The Heart of Jesus is Our Refuge and Strength

Lots of things are happening these days. Today is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I have reflected much on the fact that His merciful redeeming love is the only hope of salvation. Life is all tangled up with concerns and aspirations that we never realize, or only “half-realize” while also making a mess of things. We have joys and consolations but they too have limits and call our hearts to go beyond them. They are, nevertheless, real and worthy of gratitude, just as our failures and sufferings are real and meaningful, and are woven into a mysterious destiny that we cannot fully understand. If we live these joys and sorrows with confidence that the Heart of Jesus is with us through everything, and if we share our joys and sufferings together — as signs of hope and burdens that none of us are meant to carry alone — then we will grow closer to the Heart of Jesus, and recognize with amazement that His healing mercy is always at work within us and among us.

Lots of things are happening these days. Untold millions of people are still struggling with the catastrophes of war, gut-wrenching poverty, oppression and injustice. They are our brothers and sisters. Pope Leo continues to challenge us in his native land, and all the peoples of the world (especially in the wealthy nations) to recognize the “infinite dignity” of each of these persons, to see them the way Jesus sees them, and seek from God the grace to love them, respect them, and help them through whatever constructive possibilities that can be found. Much is needed, and the ways are not easy, but we cannot “throw away” human persons just because we don’t know how to “solve their problems.” Their sufferings cry out to Christ’s Heart, and if we find that their circumstances perplex us or fill us with fear, then we have to join them in their cry from our own hearts, acknowledging that we need His love to move forward toward a “common good” that we all can benefit from as we travel the roads of this world.

It is not easy. The world is in peril, because hearts have become small and love has grown cold. We must beg the Heart of Jesus to enkindle the fire of His love in our hearts. If we turn to Him and entrust everything to Him, we will begin to see new possibilities of love opening before us — new ways to give glory to the Lord, grow toward our destiny of eternal life with Him, and contribute to building a more fraternal world. The Heart of Jesus wants to gather us together on our journey toward the full realization of His Father’s Kingdom. Do we really believe that life in Christ is “already” the “beginning” of God’s Kingdom? Do we look at the problems of the world (and our own lives) from this perspective? God is our Father, He loves each one of us, and He wants us to live forever with Him. I pray that my own heart might be converted and changed, so that I might look more and more upon my own life and all of the human persons who have been entrusted to me in the light of the glorified Heart of Jesus.

Lots of things are happening in these days. Tomorrow my daughter Teresa is getting married. The is a joyful occasion. My health is on a bit of a roller coaster up and down, but I think I have enough energy to walk her down the aisle. Of course, there will be pictures of everything posted here soon. My brother Walter will be at the wedding. He still feels well enough to do many things, but he also spends a lot more time with doctors, getting relief from the symptoms of his cancer and planning approaches to treatment, which will probably begin soon after this joyful wedding. 

My only (and much loved) brother has cancer. The times that are coming will be “hard” in ways that are new for him and for me too. He is my only brother and has always been there for me, Eileen, and his nephew and nieces (and now also his grand-nieces). How can I be “there” for him? Lord, help me! I don’t know where all of this is leading. I’m anxious, because I’m a weak and sinful man. I feel — intensely — my own helplessness as well as the lack of love in my own heart. Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! Have mercy on me, a sinner. Have mercy on Walter, who has always been a great gift from you in my life and in our family. He has always been the "strong one," and I have taken for granted how much I have been able to depend on him in my own afflictions and sufferings of body and mind. This is really a "new thing" for him (he has always been in good health). It's new for me, and for the whole family. Dear Jesus, I'm scared. Lead us through this darkness, step by step. One step, and then another step, and another.... I believe in the all-encompassing wisdom and love of your Heart. But I am weak, distracted, and forgetful. Increase my faith! Sustain my brother through all these days, through whatever he is called to endure. Enable our family to grow in love for you and for one another.

Jesus, I'm scared.

Lots of things… Eileen and I will celebrate our 30th Anniversary on June 22. Then we have birthdays and the “kids” have anniversaries of their own marriages coming up. Tomorrow’s wedding will be a beautiful day.

Dear Jesus, please help me to “feel better.” I’m afraid of growing old, and losing the few abilities I still have. The world is in great turmoil. The internet is becoming so huge and complicated that it overwhelms me. I can’t keep up anymore. 

Most Sacred, Beautiful, Merciful Heart of Jesus, I entrust everything to you.

The Consecration of the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

On this day, the Catholic Bishops of the United States consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is a powerful gesture at this time in our nation’s history, when there is so much need for His merciful love.

Ten YEARS Later, Christina Grimmie Still Shines Brightly

Ten years ago, Christina Grimmie was unexpectedly called home to be with the Lord. 

She was only 22 years old on the night of June 10, 2016, when she was gunned down by a deranged man during a meet-and-greet after her concert in Orlando, Florida. Her final gesture in this world was to open her arms to welcome this person she didn't know as he approached her from the line. He shot her three times in the head and chest at point blank range before shooting himself.

What an incomprehensible tragedy! We miss her so much. Yet the light of her witness has remained with us and grown stronger over the past decade, even as the world has grown more violent, chaotic, confused, and alienating.

And today, when we worry about whether new technologies might overwhelm our humanity, Christina Grimmie continues to show us the way forward. 

Christina was a pioneering YouTuber who shared her astonishing musical talents and herself, offering love and gratitude to people all over the world, not only through social media but also in and after her concerts. With faith in the One who LOVED her, she found the courage to communicate her love, to use technology and her "celebrity statue" to encounter human persons, to build a "communion of persons," to love unconditionally. 

