“Go to Joseph; I have never known anyone who turned to him and was not helped.”
— St. Teresa of Avila
📅 June 17: Feast of the Most Chaste Heart of Joseph
St. Teresa of Avila wasn't making an empty promise when she said, "Go to Joseph; I have never known anyone who turned to him and was not helped." She spent years encouraging people to trust St. Joseph because she had seen his fatherly care firsthand.
Joseph doesn't replace Jesus. He always leads us to Him. The man chosen by God to protect Mary and raise the Son of God is still a powerful intercessor for the Church today. Scripture doesn't record a single word spoken by St. Joseph, yet his actions preached faith, obedience, humility, and courage. When God asked him to do something difficult, he said yes.
Many of us carry burdens we don't know how to fix: financial stress, family struggles, fear about the future, loneliness, or loved ones who have drifted from God. St. Joseph reminds us that holiness is often lived quietly through faithfulness in ordinary life. You don't have to have all the answers. You simply have to trust God one step at a time.
💬 Have you ever asked for St. Joseph's intercession, and if so, what happened?
Someone in your life may need the hope of a spiritual father who never stops pointing hearts back to Christ.
Archbishop Viganò: "In 2016, exactly on my seventy-fifth birthday, Bergoglio ordered me to leave the Nunciature in Washington and forbade me from returning to the Vatican, where John Paul II had permanently assigned me an apartment; he also forbade me from residing in the Roman residence for retired Nuncios that was specially prepared by Pope Benedict. Before his death, Bergoglio also had my Vatican citizenship and passport revoked; he prevented me from accessing the healthcare services provided to members of the Diplomatic Service, even though I had always regularly paid my contributions..." https://t.co/f6kvjuh1DH
That's a wrap on The Resurrection of the Christ — Mel Gibson's long-awaited sequel to The Passion of the Christ.
After a massive 134-day shoot across Italy, director Mel Gibson took a microphone on set to personally thank the cast and crew for completing principal photography on the film, which has been over 20 years in development.
The audio captured him saying:
"Since I'm all yours here and I've got a microphone... I just want to tell you all thank you so much for all your efforts, your support, your sacrifice, your love, the encouragements all through, the prayers and intercessions, thank you all for everything great and everything “small”, in the end it was all worth it.
Now it’s time to make sure the Lord gets glorified in all of this."
The OLDEST CHRISTIAN village in the world is burning.
Taybeh, Palestine.
The last 100% Christian Palestinian village, where Christ resurrected Lazarus, build the Church of St. Michael.
The image of the Virgin Mary near a private school in General Santos City remained unharmed after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck on Monday, June 8.
- Catholic Tradition & Evangelisation.
PRAYER BEFORE THE HOLY ROSARY
Blessed Virgin Mary,
As I take these beads into my hands,
take my soul into your care.
Teach me to contemplate the mysteries of Christ as you contemplated them.
When my mind wanders, guide it back.
When my faith grows weak, strengthen it.
When sorrow weighs heavily upon me, remind me that your Son has conquered sin and death.
May every Hail Mary become a step toward heaven.
Lead me always to Jesus, for that is your greatest desire.
Amen. 🙏
As St. Thomas Aquinas said:
“If you would like to know God, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you would like to love God, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you want to serve God, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you hope for eternal Happiness, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wonder how much God loves you, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wonder how He tries to prevent you from the yawning jaws of hell, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wonder how much He will help you to save your immortal soul, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wonder how much you should forgive others, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wonder how much your faith demands of you, in humility, poverty, charity, meekness and every virtue, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you want to know what unselfishness and generosity are, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wonder how far your own unselfishness should go to bring others to Christ, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you want to understand the need for self-denial and mortification, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wish to live well, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!
If you wish to die well, LOOK AT THE CRUCIFIX!”
Fulton Sheen, summarizing the reason for using a crucifix instead of an empty cross: “Keep your eyes on the crucifix, for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, & the cross without Jesus is a burden without a Reliever.”
THE CATHOLIC RULE OF LIFE I WISH SOMEONE HAD TAUGHT ME SOONER
A few years ago, I thought becoming a better Catholic meant learning more.
More theology.
More apologetics.
More books.
More Catholic content.
Those things are good.
But I eventually discovered something surprising.
Most saints did not become saints because they knew more.
They became saints because they consistently did a few simple things every day.
That realization changed how I view the spiritual life.
So after studying Sacred Scripture, the Catechism, and the lives of the saints, I began noticing a pattern.
Different saints.
Different centuries.
Different personalities.
Yet they all built their lives around the same foundations.
If someone asked me today:
“How do I actually live like Jesus Christ every day?”
This is the framework I would share.
And honestly, it is the framework I am still trying to live myself.
1. GIVE GOD THE FIRST MOMENT OF YOUR DAY
Before the notifications.
Before the messages.
