As I reflect upon my life, many things were always certain.  My love of dogs, I love the Autumn, I enjoy the beach, Christmas is my favorite time of year, and my mother was the best mother in the world!  I knew I would end up a policeman, though my 1974 high school yearbook betrayed my “secret desire to be a priest”.  God does indeed have His plan and works his mysteries- I retired from 29 years in law enforcement and now I work to serve God as a priest with The Reformed Catholic Church.

There are other aspects in my life of which I have always been certain too. I am a gay man. I knew this all my life as far back as I could remember thinking of such things. I also knew I was intensely spiritual, and how to reconcile the two would ultimately become the formation of who I am.

I know that my being gay is not a decision I made. It is not a “sexual preference” I chose, but rather who God created me to be. I knoew this because God blessed me with an understanding family and compassionate and caring friends.

I also came to learn that there were those who would try to use the very scriptures I loved to read, against me. I came to know that this belief grew in ignorance and darkness.  I read a book by The Most Reverend John Shelby Sprong retired Bishop of the Episcopal Church Diocese of Newark NJ (who I have had the occasional pleasure to meet) entitled “Lving in Sin” where he explains that fundamentalists misinterpretations of scripture conclude that that “which is abnormal is an abomination”.  The learned person knows homosexuals are born homosexual. Bishop Spong concludes that ipso facto– that there is no sin for the homosexual person because my homosexuality is for me normal. Created by God as his glorious gift to me, to reflect his love back to his creation.

This was very liberating to me as a gay Christian. I found myself accepted and blessed as I opened my heart and soul to God in prayer and came to understand his love for me!

It was with this knowledge that I came to find St. Aelred of Rievaulx (pronounced: ree-VOH) (b.1109-d.1167) and so appreciate his impact that I have named my ministry after him.  Born to a Catholic priest, Aelred at first grew to become a squire to King David I of Scotland and then ‘Head of Household’.  But moved by the Holy Spirit, he left the service of the king to enter the service of God being ordained in 1134.  He became a monk at the Abbey of Rievaulx. His reputation as a great teacher understanding of God and his works, and his embrace of his fellow monks in friendship, led to his election as Abbot of the monestary. So known was his regard that the numbers of monks at Reievaulx rose to over 750. His popularity prompted King Edward the Confessor of England to invite him to preach at Westminster Abbey in his later years. He was canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic Church after his death.

St. Aelred was known to write many works. First known as a historian, writing the biographies of kings of England, he is most remembered for his writings on his relationships and friendships among the monks in his Abbey.  He cited these frienships as proof of God’s love for us- by living that love through our friends. He would tell his monks; “be friends to each other and that will earn the friendship of God.”

Even in those times, there were those who accused St. Aelred of being homosexual, a charge he did not dispute. In his most famous work, Speculum Caritatis (The Mirror of Charity c.1142), Aelred responds: “Some emotions are not ours to command. Others will pass judgement, even with my tears that my love is to real. Let them think as they will. But you Lord, with your divine mercy, see not only what is outward but what is within. I love those that God calls for me to love. I reach out to hold the hand that God reaches out for me to take. To cherish those that God calls upon me to cherish. Friend cleaving to friend in the spirit of Christ.”

The words have been an inspiration and a comfort to me, for those that would seek to use God against me. “Whoever claims to love God, yet hates a brother or sister in Christ is a liar. For whoever hates a brother or sister, whom they have seen; cannot love Christ who they have not seen.” (1 John 4:20)  “For no one has ever seen God, but if you love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12)

So then this is how God lives today among us- by living his love for us, through us. We must come to understand that we must embrace and love those that, as St. Aelred reminds us- “love those that God calls for [us] to love.” We must wrap ourselves in that love- so God can love- God can live!

“Therefore, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility and patience. Forgive one another, as Christ forgave you. For of all the virtues- put on love. It is love that binds us together. Let the peace of Christ be in your hearts.” (Colossians 3:12-15)

That really says it all. “Let the peace of Christ be in your hearts.” Amen.

John 6: 60-69

60 Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?

62 Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?