She knew that love is always a risk. Life is a risk. Being human is a risk. Using new technologies to connect with people is a risk. Christina did not shy away from that risk. Love moved her forward to make music and connect with people, to "risk herself" every day.  And she touched the hearts of vast numbers of people because she was so full of life, so real, so rich with that magnificent humanity that the Lord gave her.

This is why we remember and honor Christina Grimmie today.

In February of 2014, people all over the USA watched and heard on national television Christina Grimmie’s astonishing, jaw-dropping, “four-chair-turning” blind audition for Season 6 of The Voice. (It is frequently ranked among the greatest auditions in the history of this talent contest show or other similar shows.) Shortly after the program aired, she posted the accompanying text on Twitter. At other times she also expressed her intention to live everything in her life for Jesus Christ, “for His glory.” Christina was never “preachy” — rather, she expressed simply and when the occasion presented itself her determined and persistent desire to live her whole young, enthusiastic, funny, musically amazing, great-hearted, and very human life “for Him.”

Corpus Christi 2026

"We are gathered around the Eucharist, the gift of Christ’s living presence among us. He who wished to offer us his life so that we might enter into communion with the Father and become his children, is here as the living Bread come down from heaven, to nourish us with the very life of God, with a love stronger than death."

Jesus in the Eucharist "does not enclose us in private devotion, but sends us out to refresh our brothers and sisters, our families, the poor, the suffering, and those who have lost hope. Eucharistic grace transforms us and makes us protagonists of the transformation of history, a sign of hope for those we meet."

~Pope Leo XIV, Solemnity of Corpus Christi,

June 7, 2026 (Madrid, Apostolic Journey to Spain)

Saint Norbert: A Medieval Reformer

June 6th is the feast of Saint Norbert. Let’s learn a little bit about him, from one of my old columns:

This is the story of a young German living a worldly life, who, after experiencing a terrible thunderstorm, joined a monastery and later became known to the world as a “reformer.” But this is not the story of Martin Luther. Our German lived 400 years before Protestantism, and was very different from the conflicted, tumultuous, and rebellious Luther. St. Norbert was a true Catholic reformer, shaped by the Church. Under her obedience, he brought together monastic discipline and apostolic zeal, renewing the clergy, refreshing the witness of preaching, and leaving a legacy of followers who still bear his name today.

Norbert was born in 1080 in Xanten, near Cologne, to a wealthy noble family. He served at the court of the Archbishop of Cologne and the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and gave himself over to a sinful life of luxury and the pursuit of pleasure. Worldly though he was, Norbert nonetheless resisted the corrupting path of ecclesiastical careerism by refusing an episcopal appointment or even ordination to the priesthood.

Jesus was waiting for Norbert, keeping him free for a decisive moment that would move his heart. In 1113, Norbert’s horse was struck by lightning during a storm and threw him to the ground, unconscious. Something happened in those moments, and when Norbert recovered he was changed. Jesus had suddenly revealed to him the futility of his life, and filled him with the desire for conversion and penance. 

Norbert left the court at Cologne, and in order to follow Jesus fully, he turned to the Church in earnest, and he did so by going to a place close to home, the Benedictine Abbey at Siegburg. This was a relatively new monastery, a fruit of the great monastic reform that spread from Cluny in France, but it had begun to flourish under Cono, its third abbot. Jesus drew Norbert to His heart through the wise spiritual fatherhood of Cono. For three years Norbert lived the life of the abbey and followed Cono’s guidance. He saw the foundational value of the monastic life, and yet — as his faith grew stronger — he was filled with the desire to preach the Gospel beyond the monastic walls. Cono’s friendship prevented Norbert from any rash decisions, and helped him to learn humility and patience. But when the right moment came, this great friend sent Norbert out to seek ordination as a priest in the Archdiocese of Cologne.

The courtier returned with the humility of a monk and a heart burning with the desire to bring Christ to the world. After his ordination, during his initial struggles with his inimical fellow clergy, and then after the final confirmation of his vocation in 1118 when the Pope appointed him “missionary apostolic” with authority to preach throughout the Church, Norbert continued to visit the abbot and consulted with Cono up until the latter’s death. By then Saint Norbert was spreading from Premontre to Magdeburg his vision of a priestly life that was both monastic and missionary. He faced much resistance but gained many friends and disciples of his own, one of whom —Blessed Hugh of Fosse — would become the first abbot of the religious order we call the “Norbertines,” who brought renewal to the Church in the Middle Ages and continue to do so today.

“Alone and Poor”

"Turn to me and have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am alone and poor. See my lowliness and suffering and take away all my sins, my God" (antiphon, June 4).

We Must Not Forget the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre

Chinese Diaspora communities all over the world held candlelight vigils to mourn the 37th anniversary of that terrible night of June 4, 1989. 

On that night, the government of the "People's" Republic of China turned the guns and tanks of the "People's" Liberation Army against... the Chinese PEOPLE in their own capital city who had dared to give voice to the fundamental and implacable desire of their hearts (and of every human heart) for freedom and dignity. Thousands of people died for the "crime" of expressing their longing to be treated like full human persons whose freedom was not defined by the State or the Party, but who sought something greater....

Saint Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe: Uganda’s First Martyr

The stories of the Uganda martyrs in the late 19th century are well known to us today, thanks to vivid testimonies from a variety of sources, many of whom were fellow Christians who witnessed the events and/or knew the martyrs personally. They present the most remarkable circumstances that attended the birth of Christianity in the Great Lakes region of East Africa, in the Kingdom of Buganda.

