Wednesday, March 2nd. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 5:17-19.
Wednesday of the Third week of Lent
2 March 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
“Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and
teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5:17-19.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Wednesday 2 March 2016
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Wednesday of the Third week of Lent
2 March 2016
Commentary of the day
Saint Cyril of Alexandria (380-444),
Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Sermon 12; PG 77, 1041ff. (copyright Friends of Henry Ashworth)
“I have come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it”
We see Christ submitting to the law of Moses; or rather, we see the lawgiver subject as man to his own decrees. The reason for this we learn from the wisdom of Saint Paul. He says…: “When the fullness of time had come God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal 4,4-5). Thus Christ ransomed from the law’s curse those who were subject to the law but had never kept it. How did he ransom them? By fulfilling the law. Or to put it in another way, to blot out the reproach of Adam’s transgression, he offered himself on our behalf to God the Father, showing him in all things obedience and submission. Scripture says: “As through one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so through one man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Rm 5,18). And so, Christ submitted to the law together with us, and he did so by becoming man in accordance with the divine dispensation. For: “It was fitting that Christ should do everything that justice required” (cf. Mt 3,15).
He had in all truth assumed the condition of a slave (Phil 2,7); and so, reckoned among those under the yoke by reason of his humanity, he once paid the half· shekel to those who demanded it, although as the Son he was by nature free and not liable to this tax (Mt 18,23-26). When you see him keeping the law, then, do not misunderstand it, or reduce one who is free to the rank of household slaves, but reflect rather on the depths of God’s plan.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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Wednesday of the Third week of Lent
2 March 2016
Saint of the day
St. Simplicius,
Pope (+ 483)
SAINT SIMPLICIUS
Pope
(+ 483)
Saint Simplicius was the ornament of the Roman clergy under Sts. Leo and Hilarius, and succeeded the latter in the pontificate in 468. He was raised by God to corn fort and support his Church amidst the greatest storms. All the provinces of the Western Empire, out of Italy, were fallen into the hands of barbarians.
The emperors for many years were rather shadows of power than sovereigns, and, in the eighth year of the pontificate of Simplicius, Rome itself fell a prey to foreigners. Italy, by oppressions and the ravages of barbarians, was left almost a desert without inhabitants; and the imperial armies consisted chiefly of barbarians, hired under the name of auxiliaries. These soon saw that their masters were in their power. The Heruli demanded one third of the lands of Italy, and upon refusal chose for their leader Odoacer, one of the lowest extraction, but a resolute and intrepid man, who was proclaimed king of Rome in 476. He put to death Orestes, who was regent of the empire for his son Augustulus, whom the senate had advanced to the imperial throne. Odoacer spared the life of Augustulus, appointed him a salary of six thousand pounds of gold, and permitted him to live at full liberty near Naples.
Pope Simplicius was wholly taken up in comforting and relieving the afflicted, and in sowing the seeds of the Catholic faith among the barbarians.
The East gave his zeal no less employment and concern. Peter Cnapheus, a violent Eutychian, was made by the heretics Patriarch of Antioch; and Peter Mengus, one of the most profligate men, that of Alexandria. Acacius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, received the sentence of St. Simplicius against Cnapheus, but supported Mongus against him and the Catholic Church, and was a notorious changeling, double-dealer, and artful hypocrite, who often made religion serve his own private ends. St. Simplicius at length discovered his artifices, and redoubled his zeal to maintain the holy faith, which he saw betrayed on every side, whilst the patriarchal sees of Alexandria and Antioch were occupied by furious wolves, and there was not one Catholic king in the whole world. The emperor measured everything by his passions and human views.
St. Simplicius, having sat fifteen years, eleven months, and six days, went to receive the reward of his labors in 483. He was buried in St. Peter’s on the 2d of March.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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DAILY GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS
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From
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___________________________________
“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
Psalms 23(22):1-3a.3b-4.5.6.
***************************************
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
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Tuesday, March 1st. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 18:21-35.
Tuesday of the Third week of Lent
1 March 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage,
and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18:21-35.
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Tuesday 1 March 2016
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Tuesday of the Third week of Lent
1 March 2016
Commentary of the day
Saint Caesarius of Arles (470-543),
monk and Bishop
Sermon Morin 35 ; PLS IV, 303f.
Forgiving one’s brother from the heart
You know what we are going to say in prayer to God before coming to communion: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Interiorly prepare yourself to forgive because you are about to meet up with these words in prayer. How are you going to say them? Are you perhaps not going to say them? In the end that is very much the question: will you say these words, yes or no? You hate your brother and will you utter the words: “Forgive us as we forgive”? Are you going to say that you avoid these words? But in that case, are you praying? Pay close attention, my brethren. In a moment you are going to pray; forgive from the heart!
Look at Christ suspended on the cross: listen to him praying: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know not what they are doing” (Lk 23:34). Doubtless you will say: he was able to do it but I can’t. I am a man but he is God. You can’t imitate Christ? Why then did the apostle Peter write: “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps” (1Pt 2:21)? Why does the apostle Paul write: “Be imitators of God as beloved children” (Eph 5:1)? Why did the Lord himself say: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29)? We turn aside, we look for excuses when we claim to be impossible what we don’t want to do… My brethren, don’t blame Christ for having given us commandments that are too difficult, impossible to fulfil. Rather, let us say to him humbly together with the psalmist: “You are righteous, O Lord, and your judgements are right” (Ps 118:137).
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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Tuesday of the Third week of Lent
1 March 2016
Saints of the day
St. Albinus, Bishop (+ 550)
SAINT ALBINUS
Bishop
(469- 550)
Saint Albinus was of an ancient and noble family in Brittany, and from his childhood was fervent in every exercise of piety. He ardently sighed after the happiness which a devout soul finds in being perfectly disengaged from all earthly things.
Having embraced the monastic state at Tintillant, near Angers, he shone a perfect model of virtue, living as if in all things he had been without any will of his own; and his soul seemed so perfectly governed by the spirit of Christ as to live only for Him.
At the age of thirty-five years he was chosen abbot, in 504, and twenty-five years afterwards Bishop of Angers. He everywhere restored discipline, being inflamed with a holy zeal for the honor of God. His dignity seemed to make no alteration either in his mortifications or in the constant recollection of his soul. Honored by all the world, even by kings, he was never affected with vanity. Powerful in works and miracles, he looked upon himself as the most unworthy and most unprofitable among the servants of God, and had no other ambition than to appear such in the eyes of others as he was in those of his own humility.
In the third Council of Orleans, in 538, he procured the thirtieth canon of the Council of Epaone to be revived, by which those are declared excommunicated who presume to contract incestuous marriages in the first or second degree of consanguinity or affinity. He died on the 1st of March, in 550.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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Tuesday of the Third week of Lent
1 March 2016
Saints of the day
St. David, Bishop (+ 561)
SAINT DAVID
Bishop
(+ 561)
Saint David, son of Sant, Prince of Cardigan and of Non, was born in that country in the fifth century, and from his earliest years gave himself wholly to the service of God.
He began his religious life under St. Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, who had been sent to Britain by Pope St. Celestine to stop the ravages of the heresy of Pelagius, at that time abbot, as it is said, of Bangor.
On the reappearance of that heresy, in the beginning of the sixth century, the bishops assembled at Brevi, and, unable to address the people that came to hear the word of truth, sent for St. David from his cell to preach to them. The Saint came, and it is related that, as he preached, the ground beneath his feet rose and became a hill, so that he was heard by an innumerable crowd. The heresy fell under the sword of the Spirit, and the Saint was elected Bishop of Caerleon on the resignation of St. Dubricius; but he removed the see to Menevia, a lone and desert spot, where he might, with his monks, serve God away from the noise of the world.
He founded twelve monasteries, and governed his Church according to the canons sanctioned in Rome.
At last, when about eighty years of age, he laid himself down, knowing that his hour was come. As his agony closed, our Lord stood before him in a vision, and the Saint cried out: “Take me up with Thee,” and so gave up his soul on Tuesday, March 1, 561.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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DAILY GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS
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“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
Monday, February 29th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 4:24-30.
