May 26, 2025 // Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel from the Optional Memorial of Saint Philip Neri: John 17:20-26
Reflect on the Word // One step closer. My breath caught and my heart thrummed as the priest processed the monstrance throughout the church, stopping in front of each woman to allow her gaze to meet the God of the universe truly present before us now in the Blessed Sacrament. Some cried, others bowed their heads low, and one exuberantly threw out her hands in greeting to our King.
He’s coming. What should I do? What should I say? My thoughts whirled as Father entered the aisle where I was kneeling. Unknowingly to my pounding heart, I had been in this position before. Five years prior, during a similar Eucharistic Procession, I looked at our Lord with love and promised to belong exclusively to Him forever. Now, on the second anniversary of my consecration to a life of virginity, I was at a loss for words.
As my encounter with Jesus drew near, I joined our worship leader in song: “My beloved is the most beautiful among thousands and thousands.” And in a burning rush of inspiration, I asked Him to take all the graces and merits of my vocation—past, present, and future—and flood the heart of every woman in the room.
“That the love with which you loved me may be in them” (John 17:26). This is the prayer of Christ in today’s Gospel, but in that moment, it became my own. The God Who created me for love and to be loved as the espoused bride of His Heart wanted our “oneness” to set every soul wedded to Him by Baptism afire. On that night, it looked like a hundred-plus women seeking His face. Today, sweet sister, it looks like you.
Sharing this experience with a friend afterward, she told me that a palpable warmth had enveloped the room when Jesus was in front of me.
What would happen if, together, we spread that warmth to others? Like the ball of fire that caused Saint Philip Neri’s heart to literally expand with divine love (source), our lives could be the flames that help our brothers and sisters to burn. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit—the eternal outpouring of love between the Father and Son—to enflame us anew so that the whole world may be purified and “brought to perfection as one” (John 17:23).
Relate to the Lord // Ask the Holy Spirit to put someone on your heart to encourage today. Share God’s burning love with them!
