Speaker: David Carollo

Speaker: Dick Lyles

Speaker: John-Henry Westen

Speaker: Thoma McKenna

Speaker: Karl Keating

Speaker: Fr. John Trigilio

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the 17^th century French Visitation sister and mystic, along with St. John Eudes, St. Gertrude, and others, is associated with the Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. St. Margaret Mary says of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that she is the mirror of the Sacred Heart. Her love is a reflection, an image of Christ’s Heart.

Any authentic teaching about Mary will make clear that God is always the source of life. Mary is His humble handmaid, chosen from all mankind, to participate in a most extraordinary way in the mystery of the Incarnation. From Heaven she continues, through her maternal prayers, to bring the world to her Son.

Some years ago, Pope Benedict XVI surprised some people when he spoke about our responsibility to be conscientious stewards of creation. Addressing Italian students in 2011, the “conservative” Pope called on them to become ‘guardians of nature’ and follow in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. It should not shock us to think that those we might call “conservatives” are determined to conserve the goods entrusted to mankind.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was convened in an era of cultural upheaval and challenge. Pope John XXIII inaugurated the Council mindful of the “signs of the times.”

His successor, Pope Paul VI, continued and completed this historic gathering, the purpose of which was to proclaim the Gospel message of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a Word of redemption and truth written on the human heart, in the context of the modern age. Its message was not new. The Council echoed the continuous teaching of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.