63 It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

64 But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him.

65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

66 After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.

67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life;

69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

We must ask ourselves, do we brush aside or resist the teachings of Jesus?  As Christians we are attracted to Jesus because he offered us God’s loving-kindness and mercy. His wonderful works of healing and deliverance.

However even today, as then, some of us  do not understand or appreciate the claims of Jesus.  He claimed to be the very life of God come down from heaven and that no one could live this life without submitting to him. Even the apostles admitted that this was an expression that it was not just hard to understand, but hard to accept.  Jesus pressed the issue with his beloved disciples because he wanted to test their faith and loyalty.

Jesus assured his disciples that it is his heavenly Father who invites and who gives us deliverance Jesus knew that some would not only reject him and his word, but would do so to the point of betraying him to his enemies.

In today’s community there are people who may initially think that it is heaven on earth. After three or four months, however, they discover that the Community is not perfect, that they may disagree with others, that it’s not particularly glamorous and it can be tiring. The temptation to flee and avoid reality can be great.  The same is true in discerning people for leadership roles. There nearly always seems to be a critical moment when a tough decision needs to be made. Often it is when someone wants a role but is asked to commit for two years, and that seems like an eternity. Or maybe they would ideally like a live out salary, but we are unable to offer one. It is at those moments – when everything seems to hang on a knife edge – that discernment is key: trying to discern what is my deepest desire, which in turn is the desire that God has for us.

It is also true for the Community as a whole. There are nearly always short cuts that we could take – but often at a long term cost. What is really important is the quality of relationship, and the commitment that flows from it.

Our faith seeks understanding.  That is why God gives us the help of the Holy Spirit to enlighten the eyes of our mind to understand his truth and wisdom.. Jesus offers his life-giving word and Spirit to those who believe and who submit to his authority.  Peter’s profession of loyalty was based on a personal relationship with Jesus.  Through the gift of faith Peter knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Holy One of God, and he believed in his words. Faith is a response to God’s revelation. It’s the key to seeing God work in our lives with power.  Do you believe, as Peter did, that Jesus can change your life because he has the words of everlasting life?  Ask the Lord to increase your faith that you may grow in your relationship with him and in the knowledge of his love for you.

“Lord Jesus, you have the words of everlasting life.   Help me to cast aside doubt and fear and to embrace your word with trust and joy.  I surrender to you fully my heart, my will, my thoughts and my actions.  May there be nothing which keeps me from you and your love.”

Br. Terry Elkington, OPr

The Order of Preachers, Reformed is thrilled to announce the Postulancy of Br. David Moore.  David comes to us from Hilton Head, SC.  He is a former priest and Franciscan, and has much to offer our Order and to Our Lord.   Welcome David!  We are extremely happy to have you in our family!

The past week and a half, storms have entered my life from every direction.  Both real,  physical, actual storms and metaphorical, symbolic “storms.”  All presented problems, issues, and facts I would have loved to have taken cover from, pretended didn’t exist or all together run, run, run from.  I  had to be reminded, by God’s Word, and remind myself, DAILY, sometimes HOURLY, to GIVE THE STORMS to Christ.  Had I attempted, rather, WHEN I attempted, to handle these various entangled issues under my own power, of my own accord, I failed.  My thoughts failed me, my words failed me, and ANY faith IN MYSELF returned VOID.

In the Epistle for this Sunday, Ephesians 3:14-21, St. Paul tells us that we get our inner strength through the power of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of Christ our Lord in our hearts by faith.  When we are faced with the various trials, temptations, and terrors in our daily walks, we MUST focus on this.  We are NOT working under our own power, we are NOT successes through our own strength.  We are righteously victorious through Christ ALONE.  We also read in the Epistle that Christ, working
within us, will accomplish far more than we can begin to fathom.  I know  I am awfully good at thinking of the “WORST CASE SCENARIO”.  I come face to face with a problem and I can instantly think what the enemy has  worked so hard to get me to think… the worst results that can come of  any situation.  We must remember, just as the Lord God has a plan for our lives, so does Satan. And the enemy works second by second to get us  to fall in line with his plan.  And, far too often, we are quick to
believe those lies we are fed by Satan.

