Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 49 The Observance of Lent 

Mass: Lev 25:1, 8-17; Resp Ps 67; Mt 14:1-12

The earth has yielded its fruits; God our God has blessed us. 

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS,

PRAY FOR US.

We pray to Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint John the Baptist, to intercede for us so that we have the courage and faith to do whatever God asks of us. The following quotations are all attributed to Saint Ignatius of Loyola. 

If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. 

It is true that the voice of God, having once fully penetrated the heart, becomes strong as the tempest and loud as the thunder, but before reaching the heart it is as weak as a light breath which scarcely agitates the air. It shrinks from noise, and is silent amid agitation.

Out of gratitude and love for Him, we should desire to be reckoned fools. Laugh and grow strong.

He who remembers the presence of God is less open to other thoughts, especially bad thoughts ... In two ways the presence of God is an antidote against sin. First because God sees us, and secondly, because we see God.

As too great care for bodily things is reprehensible, so reasonable care is to be commended to preserve health for the service of God.

SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA,

SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Lily of the Valley bush at the monastery.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

World Day Against Trafficking in Human Persons

Saints: Saint Peter Chrysologus, Bishop, Doctor (380-450); Saint Justin de Jacobis (1800-1860)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 48:22-25 The Daily Manual Labor

Mass: Lev 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37; Resp Ps 81; Mt 13:54-58

Sing with joy to God our help.

IT WAS NOT YOU WHO CHOSE ME, SAYS THE LORD, BUT I CHOSE YOU AND APPOINTED YOU TO GO AND BEAR FRUIT, FRUIT THAT WILL LAST.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

May we not be like the people in today's Gospel and question Jesus' wisdom and mighty deeds. We have work to do, as Saint Peter Chrysologus tells us: [The Creator] "has made you in His image that you might in your person make the invisible Creator present on earth; He has made you His legate, so that the vast empire of the world might have the Lord's representative" (From a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop, in Office of Readings, July 30). And Saint Ignatius of Antioch has something to say too. 

Give yourself to prayer continually, ask for wisdom greater than you now have, keep alert with unflagging spirit. Speak to each man individually, following God's example; bear the infirmities of all, like a perfect athlete of God. The greater the toil, the greater the reward ... be prudent as the serpent in all things, and innocent as the dove always. You are both body and soul; treat gently the manifestation of human fault, even as you pray for the knowledge of things invisible, and then you will lack nothing but abound in every good blessing ... Exercise self-discipline, for you are God's athlete; the prize is immortality and eternal life, as you know full well ... And above all we must bear with everything for God, so that He in turn may bear with us. Increase your zeal.

(From the beginning of a letter to Polycarp by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr, in Office of Readings, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Friday)

A gentle maiden [Mary], having lodged a God in her womb, asks as its price, peace for the world, salvation for those who are lost, and life for the dead.

(Saint Peter Chrysologus)

SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS,

SAINT JUSTIN DE JACOBIS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Heavenly bamboo at the monastery. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 48:10-21 The Daily Manual Labor

Mass: 1 Jn 4:7-16; Resp Ps 34 or Ex 40:16-21, 34-38; Resp Ps 84; Jn 11:19-27 or Lk 10:38-42

Glorify the Lord with me.

JESUS ENTERED A VILLAGE WHERE A WOMAN WHOSE NAME WAS MARTHA WELCOMED HIM. SHE HAD A SISTER NAMED MARY WHO SAT BESIDE THE LORD AT HIS FEET LISTENING TO HIM SPEAK.

(Lk 10:38-39)

For some years, a friend of happy memory would give me a stack of 52 cards for my birthday, one for each week of the year. On each of the cards, usually a mixed collection of postcards, greeting cards and holy cards, was written a quotation. The quotations often, but not always, were all taken from the same book. For example, the first year had quotations from Gertrude the Great's The Herald of Divine Love. Another year had random quotations from here and there. Another year was dedicated to Adrienne von Speyer's Three Women and the Lord (Ignatius 1986). I still have all the cards from each year and today will share words from Three Women and the Lord, fitting for today's memorial. First though, a few words about the Holy Rule. We are once again in another one of my favorite chapters, Ch 48 The Daily Manual Labor. It is in the first verse that Saint Benedict says, "Idleness is the enemy of the soul." Martha is pleased with that. Saint Benedict goes on though: "Therefore, the brothers should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading." Mary is pleased too. 😊

As we contemplate the Lord on His journey it is axiomatic that love inspires His steps. It comes from the Father and goes to the Father and all the time He is in the Father. On His way He meets a woman and she too does something out of love; she takes Him into her house. This woman is like the rod of the tree, and her sister is the fruit ...

