Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

August 15 The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Gospel: Luke 1:39-56   Today's Gospel: Luke 1:39-56 (Mary Visits Elizabeth) During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?   For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.   Blessed are you who believed  that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Reflection: That's who the Church lifts up into heaven today, body and soul, a young woman who said yes and then ran to go be useful. Not someone who floated above the world. Someone who wa...

August 14 Saint Maximilian Kolbe Priest and Martyr Gospel: Matthew 19:3-12 Today's Gospel: Matthew 19:3-12 (God Has Joined Together) And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So, they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery." The disciples said to h...

August 13 Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs Gospel: Matthew 18:21 – 19:1 Today's Gospel: Matthew 18:21 - 19:1 (Parable of the Unforgiving Servant) Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So, the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, `Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.  But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fe...

August 12 Saint Jane Frances  de Chantal Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 Today's Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 (A Brother Who Sins) “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If you are listened to, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Reflection: Jane Frances de Chantal was a wealt...

August 11 Saint Clare, Virgin Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 Today's Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 (The Parable of the Lost Sheep) At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more tha...

  August 10 St. Lawrence, Martyr Gospel: John 12:24-26 Today's Gospel: John 12:24-26 (Whoever Loves His Life Will Lose It) Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. Reflection: Saint Lawrence was a deacon in Rome charged with caring for the Church's poor. When the prefect demanded he hand over the Church's treasures, Lawrence gathered the poor, the sick, and the suffering he'd been serving and presented them, saying these were the true treasures of the Church. For that, tradition holds he was martyred by being roasted on a gridiron, and legend says that in the middle of it, he told his executioners to turn him over, because he...

  August 9 Jesus Walks on the Water Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33   Today's Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33 (Jesus Walks on the Water) Immediately he made the disciples get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.   And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So, Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frigh...

  August 8 Saint Dominic, Priest Gospel: Matthew 17:14-20 Today's Gospel: Matthew 17:14-20 (Jesus Cures a Boy with a Demon) When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has epilepsy and suffers terribly; he often falls into the fire and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” Reflection: The disciples...

  August 7 Jesus’s Hour is Coming Saint Sixtus II and Companions, Martyrs and Saint Cajetan, Priest Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28   Today's Gospel: Matthew 16:24-28 (Jesus’s Hour is Coming) Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.   Reflection: Pope Sixtus II was martyred in the year 258, killed with several of his deacons while he was actually celebrating Mass in the catacombs. He didn't run. He didn't scatter his people and hide alone. He kept doing the one thing he was ordained to do, right up until soldiers cut it short. Saint Cajetan, centuries later, gave up a comfortable legal career to found a religious order and trust God f...