In the English-speaking world, for the most part, the weekday festivals of Christianity have all but disappeared.

So Ascension Thursday – which comes forty days after Easter Sunday – usually passes without a murmur outside the ranks of those who are very regular churchgoers.

It is passed over even in those countries where it is a holy day of obligation to attend Mass – such a strange concept to threaten people with being guilty of a sin if they do not go and joyfully thank God for his goodness!

In his letter to the Polish bishops for the centennial of the birth of Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI makes the case for ‘the Great’ as a recognition of the late Holy Father’s impact on history.

“St. John Paul the Great.”

The case is now sufficiently made — by Pope Francis and by his predecessor — that those who wish can use that title with confidence. Over time, it will likely be adopted in the Church’s official documents.

Pope John Paul II made history during his lifetime and became one of the giants of the 20th century – both in the history of the Church and of the wider world. In his early years he was a media star and in the subsequent and final years a veritable martyr, when it became clear that he would defend the truth without compromise, yet with love.

The centenary of the birth of St John Paul II, a Pope who opened new pathways while navigating the way indicated by the Second Vatican Council

When Karol Wojtyła was born on May 18, 1920, the 1,000-year-old Polish nation had not even celebrated the second birthday of a new Polish state.

He would grow up to live the most distinctive 20th-century life. To all the solemn commemorative dates in Polish history, he added another: June 2, 1979, the date of his triumphant return to Warsaw for his first Polish pilgrimage. That date marked the beginning of the end of the “short” 20th century.

Following is the text of the message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, 2020

Like Jesus Christ, forced to flee.
Welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating internally displaced persons.

Unshakable faith in the Lord, devotion to Mary, the spirit of sacrifice, the commitment to one’s neighbour, even at the risk of one’s own life. In his own family, Karol Wojtyła encountered all those characteristics that were then developed in his own life, and in an extraordinary way, in his Pontificate.

When St. Jacinta, one of the Fatima seers, was in the hospital dying from the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic and its complications, her cousin Lucia, another seer, brought her a picture of the Blessed Sacrament. “It is the Hidden Jesus,” Jacinta exclaimed. “I love him so much. If only I could receive him in church.” She was “so grieved to be unable to receive Communion in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Other than the Precious Blood she received from the Fatima Angel in 1916, she never was able to make her first Holy Communion.

Following is the text of the five prayers given to the children at Fatima:

1) The Fatima Prayer/Decade Prayer
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy. Amen.”
Mary told the children that people should add this prayer to the end of each decade of the Rosary.

At the beginning of "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," Pope Francis explains why he chose St. Francis of Assisi's name when he was elected bishop of Rome: "I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians. He was particularly concerned for God's creation and for the poor and outcast." (10)