Today in 10 Seconds
Gospel: Jesus entrusts his mother to beloved disciple Rosary: Joyful Mysteries Pope: Pope calls to disarm artificial intelligence's grip ABC News: White House shooting becomes courtroom evidence against Trump NPR: Trump pursues Iran peace; Pope tackles AI's soul Saint: Gospel translator dies finishing his life's work
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John 19:25-34
"Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son. ’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother."
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Scripture |
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In today's Gospel (John 19:29), the soldiers offer Jesus vinegar on a hyssop stick. What was hyssop famously used for in the Old Testament?
- A) Anointing kings at their coronation
- B) Sprinkling the blood of the Passover lamb on doorposts
- C) Purifying the altar of incense in the Temple
- D) Marking the boundaries of the Promised Land
Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
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| Rosary Mystery of the Day | |
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Today's Mysteries |
Monday: Joyful Mysteries |
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Joyful Mysteries
- 1. The Annunciation
- 2. The Visitation
- 3. The Nativity of Our Lord
- 4. The Presentation in the Temple
- 5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple
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The Objection
"Why do Catholics make such a big deal about Mary? She was just a regular woman who happened to give birth to Jesus. The Bible says nothing about praying to her or calling her 'Mother of God.'"
The Catholic Response
The title 'Mother of God' (Theotokos) was defined at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, and it's really a statement about Jesus: if he is truly God, then the woman who bore him is truly the Mother of God. Scripture backs this up. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cries out, 'How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' (Luke 1:43). The Catechism explains that Mary's role flows entirely from Christ and 'in no way obscures or diminishes' his unique mediation (CCC 970). Today's Gospel makes the case most directly: Jesus himself, from the Cross, gives Mary as mother to the beloved disciple, and through him to all of us.
CCC 963 | CCC 970 | CCC 495 | Luke 1:43 | John 19:26-27
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 Photo: Vatican News
VATICAN NEWS
Pope Leo XIV releases his first encyclical, 'Magnifica Humanitas,' addressing the Church's response to artificial intelligence and calling for AI to be disarmed from logics of domination, exclusion, and war. The document, marking the 135th anniversary of Rerum novarum, insists that technology must serve humanity rather than concentrate power.
 Photo: ABC News
ABC News
The DOJ cited Saturday's shooting near the White House as evidence of ongoing assassination threats against President Trump in a related legal filing.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Psalm 11:5 |
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"The LORD tests the just and the wicked; the lover of violence his soul hates."
CCC 2258, The Fifth Commandment and the sacredness of human life
Political violence, whether aimed at a president or anyone else, treats a human life as an obstacle rather than an image of God. The Catechism is blunt: 'Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God' (CCC 2258), and no political grievance can override that truth.
Reflect → When you disagree with someone in power, does your language about them still honor the image of God they carry?
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 Photo: NPR
NPR
Trump claims a deal with Iran is nearly done while Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical addressing the rise of artificial intelligence.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Isaiah 32:17 |
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"The work of justice will be peace; the effect of justice, calm and security forever."
Laborem Exercens (John Paul II) and CCC 2304, Peace as the work of justice
Two headlines, one thread: both peace negotiations and AI regulation require us to ask whether human dignity sits at the center of the table. John Paul II warned in Laborem Exercens that when technology or geopolitics treats people as instruments, the resulting 'peace' is just a polished form of exploitation.
Reflect → Does the technology you use every day serve your humanity, or are you quietly serving it?
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 Photo: Good News Network
Good News Network
Susan Young Browne, 108, just renewed her driver's license to age 115 and still works out three times a week.
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FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Psalm 92:15 |
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"They shall bear fruit even in old age, they will stay fresh and green, to proclaim: The LORD is just, my rock, in whom there is no wrong."
CCC 2288, Stewardship of the body as a gift from God
Susan Browne is a living psalm. The Catechism calls care for health a duty rooted in gratitude (CCC 2288), and a 108-year-old woman lifting weights three times a week is proof that stewarding God's gift of a body is not a chore but a form of praise.
Reflect → What's one small way you could better care for the body God gave you this week?
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DAILY WORD GAME
Test your Catholic vocabulary
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St. Bede the Venerable
Bede was so dedicated to finishing his translation of the Gospel of John that he dictated the final sentences on his deathbed, literally dying mid-paragraph. His scribe told him, 'There is still one sentence left, dear master,' and Bede whispered the last words, said 'It is finished,' and died on the floor of his cell. He never once left the monastery at Jarrow in his entire adult life, yet his writings shaped all of medieval Europe.
His feast day is May 25, and his lifelong work of making Scripture accessible to ordinary people echoes Pope Leo XIV's new encyclical on how technology should serve, not replace, human wisdom.
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Trivia Answer
B . In Exodus 12:22, God instructs the Israelites to dip hyssop in the lamb's blood and strike their doorposts so the angel of death will pass over. John's use of hyssop at the Cross is no accident: he's showing Jesus as the true Passover Lamb whose blood saves.
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