The Psalm this week gives us a true and better rule to remember, Psalm 145, verse 18, says “the LORD is  righteous in all his ways and loving in all his works.”  Don’t be fooled, we cannot get through a single day ALONE, on our own.  We are going to have help from the Lord, or ‘help’ from the enemy…  Which voice are we going to listen to?  The voice of triumph, victory, love and comfort?  Or, the voice of lies, damnation, and defeat?

In the Gospel appointed for today (John 6:1-21), we read of our Lord feeding the multitudes off of five loaves and 2 fish.  I often like to think, had I been there, I would have been the exemplary disciple… that I would have believed every word, every command, every request of Jesus without the first bit of proof offered.  Sometimes in reading the Gospels, I can almost sense the Lord thinking “WHY CAN’T THEY JUST LISTEN AND BELIEVE?!!?”  In today’s Gospel, the disciples begin their litany of excuses as to why they couldn’t possibly feed all of these people:  We couldn’t afford it,  where would we even get the food for this many…  Finally our Lord simply asks the disciples to get the folks to sit down.  No more, no less… just get them to sit down, and Jesus took care of the rest.  THIS IS A BIG LESSON that I NEEDED to hear  this week.  SIT DOWN and TRUST GOD.  Then, in the latter part of this Gospel lesson, we read about the Lord calming the storm when the disciples were on the boat in the water heading to Capernaum.  The wind picks up, the sea becomes rough and begins tossing them to and fro’.  Then they look out and there is Jesus walking on the water… it doesn’t  say he’s RUNNING on the water, or hurrying toward them on the water… just walking on the waters… these rough waters beating them about in the boat.  They, of course, were petrified… like I had been much of
this week over my various storms.  Then the Lord tells them “It is I, BE  NOT AFRAID.”  (Emphasis is always mine)  Then they took HIM in the boat  and immediately reached their destination.  WHAT A JEWEL this is in this LESSON OF LESSONS!  During every hardship I’ve faced and and have seen loved ones face this week, every time we relied on our own  power the “storms” simply raged harder…  EVERY TIME we gave those ‘storms’ to God, placed them in His hands and OUR TRUST TOTALLY IN HIM, we saw AWESOME and POWERFUL results, not in our timing or even in ways we anticipated or had hoped for… but the Lord manifested and showed his UNFAILING love for us in each and every situation, once and when we placed our trust and confidence in Him, not ourselves.

We cannot walk alone… we’re going to have company, so we have to choose THIS DAY, and  every day following with WHOM  WE SHALL  WALK!  And when we CHOOSE to walk with the Lord, allowing Him to guide us through every trial, every storm, every foe that comes against us, not wavering in our trust in Him and our love for Him, HE WILL SEE US THROUGH.  As Psalm 145:19 says “The Lord is near to those who call upon him, to all who call upon him FAITHFULLY.”

Go ahead, GIVE YOUR STORMS TO GOD.  HE WILL NEVER FAIL YOU.  AMEN?!   Amen!

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 Psalm 24

Amos 7:7-15 Psalm 85:8-13

Ephesians 1:3-14

Mark 6:14-29

In todays Gospel we read…He summoned the Twelve 1and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick–no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. Our Lord sent them out bare but they would go out and do the Greatest Work….. cause then we read .. So they went off and preached repentance. They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. They set out on this mission without anything not even food or money to buy it with…

In the first reading it focus our attention on prophets and prophecy. The prophet Amos makes it clear that he did not want the job! But, God called him anyway to be a prophet and to proclaim God’s word to the King of Bethel. “A reluctant prophet met a reluctant audience, and Amaziah ordered him to leave Bethel.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel”. The message of the prophet Amos was a cry for justice, for an end of oppression of the poor by the wealthy. We today we are sent out to dothe same…. Gods Mission, to go out and Preach Repentance and to Prophesy of His Glory, His Justice, His Love, His Peace and his Equality for ALL. For to Prophesy is to make inspired declarations of what is to come and or to speak as a mediator between God and humankind or in God’s stead. That is the the work that we my Brothers and Sisters are called to do especially as members in the Order of Preachers!

