an ethic to live. It is not only a lofty truth intended to nourish the need for transcendence, but a normative source from which to draw for our daily choices.
Jesus, therefore, revealed to us this secret of his household not certainly to satisfy our intellectual curiosity, but rather to involve us in the same logic of communion that binds the three divine persons. In heaven, three equal and distinct persons live communion so deeply that they form one God.
On earth, people who are equal in dignity and distinct in origin are called to live solidarity so intensely that they form one man, the new man: Christ Jesus. Thus, the essence of our ethical life consists in translating the festive contemplation of the Trinitarian mystery into everyday actions, discovering the dignity of the person in every human being, recognizing their fundamental equality, and respecting the distinctive traits of their individuality.
It should also be added that in heaven, the riches proper to one divine person are so transferable from one to another (there is, we might say, such an intense cultural exchange between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) that theology has had to coin an expression for this phenomenon—perhaps a little difficult for non-specialists, but extremely meaningful: the communication of idioms.
Now, the ethical imperative that follows for those who live on earth is that if they keep their spiritual or material resources under lock and key instead of making them available to others, they cannot avoid being accused of misappropriation.
We can conclude, then, that the human race is called to live on earth what the three divine persons live in heaven: the conviviality of differences.
What does this mean?
In heaven, several persons thus place everything in communion on the table of the same divinity, while what remains intransferable to them is only the personal identity of each one: being the Father, being the Son, and being the Holy Spirit, respectively.
On earth, people are called to live according to this Trinitarian archetype: that is, to place everything in communion on the table of the same humanity, keeping for themselves only what forms part of their personal identity. Ultimately, this is peace: the conviviality of differences. We cannot offer a more beautiful definition, because we went looking for it precisely in the heart of the Most Holy Trinity».
(Taken from: The Family as a Workshop for Peace, Prato, September 10, 1988)

For further reading:
• Pray, pray, pray
• On your word – May-June Missal