Seven Secrets of a Successful Marriage

 

(Twenty-seventh Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on October 6, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Genesis 2:18-24; Mark 10:2-16.)

 [For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-seventh Sunday 2024]

“You’re not going back far enough.”  

This, in effect, is what Jesus says to the Pharisees in today’s gospel, after they ask him the question, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?”

First Jesus asks them what Moses thought of divorce, knowing that these men considered themselves to be faithful followers of the Mosaic Law.  Whatever Moses said, they believed.

When the Pharisees respond, “Moses allowed it,” Jesus concedes the point, but then he immediately clarifies the matter and refocuses the question.

He says, essentially, “You’re right—Moses did allow it.  But he allowed it because of your stubbornness, because of the hardness of your hearts!  He allowed it because he knew you weren’t ready to accept the truth in its fullness.  So the real question here shouldn’t be, ‘What did Moses say on the subject?’ the real question should be, ‘What did God the Father say on the subject?’  You men are going back to Moses to get your perspective on marriage and divorce, but YOU’RE NOT GOING BACK FAR ENOUGH!  You need to go back to creation, to the time when God made man and woman in his own image.  And when you go back to that point in time, you find God’s thought on the matter, which is preserved for us in the Book of Genesis, chapter 2 in these words: ‘God made them male and female.  For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’”

Jesus then interprets that verse with these powerful words, “So they’re no longer two but one flesh.   Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

The Catholic Church has remained faithful to these words of Jesus for over 2,000 years (which really shouldn’t surprise us, since ours is the Church Jesus Christ founded on the rock of Peter).  Every other Christian group and community I know of has compromised this teaching in some way.

Of course, the Church also understands that just because two people follow all the rules and go through a wedding ceremony in a Catholic setting does NOT necessarily mean that “God” has joined that couple together.  Sometimes there’s a defect present at the very beginning which prevents the couple from making the full, free consent necessary to have a valid marriage.  (One example of this would be if one or both of the parties was forced into the marriage; another would be if one or both of the parties positively intended never to have children in the marriage.)

This, of course, is the essential difference between a divorce and an annulment.  A divorce says, “There once was a marriage, now there isn’t”; while an annulment says, “There was never a true marriage bond formed in the first place because of a defect present when the vows were exchanged—even though the couple entered the relationship in good faith.”

I know there are many people in this church right now who have gone through the painful experience of divorce.  It is not something you planned on; it is not something you desired, but it happened.  Remember, those who are civilly divorced and who are living a chaste, single life can still participate fully in the sacramental life of the Church.  In the eyes of God they’re still married to their ex-spouses, they’re just not living with them (which is not the ideal, for sure, but neither is such a situation sinful in and of itself).  The problem comes when a person remarries outside the Church; then they must refrain from the sacraments unless they’re in danger of death.  But all is not lost.  I always encourage those in that type of situation to apply for an annulment.  If there was some defect present and the first marriage was not valid, that will hopefully be recognized by the tribunal, which means the person will be able to get married again in the Church.

But enough of the talk about divorce.  I’d rather be more positive in this homily by talking about marriage itself.  After all, the cure to the divorce problem in our culture is better marital relationships.  That should be obvious: stronger, healthier marriages mean fewer marital breakups.

On that note, let me share with you this morning 7 secrets of a successful marriage that I found on the web site of the Diocese of Austin, Texas.  They were formulated by a psychologist, Dr. Joseph D. White and William R. Cashion.  Properly speaking, they were written for people who are contemplating marriage, but many of them also apply to those already married.

They begin by saying, “Research in psychology and sociology continues to affirm the Church’s timeless teaching.  Thus, we offer the following suggestions based on scientific data and clinical wisdom:”

Secret #1 for a successful marriage according to Dr. White and Mr. Cashion: Avoid cohabitation prior to marriage.  They write, “Although about 50-80% of couples do it, research says they are 40-85% more likely to get divorced than those who don’t.”

And they cite 5 studies to back up their assertion. 

So much for the idea that “trying it first with no commitment” makes for a better marriage!