In the second reading today it also states of this mission …”He has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory”. We must fight the spirit of injustice where ever it. Remember The spiritual tradition of Dominic’s Order is punctuated not only by charity, study and preaching, but also by instances of mystical union! !

In today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus being astounded at the unbelief of the people.  Some folks were  asking how He knew all this stuff. Others, who apparently knew him, were saying, “Oh, come on, this is Jesus. He’s a nobody just like us. What makes Him so special?” Familiarity breeds contempt. I know that often I go into places where I am familiar and I don’t get taken seriously as a priest, a theologian, or any other sort of Christian minister. “There goes Seraphim, playing priest-man again!” As most of you know, I am an ex-Mormon. When I was in Utah in the early 1990’s, I was not only not taken seriously, but I was actively shunned by many folks because I was an apostate. I lost jobs because of it. Of course, as many can testify, the local Sanhedrin control all aspects of life there. It was no different in the Judaea of Jesus’ time. Jesus was not a great rabbinical student. He did not hob-knob with the crowd that Caiaphas hung out with nor rub elbows with Pilate’s or Herod’s friends.

Yet he still sends folks out two by two immediately after all this mocking and tells them, ‘He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”‘ Why? The Gospel of Peace must be preached. It must be made available so that every man, woman, and child may have the opportunity to grow something marvelous from the mustard seed of faith that God has given to all who live. St. Paul asks somewhere, “How will they know, if they do not hear. And how will they hear, if someone is not sent?” As members of the Order of Preachers, Reformed, we are among those that are sent. Each in our various ways are sent to someone somewhere.

But there is a price. There is an old acronym: TANSTAAFL: “Their ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” We will pay a price for following Jesus. If we are not paying a price, we are not truly following him, I think. For some the price may be low and for others it will be high. For some it is all – martyrdom.

The Holy Spirit entered into Ezekiel and told him that he was being sent to the rebellious house of Israel. God had a  message: forgiveness for those who would repent and change their lives to conform to His. But either way, He tells Ezekiel, “Whether or not they listen to you, they will know that a prophet was among them!” That really could have gone to Ezekiel’s head, but it didn’t.

St. Paul did get a bit proud. He had been chosen by the Resurrected Christ. He had been made an Apostle of the Creator of heaven and earth and all that therein is. He tells us, however, that God sent a “thorn in the flesh” to buffet him and keep him from getting prideful about it. He prayed three times to have it removed but instead of removing it, the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” St. Paul learned to boast in his weakness instead. When we are weak, then is God’s power free to reign in us; we are no longer the monarchs of our lives. Then will we be a true mirror reflecting His image. Then will we leave people knowing we are Christians by our love, as the old hymn says.

So often we pray for things that we believe will help us out and God answers our prayers … with a resounding, “No.” I often assumed early on that God was calling me to be a pastor. That’s what all priests are supposed to be, aren’t they? No, and I would have failed His calling had I run off in that direction. I would dearly love to say mass in a beautiful neo-Gothic church with vestments of gold damask, 24 karat altar wares, a well trained choir, and … I think you get the idea here. None of these things are, in all honesty, conducive to my calling as a religious priest and hermit. All of them would likely have made me very proud had I succeeded in starting a church and obtained a building and all those things.

As clergy and religious, we need to be more on guard against pride than any other group. We all want to see miracles. I have seen several genuine miracles in my life. We all want to see phenomenal growth in our churches and ministries. We want to help large numbers of poor. We naturally want to boast of the greatness of our churches and denominations.

Let pause that thought for just a minute for a particularly poignant object lesson God once gave me about that. I was living in Michigan and rarely went to church because I worked graveyard shift. One Sunday I was feeling rested enough to stay up for church. My wife and I were attending an Assembly of God parish in our little town. We went early enough to attend a Sunday School class, too. All throughout the class, a long time member kept saying, “The Assemblies of God do this,” and, “The Assemblies of God do that.” In under ten minutes’ time, I was thinking “This guy knows all about the Assembly of God, but does he know anything at all about the God of the Assembly?” His pride in his denomination bordered on idolatry, by all appearances. We must never let ourselves get there.

