Good Shepherd Sunday (1962 Missal)
By Fr. Scott Archer April 14, 2024 “The good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep” (Jn. 10:11). 112 years ago today, the Titanic struck an iceberg in the north Atlantic. One passenger aboard that fateful ship, one which Pope St. Pius X would call a martyr for the Church, was Father Thomas Byles. He was raised in a Protestant family in Yorkshire, England. Like his brother William, he eventually converted to the Catholic faith. He attended the Beda College in Rome and was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1902. His trip to America on the Titanic was prompted by the upcoming wedding of his brother William, at which he was asked to officiate. William had moved to New York to run a rubber business and fallen in love with Katherine Russell of Brooklyn. He was able to make arrangements with Captain Smith to offer Mass for the passengers since he had brought a portable altar stone and all accessories. On Sunday morning, April 14, 1912, Father Byles offered what would be his last...