LEPANTO Institute “Carthago delenda est!” The Roman statesman, Cato the Elder used to end all his political speeches with this phrase, even if his speech had nothing to do with Carthage. The phrase means, “Carthage must be destroyed.”

Despite the numerous messages of love which have been given to us by our Lord, sometimes we still find ourselves in a position of excessive fear of God as opposed to trusting in his mercy.

St. Peter once wrote: “the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12).”

The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus started in 1672 when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had visions of Jesus teaching her about the depths of his Love for us all. During these visits he revealed to her twelve promises he would bestow on those who venerate and honor His Heart.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a witness of the faith as a martyr? All of us are called to be saints; but not everyone a martyr. I have always wondered that if I died as a martyr; how I would die; or would I have the courage to die for Christ? Today we have two martyrs – both were from England; and both died the same way; they were beheaded. However, both are from different vocations.

Today is the feast day of a remarkable saint, St. Aloysius de Gonzaga. He was born on March 9, 1568 to a very wealthy and royal family. He was the eldest of seven children. His father, Ferrante de Gonzaga was the Marquis of Castiglione. He intended for Aloysius to succeed him and inherit his entire wealth. And since he was very young his father introduced him to guns and brought him to military training expeditions so he could one day become a soldier.

I once heard a story of a sixteen-year old teenage woman name Andrea who contacted stomach cancer. She could not keep any food down and was felt strong pain in her stomach area. At first the doctors dismissed it as a stomach flu and gave her medicine to treat it. But it only grew worse quickly. So her parents took her again to see the doctor. This time they did a lot of tests and found she had a very advance stage of what would be cancer. She and her parents were told that she had to enter a special hospital for a few months so they could give her chemo in hopes they could save her life.

How many times have I heard great advice from a talk at a retreat; or an inspiration from God at Mass to change something within my life; and only to remain the same? I have in my many years attended many retreats and countless Masses; and got filled with inspiration from our Lord to start something new. And I would start only to give up on it after a while.

St. Thomas Aquinas once said that the Holy Eucharist is the only instance of change we encounter in this world that is exactly the opposite of everything else.