Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

August is the month dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament 

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 67 Brothers Sent on a Journey - Ch 73 This Rule Only a Beginning of Perfection

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

SACRED HOST, IN WHICH THE SOUL IS FILLED WITH GRACE,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, WHO ALWAYS COMES TO OUR AID,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US. 

Live in love, as Christ loved us.

(Ephesians 5:2a)

Welcome to the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time, in the last week of the month of August dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. It is also the week when we conclude the second of three "read throughs" of the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict for the year. So, with Christ's help, may we keep this little rule that has been written for beginners (see Rule of Saint Benedict, 73:8), so that in all things may God be glorified (RB 57:9).

Here we are with the conclusion of the Bread of Life discourse. Jesus tells us today that there are some among us to do not believe (Jn 6:64), even though we know in our hearts that His words are spirit and life, that He is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. As hard as the Lord's sayings are, we keep on believing. We accept the Lord's authority; we accept His teaching. This is faith. We will never fully explain what the Lord tells us; however, we accept it because He tells us: He speaks with authority (see Luke 4:32). Jesus has the words of eternal life (Jn 6:69).  Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Romans writes: "Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). It just won't do to longer accompany Jesus, to leave His side (see Jn 6:66-67). Something Cardinal Basil Hume said in 1997 might be helpful: "Our faith in the Eucharist depends entirely on what the Lord has told us. Our five senses are utterly useless. No help at all. But I believe this is His Body; I believe that this is His Blood simply on His word. I am absolutely blind but He has spoken these words, and because my faith in Him, because God became man, and He has spoken this word, He has told me about this reality, then I accept it." This is my Body, says the Lord, this is my Blood. There is no better place to go. I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (John 6:35). Never. I believe, help my unbelief. 

Now for our voices this week. May we be about building a civilization of love, spreading Eucharistic love to all those we meet. For as Pope Francis wrote in his message to Madagascar's National Eucharistic Congress (August 23-26): "Once we have encountered Christ in adoration, once we have touched and received Him in the Eucharistic celebration, it is no longer possible to keep Him to ourselves." We are on a mission, dear faithful readers, so let us go about it in whatever corner of the world we find ourselves in.

We are called to be physicians of that civilization about which we dream, the civilization of love.

(Pope Saint Paul VI, 1963- 1978, General Audience, December 31, 1975)

Peace can write the finest pages of history, inscribing them not only with the magnificence of power and glory but also with the greater magnificence of human virtue, people's goodness, collective prosperity and true civilization: the civilization of love.

Pope Saint Paul VI, 1963- 1978, Peace Day Message, January 1977)

Act in a way that the sad sight of human injustice may not trouble your soul ... One day you will see the unfailing triumph of God's justice arise.

(Saint Pius of Pietrelcina "Padre Pio", 1887-1968)

The reason to love God is God Himself. The measure is to love Him beyond measure.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1113)

Only those who never fight are never wounded.

(Saint John Chrysostom, 347-407)

The way to become a saint, Dominic, is to be always cheerful, do your duties to the best of your ability, and give your classmates a good example. Keep in the mind that the Lord is always with you and wants your happiness.

(Saint John Bosco to Dominic Savio, d. 1857, who joined the Oratory school of John Bosco)

If you correspond to the designs of God, He will make a saint of you. Be generous, and remember that we ought to walk in the footsteps of Jesus crucified.

(Saint Paul of the Cross, 1694-1775)

SAINT LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE,

SAINT JEANNE ELIZABETH DES BICHIER DES ANGES,

SAINT JOSEPH OF CALASANZ,

SAINT MARY OF JESUS CRUCIFIED BAOUARDY,

BLESSED DOMINIC BARBERI,

SAINT DAVID LEWIS,

OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA,

SAINT CAESARIUS OF ARLES,

BLESSED JACQUES RETOURET,

SAINT TERESA OF JESUS' REVERBERATION,

SAINT MONICA,

SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST,

SAINT BEATRICE OF NAZARETH,

SAINT MARGARET CLITHEROW,

SAINT ANNE LINE,

SAINT MARGARET WARD,

BLESSED GHEBRE MICHAEL,

SAINT FIACRE,

SAINT EDMUND ARROWSMITH,

SAINT JEANNE JUGAN,

SAINT AIDA N,

SAINT WARREN AND AMADEUS, CISTERTIAN ABBOTS,

SAINT RAYMOND NONNATUS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: I will bless the Lord at all times.

© Gertrude Feick 2024