The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)

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

In other years: Saint Romuald (c.951-1027)

Father's Day

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 15 The Times for Saying Alleluia

Mass: Genesis 14:18-20; Resp Ps 110; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Sequence (Lauda Sion); Lk 9:11b-17

Bring Him all the praise you know.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, 

you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes.

(1 Cor 11:26)

Happy Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. 

As we continue to pray for the peace the world cannot give, we look to the Sequence Laud, O Zion and pray: And His rule for guidance taking, Bread and wine we hallow, making Thus our sacrifice of peace. Lord, I am not worthy that you enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.  Heart of Jesus, bread of life, have mercy on us.

O precious and wonderful banquet, that brings us salvation and contains all sweetness! Could anything be of more intrinsic value? ... What could be more wonderful than this? No other sacrament has greater healing power; through it sins are purged away, virtues are increased, and the soul is enriched with an abundance of every spiritual gift.

("On the feast of Corpus Christi", by Saint Thomas Aquinas, in Office of Readings, for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi)

Today's photo: For today the feast is holden.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

In other years: Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop, Doctor of the Church, Patron of Confessors and Moralists (1696-1787)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 50 Brothers Working at a Distance or Traveling

Mass: Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Resp Ps 78; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35

He commanded the skies above and opened the gates of heaven.

JESUS, LIGHT OF CONFESSORS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

In today's Gospel, Jesus says: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (Jn 6:35). It is Jesus, Our Lord, who we turn to for all life, for everything we need to fulfill our hunger and thirst. If we look elsewhere, we find ourselves joining chorus with the Israelites who grumbled against Moses and Aaron (Ex 16:2). During this month of August, we might strive to "put away the old self of our former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in spirit and put on the new self"  (Eph 4:22-24). We pray that our faith may be deepened so that we trust more fully in Jesus, who is our help and our shield. Or simply remember some words from Saint Alphonsus Liguori: He who trusts in Himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.

The following quotations are attributed to Saint Alphonsus Liguori:

Christ loves a soul that is in a state of grace with an immense love; He ardently desires to unite Himself with it. This is what Holy Communion does.

We should submit our reason to the truths of faith with the humility and simplicity of a child.

He who does not give up prayer cannot possibly continue to offend God habitually. Either he will give up prayer, or he will stop sinning.

If you embrace all things in life as coming from the hands of God, and even embrace death to fulfill His holy will, assuredly you will die a saint.

We must mortify our tongue, by abstaining from words of detraction, abuse, and obscenity. An impure word spoken in jest may prove a scandal to others, and sometimes a word of double meaning, said in a witty way, does more harm than a word openly impure.

SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Welcome to North Carolina. Thanks, Jean.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

Readings of the day: RB 64:1-6 The Election of an Abbess

Mass: Ac 9:1-20; Resp Ps 117; Jn 6:52-59

THE ONE WHO FEEDS ON ME WILL HAVE LIFE BECAUSE OF ME.

Pope Francis was in Molfetta, Italy, today, paying tribute to much-loved Fr Antonio (Tonino) Bello (Servant of God, Bishop of Molfetta, d. 1993). Recalling words of Don Tonino, the Pope stated: “works of charity are not enough, if the charity of works is lacking, if the love in which the works are conceived is lacking, if the starting point which is the Eucharist is lacking, every pastoral commitment is only a merry-go-round”. The Holy Father preached, “One could post a warning outside every church: ‘After Mass one no longer lives for oneself, but for others’.” Remembering Don Tonino and reflecting on Pope Francis’s homily, I went to something the Pope taught April 4, 2018, in a weekly catechesis: “Every time I go to Mass, I must leave better than I entered, with more life, with more strength, with a greater desire to give Christian witness. Through the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus enters in us, in our heart and in our flesh, so that we can ‘express in life the Sacrament received in faith’.” He continued, “From the celebration to life, therefore, aware that the Mass finds it fulfillment in the concrete choices of one who is personally involved in Christ’s mystery. We must not forget that we celebrate the Eucharist to learn to become Eucharistic men and women. What does this mean? It means to let Christ act in our works: that His thoughts be our thoughts, He sentiments ours, His choices our choices. And this is holiness: to do as Christ did is Christian holiness.”

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,

transform our hearts; act in our works; help us to love; help us to live for others.

Servant of God, Don Tonino Bello, pray for us.

WHOEVER EATS THIS BREAD WILL LIVE FOREVER.