Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Blessed Gerard of Clairvaux, older brother of Bernard of Clairvaux (d. 1138)

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 11 Vigils or Night Office on Sunday
Mass: 2 Cor 4:7-17; Resp Ps 116; Mt 5:27-32

To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise. 

Looking to today's passage from St Paul's second Letter to the Corinthians, there are days when each of us feels afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, or struck down, perhaps due to present circumstances or the wounds we carry from the past. We are not constrained, driven to despair, abandoned or destroyed, though, for we are always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. May we remember that we never know what people carry, whether in the way of joys or sorrows. So let us build the Body of Christ and be loving and merciful towards one another.

We have to remember each of us carries the richness and the burdens of our personal history; this is what makes us different from everyone else. Our life, with its joys and sorrows, is something unique and unrepeatable that takes place under the merciful gaze of God.

(Pope Francis, Apostolic Letter Misericordia et misera Mercy with misery, 14)

Today, Cistercians celebrate Blessed Gerard of Clairvaux, the older brother of Bernard of Clairvaux. If possible, read St Bernard On the Song of Songs, Sermon 26. There you will find Bernard's tribute to his brother, expressing his sorrow and his joy. They shared a deep and lasting love and affection for one another.

I could not but feel secure with a man who enabled me to enjoy the delights of divine love, to preach with greater facility, to pray without anxiety. I must repeat that through you, my dear brother, I enjoyed a peaceful mind and a welcome peace; my preaching was more effective, my prayer more fruitful, my study more regular, my love more fervent. 

(Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon 26, 7)

BLESSED GERARD, PRAY FOR US.

NB. Today's photo of Checker Mallow.