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The Calling of St Matthew (detail), Caravaggio [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings  (NAB: USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible) Gospel Matthew 10:37-42 ( NR SV, Catholic Ed ) Jesus said to his Apostles: ‘Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. ‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’ Post-World War II Japan [ Source ] Whoever loves father

St Patrick   St Benin's Church, Kilbennan, County Galway, Ireland [ Wikipedia ] 'Ego Patricius peccator rusticissimus . . . Mise Pádraig, peacach róthuatach . . . I Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman . . .' The opening words of St Patrick's  Confession  in Latin, Irish and English. Please pray earnestly to St Patrick for a renewal of the Christian faith in Ireland.  Extracts from St Patrick's  Confessio   [ Christian Classics Ethereal Library ] I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had for father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the settlement [vicus] of Bannavem Taburniae; he had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from

 Saturday, 17 March, is St Patrick's Day and Ireland's National Day. One of Miss Cunningham's pupils in Rutland St School in the heart of Dublin half a century ago tells how St Patrick came to Ireland twice, the second time to stay there. You will notice that in this Brown Bag Production, done a few years ago, the pope who gave St Patrick permission to go to Ireland as a bishop bears a remarkable resemblance to a much more recent pope! Mary, the young girl telling the story, has Patrick being kidnapped in France. I'm more inclined to think he was from Wales, much nearer to Ireland. But we don't know. Scholars can't identify 'Bannavem Taburniae', Patrick's native place as mentioned in the opening paragraph of his Confession . Young Mary sees Patrick's reluctant willingness to return to Ireland as a missionary. There is no doubt about the truth of this because the saint writes about his struggle in his Confession, the authenticity of which no