But we must remember whether events in our ministries are Providential or miraculous, good or bad, it is God Who is the source and supply of all. We must be His hands, His ears, His mouth to others. We cannot be our own. We must follow the example of Him Who came not to be served, but to serve. We, the servants, are not greater than our Master.

Feast Day, 30 April

She was the youngest but one of a very large family. Her father, Giacomo di Benincasa, was a dyer; her mother, Lapa, the daughter of a local poet. They belonged to the lower middle-class faction of tradesmen and petty notaries, known as “the Party of the Twelve”, which between one revolution and another ruled the Republic of Siena from 1355 to 1368. From her earliest childhood Catherine began to see visions and to practice extreme austerities. At the age of seven she consecrated her virginity to Christ; in her sixteenth year she took the habit of the Dominican Tertiaries, and renewed the life of the anchorites of the desert in a little room in her father’s house. After three years of celestial visitations and familiar conversation with Christ, she underwent the mystical experience known as the “spiritual espousals,” probably during the carnival of 1366. She now rejoined her family, began to tend the sick, especially those afflicted with the most repulsive diseases, to serve the poor, and to labor for the conversion of sinners. Though always suffering terrible physical pain, living for long intervals on practically no food save the Blessed Sacrament, she was ever radiantly happy and full of practical wisdom no less than the highest spiritual insight. All her contemporaries bear witness to her extraordinary personal charm, which prevailed over the continual persecution to which she was subjected even by the friars of her own order and by her sisters in religion. She began to gather disciples round her, both men and women, who formed a wonderful spiritual fellowship, united to her by the bonds of mystical love. During the summer of 1370 she received a series of special manifestations of Divine mysteries, which culminated in a prolonged trance, a kind of mystical death, in which she had a vision of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, and heard a Divine command to leave her cell and enter the public life of the world. She began to dispatch letters to men and women in every condition of life, entered into correspondence with the princes and republics of Italy, was consulted by the papal legates about the affairs of the Church, and set herself to heal the wounds of her native land by staying the fury of civil war and the ravages of faction. She implored the pope, Gregory XI, to leave Avignon, to reform the clergy and the administration of the Papal States, and ardently threw herself into his design for a crusade, in the hopes of uniting the powers of Christendom against the infidels, and restoring peace to Italy by delivering her from the wandering companies of mercenary soldiers. While at Pisa, on the fourth Sunday of Lent, 1375, she received the Stigmata, although, at her special prayer, the marks did not appear outwardly in her body while she lived.

    Mainly through the misgovernment of the papal officials, war broke out between Florence and the Holy See, and almost the whole of the Papal States rose in insurrection. Catherine had already been sent on a mission from the pope to secure the neutrality of Pisa and Lucca. In June, 1376, she went to Avignon as ambassador of the Florentines, to make their peace; but, either through the bad faith of the republic or through a misunderstanding caused by the frequent changes in its government, she was unsuccessful. Nevertheless she made such a profound impression upon the mind of the pope, that, in spite of the opposition of the French king and almost the whole of the Sacred College, he returned to Rome (17 January, 1377). Catherine spent the greater part of 1377 in effecting a wonderful spiritual revival in the country districts subject to the Republic of Siena, and it was at this time that she miraculously learned to write, though she still seems to have chiefly relied upon her secretaries for her correspondence. Early in 1378 she was sent by Pope Gregory to Florence, to make a fresh effort for peace. Unfortunately, through the factious conduct of her Florentine associates, she became involved in the internal politics of the city, and during a popular tumult (22 June) an attempt was made upon her life. She was bitterly disappointed at her escape, declaring that her sins had deprived her of the red rose of martyrdom. Nevertheless, during the disastrous revolution known as “the tumult of the Ciompi”, she still remained at Florence or in its territory until, at the beginning of August, news reached the city that peace had been signed between the republic and the new pope. Catherine then instantly returned to Siena, where she passed a few months of comparative quiet, dictating her “Dialogue”, the book of her meditations and revelations.