Present day Uganda traces itself back to this unusual kingdom, a pagan realm in the African interior, governed for centuries by an absolute monarch (the Kabaka) who had the power of life and death over his three million subjects. The Kingdom of Buganda was a courteous, refined, and generous place, with worthy traditions passed down from generation to generation. It was also marred by political intrigue between the Kabaka, his ministers, and clan chiefs. The social order had many good features, but also ingrained habits of cruelty, a form of polygamy that made women virtual slaves, and narrow and sometimes violent superstitions that occasionally even called for human sacrifice.

All the conflicting tensions of Buganda were ultimately in the hands of the Kabaka, until outside forces began bringing new ideas and practices into his realm. Arab Muslims came first, followed by English explorers, then English (Anglican) missionaries, and (after many setbacks) the French Catholic “White Fathers” led by Father Simeon Lourdel, who arrived in 1879. Kabaka Mutesa allowed everyone religious freedom, and Bagandans with searching minds and hearts were drawn from the old oppressive paganism toward Islam or the preaching of the Gospel. The Kabaka himself was ambivalent, as he feared encroachment from both Arabs and emerging European colonial powers. He leaned toward one or another religion in turns, trying to play the Arabs, French, and English against one another to see who would best serve his political interests. Kabaka Mutesa was not a persecutor, but his political-religious intrigues ultimately led to the collapse of the Kingdom under his sons, and to great suffering for Bagandan Christians.

Meanwhile, (Joseph) Mukasa, born in 1860 in the Giant-Rat Clan, grew up tall, athletic, and intelligent among his extended family. Seemingly destined for prominence, he was sent to serve at the Kabaka’s court in 1874, where he distinguished himself and rapidly rose through the ranks, while also seeking religious truth. Faith in Jesus Christ came for Mukasa, as it did for so many in Buganda, through the grace of an encounter and the encouragement of friendship. After several years at court, Mukasa became friends with the new royal drummer Kaggwa (later Saint Andrew Kaggwa, another of the early martyrs). Kaggwa had met the remarkable Fr Lourdel, and was fascinated by his radiant Christian life. He convinced Mukasa to join him in the Catholic catechumenate. On April 30, 1882, Andrew Kaggwa and Joseph Mukasa were baptized by Fr Lourdel. They had long been busy bringing others to meet the Catholic missionaries, and so the Church grew from person-to-person.

Soon Joseph Mukasa had risen to the special rank of Kabaka Mutesa’s personal attendant, and he took care of the enigmatic Kabaka during the latter’s final illness and death in 1884. His son and successor Mwanga retained Joseph and respected him deeply, often seeking his advice on political questions. Kabaka Mwanga, however, was a man of unstable temperament and self indulgence. He soon turned against the Christians. Joseph Mukasa’s patient rebukes of the young ruler led to Mwanga’s condemning him to death. On November 15, 1885, Joseph Mukasa became Buganda’s first Catholic martyr at the beginning of the persecution and heroic witness of the other Uganda martyrs whose feast is collectively celebrated on June 3.

Jojo Graduates From High School!

Josefina Janaro got her high school diploma on Sunday afternoon after completing her course of studies and activities at the White Oaks School of the John XXIII Montessori Center. Hooray for Jojo!

She is one of the pioneers of this educational enterprise that my wife Eileen has participated in since its beginning in 2009, when the Center launched its program offering the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd together with Montessori academics for Primary and Elementary levels. All five of our kids carried out a significant portion of their education at John XXIII, but Jojo has the rare distinction of having accomplished the entire program. She began at the age of 3, and did Primary and Elementary and then continued through the Middle and Upper School levels of the Adolescent program which was added (as “White Oaks,” on a distinct part of the campus) in time for her to continue with this unique Integrated Catholic Montessori experience all the way to this graduation day.

When I began the “Never Give Up Blog” fifteen years ago, it was primarily about all five of the “kids” and the adventures of our family life. Jojo was the “baby” of the family, and her growing up was a source for many of the funniest anecdotes. Everything remains in the Blog archive and is still easily accessible.

I really can’t say that it “seems like only yesterday,” because in fact it seems like a long time ago. Life has changed a lot during these recent years. Jojo has changed the most of any of us during this time, and has become a lovely and outgoing young woman. We are very very proud of her.

Congratulations Jojo. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide your steps in days to come.

Leo's Encyclical: An Antidote to Cynicism and Despair

I finished Pope Leo's Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, but I will have to revisit, reread, and ruminate upon its various points and their implications, which move far beyond particularities about AI to address the whole posture of our society in relation to technology, material progress, the centrality of the dignity of the human person, and service to the common good.

I'm often tempted to cynicism, as I'm now well into my seventh decade living on this earth. The growth of material power and its possibilities had already reached enormous proportions before I was born, and that growth has expanded in marvelous and terrifying ways in my lifetime. In today's world, it seems like everything is gigantic, extreme, off-balance, too fast, dizzying, chaotic, and falling apart. So many people just can't "keep up" with this runaway train. They lose their grip. Many others never have a chance; they are casualties of the mania and callous indifference of the "culture of power." 

In my days I have experienced how hard life can be, how much of it is wasted in distraction, and how lonely we feel when we are forced to face our failures and seem to disintegrate from our own sufferings. Left to myself, I would certainly fall into cynicism, pessimism, and a mental breakdown far worse than any affliction I have ever faced before.

