Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

July is the month dedicated to the Precious Blood of Our Lord

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 33:11 Monks and Private Ownership- Ch 41 The Times for the Brothers' Meals

Truth shall spring out of the earth.

BLOOD OF CHRIST, RELIEF OF THE BURDENED,

SAVE US.

MARY, MOTHER OF COMPASSION AND MERCY,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before Him. 

(Ephesians 1:3-4)

Welcome to the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, in the midst of a HOT July dedicated to the Precious Blood of Our Lord. Thank you for being there with this posting of late in the day.

I am most often attracted to the second reading for Mass on Sunday's, and this week's powerful, once again, words from Saint Paul. In short, let what Saint Paul writes to us sink in. He chose you; He chose me, to be holy and without blemish before Him, yes, He who loves us with an everlasting love. To the praise of His glory then, we keep going, with Saint Rafael Arnaiz who wrote to his Aunt: "The Lord asks me to keep going and not stop. What am I to do: look up, up high ... and keep going and not stop ... You ought to do the same." United in faith and prayer, may we do the same. Jesus and Mary, please help us. 

For our voices of the week, I turn to a book I reviewed, Mark O'Keefe and Maria Gonzalo-Garcia, To Live for God Alone: The Life and Spirit of Saint Rafael Arnaiz (Cistercian, 2023). There is no end to the number of quotations to be collected. So, all voices this week come from wisdom to be found in the book, both from Rafael and others as well. 

I enjoy flowers and birds and children. Everything is a reason to praise God: stars, nighttime, fields covered in light.

(Saint Rafael Arnaiz)

Once you understand the purpose of life, which is to live for God and for Him alone, there is nothing in the world that can trouble your soul.

(Saint Rafael Arnaiz)

The interior life ... the spiritual life, a life of prayer. "My God! that must be difficult!" But it's not at all. Get rid of everything in your heart that's in the way. And you'll find God there ... Behold the life of prayer. We don't need to add to something that's already there. Rather, we need to get rid of what's in the way.

(Saint Rafael Arnaiz)

We human beings can do nothing more than trust in His divine providence, knowing that what He does is well done, even if at first glance it might go against our desires. But I believe that true perfection is to have no other desire other than "may His will be done in us."

(Saint Rafael Arnaiz)

Forgetfulness of created things,

remembrance of the Creator,

attention toward inward things,

and loving the Beloved.

(Saint John of the Cross, "The Sum of Perfection")

If you take little account of yourself, you will have peace, wherever you live.

(Abba Poemen, 4th century desert father, in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection)

The specific value that draws a Christian into the 'desert' and 'solitude' (whether or not he remains physically 'in the world') is a deep sense that God alone suffices.

(Thomas Merton, in Contemplation in a World of Action)

SAINT CAMILLUS OF LELLIS,

SAINT KATERI TEKAKWITHA,

SAINT BONAVENTURE, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT SWITHUN,

SAINT OSMUND OF SALISBURY,

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL,

SAINT HELIER,

SAINT KENELM,

BLESSED JOHN SUGAR, PRIEST, AND ROBERT GRISSOLD, MARTYRS,

BLESSED INACIO DE AZEVEDO,

BLESSED THERESE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE AND COMPANIONS,

POPE SAINT LEO IV,

SAINT ELIZABETH OF SCHONAU,

SAINT JOHN PLESSINGTON,

SAINT ARSENIUS,

SAINT APOLLINARIS, BISHOP, MARTYR,

BLESSED VIRGIN MARTYRS OF ORANGE, 

SAINT MARGARET OF ANTIOCH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: And justice shall look down from heaven.

© Gertrude Feick 2024