Before the news.
Before social media.
Give God the first moment.
Make the Sign of the Cross.
Thank Him for another day.
Offer everything to Him.
The first voice you hear should not be the world.
It should be God.
2. READ THE GOSPEL BEFORE YOU READ OPINIONS
One verse.
One paragraph.
One chapter.
Whatever you can manage.
The point is simple:
Let Christ shape your mind before the world shapes it for you.
Many of us spend hours consuming information and only minutes receiving formation.
That imbalance affects everything.
3. PROTECT THE STATE OF GRACE LIKE YOUR GREATEST TREASURE
Because it is.
The Church teaches that sanctifying grace is God's own life within the soul.
Nothing on earth is worth losing that.
Not success.
Not money.
Not pleasure.
Not popularity.
Go to Confession regularly.
Take sin seriously.
Take God's mercy even more seriously.
4. BUILD YOUR LIFE AROUND THE EUCHARIST
The saints never got tired of speaking about the Eucharist.
Neither should we.
The closer they drew to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the more they began to resemble Him.
Sunday Mass is the minimum.
Not the goal.
If possible, attend daily Mass.
Visit Jesus in Adoration.
Stay after Communion.
Speak to Him.
Listen to Him.
Remain with Him.
5. STOP LOOKING FOR HOLINESS IN EXTRAORDINARY THINGS
Most holiness happens in ordinary moments.
Being patient when you are tired.
Forgiving when you would rather hold a grudge.
Remaining kind when someone is difficult.
Serving when nobody notices.
The saints did not become saints because they did spectacular things every day.
They became saints because they loved God in ordinary circumstances.
6. CARRY YOUR CROSS INSTEAD OF RUNNING FROM IT
Every day brings a cross.
A disappointment.
A struggle.
A wound.
A sacrifice.
A burden nobody else sees.
Modern culture says:
“Avoid suffering.”
Jesus says:
“Follow Me.”
The difference is enormous.
One path seeks comfort.
The other seeks transformation.
THE CARDINAL WHO OFFERED HIMSELF FOR HOSTAGES: A LIVING WITNESS TO CHRIST
In October 2023, after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, the world watched in horror as civilians were killed, families were torn apart, and hostages were taken.
Amid the chaos, a Catholic cardinal made a statement that stunned believers and nonbelievers alike.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, publicly declared that he was willing to offer himself in exchange for children who had been taken hostage.
His words spread around the world.
"If I am available for an exchange, anything, if this can bring about freedom and bring those children home, no problem. My absolute willingness."
For many, it was a moment that seemed to echo the Gospel itself.
Jesus said:
"The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
Throughout history, Christians have admired saints who sacrificed themselves for others. Yet here was a living Church leader, in the midst of a modern conflict, expressing a willingness to do exactly that.
Cardinal Pizzaballa was not speaking from the safety of a distant office.
He lives in the Holy Land, where Christians are a small minority and where tensions, violence, and uncertainty are daily realities.
For years he has worked to build peace among Christians, Jews, and Muslims while caring for the faithful entrusted to him.
His offer was not a political statement.
It was a pastoral one.
A shepherd saw suffering children and was prepared to place himself between them and danger.
Many people talk about Christian love.
Few are asked whether they would risk their lives for strangers.
Even fewer answer yes.
The awe of this story is found not only in the offer itself but in what it reveals.
Two thousand years after Christ walked the roads of Galilee, there are still men and women in the Church striving to live His words literally.
The Gospel is often dismissed as an impossible ideal.
Yet from time to time, someone appears who reminds the world that Christ's teachings are not merely meant to be admired.
They are meant to be lived.
Whether or not the exchange ever took place is not the point.
The point is that a successor of the Apostles publicly declared his readiness to surrender his own freedom and safety for the sake of innocent children.
In an age marked by self preservation, the willingness to sacrifice oneself for others remains one of the clearest reflections of Jesus Christ.
The world may measure greatness by power, wealth, or influence.
Christ measures it by love.
And love is most clearly seen when a person is willing to lay down his life for another.
So you’re saying the surviving USS Liberty veterans, the 2003 Independent Commission of Inquiry chaired by Admiral Thomas Moorer, and numerous senior U.S. officials were all wrong?
That commission concluded the attack was deliberate and cited testimony from survivors as well as former Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Undersecretary of State George Ball, former CIA Director Richard Helms, former NSA Director William Odom, former NSA Deputy Director Oliver Kirby, and others.
The Commission’s findings even concluded that Israeli forces machinegunned firefighters and stretcher bearers attempting to save wounded sailors and later destroyed life rafts that had been lowered to rescue the most seriously wounded…..
That’s not an accident. Why are you covering for it?
"It is useless to try to figure out exactly what heaven is like, because we can't understand it. But when the veil of this life is taken off, we will understand things in a different way."
St. Padre Pio