Wednesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Saint Aidan(-651); Saint Raymond Nonnatus (1204-1240)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 73 This Rule Only a Beginning of Perfection

Mass: 1 Cor 3:1-9; Resp Ps 33; Lk 4:38-44 

From heaven the Lord looks down.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, HOPE OF THE DYING,

PRAY FOR US.

We are God's co-workers; you are God's field, God's building.

(1 Cor 3:9)

It is powerful what Saint Paul writes to us in his First Letter to the Corinthians. We have a job to do. And in our Gospel for today, the crowds want Jesus to stay with them. He must be on His way, though, as He says: To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I was sent (Lk 4:43). Let us do our part then and build the Kingdom of God on earth. The Holy Father offers inspiration and encouragement.

If you want to live, if you want to enjoy life, remember that you are a creature, that you are not the criterion of good and evil, and that the choices you make will have a consequence, for others, and for the world; you can make the earth a magnificent garden or you can make it a desert of death.

(Pope Francis, Wednesday General Audience Catechesis, August 31, 2022)

United in faith and prayer, we keep going. The Lord is our help and our shield. 

SAINT AIDAN,

SAINT RAYMOND NONNATUS,

PRAY FOR US.

NB. This last day of August concludes our official devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, it is always helpful to turn to the Immaculate Heart of our Mother, Mary. 💖

Today's photo: Our soul waits for the Lord.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church (d. 444)

Readings of the day: RB 20 The Ideal of True Reverence in Prayer

Mass: 2 K 22:8-13; 23:1-3; Resp Ps 119; Mt 7:15-20

St Cyril of Alexandria

By their fruits you will know them.

A fitting commentary on today’s Gospel comes from our reading at Morning Prayer taken from The Letter of James 3:12-18. Included here are a few verses from the NRSV: ‘Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. Wisdom from above if first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace’ (Jm 3:13, 17-18). May those we encounter today know us by the good fruit that we bear. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, pray for us.

Remain in me, as I remain in you, says the Lord;

whoever remains in me will bear much fruit.

Alleluia.

(Gospel Acclamation, Mass)

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 19 Our Approach to Prayer

Mass: 2 K 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36; Resp Ps 48; Mt 7:6, 12-14

How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life.

St Benedict echoes the teaching of Jesus in the Prologue of the Holy Rule: ‘Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset’ (RB Prol 48). I think of when I was ready to join the US Peace Corps some 21 years ago. I had made up my mind and was ready, letting the Peace Corps staff know I was ready to go anywhere in the world immediately. Turns out it was nearly a year later that an invitation for an assignment finally arrived in the mail. This was after filling out applications, having phone interviews, and undergoing medical examinations. I guess ‘they’ did not understand how serious and ready I was. In fact, they knew exactly what they were doing. Good things come to those who wait, and learn patience, and receive the grace to chisel away the ‘I’. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths (Pr 3:5-6). 

Enter through the narrow gate;

for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction,

and those who enter it are many.

Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Church (d. 1231)

Readings of the day: RB 10 The Night Office in Summertime

Mass: 1 K 18:20-39; Resp Ps 16; Mt 5:17-19

THE LORD IS GOD, FOLLOW HIM.

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge;

I say to the Lord: ‘My Lord are you.’

They multiply their sorrows

who court other gods.

Blood libations to them I will not pour out,

nor will I take their names upon my lips.

O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup,

you it is who hold fast my lot.

I set the Lord ever before me;

with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

You will show me the path of life;

fullness of joys in your presence,

the delights at your right hand forever.

THE LORD IS GOD! THE LORD IS GOD!

Never tire of encountering Jesus in prayer,

in listening to the Word of God, and in receiving the Eucharist.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, June 13, 2018)

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 22 Sleeping Arrangements for the Community

Mass: Jr 18:18-20; Resp. Ps 31; Mt 20:17-28

 

The Prophet Jeremiah, Michelangelo

The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah and the Gospel make me think of Psalm 1. The psalmist provides a commentary of sorts on both. Somehow it fits, not without a shift in the verses, to be shared for further pondering. 

Happy indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked;

nor lingers in the way of sinners

nor sits in the company of scorners,

but whose delight is the law of the Lord

and who ponders his law day and night.

Jeremiah warned the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem to return from their evil ways; to reform their ways and deeds. In response, the people plotted against Jeremiah; to destroy him by his own tongue. 

Must good be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take me life?

Jesus predicts the Passion for the third time.

The Son of Man will be handed over,

condemned to death, mocked and scourged and crucified.

The choice to stand out from the crowd and do good, or join the crowd and do evil.

For they are like winnowed chaff

shall be driven away by the wind.

When the wicked are judged they shall not stand,

nor find room among those who are just;

for the Lord guards the way of the just

but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

Still, we remember Jesus’ words: The Son of Man will be raised on the third day.

He is like a tree that is planted

beside flowing waters,

that yields its fruit in due season

and whose leaves never fade;

and all that he does shall prosper.

Not so are the wicked, not so!

It is easier said than done. Even when we think we have the strength to go against the masses, to not join in the jeering, to not bring down the winner or the most popular, we aren’t able to carry through. We remember St Paul’s words: ‘What I do I do not understand. I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate’ (Rm 7:15). The following commentary on Psalm 1 provides another approach: ‘It is better still to remember that we have a powerful companion along the one road, but along the other we are alone.’ Or the words of Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471): ‘When there is a choice to be made, take the narrow way. This alone will make you more like Christ.’

