June 2025
Month of the Sacred Heart
My sisters and brothers in the Lord,
President Abraham Lincoln once wrote: “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.”
Prayer is our first, last, and best recourse whenever faced with problems in life, be they big or small. This is certainly true as regards our response to the grave situation which presently exists in the Holy Land.
As our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, said in his latest Wednesday Audience address, on May 28: “From the Gaza Strip, the cries of mothers and fathers rise ever more intensely to heaven, as they hold the lifeless bodies of children, and who are continually forced to move in search of a little food and a safer shelter from the bombings. I renew my appeal to the leaders: ceasefire, release all hostages, fully respect humanitarian law. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!”
The Holy Land is a uniquely blessed part of the world. It was there that God walked the earth in the person of Jesus Christ. It is to him as Prince of Peace, therefore, that we now turn in the pursuit of a just and lasting peace for all who live in the Holy Land.
In this quest for peace, we should arm ourselves with the three most powerful weapons that any Christian can wield: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. As the great Doctor of the Church, Saint Peter Chrysologus (c. 380 – c. 450) rightly observes:
“There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.”
Hence, I encourage each of us to offer prayers, fasting, and almsgiving each Friday in June, the Month of the Sacred Heart, for peace in the Holy Land.
This includes Friday, June 13, the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, patron of the Holy Land. Upon that day, some may wish to bring lilies, as is customary upon Saint Anthony’s feast, to a local shrine or altar dedicated to Saint Anthony. Amongst other things, the lily signifies and honors Our Lady, Queen of Peace, and invokes her maternal intercession.
For almsgiving, I recommend donating to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, the official papal agency dedicated to pastoral and humanitarian support in the Middle East, including the Holy Land. Link: https://cnewa.org/
Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace, have mercy on us.
Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us.
I am, Yours sincerely in Christ,
Most Reverend Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing