A reading from the Second Letter of St. Paul to Timothy
1:1-3, 6-12
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel
with the strength that comes from God.
He saved us and called us to a holy life,
not according to our works
but according to his own design
and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began,
but now made manifest
through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus,
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality
to light through the Gospel,
for which I was appointed preacher and Apostle and teacher.
On this account I am suffering these things;
but I am not ashamed,
for I know him in whom I have believed
and am confident that he is able to guard
what has been entrusted to me until that day.
From the Gospel according to Mark
12:18-27
Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,
came to Jesus and put this question to him, saying,
"Teacher, Moses wrote for us,
If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child,
his brother must take the wife
and raise up descendants for his brother.
Now there were seven brothers.
The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second brother married her and died, leaving no descendants,
and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants.
Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be?
For all seven had been married to her."
Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled
because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage,
but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised,
have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled."
Here, Christ encounters men who consider themselves expert and authoritative interpreters of the Scriptures. To these men – that is, to the Sadducees – Jesus replies that a mere literal knowledge of Scripture is not enough. In fact, Scripture is above all a means of knowing the power of the living God, who reveals Himself in it, just as he revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush. In this revelation, He called himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and of Jacob” – that is, of those who had been the forefathers of Moses in the faith that springs from the revelation of the living God. All of them have long since died; yet Christ completes the reference to them with His affirmation that God “is not the God of the dead, but of the living”. This key statement, in which Christ interprets the words addressed to Moses from the burning bush, can only be understood if one acknowledges the reality of a life that death does not bring to an end. Moses’ forefathers in the faith, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are living persons for God, even though, by human standards, they must be counted among the dead. To read Scripture correctly, and in particular the aforementioned words of God, means to know and accept by faith the power of the Giver of life, who is not bound by the law of death, which reigns supreme in the earthly history of mankind. (Saint John Paul II, General Audience, 18 November 1981)
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![Parishes in Buffalo Diocese will undergo ‘rapid’ bankruptcy as part of Chapter 11 process – #Catholic – Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will undergo “rapid” bankruptcy proceedings as part of a larger Chapter 11 process, the diocese has told the faithful. A statement included in parish bulletins on May 31 said all parishes in the diocese would file “rapid prepackaged bankruptcy” cases in federal court “in an effort to bring the bankruptcy proceedings of the Diocese of Buffalo to a successful conclusion.”The Buffalo Diocese has been moving through the bankruptcy process for a notable length of time. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and has been working to finalize a major settlement since April 2025. The announcement at parishes on May 31 said the parish bankruptcy filings would occur “immediately before a hearing on confirmation of the plan.” The move “will happen if and only if sufficient votes [from abuse victims] are received for approval of the plan,” the statement said, adding that the approach “has the support of pastors and the diocese.”“The parish bankruptcy cases will not be commenced until later this year and will come at the very last minute before the ‘confirmation’ hearing on approval of the diocese’s plan,” the statement said, adding that it was “anticipated that parishes will emerge from bankruptcy within 48 hours.”Similar approaches have been taken in other dioceses undergoing bankruptcy, the statement said, including the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York as well as the Archdiocese of New Orleans.“With the prospect of officially achieving this goal, we look to the future with renewed commitment and focus on our mission and work in service to the Catholic faithful throughout Western New York and our broader community,” the diocese said in its statement. In addition to its yearslong bankruptcy proceedings, the Buffalo Diocese has also fended off both legal and ecclesial challenges from parishioners who have objected to an ongoing diocesan merger plan. Opposition to proposed closures and mergers in the diocese reached the New York Supreme Court in 2025; the state court ultimately tossed the suit out, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over Church governance disputes.In December 2025, after appeals from parishioners, the Vatican ordered the reversal of several parish closures in the Buffalo Diocese.In April the Vatican also said that multiple parishes would not have to contribute disputed amounts of cash into the diocesan abuse settlement plan.