Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church

Have you ever wished you could cast a vote in the conclave to elect the next pope, even though you’re not a cardinal? Do you know that you can still participate in this sacred process through the power of prayer? When you earnestly pray to the Holy Spirit to guide the cardinals in selecting a […]

Vatican City, May 4, 2025 / 20:28 pm (CNA).

Editor’s Note: On May 4, 2025, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, the former prefect of the prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, delivered the following homily during the ninth day of Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis. The text below is a CNA working translation of the Italian original published by the Vatican.

Venerable cardinal fathers, dear brothers in the episcopate and in the priesthood, dear brothers and sisters:

The Liturgy of the Word of this last Novendial in suffrage of Pope Francis is that of the third Sunday of Easter, and the passage from John’s Gospel just proclaimed represents the encounter of the resurrected Jesus with some apostles and disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, which ends with the mission entrusted to Peter by the Lord and Jesus’ command, “Follow me!”

The episode is reminiscent of that of the first miraculous fishing, recounted by Luke, when Jesus had called Simon, James, and John, announcing to Simon that he would become a fisher of men. Since that time, Peter had followed him, sometimes in misunderstanding and even in betrayal, but in today’s encounter, the last before Christ’s return to the Father, Peter receives from him the task of shepherding his flock.

Love is the key word of this Gospel passage. The first to recognize Jesus is “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” John, who exclaims: “It is the Lord!” and Peter immediately throws himself into the sea to join the Master. After they had shared the food, which will have kindled in the hearts of the Apostles the memory of the Last Supper, the dialogue between Jesus and Peter begins, the threefold question of the Lord and Peter’s threefold response.

The first two times, Jesus adopts the verb to love, a strong word, while Peter, mindful of the betrayal, responds with the less demanding expression “to care,” and the third time Jesus stresses the expression to care, adjusting to the Apostle’s weakness. Pope Benedict XVI noted in commenting on this dialogue: “Simon understands that Jesus is satisfied with his poor love, the only one of which he is capable. ... It is precisely this divine adjustment that gives hope to the disciple, who has recognized the suffering of infidelity. ... From that day on, Peter “followed” the Master with a precise awareness of his own fragility; but this awareness did not discourage him. For he knew that he could count on the presence of the Risen One beside him ... and so he shows us the way as well” (General audience, May 24, 2006).

In his homily at the Mass for the 25th anniversary of his pontificate, St. John Paul II confirmed: “Today, dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to share with you an experience that has been going on now for a quarter of a century. Every day the same dialogue between Jesus and Peter takes place within my heart. In the spirit, I stare at the benevolent gaze of the risen Christ. He, though aware of my human frailty, encourages me to respond with confidence like Peter: ‘Lord,you know everything; you know that I love you’ (Jn 21:17). And then he invites me to assume the responsibilities that he himself has entrusted to me” (Homily, Oct. 16, 2003).

This mission is love itself, which becomes service to the Church and to all humanity. Peter and the Apostles assumed it immediately, by the power of the Spirit they had received at Pentecost, as we heard in the first reading: “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God raised him to his right hand, as head and Savior.”

We have all admired how much Pope Francis, animated by the Lord’s love and carried by his grace, has been faithful to his mission to the utmost consumption of his strength. He has reminded the powerful that we must obey God rather than men and proclaimed to all humanity the joy of the Gospel, the merciful Father, Christ the savior. He did this in his magisterium, in his travels, in his gestures, in his lifestyle. I was close to him on Easter Day, at the loggia of blessings in this basilica, witnessing his suffering but above all his courage and determination to serve the people of God to the end.

In the second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, we heard the praise that the whole universe gives to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb: “Praise, honor, glory and power, throughout the ages. And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen.’ And the elders prostrated themselves in worship.”

Adoration is an essential dimension of the Church’s mission and the lives of the faithful. Pope Francis often recalled this, as for example in his homily for the Feast of the Epiphany last year: “The Magi had their hearts prostrated in adoration. ... They came to Bethlehem and, when they saw the Child, 'they prostrated themselves and adored him' (Mt 2:11). ... A king who came to serve us, aGod who became man. Before this mystery, we are called to bow our hearts and knees to worship: to worship the God who comes in littleness, who inhabits the normality of our homes, who dies out of love. ... Brothers and sisters, we have lost the habit of worship, we have lost this capacity that gives us adoration. Let us rediscover the taste of the prayer of adoration. ... There is a lack of adoration among us today” (Homily, Jan. 6, 2024).

