Good Monday morning. The world kept moving overnight. Here's what happened, and what your faith has to say about it.
✝ Easter Monday
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Pope Leo XIV
Regina Caeli Address
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Matthew 28:8-15
"Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples. And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said."
| Rosary Mystery of the Day | |
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Today's Mysteries |
Monday: Joyful Mysteries |
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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Apologetics |
Papal Authority |
The Objection
"Why do Catholics need a Pope? The Bible never says one person should run the whole Church. That's a power grab, not a doctrine."
The Catholic Response
Jesus singled out Peter from the other apostles with striking language: 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church' (Matthew 16:18). He gave Peter alone 'the keys of the kingdom,' a phrase drawn from Isaiah 22:22, where keys signify the authority of a royal steward who governs on behalf of the king. The early Church understood this. St. Irenaeus, writing around 180 AD, listed the bishops of Rome in unbroken succession from Peter and called Rome the church 'with which, because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree' (Against Heresies 3.3.2). The Catechism teaches that the Pope exercises this same Petrine ministry today, not as a power grab, but as a servant of unity entrusted by Christ himself (CCC 880-882).
Matthew 16:18-19 | Isaiah 22:22 | CCC 880-882 | St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.2
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Test Your Faith IQ |
Scripture |
In today's Gospel, the chief priests bribe the guards to say the disciples stole Jesus' body. According to Matthew, how much later was this cover story still circulating among Jewish communities?
- A) A few weeks
- B) Until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD
- C) To this day (at the time Matthew wrote)
- D) Only until Pentecost
Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
 Photo: NPR
NPR
Trump threatened to bomb Iran's infrastructure unless it reopens the Strait of Hormuz, while NASA's Artemis II crew prepares for a historic lunar flyby.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Isaiah 2:4 |
"They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again."
Just War Doctrine (CCC 2307-2317)
The Church teaches that war is permissible only as a last resort, when all peaceful alternatives have been exhausted and the damage inflicted by the aggressor is lasting, grave, and certain (CCC 2309). Threatening to destroy civilian infrastructure like power plants and bridges targets the innocent directly, which Catholic teaching condemns outright, regardless of the political calculus.
Reflect → When you feel powerless in a conflict, do you reach first for force or for patience?
 Photo: NPR
NPR
Savannah Guthrie returned to live television months after her mother, Nancy Guthrie, disappeared following a family dinner on January 31.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Psalm 34:19 |
"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed."
CCC 2299 and the Dignity of the Human Person
Grief without closure is one of the heaviest crosses a person can carry. The Church teaches that every missing person retains infinite dignity as an image-bearer of God, and the community has a duty not just to search but to mourn alongside those who wait (CCC 1676, Corporal Works of Mercy).
Reflect → Who in your life is carrying a grief they can't fully explain, and when did you last just sit with them?
 Photo: CBS News
CBS News
Homebuyers and homeowners are tracking mortgage rates to lock in favorable deals amid ongoing market uncertainty.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Leviticus 25:35-37 |
"When your brother becomes impoverished and his means decline, you shall support him as you would a resident alien, so that he may live with you. Do not exact interest in advance or accrued interest."
Rerum Novarum (Leo XIII) and Catholic Social Teaching on housing
Leo XIII wrote in Rerum Novarum that owning a home is one of the primary ways a family secures its dignity and stability. When housing becomes a speculative commodity rather than a basic human good, Catholic Social Teaching calls that a structural sin against the common good (CCC 2403).
Reflect → Do you think of your home primarily as an investment or as a place where people are formed?
![[GOOD NEWS] Scotland's Largest Greenhouse Set to Be Preserve](https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/The-Spring-Burn-Winter-Gardens-from-the-front-credit.jpg) Photo: Good News Network
Good News Network
A historic Glasgow greenhouse is being revived after 40 years of abandonment, preserved as a 'living ruin' that lets nature and architecture coexist.
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FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Isaiah 61:4 |
"They shall rebuild the ancient ruins, the former wastes they shall raise up and restore the desolate cities, devastations of generation upon generation."
Laudato Si' (Pope Francis, 2015)
Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si' that caring for creation means preserving beauty, not just utility, because the natural world reflects the glory of its Creator (LS 12). A greenhouse reborn as a living ruin is a parable in glass: sometimes restoration means letting God's green wildness grow through our broken structures.
Reflect → What broken thing in your life might become more beautiful restored than replaced?
![[GOOD NEWS] Over-50s Are Finding a Meaningful Second Act in](https://reasonstobecheerful.world/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/shutterstock_1827330509-scaled-e1774902610815.jpg) Photo: Reasons to be Cheerful
Reasons to be Cheerful
Adults over 50, many forced into early retirement by health crises, are finding deep purpose in second careers as caregivers for other seniors.
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FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Philemon 1:10-11 |
"I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment, who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and to me."
Laborem Exercens (John Paul II) and the Dignity of Work
John Paul II taught in Laborem Exercens that work's deepest value is not productivity but the way it shapes the worker into a more fully human person. These caregivers prove the point: what the economy called retirement, God called a second vocation.
Reflect → If your career ended tomorrow, what would you do with your hands that would still matter?
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DAILY WORD GAME
Test your Catholic vocabulary
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Saint of the Day |
April 5 |
Saint Crescentia Höss
Crescentia entered the Franciscan convent at Kaufbeuren only because a Protestant mayor pressured the nuns to accept her. The sisters resented her for years and gave her the worst chores. She never complained, and the same community eventually elected her Mother Superior.
Like the women at the tomb who were dismissed by the guards but entrusted with the greatest news in history, Crescentia was overlooked and mistreated but became the one God chose to lead.
Trivia Answer
C . Matthew 28:15 says 'this story has been spread among the Jews to this day,' meaning it persisted for decades after the Resurrection. This is actually strong evidence for the empty tomb: even opponents admitted it was empty and had to invent an alternative explanation.
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