    In the meanwhile the Great Schism had broken out in the Church. From the outset Catherine enthusiastically adhered to the Roman claimant, Urban VI, who in November, 1378, summoned her to Rome. In the Eternal City she spent what remained of her life, working strenuously for the reformation of the Church, serving the destitute and afflicted, and dispatching eloquent letters in behalf of Urban to high and low in all directions. Her strength was rapidly being consumed; she besought her Divine Bridegroom to let her bear the punishment for all the sins of the world, and to receive the sacrifice of her body for the unity and renovation of the Church; at last it seemed to her that the Bark of Peter was laid upon her shoulders, and that it was crushing her to death with its weight. After a prolonged and mysterious agony of three months, endured by her with supreme exultation and delight, from Sexagesima Sunday until the Sunday before the Ascension, she died. Her last political work, accomplished practically from her death-bed, was the reconciliation of Pope Urban VI with the Roman Republic (1380).

    Among Catherine’s principal followers were Fra Raimondo delle Vigne, of Capua (d. 1399), her confessor and biographer, afterwards General of the Dominicans, and Stefano di Corrado Maconi (d. 1424), who had been one of her secretaries, and became Prior General of the Carthusians. Raimondo’s book, the “Legend”, was finished in 1395. A second life of her, the “Supplement”, was written a few years later by another of her associates, Fra Tomaso Caffarini (d. 1434), who also composed the “Minor Legend”, which was translated into Italian by Stefano Maconi. Between 1411 and 1413 the depositions of the surviving witnesses of her life and work were collected at Venice, to form the famous “Process”. Catherine was canonized by Pius II in 1461. The emblems by which she is known in Christian art are the lily and book, the crown of thorns, or sometimes a heart–referring to the legend of her having changed hearts with Christ. Her principal feast is on the 30th of April, but it is popularly celebrated in Siena on the Sunday following. The feast of her Espousals is kept on the Thursday of the carnival.

    The works of St. Catherine of Siena rank among the classics of the Italian language, written in the beautiful Tuscan vernacular of the fourteenth century. Notwithstanding the existence of many excellent manuscripts, the printed editions present the text in a frequently mutilated and most unsatisfactory condition. Her writings consist of

	the “Dialogue”, or “Treatise on Divine Providence”;
	a collection of nearly four hundred letters; and
	a series of “Prayers”.

    The “Dialogue” especially, which treats of the whole spiritual life of man in the form of a series of colloquies between the Eternal Father and the human soul (represented by Catherine herself), is the mystical counterpart in prose of Dante’s “Divina Commedia”.

    A smaller work in the dialogue form, the “Treatise on Consummate Perfection”, is also ascribed to her, but is probably spurious. It is impossible in a few words to give an adequate conception of the manifold character and contents of the “Letters”, which are the most complete expression of Catherine’s many-sided personality. While those addressed to popes and sovereigns, rulers of republics and leaders of armies, are documents of priceless value to students of history, many of those written to private citizens, men and women in the cloister or in the world, are as fresh and illuminating, as wise and practical in their advice and guidance for the devout Catholic today as they were for those who sought her counsel while she lived. Others, again, lead the reader to mystical heights of contemplation, a rarefied atmosphere of sanctity in which only the few privileged spirits can hope to dwell. The key-note to Catherine’s teaching is that man, whether in the cloister or in the world, must ever abide in the cell of self-knowledge, which is the stable in which the traveler through time to eternity must be born again.

Born: March 25, 1347 at Siena, Tuscany, Italy

Died: April 29, 1380 of a mysterious and painful illness that came on without notice, and was never properly diagnosed

Canonized: July 1461 by Pope Pius II

Representation: cross; crown of thorns; heart; lily; ring; stigmata

Patronage: against fire, bodily ills, diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, Europe, fire prevention, firefighters, illness, Italy, miscarriages, nurses, nursing services, people ridiculed for their piety, sexual temptation, sick people, sickness, Siena Italy, temptations

It is with great joy that we welcome Fr. Bryan Wolf into our family as our newest postulant!  Fr. Bryan comes to us from NJ, is an ordained RCC priest, and will make a wonderful addition to our Order.  Please give him a heartfelt welcome and welcome him into our community.  Thanks be to God!!!