Secret #2 for a successful marriage: Practice pre-marital and marital chastity.  According to White and Cashion, “Couples who wait until after marriage to have [relations] are 29-47% more likely to enjoy [relations] during marriage.”  Then they go on to give this word of advice: “After the wedding, be faithful to your spouse.  Major hurt and disruption to relationships is often caused by extramarital affairs, the viewing of pornography, and ‘emotional affairs’ (in which one spouse invests him/herself emotionally in someone else, rationalizing the relationship because it is not a sexual one).  While marriages in which these things happen usually are troubled prior to the affair, unfaithfulness can push the relationship to the breaking point, causing lasting wounds that may not heal.”

Secret #3 for a successful marriage: Keep the faith!  Here they cite a University of Wisconsin researcher who found that couples who attend church weekly are 35% less likely to divorce.  Aren’t you glad you came to church today?

Secret #4: Spend time together in prayer.  As Pope John Paul II said, “Prayer increases the strength and spiritual unity of the family, helping the family to partake of God’s own ‘strength.’”  The authors then refer to another study which found that only 1% of married couples who pray together and report a high quality sexual relationship think that divorce is even possible for them.

Secret #5 for a successful marriage: Practice Natural Family Planning.  White and Cashion write, “A Michigan State University study (Tortorici, 1979) showed higher levels of marital satisfaction among couples who use NFP versus other methods of family planning, and some studies (e.g., Aquilar, 1980) have indicated that the rate of divorce for couples who practice NFP may be as low as 0.6%.”

Secret #6 for a successful marriage: When you have a conflict, talk about it.  Here the authors make a very important point which might surprise some of you.  They write, “A healthy marriage is not one that is free of conflict.  In fact, researchers have found no relationship between the number or frequency of disagreements and marital dissatisfaction.  Some happy couples have lots of conflicts, and some unhappy ones have very few.  What makes the difference between happy and unhappy couples is how conflicts are resolved once they occur.  By using sensitive, healthy communication skills, a couple can work through conflicts and make their marriage stronger.”

And finally, secret #7 for a successful marriage: Practice empathy and forgiveness.  I always tell couples on their wedding day that the two most important sentences they need to learn to say to one another from their hearts are the sentences, “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.”  Obviously White and Cashion agree.  As they say here, “When you are angry or dismayed by what your spouse is doing or saying, try to imagine yourself in his or her shoes.  Work toward forgiveness and trust when hurts occur.  Grudges can devastate a marriage, but choosing to let go of angry feelings gives us the freedom to go on.”

If you’re having trouble living these last 2 suggestions in your marriage, I highly recommend that you attend a Retrouvaille weekend, which is a Catholic workshop for troubled marriages.  We advertise local Retrouvaille weekends periodically in our bulletin, and you can find lots of information about them online.  I know for a fact that they’ve helped to save several marriages right here in our community.  One of the things that makes them so effective is the great follow-up program they have for husbands and wives after they go back home.

Let me conclude today by saying how inspiring it is to have so many couples in our parish celebrating major wedding anniversaries each year: their 25^th, their 40^th, their 50^th, their 60^th—sometimes even their 70^th!

They give us hope for the future: hope for the future of the traditional, nuclear family, hope for the future of our society, and hope for the future of marriage.  They show us that those whom God has joined together can actually stay together—for life.

 

Why a Priest Will Mention Purgatory in a Funeral Homily

 

(Twenty-fifth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on September 22, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Psalm 54; James 3:16-4:3; Mark 9: 30-37.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-fifth Sunday 2024]

Every once in a while after a funeral someone will come up to me and ask me why I mentioned purgatory in my homily.  Now I should mention that most of the time when this happens, the questioners are not angry or combative; they’re simply curious—and somewhat confused.  You see, in their minds their recently-deceased friend was a good, caring, faith-filled person; consequently they think that I should have focused my remarks exclusively on heaven.

They really didn’t see the need to mention purgatory, since, from their perspective, their deceased friend couldn’t possibly be anywhere other than in God’s eternal kingdom.

