Best known as Padre Pio, St. Pius was born Francesco Forgione in 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy. As a young boy he suffered many illnesses including typhoid. He joined Capuchin Franciscans at 15and took the name of Pius or "Pio" in honor of Pope Pius I. He was ordained in 1910, and at this time he received the marks of stigmata, the wounds of Christ, but they eventually healed. Frequent illnesses continued to plague him as a young man.

Most people don’t intend on being selfish. The reality of selfishness usually lies in the grey shades of our decision-making. We would never go out of our way to kick a homeless person begging by the highway exit. We would never steal money from our parish collection plate. 

Human beings are often very clever when managing money and making a profit. Sometimes, we place so much of our sense of security in money that we lower ourselves to deceit and fraud. Our need to produce a profit can easily lead to economic injustice and exploitation.

“You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Merriam-Webster defines mammon as material wealth or possessions, especially having a debasing influence. While God does not take issue with our need to use money for the business of our lives, there can be a problem with the attitudes we bring to it.

Born in Catalonia Spain in 1580, Saint Peter Claver studied at first at the University of Barcelona and then joined the Jesuits. He became friends with fellow brother Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez who encouraged him to be a missionary in the New World. Accordingly, Saint Peter went to Cartagena, a city in present-day Columbia where he was ordained in in 1615.

“It’s not that I want you to do it. It’s that I want you to want to do it.” If you’re married or in a relationship, your partner has probably either said something like this to you or you have said it to them. If one of you hasn’t said it, you have probably wanted to, and it’s likely that a big argument or two was had where you dance around the sentiment, these exact words flashing in your mind like an old-time movie marquee.

“Stand up straight and don’t slouch!” Many a child has heard these words bellowed from their mother’s lips. We need the perspective of others to help us understand when we are not walking as straight as we could be. God sends us the Holy Spirit to correct and guide us so that our paths through life can be straight.

What virtue is the cornerstone of discipleship? Love. Jesus preached about it, lived it, and summarized his greatest commandment featuring it. Love is in our DNA. To follow Jesus, then, is to follow the path of love. While this may appear to be an attractive and easy option, it most assuredly is not. Authentic love always comes with sacrifice.

Saint Gregory the Great lived in a most turbulent time. There were devastating episodes of plague, the sacking of Rome and the breakdown of strong Roman rule, invasions by Lombards and Franks, floods, and a widening gap between imperial Byzantium and the Roman Church.

Some people have “the rich relation” in their family tree. Aunt Cindy, who is always traveling somewhere new and exciting. Cousin Richard and his lake house. Your sister and brother-in-law who buy a new car every year.

“Humble yourself the more, the greater you are.” These words from Sirach are packed with wisdom. Who we become, and the success we achieve, is due not only to our own merits but also to God’s grace. Without God, we cease to be.

People who are concerned with their own advancement and agenda have little room for anyone else. With an almost addictive pursuit of esteem and acknowledgment from others, they become little more than entitled embodiments of the vice of pride. Public humiliation or embarrassment can hit them hard.

Born Isabel Flores de Olivia in April 1586 in Lima, Peru to Spanish colonists, Saint Rose of Lima took the name Rose at her confirmation in 1597. Legend holds that she received this nickname as an infant because a servant saw her face transformed into a rose.

Discipline is necessary for us to focus our attention and develop and refine our skills. A disciplined person has integrity and can make difficult but necessary choices. Most people do not like discipline, especially children.

From doctors to counselors, anthropologists to schoolteachers, it seems like everyone has their own parenting style to peddle, guaranteeing it will result in a happy and well-adjusted kid.

The serious disciple knows the necessity and value of discipline. Thinking of discipline as something punitive in nature, we underscore its place in our spiritual lives. Discipline is really about a radical trust in God and his guidance. “When you are conducted by a guide who takes you through an unknown country at night across fields where there are no tracks, by his own skill, asking no advice from anyone, giving no inkling of his plans, what choice do you have but to give yourself completely to his guidance? If you are convinced that he is a good guide, you must have faith in him and abandon yourself to his care (Jean-Pierre de Caussade).”

Born a pagan in the 10th century Saint Stephen was baptized as a boy when his father converted to Christianity. Saint Stephen married Gisela, daughter of Duke Henry II of Bavaria who would become Saint Henry II. He succeeded his father as leader and began to transform the nation into a Christian kingdom.

Have you ever written a cheque or seen the charge on the credit card machine that had far too many zeros on it for your comfort?   The brakes finally give up on the car you were hoping to nurse through the season. The water heater dies on the coldest week of the year. A medical procedure wasn’t totally covered by insurance. We’ve all been here in this place, being asked to part with a not-so-small sum of money for a not-so-fun reason.

Christians first began celebrating feast days in honor of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in the fifth century. That celebration (originally called the Feast of the Dormition and now known by Roman Catholics as the Solemnity of the Assumption) was celebrated on August 15. Very soon, however, other special days dedicated to Mary began to appear in Jerusalem, Rome, and other major cities of the Christian world.

Growing in holiness is similar to training in a sport. We need someone to show us how we can live our faith well. Mary is a model of sanctity. She shows us how to be faithful to God’s will, living each day with confidence in God’s mercy and love.