Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

The Month of February Dedicated to the Holy Family

Catholic Schools Week

Saints: Saint Brigid (451?-525); Saint Henry Morse (1595-1645); Blessed Benedict Daswa (1946-1990); Saint Candelaria of Saint Joseph (1863-1940)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 7:35-43 Humility

Mass: Heb 12:4-7, 11-15; Resp Ps 103; Mk 6:1-6  

And His justice toward children's children.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Endure your trials as "discipline."

(Heb 12:7)

Welcome to February, the month dedicated to the Holy Family, and now in the midst of Catholic Schools Week. We have much to be thankful for, including something Saint Theophane Venard said: "Happiness is to be found only in the home where God is loved and honored, where each one loves, and helps, and cares for others." In this month of the Holy Family, then, a Christian education in the faith begins in the home. Holy Family, tested by the greatest difficulties, pray for us.

Speaking of difficulties and trials, our readings for the day speak about them. We are disciplined by such things as the Letter to the Hebrews tells us. And discipline may seem a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Heb 12:11). In the Gospel, Jesus is essentially dismissed as a nobody, a mere carpenter, the son of Mary and with brothers even. Who on earth does He think He is anyway? People took offense at Him when He walked the earth (see Mk 6:3); they take offense at Him now. There is nothing new under the sun. We have also been in the midst of Saint Benedict's Chapter 7 on humility and I've been waiting for today when we read about the fourth step of humility, my favorite. Our holy father Benedict begins this way: "The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, [my] heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape" (RB 7:35-36). 

They are going to happen, these things that, yes, are painful. And trials will come in the home, at work, in the monastery, in social settings; wherever we find ourselves and even in places we least expect to find them. However, Jesus has been there; He leads the way. He was silent throughout. Remember, for Scripture has it: Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved, and again, Be brave of heart and rely on the Lord. Another passage shows how the faithful must endure everything, even contradiction, for the Lord's sake, saying in the person of those who suffer, For your sake we are being put to death continually; we are regarded as sheep marked for slaughter" (RB 7:36-37). And why do we endure our trials? It is because we are so confident in our expectation of reward from God that we continue joyfully and say, But in all this we overcome because of Him who so greatly loved us (RB 7:39). 

United in faith and prayer then, may we be patient amid hardships and unjust treatment and fulfill the Lord's command: When struck on one cheek, turn the other; when deprived of our coat, offer our cloak also; when pressed into service for one mile, go two. Bear with false brothers and sisters, endure persecution, and bless those who curse us. (RB 7:42-43). We can do it, faithful readers, let us strengthen our drooping hands and our weak knees (se Heb 12:12), for as Jesus told us last "Beatitude Sunday", Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me (Mt 5:11). Keep going, rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven (Mt 5:12a).

And we continue to pray for the Holy Father Pope Francis, who celebrated Mass today for more than a million people at the "Ndolo" airport in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Praise God from Whom all blessing flow. 

The presence of the Church in the field of education is wonderfully manifested in the vast and dynamic network of schools and educational programs extending from the preschool through adult years. The entire ecclesial community - bishops, priests, religious, the laity - the Church in all her parts, is called to value ever more deeply the importance of this task and mission, and to continue to give it full and enthusiastic support.

(Address of His Holiness John Paul II, "Meeting with the Representatives of Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools and Leaders in Religious Education," Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, September 12, 1987)

SAINT BRIGID,

SAINT HENRY MORSE,

BLESSED BENEDICT DASWA,

SAINT BENEDICT OF NURSIA,

SAINT CANDELARIA OF SAINT JOSEPH,

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS,

SAINT JOHN HENRY NEWMAN,

POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: As promised, here is Father Cody, who not only looks great in a cassock, looks even more like his patron Saint John Bosco when wearing it. Front and center, Father Cody serves as chaplain for the students at Western Washington University's Newman Center, seen here all beautiful and beaming for the Lord. Again, they inspire us to remain faithful and strong in our respective vocations. Dear Father Cody and all the Newman students at Western Washington University, keep going! Thank you for being there with your courageous witness to the faith in a secular university, where, as your chaplain said, "These kids have to fight for it!". You certainly face your fair share of difficulties and trials. Jesus loves you!