Now there are several problems with that line of reasoning, not the least of which is that it violates a command of Jesus Christ: the command not to judge!

When we hear Jesus say, “Stop judging, that you may not be judged,” we usually interpret that to mean, “Don’t condemn another person to hell in your mind or heart.”  And that’s right; that’s definitely a valid way to interpret our Lord’s words.   But it’s also only half the story.  Jesus is also warning us here against “judging” others in the opposite way, by personally declaring them to be in the kingdom of heaven.  No, we should never condemn another person to hell, but neither should we presume that they’re going to heaven immediately when they die; nor should we presume that our deceased relatives and friends have already passed through the pearly gates.

The Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has the power to canonize people; we, as individuals, do not.

We can speak of our hope that our deceased relatives and friends have already arrived; we can express a very confident hope that they’ve already made it into the kingdom of heaven.  But we must never say “we know,” because we don’t (unless, of course, they’ve been canonized; then we do know).

And this is precisely why we pray for the dead!  We pray for the dead because we realize that some people die in the state of grace—in friendship with God—but are not quite ready to see the Lord face to face.  They don’t have any mortal sins on their souls when they leave this life, but they may still have some venial sins that they need to be forgiven for, and they may still have some sinful attitudes that they need to get rid of.

Or they may need to make reparation for some of their already-forgiven sins.

It says in the Book of Revelation, chapter 21, that “nothing unclean will enter [heaven].”  NOTHING!  That means you’re not ready for heaven, even if you have just one, little, unforgiven venial sin on your soul—or just a teeny, tiny bit of anger or pride or lust or some other sinful attitude in your heart.

In Hebrews, chapter 12, we are told to “Strive for that holiness . . . without which no one can see the Lord”—indicating that we need to attain a certain level of holiness before we can experience the beatific vision.  Basically, that holiness needs to be attained in this life (meaning that we need to die in Christ, in the state of grace); but some of that holiness can be attained after death, which is what Jesus was getting at when he said in Matthew 12:32 that some sins can be forgiven “in the age to come.”

So even though—as many Protestants like to tell us—the word “purgatory” is not found in the Bible, the truth about purgatory and about the need for a final purification after death is clearly present in the Sacred Scriptures.  One of the most important passages in this regard is found in 1 Corinthians 3, where St. Paul says that some people who have lived mediocre Christian lives will be saved, but they will first need to pass through “fire”—hence one of the ways purgatory is sometimes described is as a “holy fire.”

It’s not the destructive fire of hell; rather, it’s a fire that purifies us and cleanses us and makes us radiant with God’s grace.

The need for purgatory is illustrated quite well by the apostles in today’s gospel story from Mark 9.  It says there that when they arrived at their destination in Capernaum Jesus asked them a question.  He said, “What were you arguing about on the way?”

They were fighting, of course, about who was the greatest; about who was “numero uno” among them.

Now I ask you, if these men had died of natural causes at that precise moment, would they have been ready to pass through the pearly gates of heaven?

I don’t think so!  They clearly had some pride in their hearts—and perhaps a little arrogance and self-centeredness as well.

All of that would have needed to have been washed away, before they could have entered the Lord’s eternal kingdom.

And so it is for many—perhaps most—souls after death.

Which is why I mention purgatory in every funeral homily I preach!  Every deacon, priest or bishop should. 

I think that some people react negatively when purgatory is mentioned because they think that purgatory is a bad thing, and that the priest is implying something negative about their deceased relative or friend by making reference to it.

But it’s not a bad thing!  It’s a great thing.  Remember, the people in purgatory are saved; their salvation is secured; they’re on their way to heaven, and there’s no possibility of them ever going to hell.

They just need to be cleaned up a bit before they meet the King of kings and the Lord of lords!  And the good news is that we can help them to pass through their purification process more quickly by our prayers, and sacrifices—and especially by having Masses offered for the repose of their souls (since the Mass is the most powerful prayer of all, given the fact that it’s the prayer of Christ himself).

