St. Joanna was the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward (Lk. 8:3) and a disciple of Jesus, and mentioned in Luke (8.3) as providing for Jesus and the Apostles. According to Eastern tradition, when Herod had John the Baptist beheaded, he cast the head out into an unclean place. Joanna took the head and buried it with honour on the Mount of Olives, on Herod’s land. Later, in the reign of Constantine the Great, the head was found.

St. Joanna is also remembered because she was present at both the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. St. Joanna is one of the women Luke says (24.10) discovered the empty tomb on the first Easter when she went to anoint the body. She is especially venerated by the Jesuits.

Sirach 6:5-17
Psalms 119:12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35
Mark 10:1-12

Sirach 6:5-17
5 A kindly turn of speech attracts new friends, a courteous tongue invites many a friendly response. 6 Let your acquaintances be many, but for advisers choose one out of a thousand. 7 If you want to make a friend, take him on trial, and do not be in a hurry to trust him; 8 for one kind of friend is so only when it suits him but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. 9 Another kind of friend will fall out with you and to your dismay make your quarrel public, 10 and a third kind of friend will share your table, but not stand by you in your day of trouble: 11 when you are doing well he will be your second self, ordering your servants about; 12 but, if disaster befalls you, he will recoil from you and keep out of your way. 13 Keep well clear of your enemies, and be wary of your friends. 14 A loyal friend is a powerful defence: whoever finds one has indeed found a treasure. 15 A loyal friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth. 16 A loyal friend is the elixir of life, and those who fear the Lord will find one. 17 Whoever fears the Lord makes true friends, for as a person is, so is his friend too.

Psalms 119:12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35
12 Blessed are you, Yahweh, teach me your will!
16 I find my delight in your will, I do not forget your words.
18 Open my eyes and I shall fix my gaze on the wonders of your Law.
27 Show me the way of your precepts, that I may reflect on your wonders.
34 Give me understanding and I will observe your Law, and keep it wholeheartedly.
35 Guide me in the way of your commandments, for my delight is there.

Mark 10:1-12
1 After leaving there, he came into the territory of Judaea and Transjordan. And again crowds gathered round him, and again he taught them, as his custom was. 2 Some Pharisees approached him and asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ They were putting him to the test. 3 He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ 4 They replied, ‘Moses allowed us to draw up a writ of dismissal in cases of divorce.’ 5 Then Jesus said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard hearted that he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female. 7 This is why a man leaves his father and mother, 8 and the two become one flesh. They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. 9 So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.’ 10 Back in the house the disciples questioned him again about this, 11 and he said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.’

149 Throughout her life and until her last ordeal when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary’s faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfillment of God’s word. and so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith.

Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t believe in the Trinity.  In their booklet Should you believe in the Trinity? they give their reasons why. Today we’re going to begin to expose some of it’s many errors.

Ave Maria!

Please feel free to leave your Prayer petitions and know that members of this online Catholic community will pray for your intentions. Also, please remember to pray for the intentions of others, the forgotten holy souls in purgatory, and for the Holy Father’s Intentions!

LORD, hear our Prayers!

St. Julia was born of noble parents in North Africa. When she was still quite young, her city was conquered by barbarians. Julia was captured and sold as a slave to a pagan merchant, but she did not complain or feel sorry for herself. She accepted everything, and performed the most humble tasks with wonderful cheerfulness. For Julia loved God with all her heart. In her spare time, she read holy books and prayed fervently.

One day her master decided to take her with him to France. On the way, he stopped at an island to go to a pagan festival. Julia refused to even go near the place where they were celebrating. She did not want to have anything to do with those superstitious ceremonies.

The governor of that region was very angry with her for not joining in the pagan feast. “Who is that woman who dares to insult our gods?” he cried. Julia’s owner answered that she was a Christian. He said, too, that although he had not been able to make her give up her religion, still she was such a good, faithful servant that he would not know what to do without her.

“I will give you four of my best women slaves for her,” offered the governor, but her master refused. “No,” he said, “All you own will not buy her. I would willingly lose the most valuable thing in the world rather than lose her.”

When the merchant was asleep, however, the wicked governor tried to make Julia sacrifice to the gods. He promised to have her set free if she would, but she absolutely refused. She said she was as free as she wanted to be as long as she could serve Jesus. Then the pagan ruler, in great anger, had her struck on the face and her hair torn from her head. She was next put on a cross to hang there until she died. Her feast day is May 23rd.

Sirach 5:1-8
Psalm 1:1-4, 6
Mark 9:41-50

Sirach 5: 1 – 8
1 Do not set your heart on your wealth, nor say, “I have enough.” 2 Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart. 3 Do not say, “Who will have power over me?” for the Lord will surely punish you. 4 Do not say, “I sinned, and what happened to me?” for the Lord is slow to anger. 5 Do not be so confident of atonement that you add sin to sin. 6 Do not say, “His mercy is great, he will forgive the multitude of my sins,” for both mercy and wrath are with him, and his anger rests on sinners. 7 Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth, and at the time of punishment you will perish. 8 Do not depend on dishonest wealth, for it will not benefit you in the day of calamity.

Psalms 1: 1 – 4, 6
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away.

6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Mark 9: 41 – 50
41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward. 42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 49 For every one will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its saltness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

In this second look at the Jehovah’s Witnesses Annihilation of the Soul we point out some Scripture verses and some writings from the Fathers showing that the soul is immortal.

487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

Please feel free to leave your Prayer petitions and know that members of this online Catholic community will pray for your intentions. Also, please remember to pray for the intentions of others, the forgotten holy souls in purgatory, and for the Holy Father’s Intentions!

LORD, hear our Prayers!