Instead, I look upon the world with a hopeful gaze, with confidence that it's possible to build up the good in this moment in history, to contribute to what Leo (like his predecessors) has called "the civilization of love." Even the material power that human beings have apparently unleashed wildly upon the world can be turned toward the service of truth and goodness and the freedom of persons living in communion. It is a challenge for all of us to grow, patiently and persistently, in wisdom and maturity. And I think that, as long as life is given to me, I can contribute to the fulfillment of this challenge.

If I have any hope for the present and the future, it is only because I know that I am not alone. We are not alone. Jesus is here. We are called to participate in His work of "redeeming the time" that has been entrusted to us. This is possible, and even joyful, when we follow Him and trust in Him.

The Pope explains this beautifully in the final pages of his text. Here I cite excerpts from sections 231-232:

“At the heart of everything is the mystery of the Incarnation, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. The flesh of the Son, poor and vulnerable, evokes the flesh of so many brothers and sisters stripped of their dignity and reduced to silence. Through the Lord’s closeness, the gift of peace enters into the world in a paradoxical way. It does so through the power to become children of God, and is awakened when we allow ourselves to be moved by the tears of the little ones, the fragility of the elderly, the silence of victims and the struggle of those who fight against the evil they do not wish to commit. In this wounded yet beloved flesh, the Father shows us the true humanity of a life fulfilled through openness and communion, which leads us to desire that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

“On the one hand, old and new ideologies alike urge humanity to overcome limitations through technology, and to rise above others by asserting dominance. Contrary to this, the mystery of the Son of God entering into our human condition promises something quite different. The living God descends into our history in order to free us from all forms of slavery. He takes upon himself our weakness and transforms it into a setting for salvation. There is no moment or human situation that is not worthy of God. 'According to the teaching of our faith, we have and adore, in our mysteries, a God who is born in a manger, a God who lives and travels in Judea, a God who dies on the cross, a dead God who lies in the tomb.' [footnote 210 cites 17th century Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle] The future of humanity, therefore, finds its standard in the ability to welcome this divine way of drawing near, of sharing the burden of the world, of transforming relationships from within. 'O wonder... man is God and this God-Man passes through all those stages, endures all those states and ennobles them, sanctifies them, deifies them in himself!' [footnote 211 cites Bérulle again] What saves humanity is the divine love that descends into the most fragile point of our history and renews it from within.”

~Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas 231-232

Pope Leo's Invitation to Ponder the "Grandeur of Humanity"

Pope Leo XIV has presented to the Church and to the whole world his much anticipated Encyclical Letter Magnifica Humanitas, wherein he addresses the dignity of the human person and the exigencies of human social life in relation to the vast, newly emerging "information technologies" — especially those that are commonly referred to as "artificial intelligence." From this context he also reflects on the larger contours of the uniquely interconnected global order of our time — with all its important possibilities and dangers — in the light of the Gospel's teaching on human persons created in the image of God and called to live in communion with God and one another.

Many summaries of this book-length Encyclical have already been presented on various media platforms, and quotations from it are already filling up the "meme-verse." Leo has gained the appreciation and attention of Christians and many other people of good will during the first year of his pontificate, and I hope that the present text will be widely taken up and studied carefully. I believe it's worth taking time to read and ponder the teachings of this Encyclical, which is intended to be formative for our understanding and the freedom by which we make decisions as we engage the world of rapidly changing and deeply immersive "environments" of technological development.

I intend to work on the Encyclical slowly and prayerfully, hoping to learn more clearly the ways to follow Jesus faithfully in these astonishing and sometimes-overwhelming circumstances of our times.

It's worth noting the foundation and legitimacy of the Church's "social doctrine," as Pope Leo expresses it early in the text. The Church does not exceed her competence when she addresses concrete temporal realities. Her purpose is not to reduce the Gospel to a partisan political force, but to understand every dimension of human life in light of the integral vocation of the human person:

"The Church, when faced with historical changes, exercises her right and duty to examine social realities, make pronouncements about them and indicate paths for finding just solutions. In this way, the perennial contents of the faith and ancient ecclesial wisdom find expression in a living doctrine that remains faithful to the Gospel while growing in response to the 'new things' of every era" (Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas 29).

Pentecost and "The Omnipotence of Love"

Come Holy Spirit! Happy and Blessed Solemnity of Pentecost.

Today we recall the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus gathered together in the upper room with the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day the Church was “born,” as the disciples were enlightened and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to the saving death and resurrection of Jesus through all the world. 

The icon presented here is from the Maronite Catholic Church, which continues the traditions of the ancient Church of Antioch. The Catholics who live in today’s Lebanon are Maronite. This icon was  “written” in Lebanon by Father Abdo Badawi. Lebanese Christians have suffered much over the past half century from the wars that divide the Middle East, including the present war. Numerous Christian villages in the south of Lebanon have been among those destroyed since the 2026 war began, and over a million people have become refugees.

Pope Leo reminds us today that the Holy Spirit brings peace and reconciliation by changing our hearts. The Spirit works not by the reckless schemes and indiscriminate destruction too often inflicted on the poor by worldly powers, but by “the omnipotence of love” that converts us and draws us to the Heart of Jesus.