Many of you I’m sure remember Monsignor Struck, who helped out here in his retirement years until he passed way in 1997.  Monsignor Jack Struck was one of the holiest people I’ve ever met in my life, but he always used to say, “When I die, all I want is to get through the back door of purgatory.”

He said that because he was holy and humble—and because he knew that if he got through the “back door” he was eventually going out the “front door” and into the eternal kingdom of heaven!

Let me conclude today by reading to you a small part of the Church’s official teaching about purgatory, which is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, beginning in paragraph 1030.  There we are told:  

All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.
The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. . . . The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire . . .

This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture [in the Old Testament Second Book of Maccabees].

From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.  The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead.

So if I mention purgatory at the funeral Mass of one of your relatives or friends sometime in the near or distant future, please do not be confused or offended.  Remember, saying that they might be in purgatory is just another way of saying that they’re on their way to heaven.

But do remember to pray for them!—because if our loved ones are indeed in purgatory that’s what they want from us most!  Not words of praise, but rather prayers and sacrifices and Masses for their souls, so that they can get to that “front door of purgatory” more quickly.

“But, Fr. Ray, what if my relative or friend is already in heaven?”

Well, then the prayers you offer will go to help another needy soul.

No prayer for the dead is ever wasted.

 

Simon Peter: Quick Fall and Quick Rise

 

(Twenty-fourth Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on September 15, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Isaiah 50:5-9a; Psalm 116:1-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-fourth Sunday 2024]

Because we are sinners, here are the choices we constantly face in our lives: it’s either “quick fall, no rise” or “quick fall, slow rise” or “quick fall, quick rise.” 

Life involves many quick falls—quick falls into sin!  The Bible tells us that even the just person (not the scoundrel, the just person) sins seven times, so nobody is exempt from this phenomenon.  In fact, you can come to church, make a good confession, and sin again in your thoughts or your words before you exit the parking lot afterward!  It can happen that quickly!  This is one reason why Simon Peter is such a lovable and attractive character as the Scriptures portray him.  During our Lord’s three-year ministry Peter turned the “quick fall” into an art form.  He was extremely adept at it.  He could go from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows in a matter of minutes.  

We see a classic example of this in today’s gospel reading.  When Jesus asked the twelve apostles that decisive question, “Who do you say that I am?” only Peter answered.  And he gets an “A” for his response.  He said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  In Matthew’s account of this scene, Jesus then said, “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah!  No mere man has revealed this to you—my heavenly Father has.”  Can’t you just see Peter lifting up his head and sticking his chest out with joy at hearing those words?  Then, of course, Jesus went on to tell his apostles what kind of Messiah he would be—not the great military leader and earthly king they and the Jewish people were expecting, but a suffering Messiah who would go to the cross for the salvation of the world.  That, I’m sure, didn’t sit too well with any of them, but once again Peter was the one to speak.   He said, “Oh no!  Not to you Jesus!  May that never happen to you!”  Our Lord then snapped back, “Get behind me—Satan!”  Peter went from being the most blessed of all the apostles, to the very mouthpiece of Satan—all within the span of one, short conversation.   He was truly and unquestionably the master of the quick fall.

In the aftermath of the quick falls that all of us take every day, we can (and we do) respond in one of three ways.  I made note of these a few moments ago.  The first possible response is what I would call the “quick fall with no rise.”  This is the response of those who sin, and then give up.  They throw in the towel—they despair—even though they could be forgiven, even though they could be washed clean in the blood of Jesus and make a fresh start.  Sad to say, the classic example of the quick fall with no rise is another apostle, namely Judas.  Judas went from being a future bishop, a future pillar of the church, to an evil and deceitful traitor in a matter of a few days.  His fall was total, it was quick, and it was decisive.  But, as Bishop Sheen once said, the real tragedy of Judas is that in spite of his terrible sin, he still could have become Saint Judas, if he had only turned back to the Lord and sincerely asked for forgiveness.  The “quick fall, no rise” scenario should never have happened to him.  It should never happen to anyone.