Monday of the Third week of Lent
29 February 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 4:24-30.
Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Monday 29 February 2016
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Monday of the Third week of Lent
29 February 2016
Commentary of the day
Saint Ambrose (c.340-397),
Saint Ambrose barring Theodosius from Milan Cathedral by Anthony van Dyck
Saint Ambrose (c.340-397),
Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church
On the Sacraments, 1 (trans. Edward Yarnold SJ)
Lent leads to baptism
After this you drew nearer, you saw the font itself, and you saw the bishop presiding over it. The thought which came into the mind of Naaman the Syrian, I am certain, must have come into yours: for though he was afterwards cleansed, he began by doubting… And if anyone should perhaps be thinking of saying: ‘Is that all?’, I say, indeed it is all. There truly is all, where there is all innocence, all devotion, all grace, all sanctification. You saw all you could see with the eyes of the body…; what is unseen is much greater than what is seen… for the things that are unseen are eternal…. Consider baptism, for example. What could be more extraordinary than this, that the Jewish people passed through the midst of the sea? And yet all the Jews who made that passage died in the desert. But he who passes through the waters of this font – that is, from earthly things to heavenly – he who passes through these waters does not die: he rises again.
As I was saying, Naaman was a leper. The moment Naaman came, the prophet told him: ‘Go down to the river Jordan; bathe there and you will be cured.’ Then he began to reflect within himself and to say: ‘Is that all? I come from Syria to the land of the Jews and someone says to me: “Go to the Jordan, bathe there and you will be cured.” As though there were not better rivers in my own country!’ Then his servants said to him: ‘Lord, why not do what the prophet says? Do it and see what happens.’ Then he went to the Jordan, bathed there and came out cured.
What is the meaning of this? You saw the water, but not all waters have a curative power: only that water has it which has the grace of Christ. There is a difference between the matter and the consecration, between the action and its effect. The action belongs to the water, its effect to the Holy Spirit. The water does not heal unless the Spirit descends and consecrates the water. So you have read that when our Lord Jesus Christ instituted the rite of baptism, he came to John and John said to him: ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ (Mt 3,14)… Christ went down into the water and it was John who was the minister and baptized him. And behold, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove… Why did Christ come down first and the Holy Spirit afterwards?… Why was this? It was in order that the Lord Jesus might not appear to have need of this mystery of sanctification, but that he himself might sanctify, and that the Spirit might also sanctify.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Monday of the Third week of Lent
29 February 2016
Saint of the day
St. Oswald of Worcester,
Bishop (+ 992)
SAINT OSWALD
Bishop
(+ 992)
Oswald was of a noble Saxon family, and was endowed with a very rare and beautiful form of body and with a singular piety of soul. He was brought up by his uncle, St. Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was chosen, while still young, dean of the secular canons of Winchester, then very relaxed. His attempt to reform them was a failure; and he saw, with that infallible instinct which so often guides the Saints in critical times, that the true remedy for the corruptions of the clergy was the restoration of the monastic life.
He therefore went to France and took the habit of St. Benedict, but returned, only to receive the news of Odo’s death. He found, however, a new patron in St. Dunstan, now metropolitan, through whose influence he was nominated to the see of Worcester. To these two Saints, together with Ethelwold of Winchester, the monastic revival of the tenth century is mainly due.
Oswald’s first care was to deprive of their benefices the disorderly clerics, whom he replaced as far as possible by regulars, and himself founded seven religious houses. Considering that in the hearts of the secular canons there were yet some sparks of virtue, he would not at once expel them, but rather entrapped them by a holy artifice. Adjoining the cathedral he built a church in honor of the Mother of God, causing it to be served by a body of strict religious. He himself assisted at the divine Office in this church, and his example was followed by the people. The canons, finding themselves isolated and their cathedral deserted, chose rather to embrace the religious life than to continue not only to injure their own souls, but to be a mockery to their people by reason of the contrast offered by their worldliness to the regularity of their religious brethren.
As Archbishop of York a like success attended St. Oswald’s efforts; and God manifested His approval of his zeal by discovering to him the relics of his great predecessor, St. Wilfrid, which he reverently translated to Worcester.
He died February 29, 992.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: n/a
_________________________________
PLEASE JOIN
READ
DAILY GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS
with
and
ALSO READ
From
SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER NEWSLETTER IN THAI
THANK YOU
___________________________________
“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
Psalms 23(22):1-3a.3b-4.5.6.
***************************************
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
****************************
Sunday, February 28th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 13:1-9.
Third Sunday of Lent – Year C
28 February 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
“If you do not repent, you will all perish as they did”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13:1-9.
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them –do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none,
he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. (So) cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it;
it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.'”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
SUNDAY MASS – Catholic Mass – February 28, 2016
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Third Sunday of Lent – Year C
28 February 2016
Commentary of the day
Saint Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173),
Saint Nerses Chnorhali (1102-1173), Armenian patriarch
Jesus, Only Son of the Father, §677-679 ; SC 203
“It may bear fruit in the future”
Curse me not as you cursed the fig tree (cf. Mt 21,19)
Though I be like a barren tree,
Lest the green leaves of my faith
Are withered with the fruit of my works.
But set me fast in what is good
Like the branch on the holy Vine
That your heavenly Father tends (Jn 15,2)
And the Spirit brings to fruit through its growth.
As for the tree that I am, barren in tasty fruit
But fruitful in bitter:
Do not cut it out of your vineyard
But transform it, hollowing it out in the fire.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: N/A
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Third Sunday of Lent – Year C
28 February 2016
Saints of the day
Bl. Daniel Brottier, (1876-1936)
Blessed Daniel Brottier
Priest
(1876-1936)
Blessed Daniel Brottier was a French Spiritan born in France in 1876 and ordained priest 1899. His zeal for spreading the Gospel beyond the classroom or the confines of France made him to join the Spiritan Congregation.
He was sent to Senegal, West Africa. After eight years there, his health suffered and he went back to France where he helped raise funds for the construction of a new cathedral in Senegal.
At the outbreak of World War I Daniel became a volunteer chaplain. He attributed his survival on the front lines to the intercession of Saint Therese of Lisieux, and built a chapel for her at Auteuil when she was canonized.
After the war he established a project for orphans and abandoned children “the Orphan Apprentices of Auteuil” in the suburb of Paris.
He gave up his soul to God on the 28th of February, 1936 and was beatified only 48 years later in 1984 by Pope John Paul II.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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Third Sunday of Lent – Year C
28 February 2016
Saints of the day
Sts. Romanus & Lupicinus
Image: N/A
SAINTS ROMANUS and LUPICINUS
Abbots
(5th century)
Romanus at thirty-five years of age left his relatives and spent some time in the monastery of Ainay at Lyons, at the great church at the conflux of the Saône and Rhone which the faithful had built over the ashes of the famous martyrs of that city; for their bodies being burned by the pagans, their ashes were thrown into the Rhone, but a great part of them was gathered by the Christians and deposited in this place.
Romanus a short time after retired into the forests of Mount Jura, between France and Switzerland, and fixed his abode at a place called Condate, at the conflux of the rivers Bienne and Aliere, where he found a spot of ground fit for culture, and some trees which furnished him with a kind of wild fruit. Here he spent his time in praying, reading, and laboring for his subsistence.
Lupicinus, his brother, came to him some time after in company with others, who were followed by several more, drawn by the fame of the virtue and miracles of these two Saints. Their numbers increasing, they built several monasteries, and a nunnery called La Beaume, which no men were allowed ever to enter, and where St. Romanus chose his burial-place.
The brothers governed the monks jointly and in great harmony, though Lupicinus was the more inclined to severity of the two. Lupicinus used no other bed than a chair or a hard board; never touched wine, and would scarcely ever suffer a drop either of oil or milk to be poured on his pottage. In summer his subsistence for many years was only hard bread moistened in cold water, so that he could eat it with a spoon. His tunic was made of various skins of beasts sewn together,. with a cowl; he used wooden shoes, and wore no stockings unless when he was obliged to go out of the monastery.
St. Romanus died about the year 460, and St. Lupicinus survived him almost twenty years.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
_______________________________
PLEASE JOIN
READ
DAILY GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS
with
and
ALSO READ
From
SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER NEWSLETTER IN THAI
THANK YOU
___________________________________
“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
Psalms 23(22):1-3a.3b-4.5.6.
***************************************
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
****************************
Friday, February 26th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 21:33-43.45-46.
Friday of the Second week of Lent
26 February 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 21:33-43.45-46.
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: “Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”
They answered him, “He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times.”
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’?
Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image:From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Friday 26 February 2016
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Friday of the Second week of Lent
26 February 2016
Commentary of the day
Saint Ambrose (c.340-397),
Saint Ambrose barring Theodosius from Milan Cathedral by Anthony van Dyck
Saint Ambrose (c.340-397),
Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church
Commentary on Saint Luke’s Gospel, 9, 29-30 (cf. SC 52, p.150)
The parable of the vine
The vine symbolizes us because the people of God, grafted into the stock of the eternal vine (Jn 15,5), shoots up above the earth. As the flourishing of an unyielding ground, the more the vine buds and flowers and the more greenery it produces, the more it resembles the desirable yoke of the cross when, full-grown, its outstretched branches form the shoots of a fruitful vineyard… With good reason, then, do we call the people of Christ a vine, whether because they mark their foreheads with the sign of the cross (Ez 9,4), or because their fruits are harvested in the last season of the year, or because, just as in the lines of a vineyard, poor and rich, lowly and mighty, servants and masters, all who are in the Church share a perfect equality…
When vines are tied up they stand upright; when they are pruned it is not to reduce them in size but to make them grow. So it is with this holy people: if bound, it is set free; if humbled, it stands tall; if cut down, it is actually given a crown. Better still: just as a sprout taken from an old tree is grafted onto another root, so this holy people…, nourished on the tree of the cross…, grows and spreads. And the Holy Spirit flows into our bodies as though poured out into the furrows of a field, cleansing all that is unclean and straightening our members to guide them heavenwards.
The Vinedresser is accustomed to weed this vine, to stake it and prune it (Jn 15,2)… Sometimes he heats the hidden places of our body with sunshine, sometimes he waters them with the rain. He delights to weed his land lest the weeds injure the buds; he takes care that the leaves don’t make too much shade…, don’t deprive our virtues of light or hinder the maturation of our fruit.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Friday of the Second week of Lent
26 February 2016
Saint of the day
St. Porphyry,
Bishop (+ 420)
ST PORPHYRY
Bishop
(+ 420)
At the age of twenty-five, Porphyry, a rich citizen of Thessalonica, left the world for one of the great religious houses in the desert of Sceté. Here he remained five years, and then, finding himself drawn to a more solitary life, passed into Palestine, where he spent a similar period in the severest penance, till ill health obliged him to moderate his austerities. He then made his home in Jerusalem, and in spite of his ailments visited the Holy Places every day; thinking, says his biographer, so little of his sickness that he seemed to be afflicted in another body, and not his own. About this time God put it into his heart to sell all he had and give to the poor, and then in reward of the sacrifice restored him by a miracle to perfect health.
In 393 he was ordained priest and intrusted with the care of the relics of the true cross; three years later, in spite of all the resistance his humility could make, he was consecrated Bishop of Gaza. That city was a hotbed of paganism, and Porphyry found in it an ample scope for his apostolic zeal. His labors and the miracles which attended them effected the conversion of many; and an imperial edict for the destruction of the pagan temples, obtained through the influence of St. John Chrysostom, greatly strengthened his hands.
When St. Porphyry first went to Gaza, he found there one temple more splendid than the rest, in honor of the chief god. When the edict went forth to destroy all traces of heathen worship, St. Porphyry determined to put Satan to special shame where he had received special honor. A Christian church was built upon the site, and its approach was paved with the marbles of the heathen temple. Thus every worshipper of Jesus Christ trod the relics of idolatry and superstition underfoot each time he went to assist at the holy Mass.
He lived to see his diocese for the most part clear of idolatry, and died in 420.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
Psalms 23(22):1-3a.3b-4.5.6.
***************************************
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
****************************
Thursday, February 25th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 16:19-31.
Thursday of the Second week of Lent
25 February 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 16:19-31.
Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’
Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’
He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house,
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Thursday 25 February 2016
____________________________________
Thursday of the Second week of Lent
25 February 2016
Commentary of the day
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997),
founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
No Greater Love
“Lying at his door was a poor man”
Christ said, “I was hungry and you gave me food” (Mt 25,35). He was hungry not only for bread but for I the understanding love of being loved, of being known, of being someone to someone. He was naked not only of clothing but of human dignity and of respect, through the injustice that is done to the poor, who are looked down upon simply because they are poor. He was dispossessed not only of a house… but because of the dispossession of those who are locked up, of those who are unwanted and unloved, of those who walk through the world with no one to care for them.
You may go out into the street and have nothing to say, but maybe there is a man standing there on the corner and you go to him. Maybe he resents you, but you are there, and that presence is there. You must radiate that presence that is within you, in the way you address that man with love and respect. Why? Because you believe that is Jesus. Jesus cannot receive you – for this, you must know how to go to Him. He comes disguised in the form of that person there. Jesus, in the least of His brethren (Mt 25,40), is not only hungry for a piece of bread, but hungry for love, to be known, to be taken into account.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
_______________________
Thursday of the Second week of Lent
25 February 2016
Commentary of the day
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997),
Mother Teresa at a pro-life meeting in 1986 in Bonn, West Germany
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
No Greater Love
“Lying at his door was a poor man”
Christ said, “I was hungry and you gave me food” (Mt 25,35). He was hungry not only for bread but for I the understanding love of being loved, of being known, of being someone to someone. He was naked not only of clothing but of human dignity and of respect, through the injustice that is done to the poor, who are looked down upon simply because they are poor. He was dispossessed not only of a house… but because of the dispossession of those who are locked up, of those who are unwanted and unloved, of those who walk through the world with no one to care for them.
You may go out into the street and have nothing to say, but maybe there is a man standing there on the corner and you go to him. Maybe he resents you, but you are there, and that presence is there. You must radiate that presence that is within you, in the way you address that man with love and respect. Why? Because you believe that is Jesus. Jesus cannot receive you – for this, you must know how to go to Him. He comes disguised in the form of that person there. Jesus, in the least of His brethren (Mt 25,40), is not only hungry for a piece of bread, but hungry for love, to be known, to be taken into account.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
______________________
Thursday of the Second week of Lent
25 February 2016
Saint of the day
St. Tarasius,
Patriarch of Constantinople (+ 806)
SAINT TARASIUS
Patriarch of Constantinople
(+ 806)
Tarasius was born at Constantinople about the middle of the eighth century, of a noble family. His mother Eucratia, brought him up in the practice of the most eminent virtues. By his talents and virtue he gained the esteem of all, and was raised to the greatest honors of the empire, being made consul, and afterwards first secretary of state to the Emperor Constantine and the Empress Irene, his mother. In the midst of the court, and in its highest honors, he led a life like that of a religious man.
Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, the third of that name, though he had conformed in some respects to the then, reigning heresy, had several good qualities, and was not only beloved by the people for his charity to the poor, but highly esteemed by the whole court for his great prudence. Touched with remorse, he quitted the patriarchal see, and put on a religious habit in the monastery of Florus in Constantinople. Tarasius was chosen to succeed him by the unanimous consent of the court, clergy, and people. Finding it in vain to oppose his election, he. declared that he could not in conscience accept of the government of a; see which had been cut off from the Catholic communion, except on condition that a general council should be called to compose the disputes which divided the Church at that time in relation to holy images.
This being agreed to, he was solemnly declared patriarch, and consecrated soon after, on Christmas Day. The council was opened on the 1st of August, in the Church of the Apostles at Constantinople, in 786; but, being disturbed by the violences of the Iconoclasts, it adjourned, and met again the year following in the Church of St. Sophia at Nice. The council, having declared the sense of the Church in relation to the matter in debate, which was found to be the allowing to holy pictures and images a relative honor, was closed with the usual acclamations and prayers for the prosperity of the emperor and empress; after which, synodal letters were sent to all the churches, and in particular to the Pope, who approved the council.
The life of this holy patriarch was a model of perfection to his clergy and people. His table contained barely the necessaries of life; he allowed himself very little time for sleep, being always up the first and last in his family. Reading and prayer filled all his leisure hours. The emperor having become enamoured of Theodota, a maid of honor to his wife, the Empress Mary, was resolved to divorce the latter. He used all his efforts to gain the patriarch over to his desires, but St. Tarasius resolutely refused to countenance the iniquity.
The holy man gave up his soul to God in peace on the 25th of February, 806, after having sat twenty-one years and two months.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
Psalms 23(22):1-3a.3b-4.5.6.
***************************************
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
****************************
Saturday, February 13th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 5:27-32.
