Author name: Sani Militante

Saint Matilda of Saxony

Daily Saints

Profile

Matilda was the daughter of Count Dietrich of Westphalia and Reinhild of Denmark; she was raised by her grandmother, abbess of the Eufurt. In 913, Matilda left the abbey, and married King Henry the Fowler of Saxony (Henry I), who had received an annulment from a previous marriage.

Matilda became the Queen of Germany. She was the mother of Otto, Holy Roman Emperor; Henry the Quarrelsome, Duke of Bavaria; Saint Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne, Germany; Gerberga, wife of King Louis IV of France; Hedwig, mother of Hugh Capet.

Matilda founded several Benedictine abbeys. She was well known throughout the realm for her generosity. She taught the ignorant, comforted the sick, and visited prisoners.

Matilda was betrayed by Otto after Henry’s death when he falsely accused her of financial mismanagement.

Born

  • c.895 at Engern, Westphalia, Germany

Died

  • 14 March 968 at Quedlinburg, Germany of natural causes
  • buried in the monastery at Quedlinburg

Patronage

  • death of children
  • disappointing children
  • falsely accused people
  • large families
  • people ridiculed for their piety
  • queens
  • second marriages
  • widows

Representation

  • alms
  • bag of money
  • crown
  • orb
  • sceptre
  • purse, indicative of her generosity
  • queen with a whip
  • queen holding a church

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-matilda-of-saxony/

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John 5:44

Daily Reflections, Verse

Human or Divine Praise

“How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?”

Reflection:

It’s quite normal and healthy for a parent to praise a young child for the good that they do. This healthy positive reinforcement is a way of teaching them the importance of doing good and avoiding what’s wrong. But human praise is not an infallible guide of what is right and wrong. In fact, when human praise is not based in the truth of God, it does great damage.

This short Scripture quote above comes from a lengthy teaching from Jesus about the difference between human praise and “the praise that comes only from God.” Jesus makes it clear that the only thing that has value is the praise that comes from God alone. In fact, earlier in this Gospel, Jesus says clearly, “I do not accept human praise…” Why is that?

Turning back to the example of a parent praising a child for the good they do, when the praise they offer is truly a praise of their goodness, then this is much more than human praise. It is praise from God given through a parent. A parent’s duty must be to teach right from wrong in accord with the will of God.

As for the “human praise” of which Jesus speaks, this is clearly praise of another that is void of the truthfulness of God. In other words, Jesus is saying that if someone were to praise Him for something that did not originate from the Father in Heaven, He would reject it. For example, if someone were to say of Jesus, “I think He would be a great governor of our nation because he could lead a revolt against the current leadership.” Obviously such “praise” would be rejected.

The bottom line is that we must praise one another, but our praise must only be that which originates from God. Our words must be spoken only in accord with the Truth. Our admiration must only be of that which is the presence of God alive in others. Otherwise, if we praise others based on worldly or self-centered values, we only encourage them in sin.

Reflect, today, upon the praise you give and receive. Do you allow misguided praise of others to misdirect you in life? And when you compliment and praise another, is that praise based on the Truth of God and directed to His glory? Seek to give and receive praise only when it is grounded in the Truth of God and directs all to His glory.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2024/03/13/human-or-divine-praise-3/

John 5:44 Read More »

Saint Ansovinus of Camerino

Daily Saints

Profile

Ansovinus was a priest and a hermit at Castel Raimondo near Torcello, Italy. He became the bishop of Camerino, Italy, and was consecrated by Pope Leo IV; he accepted the vocation on the condition that his parishioners did not have to recruit soldiers, an obligation imposed on most bishops of the time.

Ansovinus was a confessor to Emperor Louis the Pious. He attended the Council of Rome called by Pope Saint Nicholas I in 861. He was a miracle worker. His association with crops come from his work of feeding the poor. Once when the granary was empty, but there were still poor people to feed, he prayed for help; the granary was found to be full, and everyone ate their fill.