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/parishes-in-buffalo-diocese-will-undergo-rapid-bankruptcy-as-part-of-chapter-11-process-catholic-parishes-in-the-diocese-of-buffalo-new-york-will-undergo-rapid-scaled.jpg "Parishes in Buffalo Diocese will undergo ‘rapid’ bankruptcy as part of Chapter 11 process – #Catholic – Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, will undergo “rapid” bankruptcy proceedings as part of a larger Chapter 11 process, the diocese has told the faithful. A statement included in parish bulletins on May 31 said all parishes in the diocese would file “rapid prepackaged bankruptcy” cases in federal court “in an effort to bring the bankruptcy proceedings of the Diocese of Buffalo to a successful conclusion.”The Buffalo Diocese has been moving through the bankruptcy process for a notable length of time. The diocese filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and has been working to finalize a major settlement since April 2025. The announcement at parishes on May 31 said the parish bankruptcy filings would occur “immediately before a hearing on confirmation of the plan.” The move “will happen if and only if sufficient votes [from abuse victims] are received for approval of the plan,” the statement said, adding that the approach “has the support of pastors and the diocese.”“The parish bankruptcy cases will not be commenced until later this year and will come at the very last minute before the ‘confirmation’ hearing on approval of the diocese’s plan,” the statement said, adding that it was “anticipated that parishes will emerge from bankruptcy within 48 hours.”Similar approaches have been taken in other dioceses undergoing bankruptcy, the statement said, including the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York as well as the Archdiocese of New Orleans.“With the prospect of officially achieving this goal, we look to the future with renewed commitment and focus on our mission and work in service to the Catholic faithful throughout Western New York and our broader community,” the diocese said in its statement. In addition to its yearslong bankruptcy proceedings, the Buffalo Diocese has also fended off both legal and ecclesial challenges from parishioners who have objected to an ongoing diocesan merger plan. Opposition to proposed closures and mergers in the diocese reached the New York Supreme Court in 2025; the state court ultimately tossed the suit out, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over Church governance disputes.In December 2025, after appeals from parishioners, the Vatican ordered the reversal of several parish closures in the Buffalo Diocese.In April the Vatican also said that multiple parishes would not have to contribute disputed amounts of cash into the diocesan abuse settlement plan.")
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![Magnifica Humanitas seen deepening Church-tech ties, former Silicon Valley exec says – #Catholic – Magnifica Humanitas has opened the doors for deeper conversations between the Church and the tech industry regarding “how AI is going to affect humanity,” priest and former Silicon Valley executive Father Brendan McGuire said.McGuire, pastor of St. Simon Parish in Los Altos, California, told “EWTN News Nightly” that tech companies are searching for “wisdom” right now, and Pope Leo’s encyclical can offer it.The Church has “been working with the different tech companies for a number of years … directly from Rome, in the Vatican, and also here locally,” he said.In 2024 Anthropic, an AI safety company and creator of the Claude AI system that filed to go public June 1, reached out to the Vatican for ethical guidance. McGuire helped shape Claudeʼs Constitution, the 23,000-word document governing how Claude reasons through complex moral questions.McGuire also co-founded the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture — a formal partnership between Santa Clara Universityʼs Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Vaticanʼs Dicastery for Culture and Education. Earlier he had worked for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), an industry consortium of computer hardware manufacturers.The Irish priest holds degrees in engineering and computer science from Trinity College Dublin and has a theology degree from St. Patrickʼs Seminary and University.‘Engaged in deeper conversations’“More intensely over this last year, weʼve been more deliberately, and more intentionally, engaged in deeper conversations monthly … mostly with Anthropic, and we believe this document now will be able to deepen these relationships even more,” he said.These relationships will prompt “real dialogue as to how AI is going to affect humanity,” he said.“I love the reframing that the pope has done” by asking “How do we have all of humanity … flourish inside of AI? Instead of the other way around,” McGuire said. “Itʼs a reframing of the whole issue.”While some wonder if tech companies will listen to the pope’s call, McGuire said he believes they will, as people in the industry “are looking for wisdom.”Those in the tech industry “are men and women of goodwill, and they want this AI to go well,” he said. “And if itʼs going to go well, then theyʼre going to have to have people outside of the programmers, and the mathematicians, and the technology people, and engineers.”“They need wisdom from outside. Itʼs not just the Catholic Church. Every religious tradition needs to lean into this moment,” he said.Reading the pope’s encyclical is ‘the most important thing’The encyclical comes years after AI really took off, but “itʼs not true” when people say the pope’s call is too late, McGuire said.“The technology people themselves say that itʼs not true. But I do believe that the window is closing,” he said.The “whole intention” of the popeʼs encyclical is “to start asking those more difficult questions,” McGuire said. The pope has asked: “What [does it] mean for a human being to flourish? What is good for all of humanity? And not what is just good for a handful of people, but what is good for all of us?”