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
13 February 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the
customs post. He said to him, «Follow me.»
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5:27-32.
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, «Follow me.»
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Saturday 13 February 2016
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Saturday after Ash Wednesday
13 February 2016
Commentary of the day
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313-350),
Bishop of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church
Catechesis before baptism, no.1 (trad. Migne 1993, p. 36 rev.)
“Leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him”: Lent leads to baptism
You are catechumens, those who are preparing for baptism, disciples of the New Covenant and sharers in Christ’s mysteries. Already – now by your call and soon also by grace – you have been made «a new heart and a new spirit» (Ez 18,31) to the joy of the dwellers in heaven. For if, according to the Gospel, the conversion of one sinner stirs up this joy (Lk 15,7), how much more will the salvation of so many souls not stir up the heavenly inhabitants to rejoicing?
You have undertaken a good, a most splendid journey: set yourselves to running the race of enthusiasm. The only Son of God is waiting ready to redeem you: «Come,» he says, «you who are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest» (Mt 11,28). You who labor under sin, bound with the shackles of your misdeeds, hear what the voice of one of the prophets says: «Wash, make yourselves clean, put away your misdeeds from before my eyes» (Is 1,16) that the choir of angels may cry to you: «Happy are they whose transgression is taken away, whose sin is remitted!» (Ps 32[31],1). You who have come precisely to light the lamps of faith let your hands be diligent in guarding the flame so that he who, on our most holy hill of Golgotha, opened up paradise to the malefactor through faith (Lk 23,43) may grant you to sing the wedding song.
If there is anyone here who is a slave of sin, let him prepare himself by means of baptismal faith for the new birth that will make a free man of him, one of the children of adoption. Let him forsake the lamentable slavery of his sins to win the blessed slavery of the Lord… By faith acquire the first fruits of the Holy Spirit» (2Cor 5,5) so that you can be received into everlasting dwellings. Come to the sacrament that will seal you with a view to making you intimates of our Lord.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
__________________________
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
13 February 2016
Saint of the day
Bl. Jordan of Saxo,
Dominican Priest (c. 1190-1237)
BLESSED JORDAN OF SAXONY
Dominican Priest
(C. 1190-1237)
Blessed Jordan of Saxony was a German of noble descent. He received a pious upbringing, and was noted for his charity to the poor from an early age. Educated in Germany, he received his masters’ degree in theology at the University of Paris.
He joined the Order of Preachers in 1220 under Saint Dominic himself and became Prior-provincial of the Order in Lombardy in 1221. He succeeded Dominic as master-general of the Order in 1222. Under his administration, the Order spread throughout Germany, and into Denmark.
He was a noted and powerful preacher; one of his sermons brought Saint Albert the Great into the Order.
Jordan is the author of Libellus de principiis Ordinis Praedicatorum (“Booklet on the beginnings of the Order of Preachers”), a Latin text which is both the earliest biography of Saint Dominic and the first narrative history of the foundation of the Order.
Spiritual director of Blessed Diana d’Andalo, he helped her found the monastery of Saint Agnes.
He died in a shipwreck off the coast of Syria while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
Friday, January 29th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Mark 4:26-34.
Friday of the Third week in Ordinary Time
29 January 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 4:26-34.
Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”
He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Friday 29 January 2016
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Friday of the Third week in Ordinary Time
29 January 2016
Commentary of the day
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-395),
Icon of St. Gregory of Nyssa
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-395), monk and Bishop
Sermon on the deceased
“First the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear”
This present life is a path leading to the end of our hope in the same way that we see fruit on the shoots as they begin to emerge from flower and which, thanks to the flower, comes into existence as fruit even if the flower is not itself the fruit. Even so, the harvest born of sowing does not immediately appear with its ear but the blade first springs up and then, once the blade has died, the stem of corn rises up and in this way the fruit ripens at the head of the ear…
Our Creator has not destined us for an embryonic life; nature’s goal is not the life of the newborn. Neither does it envisage the successive ages that it puts on with time in the process of the growth that alters its form, nor the dissolution of the body following on from death. All these states are stages along the way on which we advance. The goal and end of the journey through these stages is the divine likeness…; the awaited end of life is blessedness. But today, all that concerns the body – death, old age, youth, childhood and the formation of the embryo – all these states like so many plants, stalks and ears, form a pathway, a succession and a potential that makes possible the hoped for maturity.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Friday of the Third week in Ordinary Time
29 January 2016
Saint of the day
St. Gildas the Wise,
Abbot (6th century)
SAINT GILDAS THE WISE (or Gildas of Rhuys)
Abbot
(c. 500-570 or 581)
St. Gildas was a 6th-century British monk. He learned, from the instructions and examples of the most eminent servants of God, to copy in his own life whatever seemed most perfect.
His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens (Gildas the Wise).
He wrote eight canons of discipline, and a severe invective against the crimes of the Britons, called De Excidio Britanniae and he also wrote an invective against the British clergy, whom he accused of sloth of seldom sacrificing at the altar.
He fell asleep in the Lord in 570 or in 581
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
***********************************************
Monday, October 26th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 13:10-17.
Monday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time
26 October 2015
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
“Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13:10-17.
Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath.
And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect.
When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, “Woman, you are set free of your infirmity.”
He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God.
But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.”
The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering?
This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?”
When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
Image: From Bible Hub
DAILY MASS – Monday 26 October 2015
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Monday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time
26 October 2015
Commentary of the day
A Ten Commandments monument which includes the command to
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”.
A Homily attributed to Eusebius of Alexandria
(end of the 5th century)
Sunday sermons, 16,1-2; PG 86, 416-421
The Sabbath becomes the first day of the new creation
It is obvious that a week comprises seven days: God gave us six of them on which to work and one on which to pray, take our rest and be freed from our sins… I am going to expound to you the reasons for which our tradition of keeping Sundays and abstaining from work has been transmitted to us. When the Lord entrusted the sacrament to his disciples: “He took bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying: ‘Take, eat: this is my body, broken for you for the remission of sins.’ In the same way, he gave them the cup, saying: ‘Drink from it all of you: this is my blood, the blood of the New Covenant, shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of me’” (Mt 26,26f.; 1Cor 11,24).
Thus the holy day of Sunday is that on which we make a memorial of the Lord. That is why it is called “the Lord’s day”. And it is, as it were, the lord of days. In fact, before the Passion of the Lord, it was not called “the Lord’s day” but “the first day”. It was on this day that the Lord established a foundation for the resurrection, that is to say he carried out the work of creation; on this day he gave the world the firstfruits of the resurrection; on this day, as we have said, he ordained the celebration of the holy mysteries. Thus this day has become a beginning for us of every grace: the beginning of the creation of the world, the beginning of the resurrection, the beginning of the week. This day, which encloses within itself three beginnings, prefigures the primacy of the Holy Trinity.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
Image: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Monday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time
26 October 2015
Saint of the day
St. Evaristus, Pope and Martyr († 112)
SAINT EVARISTUS
Pope and Martyr
(† 112)
St. Evaristus succeeded St. Anacletus in the see of Rome, in the reign of Trajan, governed the Church nine years, and died in 112. The institution of cardinal priests is by some ascribed to him, because he first divided Rome into several titles or parishes, assigning a priest to each; he also appointed seven deacons to attend the bishop.
He conferred holy orders thrice in the month of December, when that ceremony was most usually performed, for holy orders were always conferred in seasons appointed for fasting and prayer.
St. Evaristus was buried near St. Peter’s tomb on the Vatican.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
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“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
*********************************************
“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
__________________________
Tuesday, September 29th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St John 1:47-51.
Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels – Feast
29 September 2015
“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 1:47-51.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.”
Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”
And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
Image: From Bible Hub
DAILY MASS –Tuesday 29 September 2015
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Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels – Feast
29 September 2015
Commentary of the day
Saint Basil (c.330-379)
Icon of St. Basil the Great from the
St. Sophia Cathedral of Kiev
Saint Basil (c.330-379), monk and Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church
Treatise on the Holy Spirit, Chapter 16
The holiness of the angels
“By the Lord’s word the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host” (Ps 33:6)… Here we perceive the Three, the Lord who gives the order, the Word who creates, and the Spirit who confirms. And what else could this confirmation be than a perfecting in holiness? This perfecting expresses unchangeableness and fixity in good, but there is no sanctification without the Holy Spirit. The powers of the heavens are not holy by nature; otherwise there would be no difference between them and the Holy Spirit. They receive their measure of holiness from the Spirit, according to their rank…
Their substance is perhaps an ethereal spirit, or an immaterial fire, as it is written, ” You make the winds your messengers; flaming fire, your ministers” (Ps 104:4). They exist in space and can become visible and appear in a bodily form to those that are worthy. But their holiness… comes through their communion with the Spirit. They keep their rank by abiding in the good and true; while they retain their free will, they never fall away from their patient attendance on Him who is truly good…
For how are angels to cry “Glory to God in the highest” (Lk 2:14) without being empowered by the Spirit? For “No one can say that ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit, and nobody speaking by the Spirit of God says ‘Jesus be accursed,'” (1 Co 12:3) as might be said by wicked and hostile spirits… in their free will… And how could “thrones, dominions, principalities and powers”(Col 1:16) live their blessed life, if they did not “behold the face of the Father in heaven”? (Mt 18:10) But to behold it is impossible without the Spirit! … How could the Seraphim cry “Holy, Holy, Holy,” (Is 6:3) were they not taught by the Spirit? If “all His angels” and “all His hosts” praise God, it is through the co-operation of the Spirit. If “thousands on thousands” of angels stand before Him, and “ten thousand times ten thousand” ministering spirits, they are blamelessly doing their proper work by the power of the Spirit. All the glorious and unspeakable harmony of the highest heavens both in the service of God, and in the mutual concord of the celestial powers, can therefore only be preserved by the direction of the Spirit.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels – Feast
29 September 2015
Saints of the day
St. Michael Archangel – Feast
SAINT MICHAEL
Archangel
(Feast)
“MI-CA-EL,” or “Who is like God?” Such was the cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts, and from that hour he has been known as “Michael,” the captain of the armies of God, the type of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul in strife with the powers of evil.
Thus he appears in Holy Scripture as the guardian of the children of Israel, their comfort and protector in times of sorrow or conflict. He it is who prepares for their return from the Persian captivity, who leads the valiant Maccabees to victory, and who rescues the body of Moses from the envious grasp of the Evil One.
And since Christ’s coming the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her special patron and protector. She invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her children in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light.
Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
_____________________________________
Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels – Feast
29 September 2015
Saints of the day
St. Gabriel Archangel – Feast
Saint Gabriel
Archangel
(Feast)
“I am Gabriel, who stand before God.” (Luke 1, 19)
Saint Gabriel, whose name means “God’s strength,” is mentioned four times in the Bible.
In Daniel 8, he explains the vision of the horned ram as portending the destruction of the Persian Empire by the Macedonian Alexander the Great, after whose death the kingdom will be divided up among his generals, from one of whom will spring Antiochus Epiphanes.
In chapter 9, after Daniel had prayed for Israel, we read that “the man Gabriel . . . . flying swiftly touched me” and he communicated to him the mysterious prophecy of the “seventy weeks” of years which should elapse before the coming of Christ.
Most significant are Gabriel’s two mentions in the New Testament: to announce the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias, and to foretell to Mary the Incarnation of the Word in her womb.
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Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels – Feast
29 September 2015
Saints of the day
St. Raphael Archangel – Feast
Saint Raphael
Archangel
(Feast)
Saint Raphael, whose name means “God has healed” because of his healing of Tobit’s blindness in the Book of Tobit.
Tobit is the only book in which he is mentioned. Here he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself “Azarias the son of the great Ananias”. The story of the journey during which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways including the binding “in the desert of upper Egypt” of the demon who had previously slain seven husbands of Sara, daughter of Raguel, is related in Tobit 5-11.
After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as “the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord” (Tobit 12:15).
His office is generally accepted by tradition to be that of healing and acts of mercy.
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Tuesday, August 18th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 19:23-30.
Tuesday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time
18 August 2015
“For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 19:23-30.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
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Tuesday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time
18 August 2015
Commentary of the day
Saint Peter Damian
Saint Peter Damian (far right), depicted with Saints Augustine, Anne, and Elizabeth
Saint Peter Damian (1007-1072), hermit then Bishop, Doctor of the Church
Sermon 9 ; PL 144, 549-553
“ Receive a hundred times more now in this present age ” (Mc 10,30)
We should live detached from our possessions and our own will if we would be followers of him who had “nowhere to rest his head” (Lk 9,58) and who came “not to do his own will but he will of the one who sent him” (Jn 6,38)… We already know by experience what the Truth promised to whoever forsakes everything and follows him: “he will receive a hundred times more now… and eternal life in the age to come” (Mk 10,30). Indeed, the gift of a hundred times more sustains us on the journey and possession of eternal life will be our joy for ever in our heavenly homeland.
But what does this hundred times more mean? Briefly, the consolations of the Spirit, sweet as honey, his visits and his firstfruits. It is the witness of our conscience, the happy and joyful expectation of the righteous; it is the remembrance of God’s overwhelming goodness and, in truth, the greatness of his sweetness. Those who have had experience of these gifts have no need for anyone to tell them about them. And as for those who do not have it, who could describe it in plain words?
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Tuesday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time
18 August 2015
Saint of the day
St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Priest (1901-1952)
Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga
Priest
(1901-1952)
Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga was born in Viña del Mar, Chile, on the 22nd of January 1901; he was orphaned when he was four years old by the death of his father. His mother had to sell, at a loss, their modest property in order to pay the family’s debts. As a further consequence, Alberto and his brother had to go to live with relatives and were often moved from one family to another. From an early age, therefore, he experienced what it meant to be poor, to be without a home and at the mercy of others.
He was given a scholarship to the Jesuit College in Santiago. Here he became a member of the Sodality of Our Lady and developed a lively interest in the poor, spending time with them in the most miserable neighborhoods every Sunday afternoon.
When he completed his secondary education in 1917, Alberto wanted to become a Jesuit, but he was advised to delay the realization of this desire in order to take care of his mother and his younger brother. By working in the afternoons and evenings, he succeeded in supporting them; at the same time, he studied law at the Catholic University. In this period, he maintained his care for the poor and continued to visit them every Sunday. Obligatory military service interrupted his studies, but once he fulfilled this duty he went on to earn his degree early in August 1923.
On the 14th of August 1923 he entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Chillán. In 1925 he went to Córdoba, Argentina, where he studied humanities. In 1927 he was sent to Spain to study philosophy and theology.
However, because of the suppression of the Jesuits in Spain in 1931, he went on to Belgium and continued studying theology at Louvain. He was ordained a priest there on the 24th of August 1933, and in 1935 obtained a doctorate in pedagogy and psychology. After having completed his Tertianship in Drongen, Belgium, he returned to Chile in January 1936. Here he began his activity as professor of religion at Colegio San Ignacio and of Pedagogy at the Catholic University of Santiago. He was entrusted with the Sodality of Our Lady for the students, and he involved them in teaching catechism to the poor. He frequently directed retreats and offered spiritual direction to many young men, accompanying several of them in their response to the priestly vocation and contributing in an outstanding manner to the formation of many Christian laymen.
In 1941 Father Hurtado published his most famous book: “Is Chile a Catholic Country?” The same year he was asked to assume the role of Assistant for the Youth Movement of the Catholic Action, first within the Archdiocese of Santiago and then nationally. He performed these roles with an exceptional spirit of initiative, dedication and sacrifice.
In October 1944, while giving a retreat, he felt impelled to appeal to his audience to consider the many poor people of the city, especially the numerous homeless children who were roaming the streets of Santiago. This request evoked a ready and generous response. This was the beginning of the initiative for which Father Hurtado is especially well-known: a form of charitable activity which provided not only housing but a home-like milieu for the homeless: “El Hogar de Cristo”.
By means of contributions from benefactors and with the active collaboration of committed laity, Father Hurtado opened the first house for children; this was followed by a house for women and then one for men. The poor found a warm home in “El Hogar de Cristo”. The houses multiplied and took on new dimensions; in some houses there were rehabilitation centers, in others trade-schools, and so on. All were inspired and permeated by Christian values.
In 1945 Father Hurtado visited the United States to study the “Boys Town” movement and to consider how it could be adapted to his own country. The last six years of his life were dedicated to the development of various forms in which “El Hogar” could exist and function.