Born

  • at Camerino, Italy

Died

  • 868 at Camerino, Italy from a fever contracted at Rome, Italy
  • relics enshrined in a 14th century sarcophagus in the crypt of the cathedral in Camerino, Italy

Canonized

  • Pre-Congregation

Patronage

  • gardeners
  • protection of crops
  • Camerino, Italy, city of
  • Camerino-San Severino
  • Marche, Diocese of Italy

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-ansovinus-of-camerino/

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John 5:19-20

Daily Reflections, Verse

Amazement and Awe

“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will do also. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.”

Reflection:

The most central and most glorious mystery of our faith is that of the Most Holy Trinity. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God yet three distinct Persons. As divine “Persons,” each one is distinct; but as one God, each Person acts in perfect union with the others.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus clearly identifies the Father in Heaven as His Father and clearly states that He and His Father are one. For this reason, there were those who wanted to kill Jesus because He “called God his own father, making himself equal to God.”

The sad reality is that the greatest and most glorious truth of God’s inner life, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, was one of the primary reasons that some chose to hate Jesus and sought His life. Clearly, it was their ignorance of this glorious truth that drove them to this hatred.

We call the Holy Trinity a “mystery,” not because they cannot be known but because our knowledge of Who They are can never be fully understood. For eternity, we will enter deeper and deeper into our knowledge of the Trinity and be “amazed” on a continually deepening level.

One additional aspect of the mystery of the Trinity is that each one of us is called to share in Their very life. We will forever remain distinct from God; but, as many of the early Church Fathers liked to say, we must become “divinized,” meaning, we must share in God’s divine life through our union of body and soul with Christ Jesus. That union also unites us with the Father and the Spirit. This truth should also leave us “amazed,” as we read in the passage above.

As we continue to read this week from the Gospel of John and continue to ponder the mysterious and profound teaching of Jesus on His relationship with the Father in Heaven, it is essential that we not simply gloss over the mysterious language Jesus uses. Rather, we must prayerfully enter the mystery and allow our penetration of this mystery to leave us truly amazed.

Amazement and transforming edification is the only good response. We will never fully understand the Trinity, but we must allow the truth of our Triune God to take hold of us and enrichen us, at very least, in a way that knows how much we do not know—and that knowledge leaves us in awe.

Reflect, today, upon the sacred mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Pray that God reveals Himself more fully to your mind and more completely consume your will. Pray that you will be able to share deeply in the life of the Trinity so that you will be filled with a holy amazement and awe.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2024/03/12/amazement-and-awe-3/

John 5:19-20 Read More »

Saint Luigi Orione

Daily Saints

Profile

Luigi joined the Franciscans at Voghera, Italy as a young man, but developed severe health problems and returned to his family. He studied under Saint John Bosco at Turin, Italy, was present at Saint John‘s death, and was cured of his illness during Saint John‘s funeral.

Luigi studied at the seminary in Tortona, Italy. While still a layman and student, he opened San Luigi House at San Bernardino in 1893, a home for the poor, homeless and abandoned. He was ordained on 13 April 1895.

Luigi founded the Hermits of Divine Providence congregation, the Ladies of Divine Providence, and an orphanage in Rome, Italy in 1899. Under the patronage of Pope Saint Pius X, he founded the Little Missionaries of Charity.

Luigi constructed the Marian shrine at Tortona, a site that became a rallying point for people during times of political unrest. To administer the houses of his congregations, Luigi travelled the world, visiting houses in Wales, Brazil, the United States, and throughout Italy.

Born

  • 23 June 1872 at Pontecurone, Allessandria, Italy

Died

  • 12 March 1940 at San Remo, Imperia, Italy from heart disease
  • body found intact when exhumed in 1965
  • interred at the shrine of Our Lady of Safe Keeping, Tortona, Italy

Venerated

  • 5 February 1978 by Pope Paul VI (decree of heroic virtues)

Beatified

  • 26 October 1980 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized

  • 16 May 2004 by Pope John Paul II

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-luigi-orione/

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John 5:5-6

Daily Reflections, Verse

Patient Endurance

“One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be well?’”

