Good Tuesday morning. The world kept moving overnight. Here's what happened, and what your faith has to say about it.
✝ Tuesday of the 2nd week of Eastertide
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Pope Leo XIV
Response to World Events
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John 3:7-15
"Jesus said to Nicodemus: ‘Do not be surprised when I say: You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit."
| Rosary Mystery of the Day | |
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Today's Mysteries |
Tuesday: 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
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Apologetics |
Church History |
The Objection
"The Catholic Church has been responsible for so many terrible things throughout history: the Crusades, the Inquisition, corruption. How can you trust an institution with that track record?"
The Catholic Response
Catholics don't deny that members of the Church, including leaders, have sinned gravely. Jesus himself chose twelve apostles and one betrayed him, one denied him, and most fled. The Church has always taught that she is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints (CCC 827). But here is what is remarkable: no other institution in history has survived 2,000 years of its own scandals. The Church outlasted the Roman Empire, the Black Plague, and her own corrupt Renaissance popes precisely because her foundation is not human virtue but the promise of Christ in Matthew 16:18. The real question is not 'have Catholics done evil?' (obviously yes) but 'has the Church continued to produce saints, build hospitals, and preserve truth despite all that?' The answer is also yes.
CCC 827 | Matthew 16:18 | CCC 770
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Test Your Faith IQ |
Scripture |
In today's Gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be 'born from above.' Nicodemus was a member of which specific Jewish governing body?
- A) The Essene Council
- B) The Sanhedrin
- C) The Levitical Priesthood
- D) The Zealot Assembly
Answer at the bottom of this newsletter.
 Photo: NPR
NPR
Trump is publicly attacking Pope Leo as 'weak on crime' for opposing the Iran war, while Congressman Swalwell resigns amid sexual assault allegations.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Isaiah 5:20 |
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who change darkness into light, and light into darkness, who change bitter into sweet, and sweet into bitter!"
CCC 2307-2309 (Just War Doctrine)
The Church has never been 'weak' for opposing war; she is bound by strict conditions that must all be met before any use of force is morally permissible (CCC 2309). When a pope speaks against a war, he is not playing politics. He is doing exactly what Christ commanded Peter to do: strengthen the brethren against the lie that violence is always strength.
Reflect → When someone calls your moral conviction 'weakness,' do you hold firm or start performing toughness?
 Photo: NPR
NPR
Israel and Lebanon are holding their first direct diplomatic talks in over three decades, beginning with a preparatory meeting to frame future negotiations.
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FAITH & THE WORLD |
Psalm 85:11 |
"Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss. Truth will spring from the earth; justice will look down from heaven."
Pacem in Terris (John XXIII, 1963)
John XXIII wrote that true peace is not the mere absence of war but requires the building of an order founded on truth, justice, charity, and liberty (Pacem in Terris, 167). Thirty years of silence between neighbors is not peace; it is a wound held open. Even a 'preparatory' meeting is the first syllable of a conversation God has been waiting for.
Reflect → Is there someone you've gone years without speaking to, where even a 'preparatory' word could begin healing?
 Photo: BBC World
BBC World
A former student opened fire at a high school in southeastern Turkey, injuring sixteen people including students and teachers.
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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? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!'"
CCC 2258 (The Fifth Commandment and the Sacredness of Human Life)
The Catechism teaches that human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator (CCC 2258). Every school shooting is Cain's question repeated: 'Am I my brother's keeper?' The blood of the wounded still cries out, and the only acceptable answer is yes.
Reflect → Who is a young person in your life who seems isolated, and what would it cost you to reach out today?
![[GOOD NEWS] What does the new £1bn investment in community e](https://www.positive.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/iStock-1145178664-scaled.jpg) Photo: Positive.News
Positive.News
The UK announced its largest ever public investment in community-owned green energy, putting £1 billion toward locally controlled power projects.
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FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
Acts 4:32 |
"The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common."
Laudato Si' (Pope Francis, 2015, §179)
Today's first reading describes the early Church pooling resources so no one went without. Pope Francis echoed this vision in Laudato Si', calling for energy systems that prioritize local communities and the common good over distant shareholders (§179). Community-owned energy is not just smart policy; it is an echo of Acts 4 with solar panels.
Reflect → What resource in your life could be shared rather than hoarded, so your neighbors flourish too?
![[GOOD NEWS] New Girl Scouts data: 85% of girls say they admi](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/5f6cc9cd16d59d990c8fca33/69dd64a3cd9f078be99dcabb_new-study-girl-scouts-brains-over-beauty.jpg) Photo: Good Good Good
Good Good Good
A new Girl Scouts study found that 85% of girls ages 5 to 13 say they admire people for their abilities rather than their appearance.
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FAITH & GOOD NEWS |
1 Samuel 16:7 |
"Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart."
CCC 1700 (Dignity of the Human Person)
The Catechism teaches that human dignity is rooted in being made in the image and likeness of God, not in any external quality (CCC 1700). These girls are seeing what God sees: the heart, the gift, the action. In a culture drowning in filters and vanity metrics, that instinct is practically prophetic.
Reflect → When you last praised someone, was it for how they looked or for what they did?
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DAILY WORD GAME
Test your Catholic vocabulary
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Saint of the Day |
April 14 |
Saint Lidwina of Schiedam
Lidwina broke her rib while ice skating at age 15, and the injury triggered a cascade of illnesses that left her bedridden for 38 years. During that time, she reportedly ate almost nothing, surviving largely on Holy Communion alone. The Dutch word for 'suffering' in certain dialects became linked to her name.
Her feast is April 14, and her life of redemptive suffering connects powerfully to today's Sorrowful Mysteries and the Gospel's call to be 'born from above' through a transformation we cannot control.
Trivia Answer
B . Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the 71-member supreme court and legislative body of ancient Israel. John's Gospel emphasizes this to show that even the most educated religious leaders struggled to understand Jesus' teaching on spiritual rebirth.
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