Calendar Class of May 18, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

Now, I know the first thing you will be asking me about this snapshot is, "Were you really that close to the Pope today?" Unfortunately, I was at home with the flu this morning, but this is Tony's video, so I figured sharing his up-close experience was the next best thing to actually being there myself. Of course, I was disappointed not to witness the Inauguration Mass in person, but watching it live online was anything but a disappointment. Thanks to the beautiful camera work of Vatican Media, I was able to watch every moment (the full 4 hours and 45 minutes !!) filmed in various locations, and observe so very many things that would have been impossible in person. In particular, the Pope's emotions as he accepted the "Fisherman's Ring" from Cardinal Tagle, the enthusiasm of various sections of the crowd, the diplomatic chit-chat before and after the Mass, and, most touchingly, the big bear hug that the new Pope shared with his brother Louis (who greeted him in the reception line just after VP Vance and Second Lady Usha, as well as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his wife). As I wrote following the funeral of Pope Francis a few weeks ago, only the Vatican could assemble such a diversity of nationalities, and even religions, for a single event. What's even more surprising is that the event is a "coronation" of an elected "monarch" of a global religion. Truly, there's no place like Rome.

Liturgical: Fifth Sunday of Easter

Love is man's first and constant vocation. Love is the summary of the whole Bible. Love is the secret of the saints, the necessary way to God. It is the means to reveal God's heart to other men. But the beauty of God's love must show itself fresh and new in every Christian; for beauty, to delight and attract, must be fresh as the morning. Every deed of vital love, performed by us in our personality which nature and grace have fashioned, is like the morning of time itself. "God is love" in its mysterious fullness and infinite freshness. Utterly King and Lord, He unites the baptized of every nation in the one Mystical Body of Christ, by the one Holy Spirit, under the one Mother Mary.

Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon: The Love that Jesus Commands

Fr. Plant's Homily-Scripture Lesson: As I Have Loved You

Sanctoral: The Optional Memorial of St. John I, Pope and Martyr, which is ordinarily celebrated today, is superseded by the Sunday liturgy.

Human: 113 AD – Trajan’s Forum in Rome was opened. It is the largest (a square with dimensions of approx. 300 by 185 meters) and the latest constructed Roman forum in the vicinity of the Forum of Augustus and the Forum of Caesar, between the Capitoline and Quirinal Hill. Its founder was Trajan, and the designer Apollodorus of Damascus.

332 AD – Constantine the Great announced the distribution of food to the people of Constantinople.

Birthday of Pope John Paul II – 1920 (today, while watching the various subdued emotions upon the face of Leo XIV as he accepted the "Ring of the Fisherman", he seemed to be so similar in appearance to John Paul II. What a beautiful birthday gift is Leo XIV to his predecessor today!)

Natural: How to Grow a Magnolia Tree. Here at the Villa Magnolia, we do have magnolia trees on the grounds, but none that blossom! So I guess we will be using this guide.

Italian: Sentirsi fischiare le orecchie (to have the feeling someone is talking about you)

Quote: "Brothers and Sisters, I greet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me. Saint Augustine wrote: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions, I: 1,1)...

I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.

Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus...

Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world...

Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion “were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?” (Rerum Novarum, 21).

With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made “restless” by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.

Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another."

Pope Leo XIV's homily at inaugural Mass beginning his Petrine ministry

Full text here