"Dear friends, with fervent hearts, let us pray today that the Spirit of the risen One may save us from the evil of war, which is overcome not by a superpower, but by the omnipotence of love. Let us pray that he free humanity from misery, which is redeemed not by immeasurable wealth, but by an inexhaustible gift. Let us pray that he heal us from the scourge of sin through the salvation proclaimed to all peoples in the name of Jesus. This is the grace that instills courage in the Apostles; may he similarly instill it in us, today and always, through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church" (Pope Leo XIV, homily for Pentecost 2026).

The Light that “Shines” on the Troubles of Every Day

The Holy Spirit leads us ever more fully into the Heart of Jesus and the infinite mercy of the Father who loves us and sustains us through the whole of this mysterious life. We need God’s light — as we live through the obscurity and sufferings of every day — in order to begin to experience the joy of realizing that He is transforming our humanity and preparing us for the fulfillment of this life in eternity. Indeed, “everything is grace…” But that doesn’t mean that everything is easy.

Christianity is grace, but as we are often reminded, it is not “cheap grace.” It is not an escape from suffering. It does not dispense us from the need to strive to live a genuine human life, to be obedient to the wise and loving plan of God, or to struggle relentlessly against our own sins and selfishness by means of this grace that is given to transform us according to the measure of the crucified and risen Jesus. Since we are called (and enabled) to share in God’s own love, it is not surprising that our road in this world is narrow and often difficult. There are gifts of great beauty and strength and consolation that sustain us, but also challenges and twists and turns and afflictions beyond anything we expect or control by our own power.

Christianity does not provide “cheap answers” to the painful and troubling questions of our lives. It is not a guarantee against disappointment and failure, nor is it a pretext to compromise with mediocrity. It is not a place to hide from our own weakness.

Critics claim that people embrace faith because they want easy answers. They want a package of solutions to their problems and emotional comfort for their hurts and fears.

But this is not the effect of real Christianity. It is not an anesthetic. On the contrary, it opens new dimensions of the questions of the heart, and sparks a deeper dynamic of intelligence in the search for understanding. It awakens a unique sensibility to our own wounds and a compassion for the wounds of the world. It engenders a love that is the opposite of power and domination, a love that has the courage to be more vulnerable, to be poor and humble, to endure our own sufferings and to be with others in the places where they suffer.

Christianity is not a list of cheap answers that take away the real drama and vulnerability of human life. Christianity is a Person who loves us and endures our vulnerability to the very end, transforming it from within. The “answer” is the way Jesus embraces each of our lives. We are changed by living with Him.

We are not changed by a “satisfying explanation.” We are changed by Him.

Martyr Franz Jagerstatter’s Path to Mature Faith

Blessed Franz Jagerstatter is commemorated on May 21st.

An Austrian farmer, husband, father, and Nazi resistor, Franz Jagerstatter was beatified and declared a martyr in 2007 for being faithful to his conscience. He was executed in 1943 because his conscience forbade him to serve in the German army, to take an oath of obedience to Hitler, or to cooperate in any way in the Nazi war machine. He maintained his position even against the common opinion of the Catholic Church in Austria and Germany at that time (and numerous priests who tried thus to counsel him) that Catholics could fight for their country without endorsing or participating in the evil intentions of the Nazi regime. Franz never spoke against those who fought or the hierarchy who authorized them. Rather, he held himself accountable for the particular grace God had given him, the prophetic insight that solidified his conviction that the Nazi regime was antithetical to the Gospel and that its war of conquest and plunder was unjust.

But the early life of this Austrian peasant showed little signs of the luminous solitary heroism for which he is celebrated today. Franz was born in 1907 in the small Austrian village of Saint Radegund. After a basic education, he took up farming the land he would eventually inherit, and also took his place among the boisterous young men of the village. When they weren’t working, these fellows played cards, engaged in sports, danced, and got into fights among themselves or with the youth of neighboring villages. Above all, they sought the company of young women.

Franz was popular and had a bit of daring in those days. Like everyone in the area, he was a Catholic of ordinary observance, but by age 20 he was becoming restless. He lapsed from the practice of his faith for a while, went to work for wages in the iron mines in Eisenerz, and returned after three years riding his own motorcycle (a first for the village). Now back to church, and occasionally making pilgrimages to the nearby Marian shrine at Altotting, Franz had not entirely lost his “wild streak.” In 1933, he fathered a child with one of the local serving women. (Though he was unable to marry the mother, he remained attentive to his eldest daughter for the rest of his life.)

After this liaison, Franz realized that he wanted to commit to settling down on the farm and living his faith with more consistency. He realized that he needed a companion to share every aspect of life. On April 9, 1936 he married Franziska Schwaninger, a devout Catholic from Hochburg. There was some great grace, and some hidden beauty in this relationship that marked a radical transformation in his life.

After they returned from a honeymoon-pilgrimage in Rome, villagers noticed that he had changed. The lovable, fun, troublemaking youth had more than matured; he was going to weekday Masses and receiving communion frequently with his wife, studying the Bible, and developing firm convictions right around the time Austria “joined” Hitler’s “Greater Germany.”

Franz’s conversion to a deeper faith corresponded to the beginning of his refusal to capitulate to Hitler or participate in Nazi regime’s social program. It was the beginning of a witness that would ultimately separate him from his wife and daughters, his village, and his own life — so that he might remain faithful to Christ and attain eternal life.

Come Holy Spirit and Renew All Hearts

We live this liturgical week preparing for the great feast of Pentecost. What we as Christians celebrate and anticipate in these days symbolizes the truth of our journey in this world. We are called to live our whole lives trusting the promise of Jesus, following Him, listening to the Holy Spirit whom the Father has sent to “teach us all things,” opening our minds and hearts to grow toward the fullness of our vocation in union with the Risen and Glorified Jesus, as children of the Father and heirs to His Kingdom.

