Respect Life Month
Readings of the Day
Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 21 The Deans of the Monastery
Mass: Eph 2:19-22; Resp Ps 19; Lk 6:12-16
Their message goes out through all the earth.
MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,
MARY, QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY,
MARY, QUEEN OF APOSTLES,
SAINT JOSEPH, DEFENDER OF LIFE,
SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,
PRAY FOR US.
For You have built your Church to stand firm on apostolic foundations, to be a lasting sign of Your holiness on earth and offer all humanity Your heavenly teaching.
(Preface II of the Apostles: The Apostolic Foundation and Witness)
Jesus Christ Himself is the capstone. With Him, the apostles and prophets are the foundation. It is through Jesus that the whole structure is held together and grows sacred in the Lord. In Him, faithful readers, we are also being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (see Eph 2:19-22). Jesus called the disciples to Himself (see Lk 6:13); He calls us. Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in You, have mercy on us.
As yesterday with the awesome reading from Saint Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, look to the Letter of Saint Jude, a brief but powerful one of 25 verses. Saint Jude encourages us as we are reminded that there is nothing new under that sun. We must be strong and firm in our faith; we must hold ground. Jude even writes about Saint Michael the Archangel (see Jude 9). Saint Jude is the patron saint of hopeless causes, forgotten causes, hospital workers, hospitals, impossible causes, lost causes, and the diocese of Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. On those who waver, have mercy; save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.
(Jude 20-23)
Our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed certain men to be guides and teachers of the world and stewards of His divine mysteries. Now He bids them to shine out like lamps ...
These holy men became the pillar and mainstay of truth, and Jesus said that He was sending them just as the Father had sent Him ...
From what He said they would gather that it was their vocation to call sinners to repentance, to heal those who were sick whether in body or spirit, to seek in all their dealings never to do their own will but the will of Him who sent them, and as far as possible to save the world by their teaching.
Surely it is in all these respects that we find His holy disciples striving to excel. To ascertain this is no great labor; a single reading of the Acts of the Apostles or of Saint Paul's writings is enough.
(From a commentary on the gospel of John by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop, in Office of Readings, October 28)
SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE,
PRAY FOR US.
Today's photo: Mount Rainier from the archives, 2017. It was my first and only trip to Mount Rainier National Park for camping and hiking with the Ottos. The heavens declare the glory of God.
© Gertrude Feick 2022
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