The second possible response to a quick fall into sin is what I call the “quick fall, slow rise” response.   Now unfortunately this is very common.  It occurs whenever a person sins, and then for some reason delays his repentance.   Because of fear, or for some other reason, he puts off dealing with it.  Now the sad aspect of this scenario is that if the sin isn’t dealt with right away, it very often gets worse, and the consequences of the sin get more severe, until the person finally makes the decision to take it to confession and make the changes that are necessary in his life.  Let me give you one example from my own experience.  I have a friend—a married man with a beautiful family—who almost lost everything: his wife, his kids, his house—everything, because of a gambling problem.  He first called me after he had lost several thousand dollars.  I told him what he needed to do to deal with the problem, but he delayed in making the changes I told him he needed to make.  He delayed until he lost several thousand more dollars.  Well finally he came to his senses, thanks be to God.  But I’m sure if you talked with him today he would tell you that he wishes he had risen out of his sin and addiction more quickly than he did.  He would certainly have had a much smaller debt than he ended up with! 

For anyone who may have a tendency to be a slow riser I would say, “Ask St. Augustine to pray for you.”  Seek his heavenly intercession.  Augustine is the patron saint of all those who fall quickly and rise slowly.  His mother, who prayed for his conversion for 30 years, would certainly agree with that assessment.  Augustine as you will recall was the great playboy of the 4th century, whose famous prayer was, “O Lord, make me chaste, but not now.”  Years after his conversion he wrote a beautiful prayer to the Lord which begins with the words, “Late have I loved you”.  In it you can sense the sorrow he had in his heart that he had wasted so much time delaying his conversion. 

Which brings us to the final possible response, which is a quick fall with an equally quick rise.  This also brings us back to Peter, because Peter is the patron saint of all those who don’t delay their repentance.  In other words, he’s the patron saint of all those who rise out of their sin as quickly as they fall into it!  I would ask you this morning to put yourself in Peter’s position after Jesus called him “Satan”.  Can you imagine how Peter must have felt?  He must have been devastated!  But there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever anywhere in Scripture that he walked away from the Lord!  There’s no evidence that he went away and sulked.  He stuck with Jesus.  He was anxious to have the Lord raise him up again—which incidentally Jesus did do, literally, a few days later when he took Peter (along with James and John) up a high mountain to give them a little glimpse of heaven in the Transfiguration.

And so it was with Peter’s other well-known falls.  For example, when he began to sink after walking on water, Peter immediately reached out his hand to Jesus so that our Lord would save him, so that our Lord would raise him up out of the sea. And Jesus did!  And then there’s the best example of all: after denying our Lord three times on Holy Thursday night, Peter jumped at the first opportunity he had to recommit himself to Jesus.  In one of their first encounters after the resurrection, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  ‘Yes, Lord.’  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  ‘Yes, Lord.’  “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  ‘Yes, Lord, you know everything, you know well that I love you.’  Three professions of faith made by Peter through which he, in effect, repented for his three denials.   I suppose you could say that this was Peter’s first confession—complete with a penance given by Jesus who told him to go out and “Feed my lambs.”

And so today, at this Mass, let us humbly acknowledge ourselves to be what we are: quick fallers! But let us also confidently seek the powerful prayers of the very first pope: “St. Peter, pray for each of us present in this church this morning, that whenever we fall into sin we will have the courage, the wisdom, the desire—and the good sense—to rise up as quickly and as decisively as you always did.  Amen.”

 

 

The Feast of Mary’s Assumption: A Time to REFOCUS

 

(Assumption 2024: This homily was given on August 15, 2024 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani.  Read Luke 1:39-46.)

[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Assumption 2024]

Refocus.

That’s not a word that we normally associate with Mary’s Assumption into heaven.

But I think we should!

We celebrate this feast on the 15^th of August—which means that summer, sad to say, is now more than half over.

For most people summer is an enjoyable time, given the fact that the weather is usually a lot more pleasant than it is in January and February.  For many people it’s also a restful time, a time for them to get their physical and emotional “batteries recharged,” so to speak; although for some others it can be a season of great stress—especially on those days when they have more than one social event scheduled.