Reflection:

Only those who have been crippled for many years could understand what this man endured in life. He was crippled and unable to walk for thirty-eight years. The pool he was laying next to was believed to have the power of healing. Therefore, many who were sick and crippled would sit by the pool and try to be the first to enter it when the waters were stirred up. From time to time, that person was said to have received healing.

Jesus sees this man and clearly perceives his desire for healing after so many years. Most likely, his desire for healing was the dominant desire in his life. Without the ability to walk, he could not work and provide for himself. He would have had to rely upon begging and the generosity of others. Thinking about this man, his sufferings and his ongoing attempts for healing from this pool should move any heart to compassion. And since Jesus’ heart was one that was full of compassion, He was moved to offer this man not only the healing he so deeply desired but so much more.

One virtue in the heart of this man that would have especially moved Jesus to compassion is the virtue of patient endurance. This virtue is an ability to have hope in the midst of some ongoing and lengthy trial. It is also referred to as “longsuffering” or “longanimity.” Usually, when one faces a difficulty, the immediate reaction is to look for a way out.

As time moves on and that difficulty is not removed, it’s easy to fall into discouragement and even despair. Patient endurance is the cure for this temptation. When one can patiently endure anything and everything they suffer in life, there is a spiritual strength within them that benefits them in numerous ways. Other little challenges are more easily endured. Hope is born within them to a powerful degree. Even joy comes with this virtue despite the ongoing struggle.

When Jesus saw this virtue alive in this man, He was moved to reach out and heal him. And the primary reason Jesus healed this man was not just to help him physically but so that the man would come to believe in Jesus and follow Him.

Reflect, today, upon this beautiful virtue of patient endurance. The trials of life should ideally be seen not in a negative way but as an invitation to patient endurance. Ponder the way you endure your own trials. Is it with deep and ongoing patience, hope and joy? Or is it with anger, bitterness and despair. Pray for the gift of this virtue and seek to imitate this crippled man.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2024/03/11/patient-endurance-3/

John 5:5-6 Read More »

Saint Constantine II

Daily Saints

Profile

Constantine was born a Scottish prince, the son of King Kenneth II of Strathclyde. Constantine led a life of vice until his conversion, possibly after hearing the evangelizing preaching of Saint Columba and Saint Kentigern.

Constantine was married, and the father of at least one son, and briefly king of Stathclyde. Widowed, he abdicated his position, founded a monastery at Govan on the river Clyde, became a monk there, and evangelized the region.

Constantine became a priest. He was an abbot of a monastery in Govan, Scotland as well. Martyr.

Older martyrologies have entries for Constantines of Strathclyde, of Cornwall, and of Rahan, Ireland; they run the details of their lives together, and they could have been one, two or three people.

Died

  • bled to death in 874 in a cave near Crail after his right arm was cut off by Danish pirates
  • considered a martyr in Scotland for defending his Christian land against pagan invaders

Canonized

  • Pre-Congregation

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-constantine-ii/

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John 4:46-48

Daily Reflections, Verse

Faith in All Things

“Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.’”

Reflection:

Jesus did end up healing the royal official’s son. And when the royal official returned to discover his son healed, we are told that “he and his whole household came to believe.” Some came to believe in Jesus only after He performed miracles. There are two lessons we should take from this.

First of all, the fact that Jesus performed miracles is a testimony to Who He is. He is a God of abundant mercy. As God, Jesus could have expected faith from those to whom He ministered without offering them the “proof” of signs and wonders. This is because true faith is not based upon external evidence, such as seeing miracles; rather, authentic faith is based upon an interior revelation from God by which He communicates His very self to us and we believe.

Therefore, the fact that Jesus did signs and wonders shows just how merciful He is. He offered these miracles, not because anyone deserved them but simply because of His abundant generosity to help spark faith in the lives of those who found it hard to believe through the interior gift of faith alone.