Here again there are three aspects to love: the Lord on His journey, Martha's activity and in the background, shining through her, the tranquil being of Martha's sister. This contemplative "being" on the part of Mary of Bethany will turn out to be the highest response that human love can make to the Lord. But this love would be impossible unless it drew its life from the Lord Himself; nor could it issue in any expression without the meditation of Martha's activity, which brought her and the Lord together ...

At first love is as it were latent; the Lord, journeying here and there, is its pure, invisible radiance, and Mary is its pure, invisible expectation. Martha's action releases it into visibility, causing its hidden energy to explode. 

(Adrienne von Speyer, Three Women and the Lord, pp. 85, 87) 

SAINTS MARTHA, MARY, AND LAZARUS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Monastery daphne.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Victor (d.198); Saint Sampson (-564); Saint Alphonsus Muttathupadathu (1910-1946)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 48:1-9 The Daily Manual Labor

Mass: Ex 34:29-35; Resp Ps 99; Mt 13:44-46

Holy is the Lord our God.

GOD IS IN HIS HOLY PLACE, GOD WHO UNITES THOSE WHO DWELL IN HIS HOUSE; HE HIMSELF GIVES MIGHT AND STRENGTH TO HIS PEOPLE.

(Entrance Antiphon, Mass)

Search for the pearl of great price through prayer so that with Moses (Ex 34:29) your face may be radiant with joy (Ps 34:6). Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you (Mt 7:7).

SAINT VICTOR,

SAINT SAMPSON,

SAINT ALPHONSUS MUTTATHUPADTHU,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This is an awesome look at a monastery daffodil.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Tuesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Blessed Titus Brandsma (1881-1942); Blessed Robert Sutton (1545-1588); Blessed Rudolph Acquaviva and Companions (-1538)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 47 Announcing the Hours for the Work of God

Mass: Ex 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28; Resp Ps 103; Mt 13:36-43

Merciful and gracious is the Lord.

WHOEVER HAS EARS OUGHT TO HEAR.

(Mt 13:43)

When I read Jesus' words to the disciples in today's Gospel, I thought of something Jesus said to the disciples earlier in the same chapter of Saint Matthew's Gospel: Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear (Mt 13:16). May we open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to fully receive the Word of God. In other words, be receptive to the Word of God in all things, people, and events, for as Cistercian monk Father Francis Mahieu Acharya (1912-2002) said: "Being receptive to the Word of God that comes to us through everyday events is real contemplation."

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all His benefits.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

SAINT TITUS BRANDSMA,

BLESSED ROBERT SUTTON,

BLESSED RUDOLPH ACQUAVIVA AND COMPANIONS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Camellia from the monastery.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, parents of the Virgin Mary

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 45 Mistakes in the Oratory

Mass: Ex 32:15-24, 30-34; Resp Ps 106; Mt 13:31-35

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

THEY RECEIVED BLESSINGS FROM THE LORD AND MERCY FROM GOD THEIR SAVIOR.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

Welcome to Monday! May we begin this week with joy and in gratitude and pray with the Holy Father's prayer from yesterday's Angelus: May the Virgin Mary who answered 'Yes' to God's unprecedented proposal, help us to open our hearts to the Lord's invitations and to the needs of others. Amen.

Joachim and Anne, how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts; a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him ... 

Joachim and Anne, how chaste a couple! ... While leading a devout and holy life in your human nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than angels, whose queen she now is ... Rejoice in God, all the earth. Sing, exult and sing hymns. Raise your voice, raise it be not afraid.

(From a sermon by Saint John Damascene, bishop, in Office of Readings, July 26)

SAINT ANNE AND SAINT JOACHIM,

MARY, VIRGIN MOST POWERFUL,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This week features flowers from the monastery, courtesy of MG. Today we have mock orange.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly: I am with you always.

In other years: Saint James (?-44)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 45 Mistakes in the Oratory

Mass: 2 Kings 4:42-44; Resp Ps 145; Phy 4:1-6; Jn 6:1-15

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.

LIVE IN A MANNER WORTHY OF THE CALL YOU HAVE RECEIVED, WITH ALL HUMILITY AND GENTLENESS, WITH PATIENCE, BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER THROUGH LOVE.

(Eph 4:1-2)

On this First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, a thought went to a quotation I include in birthday cards. It is this: "If you are young, look forward to God's fidelity to you throughout your life; if you are older, look back on God's fidelity to you through all that is past. Whatever your age, know that God's love is the foundation upon which all our hope stands firm." Then I read this in the Holy Father's homily of today: "Today, we need a new covenant between young and old. We need to share the treasure of life, to dream together, to overcome conflicts between generations and to prepare a future for everyone ... Young people, as prophets of the future, who treasure their own history. The elderly, who continue to dream and share their experience with the young, without standing in their way. Young and old, the treasure of tradition and the freshness of the Spirit. Young and old together. In society, and in the Church, together." We go forth then, young and old together, united in faith and prayer. We thank especially all those, living and deceased, who have guided, mentored, and loved us to where we are today. 

