Good Thursday morning. The world kept moving overnight. Here's what happened, and what your faith has to say about it.
✝ Easter Thursday
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Pope Leo XIV
Urbi et Orbi: Pope urges world leaders to lay down weapons
On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIV called on world leaders to choose dialogue over domination and announced he will lead a prayer vigil for peace on April 11th. The Pope's Easter message directly confronted the escalating Iran crisis and global violence with a personal plea for nonviolent solutions.
Angelus Address | Response to World Events
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Luke 24:35-48
"The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread. They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you. ’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost."
| Rosary Mystery of the Day | |
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Today's Mysteries |
Thursday: Luminous Mysteries |
Luminous Mysteries
- 1. The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan
- 2. The Wedding Feast at Cana
- 3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
- 4. The Transfiguration
- 5. The Institution of the Eucharist
The Objection
"The Bible never mentions Purgatory. Catholics made it up in the Middle Ages to scare people and sell indulgences."
The Catholic Response
The word 'Purgatory' doesn't appear in Scripture, but neither does the word 'Trinity,' and both doctrines are firmly rooted there. In 2 Maccabees 12:46, Judas Maccabeus makes atonement for the dead "that they might be freed from sin," which only makes sense if there is a state of purification after death. Jesus Himself warns of a sin that "will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:32), implying that some debts can be resolved after death. The Catechism teaches that Purgatory is the final purification of those who die in God's grace but still need to achieve the holiness necessary to enter heaven (CCC 1030-1032).
CCC 1030-1032 | 2 Maccabees 12:46 | Matthew 12:32 | 1 Corinthians 3:15
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Test Your Faith IQ |
Scripture |
In today's Gospel (Luke 24:35-48), Jesus eats something to prove He is not a ghost. What does He eat?
- A) Bread and honey
- B) A piece of baked fish
- C) Figs and dates
- D) Bread and fish
Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
 Photo: NPR
NPR
Trump threatens to resume military strikes on Iran if it rejects his ceasefire terms, including a ban on nuclear enrichment and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
James 3:18 |
"And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace."
Just War Doctrine (CCC 2304, 2307-2309)
The Catechism is blunt: peace is not merely the absence of war, and it cannot be attained on earth without "safeguarding the goods of persons" and free communication (CCC 2304). A ceasefire built on threats of resumed violence tests whether we are pursuing true peace or merely a pause in destruction, which is why the Church insists that "all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective" before force is used (CCC 2309).
Reflect → In your own conflicts, are you building real peace or just enforcing a temporary silence?
 Photo: Fox News
Fox News
Streamer Hasan Piker accuses Democrats of a double standard for refusing his show while platforming Bill Maher, whom he calls Islamophobic.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Matthew 7:2-3 |
"For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?"
CCC 2477-2478 (Respect for the Reputation of Others)
The Catechism forbids rash judgment: assuming as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor (CCC 2477). When public figures trade accusations of bigotry like currency, the Church calls each of us to "interpret insofar as possible his neighbor's thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way" (CCC 2478), not because accountability doesn't matter, but because character assassination is its own sin.
Reflect → When you accuse someone of bad motives, are you seeking justice or just winning the argument?
 Photo: ABC News
ABC News
A husband has been arrested in connection with his wife's disappearance after she reportedly went overboard from a dinghy in the Bahamas.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Genesis 4:9-10 |
"Then the LORD asked Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' He answered, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?' The LORD then said: 'What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!'"
CCC 2258-2261 (The Fifth Commandment: Respect for Human Life)
The sacrament of marriage creates the most intimate form of human guardianship. When violence enters that covenant, it is a sin not only against the person but against the image of God that marriage is meant to reflect (CCC 1603-1605).
Reflect → Do the people closest to you feel safer because of your presence, or in spite of it?
 Photo: Positive.News
Positive.News
Researchers find red light therapy can help bee colonies live longer and pollinate more effectively, offering hope for declining pollinator populations.
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FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Psalm 104:24 |
"How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures."
Laudato Si' (Pope Francis, 2015, paragraphs 33-34)
Pope Francis wrote that the loss of any species, however seemingly small, is a loss for us all because "each organism, as a creature of God, is good and admirable in itself" (Laudato Si' 140). A tiny bee carrying pollen across a field is doing the quiet, hidden work of sustaining creation, the kind of labor God seems to love most.
Reflect → What small, invisible creature or person in your world is doing essential work that you've stopped noticing?
 Photo: Good News Network
Good News Network
A UK land trust exceeded its goal of reforesting 70 acres of Celtic rainforest on the Isle of Man by planting 30,000 trees in three years.
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FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Ezekiel 17:23 |
"On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it. It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Every small bird will nest under it, every winged thing in the shadow of its branches."
Laudato Si' (Pope Francis, 2015, paragraph 13)
God's first command to humanity was stewardship: tend the garden (Genesis 2:15). Thirty thousand trees planted on seventy acres is a concrete act of obedience to that original calling, proof that human hands can heal what human hands have harmed.
Reflect → What one thing could you plant, build, or restore this week that would outlast you?
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DAILY WORD GAME
Test your Catholic vocabulary
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Saint of the Day |
April 9 |
Saint Casilda of Toledo
Casilda was the daughter of a Muslim king in Toledo during the Moorish occupation of Spain. She secretly smuggled bread to imprisoned Christians, and when her father's guards stopped her and demanded she open her cloak, the bread had reportedly turned into roses. She later converted to Christianity, was baptized at a lake she believed healed her of a chronic illness, and lived as a hermit until age 100.
Her feast is April 9, and her story of bread miraculously transformed connects beautifully to today's Gospel, where the disciples recognize the Risen Christ in the breaking of bread.
Trivia Answer
B . Jesus asks for something to eat and is given a piece of baked fish, which He eats in front of the disciples to show He has a real, physical, resurrected body (Luke 24:42-43). This detail became a key argument for early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch against those who claimed the Resurrection was merely spiritual.
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