In 1947 Father Hurtado founded the Chilean Trade Union Association (ASICH) to promote a union movement inspired by the social teaching of the Church.
Between 1947 and 1950, Father Hurtado wrote three important works: on trade unions, on social humanism, and on the Christian social order. In 1951 he founded “Mensaje”, the well-known Jesuit periodical dedicated to explaining the doctrine of the Church.
Pancreatic cancer brought him, within a few months, to the end of his life. In the midst of terrible pain, he was often heard to say, “I am content, Lord.“
After having spent his life manifesting Christ’s love for the poor, Father Hurtado was called to the Lord on the 18th of August 1952.
From his return to Chile after his Tertianship to his death, a matter of only fifteen years, Father Hurtado lived and accomplished all the works described above. His apostolate was the expression of a personal love for Christ the Lord; it was characterized by a great love for poor and abandoned children, an enlightened zeal for the formation of the laity, and a lively sense of Christian social justice.
Fr. Hurtado was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 23rd, 2005.
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Wednesday, August 12th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 18:15-20.
Wednesday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
12 August 2015
Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18:15-20.
Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, (amen,) I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
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Wednesday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
12 August 2015
Commentary of the day
Isaac of Stella
Isaac of Stella (?-c.1171), Cistercian monk
Sermon 11, §11-14 ; PL 194, 1729 ; SC 130 (trans. ©Cistercian publications, Inc., 1979)
“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”
Bridegroom and Bride, that is Christ and the Church, are as one, be it in receiving confession or in bestowing absolution. All this makes clear why Christ had to tell each of us: “Go, show yourself to the priest” (Mt 8,4)… It follows that apart from Christ the Church cannot grant forgiveness and that Christ has no will to forgive apart from the Church. The Church’s authority to forgive extends only to the repentant, to those, that is, whom Christ has already touched; Christ, on his part, has no intention of regarding as forgiven one who despises the Church.
Doubtless, Christ need accept no restraints to his power of baptizing, consecrating the Eucharist, ordaining ministers, forgiving sins and the like, but the humble and faithful Bridegroom prefers to confer such blessings with the cooperation of his Bride. “What God,” then, “has joined, let no man put asunder” (Mt 19,6). “I say this is a great mystery and refers to Christ and the Church” (Eph 5,32)… To remove the Head from the Body (Col 1,18) were to ruin the whole Christ irreparably. Christ apart from the Church is no more the whole Christ than the Church is complete if separated from Christ. Head and Body go to make the whole and entire Christ.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
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Wednesday of the Nineteenth week in Ordinary Time
12 August 2015
Saint of the day
St. Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641)
SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL
(1572-1641)
At the age of sixteen, Jane Frances de Frémyot, already a motherless child, was placed under the care of a worldly-minded governess. In this crisis she offered herself to the Mother of God, and secured Mary’s protection for life. When a Protestant sought her hand, she steadily refused to marry “an enemy of God and his Church,” and shortly afterwards, as the loving and beloved wife of the Baron de Chantal, made her house the pattern of a Christian home.
But God had marked her for something higher than domestic sanctity. Two children and a dearly beloved sister died, and, in the full tide of prosperity, her husband’s life was taken by the innocent hand of a friend. For seven years the sorrows of her widowhood were increased by ill-usage from servants and inferiors, and the cruel importunities of friends, who urged her to marry again. Harassed almost to despair by their entreaties, she branded on her heart the name of Jesus, and in the end left her beloved home and children to live for God alone.
It was on the 19th of March, 1609, that Madame de Chantal bade farewell to her family and relations. Pale, and with tears in her eyes, she passed round the large room, sweetly and humbly taking leave of each. Her son, a boy of fifteen, used every entreaty, every endearment, to induce his mother not to leave them, and at last passionately flung himself across the door of the room. In an agony of distress, she passed on over the body of her son to the embrace of her aged and disconsolate father. The anguish of that parting reached its height when, kneeling at the feet of the venerable old man, she sought and obtained his last blessing, promising to repay in her new home his sacrifice by her prayers.
Well might St. Francis call her “the valiant woman.” She was to found with St. Francis de Sales a great Order. Sickness, opposition, want, beset her, and the death of children, friends, and of St. Francis himself followed, while eighty-seven houses of the Visitation rose under her hand. Nine long years of interior desolation completed the work of God’s grace; and in her seventieth year St. Vincent of Paul saw, at the moment of her death, her soul ascend, as a ball of fire, to heaven.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
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Saturday, August 8th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 17:14-20.
In Australia & New Zealand: solemnity and feast of St Mary MacKillop, Virgin – Proper readings
Saturday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
8 August 2015
Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic
and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 17:14-20.
A man approached Jesus, knelt down before him,
and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water.
I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring him here to me.”
Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured.
Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
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In Australia & New Zealand: solemnity and feast of St Mary MacKillop, Virgin – Proper readings
Saturday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
8 August 2015
Commentary of the day
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313-350)
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313-350), Bishop of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church
Baptismal Catechesis 5, 10-11 ; PG 33, 518 (cf. Breviary Wk 31, Wednesday)
“Increase our faith” (Lk 17,5)
The word “faith” has one syllable but two meanings. First of all it is concerned with doctrine and it denotes the assent of the soul to some truth. Faith in this sense brings blessing and salvation to the soul, as the Lord said: “He who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life.” (Jn 5,24)…
The word “faith” has a second meaning: it is a particular gift and grace of Christ. “To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing” (1Cor 12,8-9). Faith in the sense of a particular divine grace conferred by the Spirit is not, then, primarily concerned with doctrine but with giving a person powers quite beyond their natural capability. Whoever has this faith will say to the mountain: “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and anyone who can in fact say these words through faith and “believe without hesitation that they will come to pass,” (Mk 11,23) receives this particular grace. It is to this kind of faith that the Lord’s words refer: “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed.” Now a mustard seed is small in size but its energy thrusts it upwards with the force of fire. Small are its roots, great the spread of its boughs, and once it is fully grown the birds of the air find shelter in its branches (Mt 13,32). So too, in a flash, faith can produce the most wonderful effects in the soul.
Illumined by faith, the soul gazes at the glory of God as far as human nature allows and, ranging beyond the boundaries of the universe, it has a vision, before the consummation of all things, of the judgment and of God making good the rewards he promised. As far as it depends on you then, cherish this gift of faith that leads you to God and you will then receive the higher gift which no effort of yours can reach, no power of yours attain.
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In Australia & New Zealand: solemnity and feast of St Mary MacKillop, Virgin – Proper readings
Saturday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
8 August 2015
Saints of the day
St. Dominic, Priest (1170-1221)
ST DOMINIC
Priest
(1170-1221)
St. Dominic was born in Spain, in 1170. As a student, he sold his books to feed the poor in a famine, and offered himself in ransom for a slave.
At the age of twenty-five he became superior of the Canons Regular of Osma, and accompanied his Bishop to France. There his heart was well-nigh broken by the ravages of the Albigenian heresy, and his life was henceforth devoted to the conversion of heretics and the defence of the Faith. For this end he established his threefold religious Order.
The convent for nuns was founded first, to rescue young girls from heresy and crime. Then a company of apostolic men gathered around him, and became the Order of Friar Preachers. Lastly came the Tertiaries, persons of both sexes living in the world.
God blessed the new Order, and France, Italy, Spain, and England welcomed the Preaching Friars. Our Lady took them under her special protection, and whispered to St. Dominic as he preached. It was in 1208, while St. Dominic knelt in the little chapel of Notre Dame de la Prouille, and implored the great Mother of God to save the Church, that Our Lady appeared to him, gave him the Rosary, and bade him go forth and preach. Beads in hand, he revived the courage of the Catholic troops, led them to victory against overwhelming numbers, and finally crushed the heresy.
His nights were spent in prayer; and, though pure as a virgin, thrice before morning broke he scourged himself to blood. His words rescued countless souls, and three times raised the dead to life.
