The Apostle's eagerness to keep trying again, no matter what, makes him an amazing role model for all of us.

“Oh, I just love Peter,” my five-year-old laughed.

We were reading a bedtime story about the first Easter, and one of the images in her picture book showed the Last Supper. One apostle was reaching over the others to take a piece of the Eucharistic bread that Jesus was offering him. “That guy is reaching over all the others so he can be first,” she said, very amused. “It must be Peter!” “Why do you think it’s St. Peter?” I asked, laughing too. “You know Peter! He’s always getting into mischief!” she said, laughing harder. “That’s why he’s my favorite after my patron saint and my guardian angel.”

These saints were each graced with a visual encounter with the Heart of Jesus.

A popular devotion in the Catholic Church is directed to the “Sacred Heart of Jesus.” While it is deeply rooted in scripture, the devotion was not well known until various saintly visionaries reported seeing Jesus and his beloved heart.

These visions have been recognized by the Church as authentic. While the faithful are not obliged to believe in them (as is true of any personal revelation), the Church finds merit in these visions and the devotions surrounding them because they reflect “the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being, and his person considered in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated wisdom; infinite charity, principal of salvation and sanctification of mankind. The ‘Sacred Heart’ is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Savior, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers.” Here is a brief list of four visionaries along with the messages they received.

It's the feast of a unique and everlasting event.

The Eucharist is not celebrated in Heaven: the Eucharist is a celebration for us here on Earth. Jesus instituted this sacrament so we can live with Him while we are here. When we finally see him face-to-face there will be no need for the Eucharist. The Eucharist is, in fact, a sacrament of the presence of Christ while He appears to be absent. It allows us to live our present time through Him, Who exists in eternity. In this way, we are able to unite our time with His eternal time. Through the Eucharist, we partake in eternity, while remaining connected to the past, present, and future. This is the great mystery we will briefly examine here.

A Vatican department has issued a sweeping denunciation of so-called gender theory, and affirmed the principles of human dignity, difference, and complementarity.

“In all such [gender] theories, from the most moderate to the most radical, there is agreement that one’s gender ends up being viewed as more important than being of male or female sex,” the Congregation for Catholic Education wrote June 10, in a new document entitled “Male and Female He Created Them.”

The 1985 Extraordinary Synod of Bishops asserted “that the liturgy must favor the sense of the sacred and make it shine forth. It must be permeated by the spirit of reverence, adoration, and the glory of God.” To foster such a spirit, the Church has prescribed certain gestures and actions, especially toward the Blessed Sacrament.

The practice of genuflecting before the Blessed Sacrament, whether enclosed in the tabernacle or exposed in a monstrance, is a beautiful sign of adoration. This physical act of genuflection symbolizes our heart bowing before the Lord who is substantially and really present in the Eucharist. St. Ambrose (d. 397) said, “The knee is made flexible by which the offense of the Lord is mitigated, wrath appeased, grace called forth,” and Alcuin (d. 804) later added, “By such a posture of the body we show forth our humbleness of heart.”

“The Memorare is a prayer that effectively expressed Mother Teresa’s trust in the power of Mary’s intercession as the mediatrix of all graces,” explained Father Brian Kolodiejchuk of the Missionaries of Charity, who was postulator for Mother Teresa’s sainthood cause. “It flowed from the love and confidence she had in Mary and was a simple way to present her petitions to her.”

Mother Teresa saw it as an effective prayer because of her own experiences. “On numerous occasions she prayed the Memorare for various needs,” he said, “and the speedy response she received inspired her with ever greater confidence to have recourse to Mary with the words of the Memorare. ”She often resorted to what’s called her “Flying Novena.” Father Kolodiejchuk explained, “It consisted of nine Memorares, which she would pray as the need arose or a difficulty presented itself. She definitely inspired the same devotion in her sisters, but also in others.”

Maria Buelvas said she experienced miracles from God at every step along her journey leading a pro-life campaign that saw 157 volunteers fast on bread and water alone for 40 days from March 2 to April 10.

She, her husband and two children, and a multitude of fellow congregants of St. James Parish in Toronto, hoped their example of prayer, sacrifice and fasting would inspire women contemplating abortion to instead choose life for the unborn child in their womb.

There is a national discussion about swimmer William “Lia” Thomas, a so-called transgender female (i.e., a man who claims to be a woman). Thomas has been competing against some of the best female swimmers in the world, defeating them by large margins and transforming the very nature of their sport. Something seems unfair.

But the real problem is not unfairness. The real problem is that calling a man a woman is a lie.

It’s here.

May, the month in which the earth springs into bloom (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) and we start thinking about planting gardens, family picnics, and making vacation plans.

It’s also the Month of Mary.

Having gone to a Catholic grade school run by the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, my early childhood memories include honoring Mary during May – a practice I’ve continued all of my life and taught my children to do as well. It’s as natural and essential to me as my morning coffee (only far, far more joy-filled if you can even imagine that).