This capacity that gives adoration was not difficult to recognize in Pope Francis. His intense pastoral life, his countless meetings, were grounded in the long moments of prayer that the Ignatian discipline had imprinted in him. Many times he reminded us that contemplation is “a dynamism of love” that “elevates us to God not to detach us from the earth, but to make us inhabit it in profundity” (Audience to the Delegates of the Discalced Carmelites, April 18, 2024). And everything he did, he did under the gaze of Mary. There will remain in our memory and in our hearts his 126 stops before the “Salus Populi Romani.” And now that he rests at the beloved image, we entrust him with gratitude and confidence to the intercession of the mother of the Lord and our mother.

Vatican City, May 4, 2025 / 20:28 pm (CNA).

Editor’s Note: On May 4, 2025, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, the former prefect of the prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, delivered the following homily during the ninth day of Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis. The text below is a CNA working translation of the Italian original published by the Vatican.

Venerable cardinal fathers, dear brothers in the episcopate and in the priesthood, dear brothers and sisters:

The Liturgy of the Word of this last Novendial in suffrage of Pope Francis is that of the third Sunday of Easter, and the passage from John’s Gospel just proclaimed represents the encounter of the resurrected Jesus with some apostles and disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, which ends with the mission entrusted to Peter by the Lord and Jesus’ command, “Follow me!”

The episode is reminiscent of that of the first miraculous fishing, recounted by Luke, when Jesus had called Simon, James, and John, announcing to Simon that he would become a fisher of men. Since that time, Peter had followed him, sometimes in misunderstanding and even in betrayal, but in today’s encounter, the last before Christ’s return to the Father, Peter receives from him the task of shepherding his flock.

Love is the key word of this Gospel passage. The first to recognize Jesus is “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” John, who exclaims: “It is the Lord!” and Peter immediately throws himself into the sea to join the Master. After they had shared the food, which will have kindled in the hearts of the Apostles the memory of the Last Supper, the dialogue between Jesus and Peter begins, the threefold question of the Lord and Peter’s threefold response.

The first two times, Jesus adopts the verb to love, a strong word, while Peter, mindful of the betrayal, responds with the less demanding expression “to care,” and the third time Jesus stresses the expression to care, adjusting to the Apostle’s weakness. Pope Benedict XVI noted in commenting on this dialogue: “Simon understands that Jesus is satisfied with his poor love, the only one of which he is capable. ... It is precisely this divine adjustment that gives hope to the disciple, who has recognized the suffering of infidelity. ... From that day on, Peter “followed” the Master with a precise awareness of his own fragility; but this awareness did not discourage him. For he knew that he could count on the presence of the Risen One beside him ... and so he shows us the way as well” (General audience, May 24, 2006).

In his homily at the Mass for the 25th anniversary of his pontificate, St. John Paul II confirmed: “Today, dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to share with you an experience that has been going on now for a quarter of a century. Every day the same dialogue between Jesus and Peter takes place within my heart. In the spirit, I stare at the benevolent gaze of the risen Christ. He, though aware of my human frailty, encourages me to respond with confidence like Peter: ‘Lord,you know everything; you know that I love you’ (Jn 21:17). And then he invites me to assume the responsibilities that he himself has entrusted to me” (Homily, Oct. 16, 2003).

This mission is love itself, which becomes service to the Church and to all humanity. Peter and the Apostles assumed it immediately, by the power of the Spirit they had received at Pentecost, as we heard in the first reading: “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God raised him to his right hand, as head and Savior.”

We have all admired how much Pope Francis, animated by the Lord’s love and carried by his grace, has been faithful to his mission to the utmost consumption of his strength. He has reminded the powerful that we must obey God rather than men and proclaimed to all humanity the joy of the Gospel, the merciful Father, Christ the savior. He did this in his magisterium, in his travels, in his gestures, in his lifestyle. I was close to him on Easter Day, at the loggia of blessings in this basilica, witnessing his suffering but above all his courage and determination to serve the people of God to the end.

In the second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, we heard the praise that the whole universe gives to the One who sits on the throne and to the Lamb: “Praise, honor, glory and power, throughout the ages. And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen.’ And the elders prostrated themselves in worship.”

Adoration is an essential dimension of the Church’s mission and the lives of the faithful. Pope Francis often recalled this, as for example in his homily for the Feast of the Epiphany last year: “The Magi had their hearts prostrated in adoration. ... They came to Bethlehem and, when they saw the Child, 'they prostrated themselves and adored him' (Mt 2:11). ... A king who came to serve us, aGod who became man. Before this mystery, we are called to bow our hearts and knees to worship: to worship the God who comes in littleness, who inhabits the normality of our homes, who dies out of love. ... Brothers and sisters, we have lost the habit of worship, we have lost this capacity that gives us adoration. Let us rediscover the taste of the prayer of adoration. ... There is a lack of adoration among us today” (Homily, Jan. 6, 2024).

This capacity that gives adoration was not difficult to recognize in Pope Francis. His intense pastoral life, his countless meetings, were grounded in the long moments of prayer that the Ignatian discipline had imprinted in him. Many times he reminded us that contemplation is “a dynamism of love” that “elevates us to God not to detach us from the earth, but to make us inhabit it in profundity” (Audience to the Delegates of the Discalced Carmelites, April 18, 2024). And everything he did, he did under the gaze of Mary. There will remain in our memory and in our hearts his 126 stops before the “Salus Populi Romani.” And now that he rests at the beloved image, we entrust him with gratitude and confidence to the intercession of the mother of the Lord and our mother.

Marjorie Rawlings’ The Yearling was America’s best-selling novel in 1938, selling over 250,000 copies and winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction a year later. While unfortunately I never read it as a kid, I recently had the opportunity to do so while teaching 6th Grade Literature at Ambleside School in McLean, VA. Amidst the Easter […]

One spring, the Northeast region of the United States was offered a glimpse of a solar light display rarely seen in this area. The Aurora Borealis was able to be viewed as far south as Washington, D.C. It was a scientific wonder and an astronomical marvel. But perhaps it was even more than that; perhaps, […]

CNA Newsroom, May 4, 2025 / 20:07 pm (CNA).

The conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.

Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:

CNA Newsroom, May 4, 2025 / 20:07 pm (CNA).

The conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.

Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:

St. Angelus was born in Jerusalem around 1185 to a Jewish family that converted to Christianity. Drawn to a life of prayer and sacrifice, he entered the Carmelite Order at Mount Carmel, where he lived as a hermit devoted to contemplation and service. Later, sensing a call to active ministry, he traveled to Sicily to […]

Vatican City, May 4, 2025 / 19:58 pm (CNA).

On the ninth and final day of Novendiales, the nine days of mourning for Pope Francis, French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti reflected on the papal mission to love and serve Christ and his Church.

The mission of a pope “is love itself, which becomes service to the Church and to all humanity,” the cardinal said in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Mass for the ninth and last of the Novendiales was celebrated for the third Sunday of Easter.

In his homily, Mamberti, who was the prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s final court of appeal, since 2014, spoke about the day’s Gospel passage, in which Jesus asks St. Peter three times if he loves him, calling on him to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep.”

“Love is the key word of this Gospel passage,” Mamberti said. “The first to recognize Jesus is ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved,’ John.”

In the dialogue between Jesus and Peter, Jesus uses “the verb to love, a strong word, while Peter, mindful of the betrayal responds with the less demanding expression, ‘to care,’ and the third time Jesus himself uses the expression to care, adjusting to the apostle’s weakness,” the cardinal said.

Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Mamberti noted that although Peter knew that Jesus was satisfied with his “‘poor love, the only one of which he [was] capable. ... It is precisely this divine adjustment that gives hope to the disciple.’”

From that point on, Peter followed the Lord with a keen awareness of his own fragility but was not discouraged, Mamberti said, knowing that the Lord was beside him.

Mamberti then quoted St. John Paul II, who said regarding the Gospel passage that “every day the same dialogue between Jesus and Peter takes place within my heart. He, though aware of my human frailty, encourages me to respond with confidence like Peter: ‘Lord,you know everything; you know that I love you’ (Jn 21:17).”

