of our relationship with God

comfortable place of rest for Elisha opened the way for God’s providential action in her life as she was blessed with a longed-for child.

Do we consider the renewing action and comforting presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Are we aware that the Holy Spirit desires to work in and through our actions for the good of our family, workplace, neighborhood and society?

to the extraordinary reality of our most profound relationship: our relationship to God. Paul’s words to the Romans are relevant today, more than ever, when he writes: “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? . . . So that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” life in our relationship with God and our service of others.

July 14

Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin

Gn 46: 1-7, 28-30

Ps 37: 3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40

Mt 10: 16-23

July 15

Bonaventure, bishop, doctor of the church

Gn 49: 29-32; 50: 15-26a

Ps 105: 1-4, 6-7

Mt 10: 24-33 instruments of God’s living and renewing spirit for the people. The generosity of the woman of Shunem in providing food and a

We can only attend to the gentle voice and the inner working of the Holy Spirit when we silence our hearts and minds. And our smart phones, too.

This Sunday, the word of God points

In the Gospel, Jesus reminds his disciples, and us, of the primacy of our relationship with God when he says, “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” We find the meaning and purpose of our

Amid ordinary routines in our ordinary days, one extraordinary truth remains constant: In Jesus Christ, we have received newness of life, the dignity of being sons and daughters of God, loved by God into existence and sustained at every moment, especially in times of difficulty or distress. This extraordinary truth of faith makes it possible for us to join the psalmist’s praise saying, “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord!” as we pray, “Speak to me, Lord.”

Pope signs decrees declaring two women venerable

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Recognizing they lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way, Pope Francis has declared venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, founder of the first Catholic order of AfricanAmerican nuns, and Sister Lúcia dos Santos, who, with her cousins, reported seeing Mary when she was a child in Fátima, Portugal.

The pope signed the decrees recognizing their heroic virtues June 22. A miracle attributed to their intercession is still necessary before they can be beatified. The recognition of martyrdom clears the way for their beatification without a miracle. Mother Lange, who was born in Cuba to Haitian parents, came to the United States around 1813, settling near Baltimore, and saw how the children of other immigrants needed education.

“She was determined to respond to that need in spite of being a Black woman in a slave state long before the Emancipation Proclamation,” according to the official website of her sainthood cause. “She used her own money and home to educate children of color.”

With the encouragement and support of a priest and Archbishop James Whitfield of Baltimore, she and three other women made promises of poverty, chastity and obedience in 1829, founding the Oblate Sisters of Providence, an order that continues today. Mother Lange died in 1882.