God pours out His love, freely creating each one of us, giving us to ourselves. Then, in an immeasurably greater gift, He chooses to give Himself to us in His Son, who took our human nature so that we might be raised up to share in the glory of His eternal life. Jesus seeks us out, finds us, carries us back to the road of God’s beautiful plan. Through our sin, death entered the world, but Jesus bore our sins on the Cross and conquered sin and death, revealing the immensity of God’s love for us — for each one of us and for every human person.

The Holy Spirit is at work in every human heart, in hidden and mysterious ways. The deepest truth about any person’s life is in the depths of this mystery, where the Spirit stirs the heart, summons the conscience, and empowers human freedom to turn to Jesus and His presence in His Church. Countless people are united to the Church by their fidelity to the “desire” the Holy Spirit places within their hearts even if they don’t know the Gospel “explicitly” or are honestly mistaken in their conscious minds about its meaning. In the secret realm of their hearts they say “Yes” to Christ’s love. Or perhaps they resist and wrestle with the God who continues to love them, offer them forgiveness, and may indeed win over their freedom in the end.

We Christians have been chosen to be instruments of the Lord, to bring the whole world to Him in our worship and to witness to His tremendous love given through Jesus Christ for everyone. We witness to the grace that is “already” at work in those who are ignorant about Him but seek Him with the Spirit-inspired, holy desire that mysteriously shapes them beyond the limits of their thoughts, and even those who run from His hidden calling but remain “troubled” by the longing of their unsatisfied hearts.

We don’t know the "hidden history" of the countless human hearts that are thus “touched” by the Lord. They are drawn, prompted, and stirred to seek His merciful love through the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit who draws every person to take up the road that leads to Jesus Christ. 

And those of us who are sustained by the fullness of the Risen Lord's enduring presence in His Church are empowered and equipped by the Holy Spirit to bear witness to Jesus and His redeeming love. He is center of the cosmos and of history. He is the meaning and destiny of every human person. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Come Holy Spirit, increase our love for Jesus and our confidence in you who work — in mysterious ways — to make Jesus known and loved by everyone. Work miracles of grace in our poor, suffering world.

Happy “Ascension Sunday”

HAPPY "ASCENSION SUNDAY"! Jesus, who knows that First-Worlders live in societies that worship work more than God, has decided (through the Church) to hold this "encore" liturgical celebration of Thursday's feast, so that we too might rejoice and remember to "seek the things that are above," where our ultimate home is, in the Kingdom of His Father. And, although a bit late to the "upper room," we too have time to await the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

It’s true. I'm not just being a wee bit "sarcastic" — God “bends down” to meet us, as our late Pope Francis used to say. It is God's Mercy that always brings us together! Our hearts are full of gratitude as we follow Jesus through the Communion of His Church, who makes "room" for us.

The image is an 11th century Byzantine icon.

Papa and the Granddaughters Having Fun

The littlest Janaros are growing “less little” all the time!

I’m grateful that they live close by and we get to see them on Sundays and during the week, that we get to be a regular part of their lives. They bring such a brightness to our house, an energy that reminds me of when this place was hoppin’ and boppin’ with kids (which doesn’t seem so long ago). Maria is now the same age as Jojo was when I started this blog, which is … amazing to me! Yet they are very much their own persons. Families are a great sign that every human person is unique and “given” by God, but also that we “belong” to one another in a communion of life which is the “environment” for the growth of love and freedom. We share in the great history of the human family which stretches long into the past and that continues to unfold under the goodness of God’s loving providence. 

God sees everyone within the interrelationship of this human history — especially those who are suffering, who are lonely, who are separated from their loved ones, who are in poverty and sickness, or are hindered or divided by violence, dysfunctional behaviors, addictions, or deep wounds inflicted on one another. Jesus our brother redeems and raises us up, brings forgiveness and opens up possibilities for “new beginnings,” and remains with us always within this history. And the Holy Spirit works through the Church and in the mysterious depths of the human heart of every person, so that the we might finally dwell together with the whole human family as transfigured persons in God’s own likeness within an eternal communion of presence and love with the Triune God and one another.

I’ll have to develop these meditations further on another day: they are the profound truth that makes real the activity of “Papa and the granddaughters having fun,” that gives it meaning and draws it into the joy that will never end. But Papa doesn’t get to think about it much when the grandchildren are here — instead he is summoned to read books and play with blocks and toys and games, or just listen to them as they begin to articulate their own experiences and questions and sense of humor.

I wanted to share a few recent pictures. The first set of two pictures below this text feature Papa with Anna. She is two-and-a-half years old, and is always excited to see Papa. Soon she toddles over with a stack of children’s books and says, “Read! Read!” In the next picture we see Maria, nearly five years old (!) helping her seven-month-old sister Catherine (Catie) with a bottle of Mom’s milk. Maria is very attentive to both her little sisters (usually) and she is already attending Montessori “Primary” School (ages 3-6) and flourishing there. We have begun to have real conversations, which is amazing! She is very bright, and also has “wit.” She seems to “get” my humor, and responds cleverly when I tease her.

Finally, my face squeezes in on a “triple selfie” with Maria and Catie (and some kind of stuffed animal). Baby Catie is growing! She reminds us of her father when he was her age. She’s happy and snuggly… when she’s not hungry, tired, crying, or just “kvetching” — as my mother used to say, because New York Italians picked up a bit of Yiddish in the old days from their Jewish neighbors. When I remember those old words (that were used to describe me as a little kid), it feels like my mother is close to me and our family.

