St. Isidore was born in Madrid, Spain, and he was a lifelong farmer. While he farmed, he also prayed and he was known to love three things: God, his family, and farming! St. Isidore and his wife, St. Maria Torribia were poor. Their only child died young and left them with deep sadness, but they focused their attention on helping the poor and lived simple lives devoted to their neighbors, the earth, and God! St. Isidore is the Patron Saint of Farmers, as well as peasants and day laborers!

• Honor St. Isidore by visiting a working farm. Learn about the hard work of a farmer.
• You can also honor St. Isidore by buying food from local farm stands during the summer or visiting a farmer's market to understand more about small family farms and cottage industries!
• If you have a garden, share its fruitfulness with your neighbors like St. Isidore!
• Isidore prayed while he labored. When it's family chore time, pray as you go!

Make a summer stew to share with neighbors! Is it endless like that of Sts. Isidore and Maria??

This summer, share a bit of Bible study with your family. Each week, we'll provide you with a small bit of Bible literacy, a scripture passage to share with your kids, and an activity. This can be a way to wind down at the end of a day with your family, or can even be used as summer learning to keep their brains engaged a bit while away from daily schoolwork. You can fill a backpack with a simple Children's Bible, some Bible storybooks and the handouts we provide! Let's get started, backpacking through the Bible!

There are 4 Gospels. They are the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. While the Gospels tell the events of Jesus' life, they were not written down as those events were happening. The Evangelists (our term for those who wrote the Gospels) shared the stories that were eventually written down, orally for many years. The Gospel of Mark was written first, even through it doesn't appear first in the Bible. Then, Matthew and Luke were written, guided by Mark's Gospel shortly afterward. The Gospel of John was written about twenty years later. We acknowledge that the Gospels writers were guided by the Holy Spirit and it is likely that the writers who put pen to paper were telling the stories heard for generations by the great Evangelists!

This passage from the Wisdom books sounds like a passage that good St. Isidore may have lived by. It reminds us to be humble and to recognize that all we have, we were given by God. Sometimes it is difficult to trust in someone you cannot see. St. Faustina is another saint who had great humility and trust. Her prayer: "Jesus, I Trust in You," is a simple phrase for us to say when we recognize that we are not always in control and must give things over to God.

Ask your kids:

As you read the psalm, ask each family member to share when they feel "content and at peace."

How do you show trust in God?
When has God proven to you that He will care for you?

Pride is a difficult sin that gets the best of many of us. Share the difference between the sin of pride and being proud of yourself or someone you care for. Ask each family to affirm another about their pride for that person.

When can you tell that someone is falling into the "sin" of pride? What does that look like in someone's behavior?

Print a calendar for the week or even the month. Invite your kids to fill in a way in which they can be humble EACH DAY by completing the prompt: "I can be humble today by...." Humility is a virtue and an important character trait for all of us to improve upon!

Story Time Suggestions:

The Tower: A Story of Humility written by Richard Paul Evans and illustrated by Jonathan Linton

The Rainbow Fish written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister

Frog and Beaver written and illustrated by Simon James

This summer, our goal is to help your family find new ways to pray together, so we will be sharing some traditional AND some more creative ways to bring prayer into your family's day!

The Litany of Humility is a powerful Catholic prayer that you can learn over time. Here is on video, to pray along while you learn!

This edition's summer pilgrimage takes us to The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock in County Mayo, Ireland.

In 1879, Our Lady appeared on the wall of the parish church in Knock, accompanied by St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph. The Eucharist appeared represented by the Lamb of God on the altar standing before a cross. Fifteen witnesses prayed for hours in front of the apparition, in the rain. That is how Knock Shrine came into being. In 2021, it was designated an official International Eucharistic and Marian Shrine by Pope Francis. The draw of the Knock Shrine is its contemplative silence. Visitors are encouraged to pray the Rosary, visit the Blessed Sacrament and walk the Stations of the Cross while there. Knock also has a youth ministry department and sponsors youth camps and pilgrimages throughout the year!

You can explore the Shrine by checking out the photo gallery at the link below. The artwork and Stations galleries are especially beautiful:

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester

Editor: Leslie Barkin leslie.barkin@dor.org

Debtor in Possession

Email: oec@dor.org
Website: oec.dor.org
Location: Diocese of Rochester, Buffalo Road, Rochester, NY, USA
Phone: 585-328-3210

See them all here!