I thank you, Lord,

for the comfort of Your presence:

even in times of loneliness,

You are my hope and my confidence,

You have been my rock and fortress since my youth!

I thank you for having given me a family

and for having blessed me with a long life.

I thank you for the moments of joy and difficulty,

for the dreams that have already come true in my life and for

those that are still ahead of me.

I thank you for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which You call me.

Increase, O Lord, my faith,

make me a channel of your peace,

teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me.

to never stop dreaming

and to tell of your wonders to new generations.

Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church,

that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.

Send Your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world,

that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed,

the poor consoled and wars ended.

Sustain me in weakness

and help me to live the full in each moment you give me,

in the certainty that you are with me every day,

until the end of the age.

Amen.

(Prayer for the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, July 25, 2021)

SAINT JAMES,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Just yesterday when I was thinking about a photo for today, this one came through from my dear brother, James. So as we celebrate the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, and in other years, the Feast of Saint James, here's a little mix and match from the Wilson family and the Feick Family. It works as here you see love, joy, food and fellowship abound, here at Lake Tippecanoe, Leesburg, IN. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Blessed Virgin Mary

Other Saint: Saint Charbel Makhlouf (1828-1898)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 44 Satisfaction by the Excommunicated

Mass: Ex 24:3-8; Resp Ps 50; Mt 13:24-30

God the Lord has spoken and summoned the earth.

MARY, CAUSE OF OUR JOY,

PRAY FOR US. 

Just yesterday I embarked upon a fascinating biography, Salt and Light: The Spiritual Journey of Elisabeth and Felix Leseur. One thing that comes to mind is this, "with God all things are possible." In the book, I read this about Elisabeth: "Since Emmanule Monier, our contemporaries would say that she had a 'personalist approach' to human relationships, which is, moreover, simply an often silent look of love on the heart of the person whom one is facing, a 'Christian approach' to every human being, whoever it might be." Furthermore, Elisabeth "always tried, out of respect for the person, to help her visitors 'to be', whatever their opinions, and she did it from the deepest part of her soul and her intellect" (p. 72). Felix later read something else in Elisabeth's diary. Elisabeth wrote this: "Talked and discussed a great deal with dear friends who do not believe. I love better than others these persons whom the divine light does not enlighten, or, rather, whom it enlightens in a way we do not know, poor little minds that we are. There is a veil between such souls and God, a veil that allows only a few rays of love and beauty to pass through it. God alone, with his divine movement, can lift this veil; then real life will begin for these souls. And I, even though I am worth so little, I believe in the power of the prayers that I constantly say for these dear souls" (pp. 72-73). 

Interestingly enough, I found that Saint John Chrysostum (347-407) said something similar about Saint Paul:

Our heart is enlarged. For as heat makes things expand, so it is the work of love to expand the heart, for its power is to heat and make fervent. It is this that opened Paul's lips and enlarged Paul's heart ... There was nothing more capacious than the heart of Paul, for he loved all the faithful with as intimate a love as any lover could have for a loved one, his love not being divided and lessened but remaining whole and entire for each of them. And what marvel is it that his love for the faithful was such, since his heart embraced the unbelievers, too, throughout the whole world?

(From a homily on the second letter to the Corinthians by Saint John Chyrsostom, bishop, in Office of Readings, Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Saturday)

We grow together in our lives, the weeds and the wheat, some of both in each one of us. May Elisabeth and Felix, and Saint Paul, intercede for us so our hearts expand to receive God's love. Then, may we share that love with one another, wherever we come from, whatever our respective opinions, beliefs, or un-beliefs. Indeed, all things are possible with God.

SAINT CHARBEL MAKHLOUF,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: From sis vfo and the Blister Sisters' hike on the Donner Summit Three Lakes (Angela, Flora, Azalea) Trail, near Norden, CA. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Bridget of Sweden, Religious (1303-1373); Saints Philip Evans (1645-1679) and John Lloyd,  (1630-1679); Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 43:13-19 

Mass: Ex 20:1-17; Resp Ps 19; Mt 13:18-23

Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

THE WOMAN WHO FEARS THE LORD WILL HERSELF BE PRAISED. HER CHILDREN HAVE CALLED HER MOST BLESSED, HER HUSBAND HAS SUNG HER PRAISES.

