Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 6 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Sunday

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost falls within the liturgical season called the Time after Pentecost (often called Ordinary Time in other calendars). The rank “Semidouble” is an older canonical designation indicating this Sunday is more important than a simple weekday observance but not as solemn as a double or a major feast; in practical family terms, it calls for attentive prayer and participation in the Sunday liturgy without the extended ceremonial elements of the highest feasts. There is no octave or vigil indicated for this celebration. Observing the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost matters because it marks a regular weekly gathering in the Church’s rhythm of worship, offering Scripture, prayer, and the Eucharist as means for families to receive grace and to reflect on living the Gospel during ordinary time.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps. 27:8-9.
The Lord is the strength of His people, the saving refuge of His anointed. Save Your people, O Lord, and bless Your inheritance; and rule them forever!
Ps 27:1
To You, O Lord, I call; O my God, be not deaf to me, lest, if You heed me not, I become one of those going down into the pit.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God of the heavenly powers, creator of all good things, implant in our hearts the love of Your Name, and bestow upon us an increase of godliness, fostering what is good, and, by Your loving care, guarding what You have fostered.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Act of Hope

O my God, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

Weekly Formation

The Two Greatest Commandments

You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul and with all your mind.
To love God with the whole heart, soul, and mind is to prefer Him above every created good and to order the whole life toward Him. This love includes worship, obedience, trust, and the willing acceptance of His truth and commandments.
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
To love one’s neighbor as oneself is to desire and seek the neighbor’s true good for the love of God. Every human person is a neighbor in this sense, and this charity excludes both deliberate harm and indifference to another’s genuine need.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebrationCalendar title

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.

Commemoration

Anthony Mary Zaccaria

St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Confessor

Italian saint

Born: 1502-01-01 · Cremona
Died: 1539-07-05 · Cremona

Anthony Maria Zaccaria, CRSP was an Italian Catholic priest and early leader of the Counter-Reformation. He was the founder of the Barnabites and a promoter of devotion to the Passion of Christ and the Eucharist and of renewal of the religious life among the laity. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, which celebrates his feast day on 5 July.

Learn more about Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Today in Church History

Council of Florence Decree on Union with the Greeks
1439Council
On July 5, 1439, the Council of Florence issued the decree 'Laetentur Caeli,' proclaiming the union of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, though it was short-lived.
The decree symbolizes the ongoing hope for Christian unity and reconciliation.
Election of Pope Celestine V
1294Papal
On July 5, 1294, Pietro del Morrone was elected as Pope Celestine V. Known for his piety and asceticism, he was a hermit before reluctantly accepting the papacy, which he later resigned.
Celestine V's humility and detachment from power remind us of the importance of spiritual integrity over worldly ambition.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the face of illness and suffering, the Church offers the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, inviting the faithful to unite their suffering with the Passion of Christ, which can lead to spiritual growth and healing. Illness serves as a profound reminder of our human limitations and can provoke a search for God, allowing individuals to discern what truly matters in life. Jesus, who empathizes with our suffering, not only heals but also forgives, showing us that our pain can have redemptive value and connect us to His own suffering. For Catholic families, this teaches the importance of compassion, prayer, and support for those who are sick, encouraging a deeper reliance on God's mercy and the transformative power of love in times of distress.

In following Christ, his disciples are called to take up their crosses, gaining a new outlook on illness and on those who are sick. The Church, sent by the risen Lord, continues Jesus’ ministry of compassion and healing through care for the sick, prayer of intercession, and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. While the Holy Spirit gives some a charism of healing, even intense prayer does not always bring recovery from every illness; in suffering, the Lord’s grace is sufficient and his power is made perfect in weakness. The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is especially intended to strengthen those tried by illness. When someone is sick, the Church’s rite calls for the elders of the Church to pray over the person and anoint him or her with oil in the name of the Lord.

¶ 1501

Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him.

Today's Mass Readings

Open the day's Sancta MissaDivinum Officium · Divino Afflatu - 1954View readings

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Understanding the Day

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Collect

Weekly Prayer

Act of Hope

Weekly Formation

The Two Greatest Commandments

The Two Greatest Commandments

Saint & Feast

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Today in Church History

Council of Florence Decree on Union with the Greeks

Election of Pope Celestine V

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Today's Mass Readings

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

Baltimore Catechism No. 3