Calendar Class of May 28, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot:

This isn't the prettiest Carpe Diem Snapshot, but there is a story behind it connected with today's catechesis by the Holy Father at his weekly audience (link below). Over the course of the 20+ years that I have been visiting or residing in Rome, I have observed the same mentally ill individuals walking the same routes throughout the city and the park. There is something about keeping to patterns and known place markers that keeps them going. The photo above is of a woman who frequently passes by me but never recognizes me. Among the many homeless and mentally ill who walk the streets of Rome, a large percentage of them claim spots by the Vatican, near the soup kitchens and homeless shelters that are located in the area. Most are not violent though all seem to have lost their grasp on reality. Those who have some kind of community and routine, in whatever form that takes, survive, which seems to be the key to living on the streets. There are a few, however, such as this woman, who are always alone, listening to music or muttering to themselves. It is those individuals who haunt my mind the most, especially when hearing the Holy Father's words about being "caught up in our own interests and the busyness of life." While prudence must of course be exercised when engaging with strangers not in their right minds on the street, they are literally our neighbors and worthy of our consideration, prayers, and attention, even though they eschew it.

Liturgical: Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

“Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Acts 17:15, 22—18:1

Today's Papal Audience with Pope Leo XIV

Sanctoral: Pierre Toussaint (June 27, 1766 – June 30, 1853)

Born in modern-day Haiti and brought to New York City as a slave, Pierre died a free man, a renowned hairdresser, and one of New York City’s most well-known Catholics.

Human: 1588 King Philip II dispatches the Spanish Armada under the Duke of Medina-Sidonia from Lisbon, Portugal to invade England

1830 US President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, a key law leading to the forced removal of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes out of Georgia and surrounding states, setting the stage for the Cherokee Trail of Tears

1371 Birthday of John the Fearless, son of Philip the Bold

1759 Birthday of William Pitt the Younger (the second son of Prime Minister William Pitt the elder, William Pitt the Younger is the youngest ever British Minister, aged just 24, when he was appointed by King George III.)

Natural: 585 BC Solar eclipse, as predicted by Greek philosopher Thales, occurs while Lydians are at war with the Medes and leads to a truce. It is one of the cardinal dates from which other dates are calculated.

Italian: Affezionato (fond / affectionate)

Quote: "Dear brothers and sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the Jubilee theme of “Christ out Hope,” we turn to another parable: the Good Samaritan. Through this story, Jesus teaches us that eternal life is found through showing mercy. Just like the priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side, at times we fail to be true neighbours to those around us, caught up in our own interests and the busyness of life. The Good Samaritan surprises us by his compassion, and his example of generosity challenges us to lay aside our selfishness. We can also see ourselves in the man who fell into the hands of robbers, for we have all experienced the difficulties of life and the pain brought about by sin. In our frailty, we discover that Christ himself is the Good Samaritan who heals our wounds and restores our hope. Let us turn, then, to the Sacred Heart, model of true humanity, and ask him to make our heart ever more like his."

--Pope Leo XIV, Wednesday Audience, May 28, 2025