Today in 10 Seconds
Gospel: Speak truth boldly, fear nothing Rosary: Glorious Mysteries Pope: Love is the answer to hatred NPR: Claims without evidence, pools without proof Fox News: TikTok replaces town square as parent Saint: Teenage heir rejected riches for Christ
— † —
Matthew 10:26-33
"Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops."
| ? |
Test Your Faith IQ |
Scripture |
|
|
In today's Gospel, Jesus says two sparrows are sold for a penny. In Luke's parallel passage (Luke 12:6), how many sparrows does Jesus say are sold for two pennies?
- A) Three
- B) Four
- C) Five
- D) Six
Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
|
 Photo: Vatican News
VATICAN NEWS
Pope Leo XIV used his Sunday Angelus address to urge Christians to root their faith in personal encounter with Christ, drawing strength from an intimate relationship with Jesus to witness to the Gospel with hope, love, and peace in response to hatred.
 Photo: NPR
NPR
The president claims vandals damaged the Reflecting Pool and says arrests were made, but offers no evidence for any of it.
| † |
FAITH & THE WORLD |
Matthew 10:26 |
|
|
"Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known."
CCC 2477 (Respect for Truth and Reputation)
Today's Gospel is almost tailor-made for this moment: Jesus promises that everything hidden will be brought to light. The Catechism warns that public statements made without sufficient evidence can violate the Eighth Commandment's demand for truth (CCC 2477), because reckless claims corrode the trust a society needs to function.
Reflect → When was the last time you repeated something as fact before you actually knew it was true?
|
 Photo: Fox News
Fox News
A mentor warns that as local communities dissolve, children are turning to social media influencers as surrogate parents and role models.
| † |
FAITH & THE WORLD |
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 |
|
|
"Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away."
CCC 2223 (Parents as Primary Educators)
The Church has always insisted that parents are the first and most important educators of their children (CCC 2223), not algorithms, not influencers, not the state. When flesh-and-blood mentors vanish from a child's life, a screen will always fill the vacuum, and screens don't love you back.
Reflect → Which young person in your life could use ten real minutes of your attention this week?
|
 Photo: Good News Network
Good News Network
A walker in Wales was stunned when Britain's longest dragonfly, a golden-ringed beauty, landed on her thumb during a riverside stroll.
| † |
FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Matthew 10:29-31 |
|
|
"Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
CCC 2416 (Respect for Creation's Integrity)
Jesus used sparrows. Today it's a dragonfly on a woman's thumb. The Gospel's whole point is that if God notices the smallest creature landing on the smallest perch, he certainly hasn't lost track of you.
Reflect → When did something small and beautiful last stop you in your tracks, and did you thank the One who made it?
|
| Rosary Mystery of the Day | |
| † |
Today's Mysteries |
Sunday: Glorious Mysteries |
|
|
Glorious Mysteries
- 1. The Resurrection
- 2. The Ascension
- 3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
- 4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- 5. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
|
| † |
Apologetics |
Scripture & Tradition |
|
|
The Objection
"Catholics add books to the Bible that don't belong there. The deuterocanonical books like Maccabees and Sirach are just human writings that Protestants rightly removed."
The Catholic Response
Catholics didn't add those books; Protestants removed them. The deuterocanonical books were part of the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament used by the Apostles and the early Church for centuries. The Council of Rome in 382 AD and the Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) formally affirmed the full 73-book canon, over a thousand years before Luther dropped seven books in the 1520s. The New Testament itself echoes these books: Hebrews 11:35 references the martyrdoms described in 2 Maccabees 7, and Jesus' words in Matthew 7:12 closely mirror Tobit 4:15.
CCC 120 | 2 Timothy 3:16 | Hebrews 11:35 | Council of Carthage (397 AD)
|
|
DAILY WORD GAME
Test your Catholic vocabulary
|
 |
| † |
Saint of the Day |
June 21 |
|
|
St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Aloysius was heir to one of Italy's wealthiest noble families, but he renounced his entire inheritance at age 18 to become a Jesuit. His father was so furious he made Aloysius repeat the legal renunciation three separate times, hoping he'd crack. He never did. He died at 23, nursing plague victims in Rome.
His feast day is June 21, and his fearless renunciation of worldly power echoes today's Gospel command: 'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.'
|
Trivia Answer
C . In Luke 12:6, Jesus says five sparrows are sold for two pennies, meaning you get one sparrow free. The extra sparrow makes the point even sharper: even the bird so worthless it's thrown in as a bonus is noticed by God.
|
|