(Entrance Antiphon, Mass)

One of our saints of the day, and another favorite of mine, Saint Bridget of Sweden, is certainly someone who heard the Word of God, understood it, and bore fruit (Mt 13:23). Her life was full. Happily married to a nobleman, she and her husband Ulf had eight children. Among other notables, Bridget served as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Sweden; after she and Ulf went on pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James at Compostela in Spain, they decided to spend the rest of their lives in monasteries; after Ulf's death in 1944, Bridget founded a double monastery starting a new monastic order, the Order of the Most Holy Savior, what we now call the Bridgettines; in 1350 Bridget went to Rome and spent the rest of her life there "caring for the poor and sick, denouncing the excesses of the aristocracy, and robustly telling the Pope to return to Rome from Avignon." Bridget was also a mystic. Her revelations have been published. May Saint Bridget of Sweden, and her husband Ulf, intercede for us so that we do too bear fruit in our little part of the world. The following prayers I have on a little piece of paper given to me by dear Father Paschal, OSB, of happy memory. He loved Saint Bridget of Sweden.

Prayers of Saint Bridget

Lord, show me your way and make me willing to follow it.

Amen.

Lord God, for whom nothing is impossible, who can do everything, give me the power to do good and to persevere,

Mary, Mother of Peace, Light, and Love who gave birth to the Savior on earth, ask Jesus to show me the way on my pilgrimage to eternal life.

SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN,

SAINTS PHILIP EVANS AND JOHN LLOYD,

OUR LADY, MOTHER OF DIVINE GRACE,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This is a view of the underside of a licorice fern frond with the little groups of spores all lined up! A favorite fern of today's contributor. These Catherine found in the forest near Neskowin, Oregon. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Mary Magdalene

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 43:1-12 Tardiness at the Work of God or at Table

Mass: Songs 3:1-4b or 2 Cor 5:14-17; Resp Ps 63; Jn 20:1-2, 11-18

My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

MARY!

(Jn 20:16)

With Mary Magdalene, keep searching for Jesus, then recognize Him. He calls you by name.

Jesus says to her: Mary. Jesus is not recognized when he calls her "woman"; so He calls her by name, as though He were saying: Recognize me as I recognize you; for I do not know you as I know others; I know you as yourself. And so Mary, once addressed by name, recognizes who is speaking. She immediately calls Him rabboni; that is to say, teacher, because the one whom she sought outwardly was the one who inwardly taught to her keep on searching.

(From a homily on the Gospels by Gregory the Great, pope, in Office of Readings, July 22)

SAINT MARY MAGDALENE,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Here's a beauty from Hart's Cove on the Oregon coast, near Neskowin. Thanks Catherine and David.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 42 Silence after Compline

Mass: Ex 16:1-5; Resp Ps 78; Mt 13:1-9

The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

MARY, VIRGIN MOST RENOWNED,

PRAY FOR US.

Whoever has ears ought to hear (Mt 13:9), Jesus tells us in today's Gospel. And a great time to listen and hear is during silence. It is no secret that Saint Benedict calls us to "diligently cultivate silence at all times, but especially at night (RB 42:1), most especially after Compline, the last common prayer of the day, when "no one will be permitted to speak further" (RB 42:8). In fact, the last word on our lips each and every day should be "Mary", sung in the Salve Regina at the end of Compline: O clemens: O pia: O dulcis Virgo Maria; O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Ask Mary to help you listen to the words of her Son. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. 

The word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. It enables man to know God and to love Him. And for the interior man who lives by the Spirit of God through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk. For the soul it is a spiritual treasure of merits yielding and abundance of gold and precious stones. Against the hardness of a heart that persists in wrongdoing, it acts as a hammer. Against the world, the flesh and the devil it serves as a sword that destroys all sin.

(From a sermon by Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, priest, in Office of Readings, July 21)

SAINT LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Back to Maddy and her backpack trip, Marmot Pass, Buckhorn Wilderness, WA.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Apollonaris, Bishop, Martyr; Saint Elijah, Father of the Carmelites (1-2 Kings, Prophet)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 41 The Times for Meals

Mass: Ex 14:21-15:1; Resp Ps (Ex 15); Mt 12:46-50

Let us sing to the Lord; He has covered Himself in glory.

HEART OF JESUS, ABYSS OF ALL VIRTUES,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Jesus has this for us today: Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother (Mt 12:50). One prayer for us then can come from Psalm 139, one proclaimed at Vigils this morning. 

Search my heart, probe me, God!

Test and judge my thoughts.

Look! do I follow crooked paths?

Lead me along your ancient way.

(Ps 139:23-24)

O God, my heart is ready. Command what you will, and make me to understand your command. As you have given me the will to do it, so also give me the power.

(William of St. Thierry, 1085-1148)

We are not in our own power, but in the power of God.

(Saint Perpetua, 3rd century, on her way to martyrdom)

SAINT APOLLONARIS,

SAINT ELIJAH,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: The Jesuit padre delivers another gem. Thank you.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint John Plessington (c.1637-1679) 

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 40 The Proper Amount of Drink

Mass: Ex 14:5-18; Resp Ps (Ex 15); Mt 12:38-42

Let us sing to the Lord; He has covered Himself in glory.

HEART OF JESUS, SACRED TEMPLE OF GOD,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

A line from our reading from the Book of Exodus stands out, something Moses tells the frightened people: "Fear not! ... the Lord Himself with fight for you; you have only to keep still" (Ex 14:13-14). On this Monday as we face and welcome with a calm and joyful spirit whatever comes our way, may we take those words to heart and remember too the words of the psalmist: Be still and know that I am God (Ps 46:11).

I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of God.

(Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, 1647-1690)

SAINT JOHN PLESSINGTON,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Thanks to Maddy we have this spectacular view from her hike in the Marmot Pass, Buckhorn Wilderness, WA.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 39 The Proper Amount of Food

Mass: Jer 23:1-6; Resp Ps 23; Eph 2:13-18; Mk 6:30-34

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

HEART OF JESUS, WHERE WE FIND REST,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

In today's Gospel, Jesus extends an invitation: Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while (Mk 6:31). Why not accept His invitation, even amidst your respective responsibilities and the demands others are placing upon you. A moment or two, here and there, with the Lord. After all, "He is our peace" (Eph 2:14). Behold, I stand at the door and knock, says the Lord. If anyone opens hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me (Communion Antiphon, Mass). 

Jesus did not neglect the needs of the crowd, but each day, before anything else, he would withdraw in prayer, in silence, in intimacy with the Father. His tender invitation-rest a while-should accompany us. Let us beware, brothers and sisters, of efficiency, let us put a halt to the frantic running around dictated by our agendas. Let us learn how to take a break, to turn off the mobile phone, to contemplate nature, to regenerate ourselves in dialogue with God. 

(Pope Francis, Angelus Address, July 18, 2021)

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Encouraged by a reader who sent word that she enjoys the photos, I include yet another beauty. What about the color of this one? 😊

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Blessed Virgin Mary

Other Saints: Saint Kenelm (-821); Blessed John Sugar, Priest, and Robert Grisswold, Martyrs (16th-17th century); Blessed Inacio de Azevedo (1528-1570); Blessed Therese of Saint Augustine and Companions (18th century)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 38 The Reader for the Week

Mass: Ex 12:37-42; Resp Ps 136; Mt 12:14-21

His mercy endures forever.

OUR LADY OF LAVANG,

PRAY FOR US.

I heard from a friend that today a shrine of Our Lady of Lavang will be dedicated in the Diocese of Orange on the campus of Christ Cathedral, Garden Grove, CA. As this day is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, I include here a prayer to Our Lady of Lavang, taken from the website of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception located in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. 

O Mary, Holy Mother of Lavang, Mother of God and our most loving Mother, pour out your abundant blessings upon your children who earnestly implore you. Give us a heart of compassion and charity to build a culture of love and life. Help us to live lives of virtue and hope, so that we may enjoy eternal life and the happiness of the Trinity with you for all eternity. Amen.

SAINT KENELM,

BLESSED JOHN SUGAR AND ROBERT GRISSWOLD,

BLESSED INACIO DE AZEVEDO,

BLESSED THERESE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE AND COMPANIONS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Another marvel in our cloister flower garden. Today, white for the Blessed Mother.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Our Lady of Mount Carmel; Saint Helier (-555)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 37 The Elderly and Children

Mass: Ex 11:10-12:14; Resp Ps 116; Mt 12:1-8 

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil before all his people.

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Today I remember dear Sister Carmel, OSB, of happy memory who died at the age of 101. Avid reader, teacher of French and Latin, artist, lover of God, faithful Benedictine, Sister Carmel was a marvel to behold. Another person who, like her, led a full life and died at a rather advanced age is Blessed Sebastian de Aparico of Spain (d. 1600). One time sheep rancher, then businessman in Mexico, a marvel of charity, and although wealthy led a simple life, he gave generously to the poor. Then he got married at the age of 60 and his wife died soon thereafter. So he married again and this wife died too. So at 72, not after being ill for some time, Sebastian became a Franciscan friar. It is said he roamed the countryside for the next 26 years begging for alms to support the friars. It is also said that he "developed a special relationship with all beasts, who responded to his whispered commands". In this, and other ways too, Sebastian was not unlike Saint Francis. Sebastian died at 98 years of age. This prayer is fitting: Loving Father, through the intercession of Blessed Sebastian de Aparico, help me to see that I am never too old to change (Magnificat, "Saint Who?", July 2021, p. 199).

Another one of our saints of the day, Saint Helier, is known in some parts of the world as a healing saint. Today he is invoked for diseases of the skin and eyes. However, since we have been with Saint Benedict's chapters on care of the sick (RB 36), and today the elderly and children (RB 37), we ask Saint Helier to pray for all the sick and suffering, all those in need of healing, those we know and those we don't know.

SAINT SIMON STOCK,

SAINT HELIER,

BLESSED SEBASTIAN DE APARICO,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's image: From padre on his 88th birthday and 53rd year as Christ's Jesuit priest. A look at Los Gatos, CA. As related, God blessed him with brilliance, as he gazed out of his window over the old winery yesterday morning. Grazie mille, padre and faithful reader. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Bonaventure, Bishop, Cardinal, Doctor of the Church (1218-1274); Saint Swithun (-862); Saint Osmund of Salisbury (-1099)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 36 The Sick

Mass: Ex 3:13-20; Resp Ps 105; Mt 11:28-30

The Lord remembers his covenant forever. 

HEART OF JESUS, KING AND CENTER OF ALL HEARTS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

In today's Gospel, Jesus' words are few and oh so comforting: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Mt 11:28-30). Go to Jesus today with whatever is troubling you. And take with you in your heart those you know who are sick or suffering in any way, for Saint Benedict tells us: Care of the sick must rank above and before all else, so that they may be truly served as Christ" (RB 36:1). We are united in faith and prayer.

In God alone is there primordial and true delight, 

and in all our delights it is this delight that we are seeking.

(Saint Bonaventure)

When we pray, the voice of the heart must be heard more than the proceedings from the mouth.

(Saint Bonaventure)

SAINT BONAVENTURE,

SAINT SWITHUN,

SAINT OSMUND OF SALISBURY,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US. 

Today's photo: From our cloister flower garden. A marvel to behold.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks, Genevieve of New France (1656-1680); Saint Camillus de Lellis (1550-1614)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 35:12-18

Mass: Ex 2:1-15a; Resp Ps 69; Mt 11:20-24

The Lord redeems your life from destruction, he crowns you with kindness and compassion.

HEART OF JESUS, SACRED TEMPLE OF GOD,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

May we give praise to the Father, Lord of heaven and earth (Mt 11:25). With a sense of awe and wonder of the childlike, may we open our hearts to embrace the marvelous works of God. Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to the little ones the mysteries of the kingdom. Alleluia. 

Let me begin with holy charity. It is the root of all the virtues and Camillus' characteristic trait. I can attain that he was on fire with this holy virtue-not only toward God, but also toward his fellowmen, and especially toward the sick ...

Great and all embracing was Camillus' charity. Not only the sick and dying, but every other needy or suffering human being found shelter in his deep and kind concern. Indeed, his heartfelt concern for the poor let him to say often: "If there were no poor people in the world, we should have to go below the earth to look for them and rescue them, to show them compassion and do them good!"

(From the life of Saint Camillus, by his companion, in Office of Readings, July 14)

The true apostolic life consists in giving oneself no rest or repose.

(Saint Camillus de Lellis)

SAINT KATERI TEKAKWITHA,

SAINT CAMILLUS DE LELLIS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This is a favorite.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Henry (973-1024); Saint Teresa of Los Andes (1900-1920)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 35:1-11 Kitchen Servers of the Week 

Mass: Ex 2:1-15a; Resp Ps 69; Mt 11:2-24

I have reached the watery depths; the flood overwhelms me.

HEART OF JESUS, PATIENT AND MOST MERCIFUL,

HAVE MERCY ON US. 

It has been said that the first verse from today's reading from the Holy Rule is the center of the Rule. It is there in the chapter on kitchen servers of the week that Saint Benedict tell us that we should serve one another (RB 35:1). Then our holy father tells us how we are to go about it. So important is kitchen service is that no one is to be excused from it. However, help is assigned as needed, and adjustments are made for the sick and those otherwise engaged. In the end, we are to serve one another in love. And wherever we are at work, home, or in community, we can do all that we do for one another in love.

Henry, king by the preordained mercy of God, to all the sons of the church, both future and present. By all most salutary instructions of sacred eloquences we are taught and advised to abandon temporal riches, to lay aside earthly goods, and to strive to reach the eternal and everlasting dwelling-places in heaven. For present glory is fleeting and meaningless, while it is possessed, unless in it we can glimpse something of heaven's eternity. But God's mercy toward the human race provided a useful remedy when he made the reward for earthly existence a share in our heavenly country.

(From the ancient Life of Saint Henry, in Office of Readings, July 13)

SAINT HENRY,

SAINT TERESA OF LOS ANDES,

SAINT JOSEPH, 

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This looks refreshing to me. Thanks EJF for the nice photo of Laguna Beach. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint John Jones (-1598); SS. Louis Martin and Marie Azelie Guerin, parents of eight children including the future Saint Therese of Lisieux (19th century)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 34 Distribution of Goods According to Need

Mass: Ex 1:8-14, 22; Resp Ps 124; Mt 10:34-11:1

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

HEART OF JESUS, OF INFINITE MAJESTY,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Welcome to Monday. As I have written before, Mondays are Mondays wherever we are. Mondays just always seem to present a few contradictions here and there. That is, things that upset our apple cart. C'est le vie. Let there be no grumbling, however, as Saint Benedict tells us in today's reading from the Holy Rule: "First and foremost, there must be no word or sign of the evil of grumbling, no manifestation of it for any reason at all: (RB 34:6). Instead may we be about open hearts to receive more fully the love and mercy of Jesus. Whoever receives you receives me, says the Lord, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me (Mt 10:40).

You were taught that our fathers were covered by a cloud, a cloud of blessing that cooled the fire of bodily passions. A cloud of blessing: it is with a cloud of blessing that the Holy Spirit overshadows those whom he comes to visit.

(From a treatise On the Mysteries by Saint Ambrose, bishop, Office of Readings, Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday) 

SAINT JOHN JONES,

SS. LOUIS MARTIN AND MARIE AZELIE GUERIN,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This is an awesome cloud formation over Lake Tippecanoe, Leesburg, IN. From what I found, it appears to be a roll cloud, one type of arcous clouds, the other called a shelf cloud. It's new to me in any case, and fascinating. Even if it's just a contrail. 😊 Thanks bro James A.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Solemnity of Our Holy Father Saint Benedict

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Day of Prayer for Migrants Who Died in the Mediterranean

Sea Sunday to Remember the Vital Work of Seafarers 

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 33 Monks and Private Ownership

Mass: Solemnity: Pr 2:1-9; Resp Ps 33; Eph 4:1-6; Mt 19:27-29

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Amos 7:12-15; Resp Ps 85; Eph 1:3-14; Mk 6:7-13

Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ.

Happy Solemnity of Our Holy Father Saint Benedict! 

In the 1964  Apostolic Letter Pacis Nuntius, Pope Saint Paul VI proclaimed Saint Benedict as the principal patron of Europe giving him the illustrious titles of messenger of peace, creator of unity, teacher of civility, and above all the herald of the religion of Christ and the founder of western monasticism! For reflection, we turn to Saint Benedict and the Holy Rule. How does the following apply to you at home, work, or wherever you find yourself?

In the Prologue of the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict, our holy father Benedict tells us that we set out on this way of life with the Gospel for our guide (RB Prol. 21). As we solemnly commemorate Saint Benedict, then, we heed his words and turn to the Gospel. It is there that we find Peter, rather matter-of-factly, saying to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Peter follows with a question: “What will there be for us?” (Mt. 19:27).

 

It is fitting and right for us on this celebratory day to look to Benedict and the Rule for wisdom and guidance. And it happens that today’s reading from the Rule, as well as several other chapters, provides fitting commentary on Peter’s words to Jesus. First though, if we find ourselves turning to Jesus and reminding him that we too have given up everything, we might ask ourselves if we really have given up everything. With that in mind, what are some ways Saint Benedict teaches us to go about it day in and day out, especially since giving up everything is more a process over the course of our lives? We may give up some things here and now, once and for all, but most giving up comes slowly and sometimes painfully. For example, ways in which we are called to give up our own will, once and for all (RB Prol. 3). The road can be bumpy, yes, even narrow (RB Prol. 48). No matter, with the grace of God we keep going.

 

Regarding Saint Benedict’s chapter on monks and private ownership (RB 33), Benedict is clear. None of us are to presume to give, receive or retain anything as her own, not even a book, writing tablets or pens or pencils. In short, not a single item (RB 33:2-3). Even though we do give and receive, and even have things we call our own, do we have the freedom to detach ourselves from them and more and more make our way of acting different from the world’s way (RB 4:20)? Are there attachments that keep us from truly seeking God? (RB 58:7). For whatever we really need, we turn to our Abbess for help and she on her part, as we read in the chapter on Distribution of Goods According to Need (RB 34), then considers the request while taking into account our weaknesses and strengths. And one of my favorite lines follows: “Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed, but whoever needs more should feel humble because of her weakness, not self-important because of the kindness shown to her” (RB 34:3-4). After all, no one should be disquieted or distressed in the house of God (RB 31:19), we learn in the chapter on the monastery cellarer. We learn to put our trust in God that our real needs will be met. Otherwise how can anyone accept that she doesn’t even have the free disposal even of her own body? (RB 33:4).