At length, on the 6th of August, 1221, at the age of fifty-one, he gave up his soul to God.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
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In Australia & New Zealand: solemnity and feast of St Mary MacKillop, Virgin – Proper readings
Saturday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
8 August 2015
Saints of the day
St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop, Virgin
St. Mary of the Cross Mackillop, Virgin
Mary of the Cross MacKillop was born on January 15, 1842 in Melbourne, Australia. Conditions in the mid-nineteenth century were still appallingly primitive. Poverty was rife especially in country areas, religious discrimination was widespread, the plight of the aboriginal people was deplorable, unemployment was common-place and communication was difficult in the extreme. Travel over any distance was for the fearless and tough. Many of the first settlers were of convict origin with little education and many were descendants of Irish Catholics much discriminated against because of their religion and place of origin. The Church had few priests to serve its people who were scattered around rural areas and, as a rule, experiencing poverty. Mary was the first of eight children of Scottish immigrants, Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald. These Catholic parents imbued their children with a great love of their faith. The family was poor, the father often without work because he dabbled in business and politics. Mary, in her teens, was called upon to assist the family finances by finding employment.
At a young age, Mary had increasingly felt the call to live as a religious sister but she still had the obligation to care for her family. While working as a governess in Penola, she met Father Julian Tenison Woods who was parish priest of a large part of South East, South Australia. At that period of Australian history, schools, medical care and any form of social services were lacking, especially for the poor. The Catholic rural poor were especially disadvantaged. Blessed Mary’s dream of a free education for such children corresponded with the dream of Father Woods. He became her mentor and spiritual director and encouraged her vocation. Together, they developed a plan for a congregation of sisters who would work wherever there was a need but especially in rural areas. They would live in small convents or in whatever style of dwelling that the local people had. It was a courageous plan.
In January 1866 the plan was put into action. Mary and her two sisters began teaching in Penola, South Australia, in a stable refurbished by her brother. With the encouragement and mentoring of Father Woods, the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart was born. On the advice of Father Woods, Mary moved to the main South Australian city of Adelaide. On August 15, 1867 Mary and her companions professed the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Mary took the name Sister Mary of the Cross. She was joined by other young women, who responded to needsin rural areaswhere they provided, without payment, elementary teaching in religion and secular subjects to poor children who, otherwise had no hope of education. Soon afterwards Mary’s charitable heart opened to the destitute and elderly who were friendless and abandoned in a harsh society without any social welfare. By 1869 there were sixty sisters working in schools, orphanages and refuges for women. Father Woods and Blessed Mary envisaged the sisters being governed centrally by one superior and being free to go wherever there was a need anywhere in the colonies. In a short time, therefore, the sisters could be found in the other colonies and in New Zealand.
A complex set of circumstances led to the Bishop of Adelaide, who was once her friend and benefactor, excommunicating Mary in 1871 for supposed disobedience. Mary accepted the excommunication and the dismissal of many of her sisters with serenity and peace. The Bishop revoked the sentence before his death less than six months later. Mary returned to her work and the majority of the sisters, who had been sent away, returned to the Institute. They were dark days. Mary was advised to go to Rome to seek the help of Pope Pius IX. Crucial for the institute was the concept of central government, which would enable her to send the sisters anywhere there was a need, rather than be confined to a particular diocese. While in Rome, Mary did not receive final approval for the institute—this came in 1888—but she did receive encouragement from many and especially from her three meetings with Pope PiusIX. She returned to Australia with support for central government.
Back in Australia, further problems arose and Mary was ordered to leave Adelaide for Sydney where, in 1885 she was deposed as Mother General. It was not until 1899 that the sisters were free to elect her as their Mother General, an office she held until her death. She accepted these harsh changes and still retained respect for the bishops and priesthood and encouraged her sisters to do the same. Mary was untiring in her zeal for the poor. One of her favourite sayings was, “Never see a need without doing something about it.” Her devotion to the Sacred Heart, the Blessed Sacrament and Saint Joseph impelled her to love God and His people. Her attention to the will of God enabled her to accept the joys as well as the difficulties that beset her so frequently. She wrote, “The will of God is to me a very dear book and I never tire of reading it.”
Throughout her life Mary suffered from ill health and was often confined to bed with severe and debilitating headaches. But she used her illness to come closer to God. While visiting New Zealand when she was sixty years old she suffered a stroke. Her right side was impaired but she learned to write with her left hand and continued in the office of Superior General and even made several visitations to faraway convents.
By 1905 deterioration was becoming evident and for the next years she suffered heroically and kept a cheerful, pleasant outlook on life, always speaking of God’s Will. In 1909 her condition worsened and she died peacefully on August 8, 1909.
Her last days were ones of sadness for those who were gathered around her. Cardinal Moran said when he left her, “I have this day attended the death-bed of a saint… Her death will bring many blessings.” One thousand sisters then in the Institute mourned her death. Mary’s remains were removed to the Memorial Chapel at the Motherhouse in North Sydney, NSW, Australia. Three popes, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, have prayed at her tomb as have thousands of pilgrims annually from all over the world.
The lasting memory many sisters had of Mary was her kindness. It was not just the kindness reflected in all the works for which she had been responsible, nor the kindness of an isolated, aloof person but the kindness which St Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians: Love is patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence and is not resentful. Love… elights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, to endure whatever comes(1 Cor.13: 4-7).
During his visit to Sydney for World Youth Day in July 2008, Pope Benedict XVI, in speaking of Mary MacKillop, said “I know that herperseverance in the face of adversity, her plea for justice on behalf of those unfairly treated and her practical example of holiness have become a source of inspiration for all Australians”. The Holy Father spoke again, quoting Mary MacKillop, “Believe in the whisperings of God to your heart. Believe in him. Believe in the power of the Spirit of love”. Mary was so immersed in the presence of her God that she was well placed to hear His whisperings throughout her life.
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Tuesday, August 4th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 14:22-36.
Tuesday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
4 August 2015
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 14:22-36.
Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once (Jesus) spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret.
When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought to him all those who were sick
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak, and as many as touched it were healed.
DAILY MASS – Tuesday 4 August 2015
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Tuesday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
4 August 2015
Commentary of the day
Origen
Origen (c.185-253), priest and theologian
Commentary on Saint Matthew’s Gospel, Bk XI, ch. 6 ; PG 13, 919 ; SC 162
The night of faith
If we are sometimes assailed by inevitable trials, let us remember that it is Jesus who has commanded us to get into the boat and that he wishes to go before us “to the other side”. Because it is impossible for those who have not undergone the trial of waves and contrary winds to get to that shore. And so when we see ourselves surrounded by numerous and painful difficulties, tired out from sailing in the midst of them with the poverty of our means, let us think that our boat is now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves that want to see us “make shipwreck of our faith” (1Tm 1,19) or some other virtue. And if we see the breath of the Evil One set against what we are undertaking, let us say to ourselves that, at that moment, the wind is contrary.
So when, amidst these sufferings, we have held firm through the long hours of the dark night that reigns in times of trial, when we have struggled our best by taking care to avoid “shipwreck of our faith”… then let us be sure that towards the middle of the night, “when night is far spent and day is at hand” (cf. Rom 13,12), the Son of God will come close by us, walking on the waves, to calm for us the sea.
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Tuesday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
4 August 2015
Saint of the day
St. John Mary Vianney,
Priest (1786-1859) – Memorial
SAINT JOHN MARY VIANNEY
Priest
(1786-1859)
St. John Mary Vianney was born in 1786, near Lyon in France. He was not quick at study and had great difficulty in being accepted for ordination.
He was sent to the parish of Ars, which he transformed by his preaching, his personal mortification, his life of prayer and charity for all, and particularly by his fame as a confessor. People came to him for spiritual help from all over the world.
He died in 1859.
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Father of mercy,
you made Saint John Vianney
outstandinging in his priestly zeal and concern for your people.
By his example and prayers,
enable us to win our brothers and sisters
to the love of Christ
and come with them to eternal glory.
The Weekday Missal (1975)
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
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Thursday, March 3rd. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 11:14-23.
Thursday of the Third week of Lent
3 March 2016
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
“Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11:14-23.
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
Image: From Biblehub
DAILY MASS – Thursday 3 March 2016
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Thursday of the Third week of Lent
3 March 2016
24 hours for the Lord
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is inviting every parish around the world to open its doors for 24 hours this Friday and Saturday, March 3-4, so that the faithful might encounter Jesus Christ anew in the Sacrament of Confession and Eucharistic Adoration.
The Lenten initiative, organized by the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, is called “24 Hours for the Lord.” It is intended also to be a time of reflection and prayer, an opportunity to speak with a priest, and a chance to rediscover — or perhaps discover for the first time — the great mercy at the heart of the Catholic Faith.