© Gertrude Feick 2023

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

In other years: Pope Saint Pius X (1835-1914)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 64:7-24 The Election of an Abbot

Mass: Is 66:18-21; Resp Ps 117; Heb 12: 5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30

Glorify Him, all you peoples!

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, REFUGE OF SINNERS,

PRAY FOR US.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

(Hebrews 12:12-13)

I read a line from a homily recently, preached by an Abbot at a monk's Solemn Profession. It's a simple line that speaks volumes: "We are transformed only by being limited." In a way, it is a commentary on Jesus' answer in today's Gospel, to a voice from the crowd who asked, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Lk 13:23). Jesus replied: Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough (Lk 13:24). No one said discipleship was going to be easy. Jesus certainly didn't. We are meant to pick up our cross and carry it. Jesus certainly picked up His and helps us to carry ours. The "road to glory", as dear Father Paschal, OSB, of happy memory aptly called it, is narrow. The Gospel way limits us in ways that we would have never expected. If we just take the first and greatest commandment, which also happens to be Saint Benedict's first tool of goods, namely, to love the Lord our God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and the second, to love your neighbor as yourself (Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:1-2/Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27), we will be limited and busy at that. We put aside our needs and wants and look to God for strength, mercy, and compassion and then extend it to our neighbor, without exception. We "try to be the first to show respect to the other, supporting with greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another." Furthermore, "no one is to pursue what she judges better for herself, but instead, what she judges better for someone else" (Rule of Saint Benedict, 72:4-7). The good news is that we do this together, united in faith and prayer, and we will be transformed. The "Lord shows us the way of life" (RB Prologue 20). We look to the Lord, and "clothed then with faith and the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide, that we may deserve to see Him who has called us to His kingdom" (RB Prologue 20-21). We go forth "and prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may He bring us all together to everlasting life" (RB 72:11-12).

Therefore we intend to establish a school for the Lord's service. In drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love. 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. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love. Never swerving from His instructions then, but faithfully observing His teaching in the monastery until death, we shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in His kingdom. Amen.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue 45-50)

POPE SAINT PIUS X,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: I managed to get a few good shots Friday morning in our garden of delights. This one kicks us off and inspires us to go out to all the world and tell the good news.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 35:1-11

Mass: Wisdom 6:12-16; Resp. Psalm 63; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13

Today’s readings made me think of triathlon. What does triathlon have to do with the spiritual life? More than one might think. Many may think that triathlon consists of three disciplines, namely, swimming, cycling, and running. In fact, there are five disciplines—swimming, transition 1, cycling, transition 2, and running. Training for the sport requires not only physical training, but mental as well. For anyone who excels in the sport, she must spend hours training in both areas, as well as others. The motto taught me by my coach was, “Don’t forget nothing,”  adapted from Rogers’ Rangers Standing Orders, by Army Major Robert Rangers, 1759. The prepared triathlete knows what she has to do before she even does it. This is especially important during transitions, where races can be won or lost. All movements in the transition must become instinctual. Therefore, the transition area must be organized; everything in its proper place. In other words, don’t forget nothing. 

Looking to today’s gospel, Jesus tells us to stay awake, for we know neither the day nor the hour. Five of the virgins in the parable were wise. They were alert and prepared; their lamps trimmed, oil ready. They forgot nothing. They were ready to meet the bridegroom and be welcomed to the feast.

The athlete and pilgrim on the journey to God have much in common. The lover of Saint Paul knows this well (1 Cor. 9:24-27). The disciplined and trained triathlete cannot predict what will happen with weather, race conditions, or her physical and emotional responses to the intensity of the sport. What she can do is train and prepare as best she can, taking nothing for granted, and forget nothing. The one seeking God can also prepare as best she can. With grace, she is faithful to a disciplined life of prayer while serving God and her sisters and brothers in love. With the guidance of a trusted and wise spiritual companion (a coach!), she is better able to navigate the vicissitudes of life. Like an athlete, the one who seeks God cannot predict what will come on a daily basis, but she can learn to respond in ways that help her grow in intimacy with the Living and True God. Son of the Living God, grant us the grace.

Wisdom is found by those who seek her.