 

In the end, each one of us can look to Saint Benedict for ways to more and more, day by day, give up everything. What is difficult for me may not be difficult for you. Peter and the other Apostles, and the early Christians too struggled to give up everything, even those who at once left their nets (Mt 4:20) and followed Jesus. Saint Benedict, as he quotes from the Acts of the Apostles: All things should be the common possession of all, as it is written, so that no one presumes to call anything her own (Acts 4:32/RB 33:6), reminds us of Ananias and Sapphira who had their share of difficulties. May we not suffer their demise (Acts 5:1-11).

 

What will there be for us? If we never swerve from God’s instructions but faithfully observe His teaching in the monastery until death, we shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in His kingdom (RB Prol 50). We will inherit eternal life (Mt 19:29). May Christ bring us all together to eternal life (RB 72:12). Amen.

 

Novena Prayer in Honor of Saint Benedict

Our Holy Father, blessed by God both in grace and in name, yielded his angelic spirit into the hands of his Creator, while standing in prayer with his hands raised to heaven.

You have crowned him, O Lord, with glory and honor.

You have placed him over the works of your hands. Enliven in your Church, O Lord, the spirit which animated our Holy Father, the Abbot St. Benedict, so that, filled with the same spirit, we may learn to love what he loved and to practice what he taught.

Grant us perseverance in your holy service, O Lord, so that the people serving you in our days may increase both in merit and in number. May all the monks in the ranks of the saints join their intercessions to ours so that you, Almighty Father, may hear us through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

SAINT BENEDICT,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's image: Icon of Saint Benedict through the hand of Br Claude, OSB. Used with permission of the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel, OR.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 32 The Tools and Goods of the Monastery

Mass: Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a; Resp Ps 105; Mt 10:24-33

Be glad you lowly ones; may your hearts be glad!

MARY, MOTHER OF THE AUTHOR OF LIFE,

PRAY FOR US.

On this Saturday dedicated to the Virgin Mary, one theme in our readings is that of fear. Joseph's brothers are afraid that Joseph will hold a grudge against them and pay them back for all the wrong they did to him (Gn 50:15). In the Gospel, Jesus tells the Apostles and us not be afraid to acknowledge Him before others. So doing, we will be acknowledged by Jesus before His heavenly Father. However, we must have courage and trust in the Lord. We turn to Mary, help of Christians, to help us allay our fears, and go forth. 

 

Every Catholic should be an apostle, representing his Church creditably before his neighbors and the people among whom he works.

(Archbishop John Francis Noll, 1875-1956)

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Finally I was able to take a photo in the morning when the flowers are fresh. These, oh so clothed in splendor and glory.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saints: Saint Augustine Zhoa Rong and his Companions, Martyrs in China between 1648 and 1930; The Martyrs of Gorcum (-1572); Saint Paulina of the Heart of the Dying Jesus (1865-1942); Saint Leo Ignatius Mangin, Mary Zhu Wu and Companions, Martyrs in China (-1900); Bl Jane Scopelli (1428-1491)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 31:13-19

Mass: Gn 46:1-7, 28-30; Resp Ps 37; Mt 10:16-23

The Lord watches over the lives of the wholehearted; their inheritance lasts forever.

HEART OF JESUS, FULL OF GOODNESS AND LOVE,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Something to keep in mind and heart today is more from Saint Benedict's chapter on the Qualifications of the Monastery Cellarer, especially as we prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Benedict on Sunday, July 11. The reading from the Holy Rule today has Saint Benedict quoting the Book of Sirach with this: A kind word is better than the best gift (Sir 18:17/RB 31:14). 

It is better for a man to confess his sins than to harden his heart.

(From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope, in Office of Readings, Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Friday)

SAINT AUGUSTINE ZHOA RONG AND HIS COMPANIONS,

THE MARTYRS OF GORCUM,

SAINT PAULINA OF THE HEART OF THE DYING JESUS,

SAINT LEO IGNATIUS MANGIN, MARY ZHU WU AND COMPANIONS,

BLESSED JANE SCOPELLI,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: A contribution from the Otto Family, here in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park, Orick, CA.

© Gertrude Feick 2021