Thursday 28th Week of Ordinary Time

 

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch in Syria in the year 100 A.D.  

During the persecutions he was Chained and on his way to Rome to be fed to the lions in the Colessium,  many Christians came out and greeted him on the way. 

     Ignatius told them not to pray for a way for him to escape, because he embraced dying for the Lord. 

“Nearness to the sword is nearness to God; 

to be among the wild beasts is to be in the arms of God; 

 I endure all things that I may suffer with Christ who strengthens me.” 

Ignatius saw his suffering and death as his path to glory with Christ.

Do we?

Wednesday 28th Week of Ordinary Time

 St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

St. Margaret Mary is the Patron Saint of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Who revealed His Sacred Heart to her in a vision. 

She once wrote.

“We must never be discouraged,

Or give way to anxiety. 

But always have recourse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “

“And Keep your heart in Peace. 

Let nothing trouble you,

Not even your faults 

Rather Humble yourself before the Lord. “

Who is Gentle and Humble of Heart.  

Tuesday 28th Week of Ordinary Time

 St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa prayed,

“Let nothing disturb you,Let nothing frighten you,

All things are passing away:

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things! 

Whoever has God lacks nothing; 

God alone suffices.”

May nothing disturb us today;

Nothing frighten us;

It will all pass away

God alone will remain;

And suffice for everything. 

Monday 28th Week of Ordinary Time

Pope Callistus

Pope Callistus went from embezzling 

to being a slave 

to being imprisoned to the mines in Sardina 

to Pope. 

Quite a journey. 

At the time, 

There were those who taught that after Baptism,

If a person sinned, they could not be readmitted to Communion. 

Callistus however taught that sinners could be readmitted to Communion if they repented. 

Callistus had tasted the Mercy of God in Communion 

And wanted to make sure that everyone else did too!

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Wisdom Wis.7:7-11

When I was young I thought I knew it all. 

Who doesn’t at 21!

When you are 21 you DO know everything 

The problem though is that your world is rather small at 21. 

So there is really not that much to know. 

But then as you get older and the world gets bigger

There is more to know. 

 A lot more!

And That life has more questions than answers. 

And in the face of Life’s questions our knowledge is not enough 

What we need is Wisdom. 

Wisdom gives our knowledge the ability to make the right choices. 

To see things more clearly. 

Wisdom is to knowledge 

What oil is to a car or protein is to an athlete. 

Without it a person is not going to get too far. 

And the beginning of Wisdom is Silence. 

Someone who talks too much really has nothing to say. 

But it is not only silencing our lips

But silencing our passions and desires, our fears and anxieties. 

Because our passions and fears and desires and anxieties 

Cloud and distort our thinking. 

And when we silence everything 

we can more wisely know what to say and where to go. 

And this is what many early Christians did. 

They went out into the desert and separated themselves from all the noise so that they could better hear the voice of God. 

Many of us cannot go out into the desert

But we can walk out into the fields.  

Or Sit in an empty church. 

And in the silence Wisdom will begin to speak!

Saturday 27th Week of Ordinary Time

Why The Daily Rosary?

 At Fatima: Our Lady said, “I am the Lady of the Rosary”.

St. Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is: “Pray the Rosary”

St. Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome, Italy on just the Hail Mary.

St. John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in his hand.

“The rosary is the scourge of the devil” - Pope Adrian VI.

“The rosary is a treasure of graces” - Pope Paul V.

Padre Pio the stigmatic priest said:  “The rosary is THE WEAPON”

Pope Leo XIII wrote 9 encyclicals on the rosary.

Pope John XXIII spoke 38 times about our Lady and the Rosary.  He prayed 15 decades daily.

St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort wrote: “The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who so loves His Mother.”

Friday 27th week of Ordinary Time

Feast of Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII was Pope at a time when the Church and Society were in great change. 

The Second Vatican Council had begun and the Civil rights movement was just beginning

And all of it would lead to the tumultuous 1960’s. 

And in the face of such change and upheaval,

Pope John would say,

“See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.”

There is really very little that one person, even a Pope can do. 

So in the face of the changes taking place in our world,

Pope John gives us the same advice,

“See everything, overlook a great deal, and correct a little.”

And leave the rest to God!