We need the “closeness” of my Mom and Dad these days, in the mystery of the “communion of saints” that sustains human bonds of love even as it transforms them. As the “Virginia Janaros” face together a new and difficult trial of one among them (many of you know about this — please keep praying — but at the appropriate time I’ll probably write about it here). Things are stable for now, and there is a plan.

As for myself, I’m finding peace, and — for the time being — a bit of improvement in health. The grandchildren are a very good “medicine,” even if I’m worn out by the end of their visits. It’s a “good kind” of worn out. I have explained a little to Maria about my ailments (why I use a cane to walk, and other chronic problems that she is already sharp enough to notice). She doesn’t quite understand. One time she said, “Don’t worry, Papa. It’s not because you’re sick. It’s just that you’re very very very very OLD!” Ha! The white beard contributes to that perception, I’m sure.

Catie has reached the age where she loves to grab the beard and pull on it! Ouch!! She’s got a good grip.🙂 (see picture above).

“Be Artisans of True Peace”

Pope Leo visited and spoke at Rome’s Public University La Sapienza on May 14. Post from @pontifex Instagram account.

Peonies and Buttercups

Here are some typical “May Flowers” around here. Peonies are large, and found mostly in gardens and hedges. Buttercups are tiny and are found everywhere.

Remembering the Blood of Saint John Paul II

Forty-five years ago today! May 13, 1981.

I was 18-years-old. It still brings a lump to my throat. We prayed and we watched the TV News updates. Time seemed to freeze in those hours, as we wondered, "Would John Paul II live?" Thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary for saving his life that day. She knew how much the Church and the world needed him!

And, of course, it was the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, who would be for all time linked to this epoch-defining papacy and the world-shaking historical events that were soon to happen. 

On that fateful spring day in 1981, however, none of us imagined that the liberation of Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union would all happen within a little more than a decade. In 1981 the Iron Curtain seemed like a permanent fixture of political geography (although the rise of Solidarity in John Paul’s native Poland was a glimmer of hope). Indeed, the failed assassin was likely hired by agents from behind the Iron Curtain.

In those days, Mary’s promise of “the conversion of Russia” was an object of prayer and inconceivable aspiration. Although something new began for Russia in 1992, it has turned out to be a long and painful road full of dangers, suffering for the people and their neighbors (especially Ukraine), and violent dreams among those who grasped power in the ensuing decades. 

But there are reasons for hope. Some Russians have glimpsed the “Promised Land,” the Beautiful Russia of the future, and have shared their vision with their compatriots and the world. Alexei Navalny saw it and gave his life for it — not, however, without beginning to build a new road and to exemplify the journey through the awakening of his own Christian faith.

As we pray for peace, let’s not forget to pray for the conversion of Russia, a land so dear to the Heart of the Mother of God and her Son.

Pope Leo XIV marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination attempt of Saint John Paul II by stopping in Saint Peter’s Square to pray at the stone which marks the place where his predecessor shed his blood on that day.

Through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, may Jesus draw all people to Himself, and grant peace to our poor world.

“Go and Bear Fruit that Will Remain”

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another” (John 15:15-17).

Christina Grimmie's "Media Revolution" Lives On

Yesterday marked nine years and eleven months since the phenomenal young singer, songwriter, and musician Christina Grimmie was murdered by a deranged man after a concert in Orlando, Florida. He then turned his gun on himself, leaving behind no clear indication of a motive or anything to suggest the tortured thought process that led him to the concert that night armed with two Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistols, two rounds of replacement ammunition, and a hunting knife. He had more than enough to carry out a mass shooting, but Christina was, apparently, his primary target. The evil in this tragedy is clouded in obscurity. Several TV "true crime" shows have tried to speculate on the details based on hearsay (regarding his internet-based obsession with Christina Grimmie) and the theories of psychiatrists about stalkers and shooters and the dangers of being a "celebrity." Marcus Grimmie, Christina's brother and guitarist, said they had never seen the man before. Nor was there any evidence of (or warning signs from) anyone treating Christina strangely or harassing or threatening her through comments or interactions on the internet. From the point of view of the shooter, very little is really known of his dark and sad story.

Yet the darkness of this lethal aggression was inches away from the shining light of a gratuitous love. Christina was shot once in the head and twice in the chest at point blank range. In the end, this violence needed no clever strategy to find its target. She came forward with arms wide open, ready to offer a welcoming hug at her meet-and-greet to an approaching man who seemed troubled and shy. It was clear that she didn't know him, but there were always new people at her concerts who had watched and heard her sing on YouTube and on television in the Spring 2014 season of The Voice. They had experienced the warmth and encouragement and personal affirmation that Christina offered through her presence on the internet.

Christina wanted to meet all of these people. Her meet-and-greets were not reserved for VIPs and they didn't cost money. She and Marcus would stay at the venue until she met everyone who wanted to meet her, and she took time to listen to their stories and encourage them one-on-one, face-to-face. She called her fans "frands" (friend-fans) which might sound naive, overly sentimental or even false if someone else did it, but — for some reason — it was totally authentic and real coming from Christina. Her capacity to "connect with" young people all over the world through YouTube and her other social media platforms was (and still is) utterly unique.