Pope Francis will open the initiative on March 3rd in St. Peter’s Basilica, the second anniversary of his election. He is expected to repeat what he did at last year’s opening, when he surprised the world by publicly going to confession. The Holy Father then spent approximately 40 minutes hearing confessions in the Vatican basilica.
After the opening, several churches in key locations throughout Rome will remain open for 24 hours, with confessors available and Eucharistic Adoration.
Pope Francis spoke of the initiative in his 2015 Message for Lent. “As individuals, we are tempted by indifference,” he wrote. “Flooded with news reports and troubling images of human suffering, we often feel our complete inability to help. What can we do to avoid being caught up in this spiral of distress and powerlessness?
“First, we can pray in communion with the Church on earth and in heaven,” the Pope said. “Let us not underestimate the power of so many voices united in prayer! The 24 Hours for the Lord initiative, which I hope will be observed throughout the Church, also at the diocesan level, is meant to be a sign of this need for prayer.” Check your local diocesan site for Churches near you which are participating.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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Thursday of the Third week of Lent
3 March 2016
Commentary of the day
Origen (c.185-253),
priest and theologian
Homilies on Joshua, 15,1-4
The Spiritual Battle
If the wars of the Old Testament were not symbols of spiritual battles, I think the historical books of the Jews would never have been transmitted to Christ’s disciples, he who came to teach us peace. The Apostles would never have transmitted them as readings to be carried out in the assemblies. What use would such descriptions of wars have to those who listen to Jesus telling them: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (Jn 14,27), or for those whom Paul commands: “Do not look for revenge” (Rom 12,19) and “Why not rather put up with injustice? Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?” (1 Cor 6,7).
Paul knows well enough that we are not supposed to go to war anymore – not in a physical way – but that we are supposed to fight a great battle in our soul, against our spiritual enemies. As a commander in chief, he gives his orders to Christ’s soldiers: “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil” (Eph 6,11). And so that we may find in the acts of our ancestors the models of spiritual wars, he wished us to read in the assembly the story of their achievements. Since we are spiritual – we who learn that “the law is spiritual” (Rom 7,14) – we may then approach this reading by “describing spiritual realities in spiritual terms” (1 Cor 2,13). In this way we may consider, through these nations that have visibly attacked Israel, what is the power of these nations of spiritual enemies, of these “evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6,12), who start wars against the Church of the Lord, the new Israel.
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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Thursday of the Third week of Lent
3 March 2016
Saints of the day
St. Cunegundes,
Empress (+ 1040)
SAINT CUNEGUNDES
Empress
(+1040)
Saint Cunegundes was the daughter of Siegfried, the first Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious wife. They raised her in the faith, and married her to St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the Emperor Otho III., was chosen king of the Romans, and crowned on the 6th of June, 1002. She was crowned at Paderborn on St. Laurence’s day. In the year 1014 she went with her husband to Rome, and received the imperial crown with him from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. She had, by St. Henry’s consent, before her marriage made a vow of virginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile accusations against her, and the holy empress, to remove the scandal of such a slander, trusting in God to prove her innocence, walked over red-hot ploughshares without being hurt. The emperor condemned his too scrupulous fears and credulity, and from that time they lived in the strictest union of hearts, conspiring to promote in everything God’s honor and the advancement of piety.
Going once to make a retreat in Hesse, she fell dangerously ill, and made a vow to found a monastery, if she recovered, at Kaffungen, near Cassel, in the diocese of Paderborn, which she executed in a stately manner, and gave it to nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Before it was finished St. Henry died, in 1024. She earnestly recommended his soul to the prayers of others, especially to her dear nuns, and expressed her longing desire of joining them. She had already exhausted her treasures in founding bishoprics and monasteries, and in relieving the poor, and she had therefore little left now to give. But still thirsting to embrace perfect evangelical poverty, and to renounce all to serve God without obstacle, she assembled a great number of prelates to the dedication of her church of Kaffungen on the anniversary day of her husband’s death, 1025; and after the gospel was sung at Mass she offered on the altar a piece of the true cross, and then, putting off her imperial robes, clothed herself with a poor habit; her hair was cut off, and the bishop put on her a veil, and a ring as a pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse.
After she was consecrated to God in religion, she seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress, and behaved as the last in the house, being persuaded that she was so before God. She prayed and read much, worked with her hands, and took a singular pleasure in visiting and comforting the sick.
Thus she passed the last fifteen years of her life. Her mortifications at length reduced her to a very weak condition, and brought on her last sickness. Perceiving that they were preparing a cloth fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death, she changed color and ordered it to be taken away; nor could she be at rest till she was promised she should be buried as a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3d of March, 1040. Her body was carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She was solemnly canonized by Innocent III. in 1200.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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Thursday of the Third week of Lent
3 March 2016
Saints of the day
St. Katherine Drexel
St. Katharine Drexel
Religious (1858-1955)
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, on November 26, 1858, Katharine Drexel was the second daughter of Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Langstroth. Her father was a well known banker and philanthropist. Both parents instilled in their daughters the idea that their wealth was simply loaned to them and was to be shared with others.
When the family took a trip to the Western part of the United States, Katharine, as a young woman, saw the plight and destitution of the native Indian-Americans. This experience aroused her desire to do something specific to help alleviate their condition. This was the beginning of her lifelong personal and financial support of numerous missions and missionaries in the United States. The first school she established was St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico (1887).
Later, when visiting Pope Leo XIII in Rome, and asking him for missionaries to staff some of the Indian missions that she as a lay person was financing, she was surprised to hear the Pope suggest that she become a missionary herself. After consultation with her spiritual director, Bishop James O’Connor, she made the decision to give herself totally to God, along with her inheritance, through service to American Indians and Afro-Americans.
Her wealth was now transformed into a poverty of spirit that became a daily constant in a life supported only by the bare necessities. On February 12, 1891, she professed her first vows as a religious, founding the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament whose dedication would be to share the message of the Gospel and the life of the Eucharist among American Indians and Afro-Americans.
Always a woman of intense prayer, Katharine found in the Eucharist the source of her love for the poor and oppressed and of her concern to reach out to combat the effects of racism. Knowing that many Afro-Americans were far from free, still living in substandard conditions as sharecroppers or underpaid menials, denied education and constitutional rights enjoyed by others, she felt a compassionate urgency to help change racial attitudes in the United States.
The plantation at that time was an entrenched social institutionin which the coloured people continued to be victims of oppression. This was a deep affront to Katharine’s sense of justice. The need for quality education loomed before her, and she discussed this need with some who shared her concern about the inequality of education for Afro-Americans in the cities. Restrictions of the law also prevented them in the rural South from obtaining a basic education.
Founding and staffing schools for both Native Americans and Afro-Americans throughout the country became a priority for Katharine and her congregation. During her lifetime, she opened, staffed and directly supported nearly 60 schools and missions, especially in the West and Southwest United States. Her crowning educational focus was the establishment in 1925 of Xavier University of Louisiana, the only predominantly Afro-American Catholic institution of higher learning in the United States. Religious education, social service, visiting in homes, in hospitals and in prisons were also included in the ministries of Katharine and the Sisters.
In her quiet way, Katharine combined prayerful and total dependence on Divine Providence with determined activism. Her joyous incisiveness, attuned to the Holy Spirit, penetrated obstacles and facilitated her advances for social justice. Through the prophetic witness of Katharine Drexel’s initiative, the Church in the United States was enabled to become aware of the grave domestic need for an apostolate among Native Americans and Afro-Americans. She did not hesitate to speak out against injustice, taking a public stance when racial discrimination was in evidence.
For the last 18 years of her life she was rendered almost completely immobile because of a serious illness. During these years she gave herself to a life of adoration and contemplation as she had desired from early childhood. She died on March 3, 1955.
Katharine left a four-fold dynamic legacy to her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who continue her apostolate today, and indeed to all peoples:
– her love for the Eucharist, her spirit of prayer, and her Eucharistic perspective on the unity of all peoples;
– her undaunted spirit of courageous initiative in addressing social iniquities among minorities — one hundred years before such concern aroused public interest in the United States;
– her belief in the importance of quality education for all, and her efforts to achieve it;
– her total giving of self, of her inheritance and all material goods in selfless service of the victims of injustice.
Katharine Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1980.
The Vatican, VA
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016
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“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15-20
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“I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20.
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He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
Psalms 23(22):1-3a.3b-4.5.6.
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Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful
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