With that said, it’s important to understand that we should work to develop our faith without relying upon external signs. Imagine, for example, if Jesus would have never performed any miracles. How many would have come to believe in Him? Perhaps very few. But there would have been some who came to believe, and those who did would have had a faith that was exceptionally deep and authentic. Imagine, for example, if this royal official did not receive a miracle for his son but, nonetheless, chose to believe in Jesus anyway through the transforming interior gift of faith.

In each one of our lives, it is essential that we work to develop our faith, even if God doesn’t seem to act in powerful and evident ways. In fact, the deepest form of faith is born in our lives when we choose to love God and serve Him, even when things are very difficult. Faith in the midst of difficulty is a sign of very authentic faith.

Reflect, today, upon the depth of your own faith. When life is hard, do you love God and serve Him anyway? Even if He doesn’t remove the crosses you carry? Seek to have true faith at all times and in every circumstance and you will be amazed at how real and sustaining your faith becomes.

Source: https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/2024/03/10/faith-in-all-things-2/

John 4:46-48 Read More »

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Gosples & Readings

First Reading 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23

In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people 
added infidelity to infidelity, 
practicing all the abominations of the nations 
and polluting the LORD’s temple 
which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, 
send his messengers to them, 
for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.
But they mocked the messengers of God, 
despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, 
until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed 
that there was no remedy.

Their enemies burnt the house of God,
tore down the walls of Jerusalem, 
set all its palaces afire, 
and destroyed all its precious objects.

Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon, 
where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons
until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.

All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: 
“Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, 
during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest 
while seventy years are fulfilled.”

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, 
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, 
the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia 
to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, 
both by word of mouth and in writing: 
“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 
All the kingdoms of the earth
the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, 
and he has also charged me to build him a house 
in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, 
let him go up, and may his God be with him!”

Responsorial Psalm Psalms 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

R. (6ab)  Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

By the streams of Babylon
    we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
    we hung up our harps.

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

For there our captors asked of us
    the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
    “Sing for us the songs of Zion!”

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

How could we sing a song of the LORD
    in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand be forgotten!

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

May my tongue cleave to my palate
    if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
    ahead of my joy.

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

Second Reading Ephesians 2:4-10

Brothers and sisters:
God, who is rich in mercy, 
because of the great love he had for us, 
even when we were dead in our transgressions, 
brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —, 
raised us up with him, 
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 
that in the ages to come 
He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace 
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, 
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; 
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works 
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.

Verse Before the Gospel John 3:16

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Gospel John 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, 
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, 
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish 
but might have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, 
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, 
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world, 
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light, 
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, 
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Source: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm

Fourth Sunday of Lent Read More »

Saint Attalas of Bobbio

Daily Saints

Profile

Attalas was a monk at Lérins, France and Luxeuil Abbey. He helped Columbanus build the abbey in Bobbio, Italy.

Attalas served as its abbot from 615. During Attalas’s abbacy, most of the monks stood out against the severity of the Columbanian Rule. His monks included Saint Valery and Saint Blitmund of Bobbio.

Born

  • in Burgundy, France

Died

  • 627 of natural causes
  • interred next to Saint Colombanus in the church at the abbey of Saint Colombano, Bobbio, Provincia di Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
  • re-interred in 1482 in a stone sarcophagus in the crypt of the basilica of Saint Colombano built over the site of the old church
  • altar, crypt and shrine were refurbished and the re-opened to the public in 1910

Canonized

  • Pre-Congregation

Patronage

  • Bobbio, Italy
  • Luxeuil-les-Bains, France

Representation

  • abbot near a mill with his staff in hand
  • abbot with a nearby chair
    with Saint Columbanus

Source: https://catholicsaints.info/saint-attalas-of-bobbio/

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Contact us

Location:

1235 S.Magnolia Ave. Anaheim, CA 92804-5115

Contact #

 (657) 208-2038

Email:

 [email protected]

Ways to Donate

Using Zelle

Add San Jose Filipino Ministry as a new recipient, Send your donation using"[email protected]"

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Payable to - San Jose Filipino Ministry 
Address - 1235 S Magnolia Ave
Anaheim, CA 92804-5115 

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