KofC Bishop Flaviano B. Ariola Assembly ACN 1812

06/06/2026

The words of the Popes — June 6, 2026
Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

The scene is set in the temple of Jerusalem, precisely in the place where people are tossing coins as offerings. There are many rich people putting in large sums, and there is a poor woman, a widow, who contributes only two bits, two small coins. Jesus observes the woman carefully and calls the disciples’ attention to the sharp contrast of the scene. The wealthy contributed with great ostentation what for them was superfluous, while the widow, Jesus says, “put in everything she had, her whole living” (v. 44). For this reason, Jesus says, she gave the most of all. Because of her extreme poverty, she could have offered a single coin to the temple and kept the other for herself. But she did not want to give just half to God; she divested herself of everything. In her poverty she understood that in having God, she had everything; she felt completely loved by him and in turn loved him completely. What a beautiful example this little old woman offers us! Today Jesus also tells us that the benchmark is not quantity but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have a lot of money and still be empty. There is no fullness in your heart. This week, think about the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a matter of the wallet, but of the heart. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 November 2015)

06/06/2026

Gospel of the day — June 6, 2026
Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

From the Gospel according to Mark
12:38-44

In the course of his teaching Jesus said,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext,
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”

06/06/2026

Reading of the day — June 6, 2026
Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy
4:1-8

Beloved:
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who will judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingly power:
proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;
convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.
For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine
but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity,
will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth
and will be diverted to myths.
But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances;
put up with hardship;
perform the work of an evangelist;
fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a libation,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have competed well;
I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.
From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,
which the Lord, the just judge,
will award to me on that day, and not only to me,
but to all who have longed for his appearance.

04/06/2026

04/06/2026

The words of the Popes — June 5, 2026
Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

It is painful to recall that in this very moment, there are many Christians in various parts of the world who are suffering from persecution, and we must hope and pray that their trials will soon end. They are many: today’s martyrs outnumber the martyrs of the first centuries. Let us express our closeness to these brothers and sisters. We are a single body and these Christians are the bleeding limbs of the body of Christ who is the Church. (…) If God grants us the grace to be more like the Crucified Christ and joined to his Passion, then exclusion and persecution are the manifestation of new life. This life is the same as the life of Christ who was “despised and rejected” for us men and women and for our salvation” (cf. Is 53:3; Acts 8:30-35). Welcoming his Spirit can lead us to have so much love in our heart as to offer our life for the world without making compromises with its deceit and accepting its rejection.

Compromises with the world are dangerous: Christians are always tempted to make compromises with the world, with the spirit of the world. This — rejecting compromises and journeying on the way of Jesus Christ — is the life of the Kingdom of Heaven, the greatest joy and true happiness. And, in persecutions there is always the presence of Jesus who accompanies us, the presence of Jesus who comforts us and the strength of the Holy Spirit that helps us to go forward. Let us not be discouraged when a life that is faithful to the Gospel draws persecution from people. There is the Holy Spirit who sustains us in this journey. (Pope Francis, General Audience, 29 April 2020)

04/06/2026

Gospel of the day — June 5, 2026
Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

From the Gospel according to Mark
12:35-37

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said,
“How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David?
David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said:
The Lord said to my lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I place your enemies under your feet.’
David himself calls him ‘lord’;
so how is he his son?”
The great crowd heard this with delight.

04/06/2026

Reading of the day — June 5, 2026
Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy
3:10-17

You have followed my teaching, way of life,
purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions,
and sufferings, such as happened to me
in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra,
persecutions that I endured.
Yet from all these things the Lord delivered me.
In fact, all who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.
But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse,
deceivers and deceived.
But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed,
because you know from whom you learned it,
and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work.

04/06/2026

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)—not as a mere anniversary, but as the Church’s living proclamation that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, and that receiving Him and adoring Him forms a people united in one faith and one charity.

Let me ask a simple question: Where do you meet Jesus? Many people search for Him in many places—quiet moments, good intentions, religious books, “feelings,” or even in nature’s beauty. But today the Church focuses your attention on something wonderfully concrete: the Eucharist, where Christ has left Himself to be encountered as Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

This feast is a kind of “public turning” of the heart: we are meant to look at the altar and say, not “a symbol,” not “a reminder only,” but Christ is here. And because He is here, everything changes—our worship, our unity, our daily choices.

The Church teaches that the Eucharist is not simply spiritual nourishment in a vague way; it is a saving memorial in which Christ offers Himself “for the ages to come.” In the Preface for this solemnity, the Church explains that at the Last Supper, Jesus established a memorial of the Cross and “offered himself” as the saving gift, and that “nourishing your faithful by this sacred mystery, you make them holy.”

Notice the Church’s wording: the Eucharist does something. It makes us holy. It unites the human race “bounded by one world” into something visible and real: “enlightened by one faith and united by one bond of charity.”

Then we remember what that unity looks like in practice. Saint Paul does not say the Eucharist makes us “all feel good together.” He gives a more serious, more objective claim: when we participate, we are truly brought into communion with Christ and therefore with one another. He asks: “Is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?” and “Is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?” And he concludes: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

Now, the Gospel pushes us even deeper, because Jesus Himself speaks with startling clarity. He says: “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever… and… unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” He is not speaking metaphorically.

03/06/2026

The words of the Popes — June 4, 2026

Christ is God’s answer to our human hunger, because his Body is the bread of eternal life: Take this and eat of it, all of you! Jesus’ invitation reflects our daily experience: in order to remain alive, we need to nourish ourselves with life, drawing it from plants and animals. Yet eating something dead reminds us that we too, no matter how much we eat, will one day die. On the other hand, when we partake of Jesus, the living and true Bread, we live for him. By offering himself completely, the crucified and risen Lord delivers himself into our hands, and we realize that we were made to partake of God. Our hungry nature bears the mark of a need that is satisfied by the grace of the Eucharist. As Saint Augustine writes, Christ is truly bread that restores and does not run short; bread that can be eaten but not exhausted. The Eucharist, in fact, is the true, real, and substantial presence of the Saviour (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1413), who transforms bread into himself in order to transform us into himself. Living and life-giving, the Corpus Domini makes us, the Church herself, the Body of the Lord. (Pope Leo XIV, Homily, 22 June 2025)

03/06/2026

Gospel of the day — June 4, 2026
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

From the Gospel according to John
6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."