“We have all admired how much Pope Francis, animated by the Lord’s love and carried by his grace, has been faithful to his mission to the utmost consumption of his strength,” Mamberti continued.

Alluding to the first reading of the day from the Acts of the Apostles, Mamberti said Pope Francis “has reminded the powerful that we must obey God rather than men and proclaimed to all humanity the joy of the Gospel, the merciful Father, Christ the savior. He did this in his magisterium, in his travels, in his gestures, in his lifestyle.”

The cardinal recalled how he was close to Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, April 20, as the Holy Father gave his final “urbi et orbi” blessing before the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, one day before he passed away.

Mamberti said he witnessed Pope Francis’ “suffering but above all his courage and determination to serve the people of God to the end.”

Noting that adoration is “an essential dimension of the Church’s mission and the lives of the faithful,” Mamberti observed that “this capacity that gives adoration was not difficult to recognize in Pope Francis.”

“His intense pastoral life, his countless meetings, were grounded in the long moments of prayer that the Ignatian discipline had imprinted in him,” he said.

Everything Francis did, Mamberti said, “he did under the gaze of Mary,” recalling the 126 times the late pope visited the “Salus Populi Romani” icon in the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray.

“And now that he rests at the beloved image,” Mamberti said, “we entrust him with gratitude and confidence to the intercession of the mother of the Lord and our mother.”

Vatican City, May 4, 2025 / 19:58 pm (CNA).

On the ninth and final day of Novendiales, the nine days of mourning for Pope Francis, French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti reflected on the papal mission to love and serve Christ and his Church.

The mission of a pope “is love itself, which becomes service to the Church and to all humanity,” the cardinal said in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Mass for the ninth and last of the Novendiales was celebrated for the third Sunday of Easter.

In his homily, Mamberti, who was the prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican’s final court of appeal, since 2014, spoke about the day’s Gospel passage, in which Jesus asks St. Peter three times if he loves him, calling on him to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep.”

“Love is the key word of this Gospel passage,” Mamberti said. “The first to recognize Jesus is ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved,’ John.”

In the dialogue between Jesus and Peter, Jesus uses “the verb to love, a strong word, while Peter, mindful of the betrayal responds with the less demanding expression, ‘to care,’ and the third time Jesus himself uses the expression to care, adjusting to the apostle’s weakness,” the cardinal said.

Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Mamberti noted that although Peter knew that Jesus was satisfied with his “‘poor love, the only one of which he [was] capable. ... It is precisely this divine adjustment that gives hope to the disciple.’”

From that point on, Peter followed the Lord with a keen awareness of his own fragility but was not discouraged, Mamberti said, knowing that the Lord was beside him.

Mamberti then quoted St. John Paul II, who said regarding the Gospel passage that “every day the same dialogue between Jesus and Peter takes place within my heart. He, though aware of my human frailty, encourages me to respond with confidence like Peter: ‘Lord,you know everything; you know that I love you’ (Jn 21:17).”

“We have all admired how much Pope Francis, animated by the Lord’s love and carried by his grace, has been faithful to his mission to the utmost consumption of his strength,” Mamberti continued.

Alluding to the first reading of the day from the Acts of the Apostles, Mamberti said Pope Francis “has reminded the powerful that we must obey God rather than men and proclaimed to all humanity the joy of the Gospel, the merciful Father, Christ the savior. He did this in his magisterium, in his travels, in his gestures, in his lifestyle.”

The cardinal recalled how he was close to Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, April 20, as the Holy Father gave his final “urbi et orbi” blessing before the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square, one day before he passed away.

Mamberti said he witnessed Pope Francis’ “suffering but above all his courage and determination to serve the people of God to the end.”

Noting that adoration is “an essential dimension of the Church’s mission and the lives of the faithful,” Mamberti observed that “this capacity that gives adoration was not difficult to recognize in Pope Francis.”

“His intense pastoral life, his countless meetings, were grounded in the long moments of prayer that the Ignatian discipline had imprinted in him,” he said.

Everything Francis did, Mamberti said, “he did under the gaze of Mary,” recalling the 126 times the late pope visited the “Salus Populi Romani” icon in the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray.

“And now that he rests at the beloved image,” Mamberti said, “we entrust him with gratitude and confidence to the intercession of the mother of the Lord and our mother.”