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St. Elisabeth of Portugal is known as a great peacemaker. She was actually born in Aragon, Spain, in 1271, the daughter of King Pedro III. Her great aunt was St. Elizabeth of Hungary, after whom she was named. She grew up in a very pious home, with daily mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. At the age of 12, she was married to King Diniz of Portugal and became queen of the country before she was a teen. However, her husband was abusive and an adulturer. Still, they had two children and she prayed for his conversion and served the poor and the sick. Her son, Prince Affonso, rebelled against the favors his fathers bestowed on his illegitimate sons and, in 1323, confronted the king's forces with his own. But Elizabeth rode onto the battlefield between them, and was able to bring reconciliation between father and son. After her husband died in 1325, Elizabeth distributed her property to the poor and became a Franciscan tertiary. She retired to a monastery of Poor Clare, which she had founded at Coimbra. However, she emerged on the battlefield as a peacemaker in 1336, when her son, now king, marched against his son-in-law, the king of Castile, to punish him for being a negligent and abusive husband. She died later that same year. St. Elizabeth is the patroness of difficult marriages, victims of adultery, widows and royalty.

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, to do away with the humble of the land, 5 saying,"When will the new moon be over,So that we may sell grain,And the sabbath, that we may open the wheat market,To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger,And to cheat with dishonest scales, 6 So as to buy the helpless for moneyAnd the needy for a pair of sandals,And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?" 9 "It will come about in that day," declares the Lord GOD,"That I will make the sun go down at noonAnd make the earth dark in broad daylight. 10 "Then I will turn your festivals into mourningAnd all your songs into lamentation;And I will bring sackcloth on everyone's loinsAnd baldness on every head.And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,And the end of it will be like a bitter day. 11 "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD,"When I will send a famine on the land,Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. 12 "People will stagger from sea to seaAnd from the north even to the east;They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD,But they will not find it.

2: Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, 10: With my whole heart I seek thee; let me not wander from thy commandments! 20: My soul is consumed with longing for thy ordinances at all times. 30: I have chosen the way of faithfulness, I set thy ordinances before me. 40: Behold, I long for thy precepts; in thy righteousness give me life! 131: With open mouth I pant, because I long for thy commandments.

Matthew Called 9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. 10 Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, " Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 13 "But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, [1] AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Footnotes[1] I.e. more than

Mexico City, Jul 4, 2008 / 04:43 am (CNA).- Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain on early Thursday morning visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe before meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the end of his three-day Latin America visit aimed at promoting free trade.

Rome, Jul 4, 2008 / 02:33 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI will take part in a continuous Bible reading for the Italian state broadcaster RAI, it has been announced. He will begin the six-day marathon recitation by reading the first chapter of Genesis in Italian on October 5.

Rome, Jul 3, 2008 / 10:05 pm (CNA).- The secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Angelo Amato, explained this week that “Christian truth is not only for experts but for everyone, it is not only a theoretical truth but also a practical one.  It’s not a truth only for academia but also for daily life.”

Washington DC, Jul 3, 2008 / 09:12 pm (CNA).- Seeking lower gasoline prices, the “Pray at the Pump Movement” has been holding prayer vigils at gas stations around the country. On Monday, the group’s founder, Rocky Twyman, spent the afternoon outside of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington praying and collecting signatures petitioning Saudi Arabia to release more oil.

Vatican City, Jul 3, 2008 / 08:50 pm (CNA).- Today at Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father received the Governor General of the Solomon Islands, Sir Nathaniel Rahumaea Waena.  In the meeting, Benedict XVI discussed country’s state of affairs while the Secretary for the Relations with the States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, thanked him for encouraging youth to participate in the upcoming World Youth Day.

Toronto, Jul 3, 2008 / 05:49 pm (CNA).- The awarding of the Order of Canada to Dr. Hans Morgentaler, an abortionist who helped overturn anti-abortion laws in Canada, has prompted a past honoree to return the decoration amid calls for Morgentaler’s award to be revoked. The Catholic bishops of Canada have also added their voice to the fray, saying the selection of Morgentaler “discredits the Order of Canada” by decorating a man who has “attacked the most vulnerable, the unborn.”

La Paz, Jul 3, 2008 / 04:24 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval, reaffirmed this week his willingness to serve as a facilitator in the dialogue between Bolivian president Evo Morales' government and opposition leaders.

Caracas, Jul 3, 2008 / 03:59 pm (CNA).-  In a press release the Diocese of Venezuela of the Anglican Church said this week it “has no ties” to the so-called “Reformed Catholic Church,” a group of dissidents who support the government of Hugo Chavez.

Havana, Jul 3, 2008 / 01:14 pm (CNA).- Experts from the National Office of Statistics and of the Latin American Center for the Elderly said this week that Cuba has one of the oldest populations in Latin America and that by 2020 there will be more elderly people than children in the country.

Vatican City, Jul 3, 2008 / 10:50 am (CNA).- The head of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, met with Pope Benedict today to present him with 14 causes for canonization in their various stages. Among those approved for advancement towards sainthood are Fr. Damien De Veuster, a Belgian missionary to Hawaii, and the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux.

Vatican City, Jul 3, 2008 / 10:45 am (CNA).- Today Pope Benedict made two Canadian bishop appointments: Bishop Pierre-Andrew Fournier, as the metropolitan archbishop of Rimouski, and Bishop Pierre Morissette as the bishop of Saint-Jerome.  Both are replacing prelates who reached the age of 75, the age of resignation according to Canon Law.

Hyderabad, Jul 3, 2008 / 06:14 am (CNA).- Catholic evangelization, outreach initiatives and charitable work in Pakistan are continuing in the face of opposition from Muslim hard-liners and the country’s harsh laws punishing those found guilty of insulting Islam, according to Bishop of Hyderabad Max Rodrigues.

What we know of the life of St. Thomas is what is recorded of him in the Gospels -especially the Gospel of John - and what has been handed down by tradition. He is named in the three synoptic Gospels but only in the lists of the Apostles of Christ. St. Thomas is most famously known for having doubted the news of Christ's Resurrection, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." (John 20:25) He believed a week later when Christ presented Himself and said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."  When Thomas did so he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" But Thomas was also the Apostle who was ready to die with the Lord when Jesus said that he would go to Judea to visit His friend Lazarus, a journey that was clearly perilous because the Jewish authorities were looking to kill Him: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (John 11:16).St. Thomas, as tradition has it, is said to have been the Apostle who preached the Gospel in the East, to the Persians and Medians, and all the way to the southern coast of India. The Syro-Malabar Catholics, of southern India, claim that their church was founded by the Apostle Thomas in 52 A.D. and he is said to have been martyred in the year 72 by being struck by a spear. Pope Paul VI declared St. Thomas the Apostle of India in 1972. He is the patron of architects, carpenters and builders.

19: So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20: built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21: in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22: in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

1: Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! 2: For great is his steadfast love toward us; and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD!

24: Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25: So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26: Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." 27: Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." 28: Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29: Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."