Daily Lectio Divina: Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

September is the Month dedicated to the Sorrowful Mother

October is the Month dedicated to the Holy Rosary

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 7:24-54 Humility

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

MARY, CONQUERER OF THE INCREDULOUS,

MARY, CAUSE OF OUR JOY,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Now two men, one name Eldad and the other Medad, were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; yet the spirit came to rest on them also, and they prophesied in the camp.

(Numbers 11:26)

Hi dear friends and faithful readers. It is a big day and week as we conclude the month of September dedicated to the Sorrowful Mother and commence the month of October dedicated to the Holy Rosary, and all that comes before we enter the most glorious month of November dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, kicking it all off with the Solemnity of All Saints on November 1st. And not only that, we have a huge line-up of saints to commemorate in October, but not before we finish off September with Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, and Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor. Whoa. I am tired already. Not to be daunted though, we keep going. And by way of friendly reminder, this will be the last published reflection for some weeks. As I wrote last week, I have been at this, not without the support of all of you, for just over seven years now. A little breather now and then is good for mind, soul, and body.

I love Eldad and Medad in our first reading from the Book of Numbers (11:25-29). First, their names can't be beat. As I thought about it, Eldad and Medad just didn't fit in, or they didn't fit in in a way the young man thought they should. Eldad and Medad had not gone out to the tent with others. Shame on them. Eldad and Medad had their ways about things, and in their boldness went about a mission, given to them by the Holy Spirit who came to rest on them, just as the same spirit came to rest on the others. Then, we hear an echo of the situation in today's Gospel (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48). John goes to the Teacher, in somewhat of a panic perhaps, about the "someone" who had the audacity to drive out demons in the Teacher's name. Imagine that: the "someone" did not follow John and the others. How dare the nameless "someone." So, what was going on with Moses' aide (Numbers 11:28) and John and the others (Mark 9:38)? I recall some words from Saint Paul, namely, "each has a particular gift from God, one of one kind and one another" (1 Cor 7:7). And in another letter, "grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift ... He gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ ..." (Eph 4:7, 11-12). We listen, then to the words of Moses (Nb 11:29), and Jesus the Teacher (Mk 9:39-40): "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow His spirit on them all!"; "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is not against us if for us." Saint Paul repeats then, "grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift." Do not quench the Spirit (1 Th 5:19), in yourself or in another.

And now for our voices, a bit more than usual to tide us over until whatever comes next. Please, collect your own voices during these weeks, a voice from here and a voice from there. There are voices everywhere!

To be Your Spouse, to be a Carmelite, and by my union with You to be the Mother of souls, should not this suffice for me? And yet it is not so. No doubt, these three privileges sum up my true vocation: Carmelite, Spouse, Mother, and yet I feel within me other vocations. I feel the vocation of the WARRIOR, THE PRIEST, THE APOSTLE, THE DOCTOR, THE MARTYR. Finally, I feel the need and desire of carrying out the most heroic deeds for You, O Jesus. I feel within my soul the courage of the Crusader, the Papal Guard, and I would want to die on the field of battle in defense of the Church.

(Saint Therese of Lisieux "The Little Flower," 1873-1897, The Story of a Soul, Manuscript B, Ch. IX)

Be cheerful; Jesus will take care of everything.

(Padre Pio, 1887-1968)

Teach me to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

(Pope Francis, Laudato Si' , 246)

By virtue of the creation and, still more, of the Incarnation, nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see.

(Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1881-1955)

I am in God's hands, ready to do God's Will as soon as it is revealed to me ...

God gives us enlightenment in little doses. Doing the Holy Will of God might be 'everything,' but it is not necessarily easy!

(Blessed Anne-Marie Jahouvey, 1779-1851)

Always work to the utmost for the honor of God Almighty.

(Blessed Alcuin of York, 740-804)

But you too, good Jesus, are you not also a mother?

Are you not a mother who like a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings? ...

And you, my soul, dead in yourself,

run under the wings of Jesus your mother

and lament your griefs under His feathers.

ask that your wounds may be healed

and that, comforted, you may live again.

Christ, my mother, you gather your chickens under your wings;

This dead chicken of yours puts himself under those wings ...

Warm your chicken, give life to your dead one, justify your sinner.

(Prayer of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, 1033/34-1109)

We should spend as much time thanking God for His benefits as we do in asking Him for them.