CAN YOU DRINK THE CHALICE THAT I AM GOING TO DRINK?

We can support one another,

and face every kind of challenge with courage and hope,

when we draw our strength from Jesus.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, Feb. 28, 2018)

Let us pray for the grace.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Readings of the day: RB 13:1-11 Lauds on Ordinary Days

Mass: Dt 30:15-20; Resp. Ps 1; Luke 9:22-25

Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom.

It seems to me that each one of us has these words of Moses presented to us each and every day. It is up to each one of us to choose our response.

Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live,

by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 7:59

Mass: 1 Kings 10:1-10; Resp. Psalm 37; Mark 7:14-23

The Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord.

It’s difficult not to be influenced by what others say. If we’ve never met someone, for example, and a friend says, ‘Oh, you’ll like him,’ or, ‘she is rude,’ we sometimes just take the opinion as final word. Then we end up not caring for the man we’re supposed to ‘like’, and being fond of the ‘rude’ woman. The Queen of Sheba would have nothing to do with all the hubbub surrounding King Solomon; she would find out for herself and form her own opinion; she would put him to her test, with hard questions. Off goes the queen with a very great retinue—camels bearing spices, very much gold, and precious stones. It must have been quite a sight. The queen proceeds to tell Solomon all that was on her mind. Solomon answers all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king which he could not explain to her. Impressed (the NRSV relates ‘there was no more spirit in her’), the queen proclaims: ‘The report was true which I heard in my own land of your affairs and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it; and behold, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report which I heard.’ Furthermore, ‘Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you on the throne of Israel for ever.’ 

It has been said: ‘Seeing is believing.’ Thomas believed when he saw and touched the wounds of Jesus (Jn 20:24-29). The Queen of Sheba believed only after seeing King Solomon in person, testing him with subtle questions. Sometimes we just have to see for ourselves. Important throughout is keeping an open mind and heart when meeting all people: the wise and not so wise, the slim and stout, young and old, the rich and poor, the good-looking and better-looking, the witty and dull, the outcast and downtrodden. There is a piece of wisdom in all of us—something in each person that tells us something about God which no one else can.  I think of the 1969 single by John Lennon, ‘Give Peace a Chance.’ All we are saying is give peace a chance. All we are saying is give people a chance. Everyone. 

Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold, a great quantity of spices, and precious stones; never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

Saturday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Bishop and Doctor (d. 367)

Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings of the day: RB 2:23-29

Mass: 1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1a; Resp. Psalm 21; Mark 2:13-17

Follow me.

While studying in Rome, one of my favorite walkabouts included the area of Via della Scrofa. Things were happening there, not unlike most places in the eternal city, yet I used to stop now and again at San Luigi dei Francesi to look at Caravaggio paintings. Caravaggio is one of my favorite artists; an artist whose work I seek out.

Not unrelated, I include here part of an interview with Pope Francis, conducted by A. Spadaro, SJ, published in America magazine, September 30, 2013. What follows are the Holy Father’s comments about not knowing Rome very well.

‘I know St. Mary Major, St. Peter’s...but when I had to come to Rome, I always stayed in [the neighborhood of] Via della Scrofa. From there I often visited the Church of St. Louis of France, and I went there to contemplate the painting of “The Calling of St. Matthew” by Caravaggio.’

‘That finger of Jesus, pointing at Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew.’ Here the pope becomes determined, as if he had finally found the image he was looking for: ‘It is the gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, “No, not me! No, this money is mine.” Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my election as pontiff.’ Then the pope whispers in Latin: ‘I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.’

I reflect now on whether I think Jesus is pointing at me, or am I so full of myself and ‘well’ to think that Jesus is pointing at others, namely, all the sinners and sick people.

Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.

I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.

Tuesday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 7:62-70

Mass: Jonah 3:1-10; Resp. Psalm 130; Luke 10:38-42

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.

(Gospel Acclamation, Mass)

It seems dear Jonah has had a change of heart, not without God in hot pursuit. Today Jonah heeds the Lord’s bidding and sets off for Nineveh. That said, there is more to come.

We are also presented with Martha and Mary, friends of the Lord. Martha was busy asking Jesus questions and telling him what to do. Mary was busy listening to Jesus speak.

Who am I today? Jonah, Martha, or Mary?

The first step of humility is to cherish at all times the sense of awe with which we should ever turn to God. It should drive all forgetfulness away; it should keep our minds alive to God’s guidance and commandments.

(RB 7:10-11)

SAINT WENCESLAUS; SAINT LAWRENCE RUIZ AND COMPANIONS

Readings of the day: RB 7:19-23

Mass: Haggai 1:1-8; Resp. Psalm 149; Luke 9:7-9

When thinking about Herod the Tetrarch the first thing that came to mind was Psalm 1: “Blessed the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the company with scoffers.” Then I read Pope Francis’ tweet for today: “Encountering Jesus can give a decisive direction to our life, filling it with meaning.” Herod encountered Jesus; he encountered John the Baptist.

What direction do I take when I encounter Jesus?

The LORD knows the way of the just, but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

SAINT WENCESLAUS; SAINT LAWRENCE RUIZ AND COMPANIONS,

PRAY FOR US.