“So what weʼve done here is raised questions more than got answers,” McGuire said. Now we must “bring about a dialogue to go for those answers.”The “first thing I implore everyone to do is to read it,” he said. Reading it is “the most important thing” and “not relying … on soundbites from somebody else.”The first half of the encyclical “is a survey of the previous documents of the Church and social doctrine” and it is “a great summary of them,” he said.Then, focus on reading “Chapter 3 on artificial intelligence” and “Chapter 4 [on] the impact of it.”Pope Leo “uses two biblical metaphors” that “are beautiful and really important”: the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he said.He is “basically saying we donʼt want to go back to the Tower of Babel, where everyone builds it for their own … purposes,” he said. Instead, it must be like the city Jerusalem where “everyone has a role. Every family, every person, every engineer, every journalist, every philosopher.”“Everyone needs to play a role, and we need to engage with this because it will, in large part, determine our future as a humanity,” McGuire said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/magnifica-humanitas-seen-deepening-church-tech-ties-former-silicon-valley-exec-says-catholic-magnifica-humanitas-has-opened-the-doors-for-deeper-conversations-between-the-church-and-the-tech-ind.jpg "Magnifica Humanitas seen deepening Church-tech ties, former Silicon Valley exec says – #Catholic – Magnifica Humanitas has opened the doors for deeper conversations between the Church and the tech industry regarding “how AI is going to affect humanity,” priest and former Silicon Valley executive Father Brendan McGuire said.McGuire, pastor of St. Simon Parish in Los Altos, California, told “EWTN News Nightly” that tech companies are searching for “wisdom” right now, and Pope Leo’s encyclical can offer it.The Church has “been working with the different tech companies for a number of years … directly from Rome, in the Vatican, and also here locally,” he said.In 2024 Anthropic, an AI safety company and creator of the Claude AI system that filed to go public June 1, reached out to the Vatican for ethical guidance. McGuire helped shape Claudeʼs Constitution, the 23,000-word document governing how Claude reasons through complex moral questions.McGuire also co-founded the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture — a formal partnership between Santa Clara Universityʼs Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and the Vaticanʼs Dicastery for Culture and Education. Earlier he had worked for the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA), an industry consortium of computer hardware manufacturers.The Irish priest holds degrees in engineering and computer science from Trinity College Dublin and has a theology degree from St. Patrickʼs Seminary and University.‘Engaged in deeper conversations’“More intensely over this last year, weʼve been more deliberately, and more intentionally, engaged in deeper conversations monthly … mostly with Anthropic, and we believe this document now will be able to deepen these relationships even more,” he said.These relationships will prompt “real dialogue as to how AI is going to affect humanity,” he said.“I love the reframing that the pope has done” by asking “How do we have all of humanity … flourish inside of AI? Instead of the other way around,” McGuire said. “Itʼs a reframing of the whole issue.”While some wonder if tech companies will listen to the pope’s call, McGuire said he believes they will, as people in the industry “are looking for wisdom.”Those in the tech industry “are men and women of goodwill, and they want this AI to go well,” he said. “And if itʼs going to go well, then theyʼre going to have to have people outside of the programmers, and the mathematicians, and the technology people, and engineers.”“They need wisdom from outside. Itʼs not just the Catholic Church. Every religious tradition needs to lean into this moment,” he said.Reading the pope’s encyclical is ‘the most important thing’The encyclical comes years after AI really took off, but “itʼs not true” when people say the pope’s call is too late, McGuire said.“The technology people themselves say that itʼs not true. But I do believe that the window is closing,” he said.The “whole intention” of the popeʼs encyclical is “to start asking those more difficult questions,” McGuire said. The pope has asked: “What [does it] mean for a human being to flourish? What is good for all of humanity? And not what is just good for a handful of people, but what is good for all of us?”“So what weʼve done here is raised questions more than got answers,” McGuire said. Now we must “bring about a dialogue to go for those answers.”The “first thing I implore everyone to do is to read it,” he said. Reading it is “the most important thing” and “not relying … on soundbites from somebody else.”The first half of the encyclical “is a survey of the previous documents of the Church and social doctrine” and it is “a great summary of them,” he said.Then, focus on reading “Chapter 3 on artificial intelligence” and “Chapter 4 [on] the impact of it.”Pope Leo “uses two biblical metaphors” that “are beautiful and really important”: the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he said.He is “basically saying we donʼt want to go back to the Tower of Babel, where everyone builds it for their own … purposes,” he said. Instead, it must be like the city Jerusalem where “everyone has a role. Every family, every person, every engineer, every journalist, every philosopher.”“Everyone needs to play a role, and we need to engage with this because it will, in large part, determine our future as a humanity,” McGuire said.")
