**Salve Regina**

        450 people from 33 countries blend together to hail the Holy Queen.

**Know Our Heavenly Mother**

        This is Bishop Barron's Mother's Day message on Mother Mary. It should clear up any misunderstandings many non-Catholics hold about her. She is the greatest saint, God's most obedient daughter, and our Holy Mother in heaven!

***Power of the Cross***

        Here is Bishop Barron's inspiring speech on the Cross (ends at 14:16, before the presenter's comments).

***Fundamental Realization**

        While praying to the heavenly Father, I realized that he truly created me and is my Father! He is the dearest person to me, and I am now his forevermore! This has brought me immense comfort and unspeakable joy.

***How to Know the Spirit Is in You***

        In today's First Reading from Acts 8, when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God and been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, Peter and John went down and prayed for them. They laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel Reading from John 14, Jesus told his disciples that he would ask the Father to give them another Advocate to be with them always—the Spirit of truth. In the past, I asked the Lord how I would know that the Holy Spirit indeed dwelled in me. Now I can tell you that you will know when he is dwelling in you. Here are some of the telling signs: (1) You love and yearn for the Lord. (2) You wish salvation for all people. (3) You detest all sin to the extreme. (4) You know the Lord's will for you. Seek to attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist, and you are in union with the Spirit as well.

***Heavenly Grace**

        Today's Gospel Acclamation is based on what Jesus said in John 14:23—"Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." If we truly love Jesus, naturally we shall keep his word, for we want to do everything to please him. Then both the Father and he will come to dwell with us, and we get to know them intimately. What a heavenly grace!

**Serving the Lord*

        In today's Second Reading from 1 Peter 3, I read: "For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil." So, as followers of Christ, we must always do good for God's glory and not be concerned about consequences.

***True Freedom**

        While we have freedom of speech in America, many often abuse that privilege. This freedom often leads to the false belief that one can do whatever they like without accountability. The truth is that if you are not free from sin, you are not truly free! "Never die in sin" should be our motto, for the wages of sin is eternal enslavement.

**To Whom Do You Belong?**

        In today's Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus says to his disciples: "If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you." It is clear that if the world loves you, you belong to it. And it is also clear that if the world hates you, it is because Christ has chosen you!

**Source of Our Joy**

        Here is today's Response from Psalm 100: "Let all the earth cry out to God with joy." Do you know that God is the source of boundless joy, and that this joy can set us free, completely transforming us? His joy is a heavenly gift that the Lord plants in our hearts, delighting the soul. Experiencing this joy alone is reason enough to entrust ourselves to Christ our Savior!

**Our Little Resurrection*

        Today's Entrance Antiphon, Colossians 2:12, reads: "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead." Since we died and rose with Christ, we can now live to be like him.

***To Be like Jesus*

        This is today's Gospel reading from John 15: Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." So if we keep his commandments and remain in his love, we shall be like him, keeping the Father's commandments and remaining in his love! Having our joy made complete is a beautiful way of describing our state when we remain in Christ's love.  

*****The Greatest Miracle of the Sun*****

        While the Shroud of Turin I just posted is an amazing miracle, this amazing Miracle of the Sun took place at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. Over 70,000 people witnessed it, and many newspapers reported it. Even if you are already familiar with the Fatima story, it should be interesting to see how this event affected a famous atheist journalist at the time. I am here mainly to present the miracle, not the prophetic messages on salvation, the end of World War I, the threat of Communism, and the future of the Church which Our Lady of Fatima revealed to the three shepherd children, and which have been or are being fulfilled.

*****The Shroud of Turin*****

        Whether you already know about the Shroud of Turin or not, you must watch this video, as the findings are most amazing! It has been studied since 1898, with serious scientific investigation beginning in 1978 and continuing to this day. When I first saw the image on that cloth, I knew it was the burial cloth of the Lord. While many scientists hope to prove it a forgery, this video presents the latest findings. To me, this is solid proof that Jesus was crucified, rose from the dead, and is our God. If you still do not believe, then God help you!

**A Test Question

        The world is divided into two groups: the faithful, who will go to heaven, and the unfaithful (including the most evil), who will not. If you are faithful and believe that God is merciful, would you be happy with this, or would you pray that all the unfaithful also go to heaven?

**How to Bear Fruit**

        In today’s Gospel reading from John 15, Jesus says to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every branch that does, he prunes so that it bears more fruit." The Father prunes us when we encounter anything trying or unpleasant. If we accept these trials without reservation, we will bear much fruit. The Lord continues: "Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing." Are you connected to Jesus like a branch to the vine? If not, you cannot bear fruit.

*****Call to Seek Union with God*****

        When the Lord was on earth, he answered all our questions truthfully. Now that we are on our own, we often interpret his messages to suit our own liking, leading to dissension among us. Therefore, we must seek union with the Lord through the Holy Eucharist, a necessity that applies even more so to the Church hierarchy. Only by knowing the Lord's ways and thoughts in our hearts can we remain fully in him and adhere to the truth.

***Our Goal Is Heaven***

        Fr. Chad Ripperger is a well-known Catholic priest, theologian, and exorcist. Because of his encounters with demons in his work, he seems to know a lot about heaven and hell. I watched his talk on hell—believe me, what you learn will make you believe in the God of Christ fast. Of course, you should really believe because God loves you in the first place. Here is Fr. Ripperger's short talk on heaven. I learned that the joy you receive in heaven is proportional to how much you love him on earth. This made sense to me. A holy person on earth will experience greater joy in heaven than someone who repents and is saved in his last moments on earth. When you yearn for the Lord, it is really a form of prayer, and he answers that! Note: Don't miss the last statement of the talk.