She had a gift for making “virtual” communication into something real. Her music stood out, of course. Nevertheless, what she did went beyond the expression of her own musical talent. But her wider “influence” is hard to explain. Christina's personal approach in videos and livestreams had nothing flashy or obviously special about it. She was a normal kid and then a young adult — goofy, funny, sometimes awkward (but with a wonderful sense of humor about herself), passionate about her music, boy-crazy, chocolate-loving, full of life — but there was nothing about her that would strike a casual watcher as extraordinary. She had no "influencer tricks," no weird cultish "charisma," no emotionally manipulative techniques. Yet she gained an enormous YouTube following long before the "influencer culture" took off. Her channel exceeded three million subscribers and her videos were viewed by tens of millions of people all over the world. (Today, the most prominent “Team Grimmie” Facebook Group has members from 99 different countries!) 

Christina never endorsed or sold corporate products in her videos (no one did in those days). She promoted her concerts and her recorded music on iTunes, but in her own inimitable way. She wanted to share her music, so she let people know what was available or happening. She certainly had an earnest enthusiasm for her live shows and recorded music, but when she promoted them she usually mixed in some goofy humor, self-parody, and funny or ironic facial expressions. Then she would have a good laugh at herself, with the awareness that she was “laughing with” the hundreds of thousands (sometimes millions) of people “watching” on the other side of the screen. She was, after all, someone who gave away for free so much of her incredible musical talent through her weekly videos posted to her YouTube channel. She also asked her frands to vote for her in contests, and was effusive with gratitude when she won many of those contests. She drew the people who supported her music into a kind of “collaboration” with her in her efforts to build her music career. And she shared her success as if it belonged to everyone in “Team Grimmie.” She saw them as playing an essential part in a common musical and media endeavor, even though her amazing voice was uniquely her own, pouring out from her overflowing heart.

I can't explain the deep humanity of her media presence. It doesn't necessarily strike one immediately, and indeed it is easy to miss it if one isn't paying attention. It penetrates the flow of adolescent (and later young adult) chatter, with all its jokes and “free association” — the kind of talk that older adults tend to ignore. But this powerful humanity is real. There is a gentle, unobtrusive but profoundly attractive goodness that pervades her conversation, her gestures, her gaze, and the whole way she “carries herself.”

At some point in the course of watching her videos, one begins to realize that, for Christina, the person on the other side of the screen matters more to her than her own ego. She has a strong personality, but it always expresses itself as giving and as receiving-with-gratitude. Christina’s YouTube videos are a treasure the likes of which will never be repeated; they are an important part of her own legacy, and also a piece of the history of media from which we still have much to learn even as the current technology continues to develop. Christina employed media in pioneering ways in the 2010s, but without losing the sense of her own human personhood or of the human persons she sought to engage. Her media presence "opened up a space" where young people (including lonely, troubled young people, and also people of all ages from all over the world) felt welcomed, engaged, and appreciated.

There are a few notable consistencies: Christina never spoke badly about anyone. She never used coarse language. Occasionally — with utter sincerity and without any agenda — she would make reference to the fact that she lived her whole life for Jesus Christ, that she loved Him, that everything was for Jesus. No sermons. When she said it, she was making reference to a fact and to a Someone who was as real to her as her mother or father. She didn't talk much about Jesus (and never artificially) but her relationship with Him was evident by the way she treated everyone else.

Christina loved her frands. Of course, every performer says that about their fans (usually sincerely). But Christina was singularly and ardently devoted to her frands. She poured herself out for them, to inspire them, mentor them, affirm their dignity, encourage them to live generously. She gave her time and attention (online and in person) to those who reached out to her. But there was nothing emotionally unbalanced about her efforts to care for her frands. She wasn't seeking self-validation by trying to get young people to feel like they needed her. Rather she was a wellspring of attentiveness and gratitude for everyone, even while she had her own focus on the work of developing and sharing her special musical talent. She was full of freshness and a sense of wonder, as if she were on an adventure toward something greater than herself and she wanted to bring everyone with her. The only way I can think of to express this is to say that she was living her life as a vocation. People enjoyed the amazing music, the fun, the youthful vitality, the goofiness, and her unique integration of wise innocence and badassery that made her compassionate toward people and bold in front of every challenge she faced. And while she never "pushed religion," she made no secret of the One she loved and sought in her singing, her relationships, her aspirations, her frands... in everything.

I have been studying communications media technology for nearly 20 years. I have watched more videos than I can remember and pondered extensively the philosophical implications of how media technology facilitates and/or hinders human interaction; and — more fundamentally — I have tried to understand what kinds of encounters take place through media, especially two-way audiovisual communications media. I have written a few tentative pieces on the subject, but it's all changing so quickly that it's difficult to "stay current" with the particulars of rapid and ongoing technological expansion.

One thing hasn't changed: I have still never seen anything like Christina Grimmie.

Part of that, of course, is that she had what was arguably the greatest singing voice of her generation, combined with a remarkable musical creativity. But it was more than that. It was this mysterious love, giving herself with a persistence that "mastered" the medium and shaped it to her message, which was that every person is unique, precious, and worthy of love. And she risked her love — on the screen, on stage, and in meeting people. Every person was welcomed, even — finally — the terribly disturbed young man who (unknown to her) was hiding two guns under his jacket.

Over the past ten years, many people have continued to discover her through the legacy of her videos and her music. These "gifts of herself" remain, and they continue to astonish us, inspire us, make us laugh, and weep. She still moves our hearts and reminds us what it means to be human. She still helps us to keep going. And now — ten years later — she inspires us to dare to believe with a stronger confidence and conviction that there is something greater than the "sting" of death.