Author name: Essjay Peatoo

As we approach the feast of Pentecost this coming Sunday, our readings lead us to reflect on how the Spirit intervenes in gathering the Church. In today’s Gospel (John 16:29-33), Jesus predicts that the disciples will fall apart under pressure and abandon Him, despite their very vocal professions of faith right now. Jesus tells them […]

Most of the World celebrates the Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus to heaven exactly 40 days after the resurrection of Christ on Easter (remember the importance of the number 40 in biblical writing?).  If you count the days after Easter, you will discover the 40th day is always a Thursday.  So historically the Solemnity of

The gospel passage for today (John 16:23-28) comes as Jesus is preparing the disciples for what was to come:  his death, burial, and resurrection.  This passage, like every verse in the Bible, is timeless. Jesus is not only talking to his disciples, at that time and place; He also is talking to us, in this

“Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” John 16:20 In today’s gospel passage (John 16:20-23), Jesus informs His Apostles that sorrow and grief will be a part of their lives.  This is a very sober but realistic statement on

(Pope May 8, 2025 to the present) During the conclave that followed the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was chosen the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8, 2025. Upon his election, he took the name Pope Leo XIV.  The following biography of Pope Leo XIV

(Pope March 13, 2013 to April 21, 2025) Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born December 17, 1936, the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina. After studying to become a chemical technician, he worked briefly in the food-processing industry but felt called to the church. When he was about 21 years old, he suffered a severe bout

(Pope April 19, 2005 to February 28, 2013) Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born April 16, 1927 at Marktl am In, Germany.  His father was a policeman and his mother a hotel cook. The youngest of three children, Ratzinger was six years old when the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933.  In 1941, peer pressure

(Pope October 16, 1978-April 2, 2005) Karol Józef Wojtyła was born on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland, the youngest of three children. Although he was born into a loving family, his early life was marked by suffering and loss. His older sister, Olga, died in infancy and, by the time Karol was twelve, his

(Pope August 26, 1978 to September 28, 1978) Albino Luciani was born of a poor family on October 17, 1912, in Forno di Canale, Italy.  He was ordained a priest in 1935.  Appointed deputy director of the seminary in the Belluno diocese, he taught moral theology, canon law and sacred art.  He earned a doctorate

(Pope June 21, 1963 to August 6, 1978) Giovanni Battista Montini was born September 26, 1897 in Concesio, Italy.  The son of a middle-class lawyer and mother, Montini was educated mainly at home because of frail health. Later he studied in Brescia. Ordained a priest on May 29, 1920, he was sent by his bishop