But for almost everybody living in our fast-paced society right now the summer can also be a very DISTRACTING TIME!

All those enjoyable, restful—and stressful—things can, unfortunately, get in the way of our relationship with the Lord.

And so the Church gives us this feast in the middle of August: a feast that can help us to REFOCUS our attention on God and on those things that are most important in life.

Let me give you a few examples.

The feast of the Assumption, first of all, reminds us of our mortality.  It reminds us that we’re not here forever; that, as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, we do not have on this earth “a lasting city.” 

We can sometimes forget that—even in the winter.

The Assumption marked the terminal point of our Blessed Mother’s earthly life; although the Church leaves open the question of whether Mary physically died or simply “fell asleep” before she was taken, body and soul, into heaven.  In the official teaching of the Church, given to us by Pope Pius XII in 1950, it says, “when the course of her earthly life was finished [notice there’s no specific mention of death there], [Mary] was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory.”

So the Assumption focuses us on the fact that our lives on this planet will have a terminal point and that we should live them accordingly.

It reminds me of a saying I once heard: Live every day as if it were your last—and one day you’ll be right.

This brings us to the second truth that the Feast of the Assumption focuses us on (or rather refocuses us on), namely, that the goal of this life is heaven!  The goal of this life is not to get rich, or to accumulate more “stuff” than everyone else, or to win an Olympic gold medal or to become the president of a company—or the President of the United States for that matter.  The goal of this earthly existence is eternal life with God in his Kingdom.

Mary has already reached the goal.  We celebrate that fact at this Mass.  As she now is, so all those men and women who die in the state of grace will someday be.  For us, however, the sequence of events will be a little different.

That’s important to mention.  Our Blessed Mother already has her glorified body in the kingdom of her divine Son.  Those of us who die in the state of grace and whose souls go to heaven (either immediately after death or after being purified in purgatory) will have to wait until the end of time to receive our risen bodies.

That’s one big difference between Mary and us.

But the goal for everybody—Mary and us—is (or at least is supposed to be) the same. 

Another truth this feast refocuses us on is that our physical bodies are holy.  They’re holy because they’ve been redeemed by Jesus Christ, and are made to live forever in heaven in their glorified state.

This, incidentally, is why sins of impurity and violence are so wrong: we’re using something which was made for heaven (our body) to put us on the road to hell!

Thankfully the sacrament of Confession is always available to put us back on the right road.

Finally, this feast refocuses us on the fact that we need Jesus Christ in our lives, and that we need to make every effort to stay connected to him (regardless of what season of the year it is!).

Mary did not save herself; she was saved by her divine Son.  (Many of our Protestant brothers and sisters don’t think we believe that, but we do!)

In her Magnificat (which we heard in our gospel reading a few moments ago) Mary says, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my Spirit rejoices in God, MY SAVIOR.”  The Lord saved our Blessed Mother by preserving her from original sin in that event we call “the Immaculate Conception”.

He saves us in a different way: by delivering us from original sin, as well as from our personal sins.

But then Mary went on to nurture her relationship with the Lord by living a sinless life of perfect love and perfect virtue: a life which was rooted in prayer.  In other words, she always maintained a close and intimate connection with her God.

This means our Blessed Mother never, ever got “distracted” spiritually in the summer—or winter—or spring—or fall for that matter!

What about us?

How has your prayer life been lately?  How has your Mass attendance been this summer?  Have you taken a “vacation from God” (even a little one)?  Have you been to Confession if you’ve needed to go?  Have you been to Eucharistic Adoration recently?  Has the Bible been on your summer reading list?  Have you maintained your connection with Jesus since the warm weather set in?

Today is a day for all of us to make the personal commitment to “refocus” to the extent that we need to: the commitment to refocus our attention on the things that really matter in this life.

Mary, of course, had no need to refocus, simply because she was always focused—PERFECTLY focused!

May her prayers from heaven help us all to be more like her, not only during the summer months but throughout the entire year.