Calendar Class of June 11, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

Today's General Audience with Pope Leo XIV was very warm, not only due to the scorching sun, but also because it was full of tender expressions of pastoral love, such as this moment captured above. Our Ave Maria University students were there and had their own touching moment with the Pontiff as he passed by, when he responded to one of their hand-written signs and gave them a high five.

Liturgical: Wednesday of the 10th Week of Ordinary Time

When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians.”

Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3

Sanctoral: Barnabas (c. 75), a Jew of Cyprus, comes as close as anyone outside the Twelve to being a full-fledged apostle. He was closely associated with Saint Paul—he introduced Paul to Peter and the other apostles—and served as a kind of mediator between the former persecutor and the still suspicious Jewish Christians.

Human: 396 BC – dictator Marcus Furius Camillus, according to the vows, dedicated the temple in the Forum Boarium goddess Mater Matuta, the guardian of women and childbirth.

1184 BC-- Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to calculations by Eratosthenes

Natural: The seagull family that captured the world's attention during the papal conclave thanks to the proximity to the perpetually watched chimney was back on center stage again today at the papal audience. First spotted when they were in the chick stage, they are now in the juvenile stage, which lasts 3-4 years. I had a front row seat to the whole drama that unfolded around the base of the obelisk as the parents tried out some "tough love" techniques with the kids, each of whom had their own personalities and quirks (I kid you not). One had a broken or malformed wing but was still able to fly. Another, probably the runt of the litter, just squawked for momma the whole time, pacing continuously around the obelisk until she finally showed up and regurgitated something black and slimy for him to eat. Truly, it was a riveting performance. Here's a short article on these iconic birds in Rome.

Italian: Trifoglio (clover)

What We're Reading Today: King Midas and the Golden Touch retold by Charlotte Craft, Illustrated by K.Y. Craft

Moses the Kitten by James Herriot

Quote: "What saves Bartimaeus, and each one of us, is faith. Jesus heals us so that we can become free. He does not invite Bartimaeus to follow him, but tells him to go, to set out on his way (cf. v.52). However, Mark concludes the story by saying that Bartimaeus began to follow Jesus: he freely chose to follow him, He who is the Way!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us trustfully bring our ailments before Jesus, and also those of our loved ones; let us bring the pain of those who feel lost and without a way out. Let us cry out for them too, and we will be certain that the Lord will hear us and stop."

--Pope Leo XIV from his general audience today. Full text here.