Tuesday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Rose of Lima, Patron Saint of South America (1586-1617); Saint Eugene (-c. 618); Saint John Wall (1620-1679)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 65:11-22 The Prior of the Monastery 

Mass: 2 Thess 2:1-3a, 14-17; Resp Ps 96; Mt 23:23-26

Say among the nations, the Lord is king.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, FULL OF GRACE,

PRAY FOR US.

I find it true, something that Servant of God Rose Hawthorne (1851-1926) wrote: "A brief sentence written by a saint will be moral provender for a good Catholic for many a day-his own heart will develop the words, as the saint's calculated simplicity intended, into a long sermon." At least that is what I find when I look to the saints for inspiration as I do more than occasionally. And our saints, those formally recognized, and the ones next door, have plenty to teach us, primarily by their witness but also by what they say or write, sometimes stated in brief, while other times more at length. 

We look to two saints today. First, Saint Rose of Lima, the first person in the Americas to be canonized, she is the patron saint of South America. That job certainly keeps her busy. Saint Rose is also the patron saint of gardeners, florists, and those suffering from family difficulties. Refusing to marry, Rose became a third-order Dominican as a young woman, and it is said that she lived most of her life in a tiny hermitage in her parents' garden. She was also known for practicing austere penances, not unusual for the times in which she lived. As a result, she received many graces, and had much to say about the value of suffering. We all suffer, whether we like it or not. We don't need to go looking for it though, as suffering will come our way, in one way or another. It's best we just pick up our cross and carry it. As I wrote the other day, Jesus certainly picked up His and He helps us carry ours. In any case, Jesus said more than once that the primary condition of discipleship is that we pick up our cross, carry it, and follow Him. Grace abounds! We go forth and carry on, united in faith and prayer..

Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the heights of grace. The gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase.

(From the writings of Saint Rose of Lima, virgin, in Office of Readings, August 23)

Speaking of saints and other holy people, we get this one from William of Saint Thierry, Benedictine, Abbot, and eventual Cistercian (1085-1148), used as the proclamation for today's midday prayer:

O Lord, though you have made the darkness of our ignorance and human blindness the secret place that hides your face, nevertheless your pavilion is round about you, and some of your saints undoubtedly were full of light. They glowed and they gave light because they lived so close to your light and your fire.

And to help us through the day, and week for that matter, we thank Saint Paul and company for the following:

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through His grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

(2 Th 2:16-17)

SAINT ROSE OF LIMA,

SAINT JOHN WALL,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: From the archives (2019), a rose for Saint Rose of Lima. The Lord shall rule His peoples with constancy.

© Gertrude Feick 2022