Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

National Back to School Month

Saints: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercian Abbot and Doctor, "Last of the Fathers" (1090-1153)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 64:1-6 The Election of an Abbot

Mass: 

Solemnity of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16 or Sirach 39:8-14; Ph 3:17-4:1; Mt 5:13-19 or Jn 17:20-26

Feria: Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22; Resp Ps 146; Mt 22:34-40

For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

How fitting it is on this day that we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, that we also begin Saint Benedict's Chapter 64 on the Election of an Abbot. It is there in the Holy Rule that Saint Benedict writes, "Goodness of life and wisdom in teaching must be the criteria for choosing the one to be made abbot" (RB 64:2). Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was certainly one who was blessed with goodness of life and wisdom in teaching. The following comes from one of his sermons on the Song of Songs, 37:1. 

You remember that you have agreed with me that no one is saved without self-knowledge, since it is the source of that humility on which salvation depends, and the fear of the Lord that is as much the beginning of salvation as of wisdom. No one, I repeat, is saved without that knowledge ... 

But what if you have no knowledge of God? Is hope of salvation compatible with ignorance about God? Surely not. For you cannot love what you do not know, nor possess what you do not love. Know yourself and you will have a wholesome fear of God; know him and you will also love him. In the first, wisdom has its beginning, in the second its crown, for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "love is the fulfilling of the law." You must avoid both kinds of ignorance, because without fear and love salvation is not possible.

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX,

MARY, OUR LADY OF CITEAUX,

MARY, OUR LADY OF CLAIRVAUX,

MARY, OUR LADY OF LA TRAPP,

MARY, OUR LADY OF NAZARETH,

MARY, OUR LADY OF KLAARLAND,

MARY, OUR LADY OF THE REDWOODS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: My oldest sister Kathy and I saw this tempura and gold on wood piece at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2017. By Italian artist Agnolo Gaddi (1350-1396), it was once part of a larger altarpiece whose center panel is now missing. The four saints you see, from left to right, are Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Month of May Dedicated to Our Lady and a “Marathon” of Prayer to End the Pandemic 

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 2:23-29

Mass: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; Resp Ps 113l Jn 15:9-17

Blessed be the name of the Lord both now and forever.

JESUS, LOVER OF US,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

As we celebrate Saint Matthias, we are also in the midst of Chapter 2 of the Holy Rule, "Qualities of the Abbot". The role of the Abbot, as Saint Benedict writes, is "a difficult and demanding burden" (RB 2:31). It is fitting and right then to think about leadership or any positions of responsibility that we have, or may be given. The first thing to keep in mind and heart is what Jesus tells us in today's Gospel: It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, that will remain ... (Jn 15:16). And something else is this from Universalis that comes up every year for the feast: "When we attain some high or responsible position, we may be tempted to congratulate ourselves on being the best candidate for the job. We would do well to remember that we have got there because of the people we have met and the things we have found ourselves doing, and, more fundamentally, because of the gifts and talents that God has given us. These things are essentially random: like Matthias, we have been chosen by lot" ("About Today", May 14, 2021). So in roles both big and small, may we bear fruit that will last and turn to Saint Paul who declared: By God's grace I am what I am (1 Cor 15:10) and He who boasts should make his boast in the Lord (2 Cor 10:17)/(Rule of Saint Benedict 4:31-32).

Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name give the glory because of your faithfulness and love. Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Our God is in heaven; whatever God wills is done. 

(Ps 115:1-2)

SAINT MATTHIAS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

MARY, MOTHER OF MERCY,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Praise the name of the Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Readings of the day: RB 3:1-6 Calling the Community for Counsel

Mass: Ac 22:30; 23:6-11; Resp Ps 16; Jn 17:20-26

In the monastery no one is to follow her own heart’s desire, nor shall anyone presume to contend with her abbess defiantly, or outside the monastery.

(RB 3:8)

It is thought-provoking to read today’s passage from the Acts of the Apostles along with Chapter 3 of the Holy Rule, ‘Calling the Community for Counsel’. St Benedict begins, ‘As often as anything is important to be done in the monastery, the abbess or abbot shall call the whole community together and herself explain what the business is, and after hearing the advice of the sisters, let her ponder it and follow what she judges the wiser course.’ The community has a role too: ‘The sisters, for their part, are to express their opinions with all humility, and not to presume to defend their own views obstinately.’ In the passage from Acts, the commander convenes the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin, a dispute breaks out between the gathered Sadducees and Pharisees, the group becomes divided and arguments ensue. The situation becomes so heated that Paul is removed from the midst of the crowd for fear he will be torn to pieces! I see sanity and civility coming from St Benedict’s ways of conducting business in a group. I see an example not to emulate in the situation between Paul and his adversaries. We recall Pope Francis’s words for the 50^th World Communications Day, 2016: What we say and how we say it, our every word and gesture, ought to express God’s compassion, tenderness and forgiveness for all. Love, by its nature, is communication; it leads to openness and sharing. If our hearts and actions are inspired by charity, by divine love, then our communication will be touched by God’s own power… I would like to encourage everyone to see society not as a forum where strangers compete and try to come out on top, but above all as a home or a family, where the door is always open and where everyone feels welcome.

Pour into our hearts your Holy Spirit,

that You may keep us in unity of spirit and the bond of peace.

(Aelred of Rievaulx)