Today in 10 Seconds
Gospel: Love proven through action: feed my sheep Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries Pope: Church must teach AI, not fear it ABC News: Pentagon opens classified UFO files to public ABC News: Racing legend Kyle Busch dies unexpectedly at 41 Saint: Three rejections couldn't stop Rita's holy calling
— † —
John 21:15-19
"Jesus showed himself to his disciples, and after they had eaten he said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do. ’ He answered, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you. ’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs."
| ? |
Test Your Faith IQ |
Scripture |
|
|
In today's Gospel (John 21:15-19), Jesus asks Peter 'Do you love me?' three times. Biblical scholars note that Jesus switches between two different Greek words for 'love.' What are they?
- A) Eros and Philia
- B) Agape and Philia
- C) Storge and Agape
- D) Agape and Eros
Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
|
 Photo: Vatican News
VATICAN NEWS
Pope Leo XIV called on the Church to educate people about artificial intelligence while leading them toward Christ and a restored trust in technology. Speaking to participants at a Vatican AI conference, he emphasized the Church's role in guiding humanity through the moral complexities of technological advancement.
 Photo: ABC News
ABC News
The Pentagon released another batch of declassified UFO files as part of President Trump's ordered disclosure of once-classified material.
| † |
FAITH & THE WORLD |
Psalm 19:2 |
|
|
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the works of his hands. Day after day it pours forth speech; night after night it whispers knowledge."
CCC 283 (The question of the origins of the world and of man)
Whether or not these files reveal alien life, the Catholic Church has never taught that God's creative power is limited to one planet. Fr. José Funes, former director of the Vatican Observatory, said in 2008 that believing in extraterrestrial life does not contradict faith in God, because God's freedom to create is infinite (CCC 283).
Reflect → Does the vastness of the universe make God feel smaller to you, or bigger?
|
 Photo: ABC News
ABC News
Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch died suddenly at 41, devastating the racing world and his family.
| † |
FAITH & THE WORLD |
James 4:14 |
|
|
"You have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears."
CCC 1007 (Death as the end of earthly pilgrimage)
The Catechism teaches that death is not an interruption of life but the threshold of it: "In death, God calls man to himself" (CCC 1011). A sudden death at 41 strips away every illusion that we have time to spare, and the Church's ancient prayer "from a sudden and unprovided death, deliver us, O Lord" reminds us that readiness is not morbid but merciful.
Reflect → If today were your last, is there a conversation you'd need to have before nightfall?
|
![[GOOD NEWS] The best books and documentaries about national](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f6cc9cd16d59d990c8fca33/6a0e26020d2b1a9011d8511e_national-park-books-documentaries.jpg) Photo: Good Good Good
Good Good Good
Nearly 40% of the U.S. is public land, and a new resource guide invites Americans to rediscover these 600 million acres of shared natural heritage.
| † |
FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Genesis 2:15 |
|
|
"The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it."
Laudato Si' 67-68 (Care for our common home)
Pope Francis wrote that the Earth "is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone" (Laudato Si' 93). Public lands are one of the clearest civic expressions of that principle: beauty held in trust for all, not auctioned to the highest bidder.
Reflect → When did you last spend time in nature not to accomplish something, but simply to receive it?
|
| Rosary Mystery of the Day | |
| † |
Today's Mysteries |
Friday: Sorrowful Mysteries |
|
|
Sorrowful Mysteries
- 1. The Agony in the Garden
- 2. The Scourging at the Pillar
- 3. The Crowning with Thorns
- 4. The Carrying of the Cross
- 5. The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord
|
| † |
Apologetics |
Papal Authority |
|
|
The Objection
"Why do Catholics believe the Pope has special authority? He's just a man. Jesus never said one leader should run the whole Church."
The Catholic Response
Actually, Jesus said exactly that in today's Gospel. In John 21:15-17, the risen Christ singles out Peter from all the other apostles and tells him three times to "feed my lambs" and "tend my sheep." This is a direct commission of pastoral authority over the entire flock, building on Matthew 16:18-19, where Jesus gives Peter alone the "keys of the kingdom," a phrase drawn from Isaiah 22:22 that refers to the chief steward who governs in the king's name. The Pope is Peter's successor, not because he is holier than other men, but because Christ established an office (CCC 880-882) to keep the Church unified under one shepherd, just as he promised: "one flock, one shepherd" (John 10:16).
CCC 880-882 | Matthew 16:18-19 | John 21:15-17 | Isaiah 22:22
|
|
DAILY WORD GAME
Test your Catholic vocabulary
|
 |
| † |
Saint of the Day |
May 22 |
|
|
St. Rita of Cascia
Rita begged to enter the Augustinian convent three times and was rejected each time, partly because her murdered husband's family was locked in a blood feud and the nuns feared the drama. Legend says she finally got in when three patron saints (John the Baptist, Augustine, and Nicholas of Tolentino) appeared and escorted her inside the locked convent doors at night. She spent 40 years there with a wound on her forehead that smelled so bad the other sisters avoided her, yet she called it a gift.
Her feast is May 22, and her story of being asked to forgive the unforgivable echoes today's Gospel, where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him after Peter's three denials.
|
Trivia Answer
B . Jesus first uses 'agape' (unconditional, self-giving love) twice, and Peter responds with 'philia' (brotherly affection). The third time, Jesus drops down to Peter's word, 'philia,' meeting the humbled apostle where he is. It's one of the most psychologically rich exchanges in all of Scripture.
|
|
