Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Saint Clodoald, Monk (d.560)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Prologue 45-50 

Mass: 1 Cor 7:25-31; Resp Ps 45; Lk 6:20-26

Her raiment is threaded with spun gold.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

DESOLUTE MOTHER,

PRAY FOR US.

Blessed are you who are now weeping.

(Lk 6:21)

This morning I heard from two friends, one in India, now at home after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer; another in Arizona whose wife is on hospice. Then there are others with heart problems, back pain, and other types of cancer. At the same time there are the effects of aging, however gracefully we go about it, that hit us in ways unexpected and not always welcome. As a result of this, I have been thinking about all those who suffer in one way or another and asking Mary to cover them, us, in her protective veil. All of us, united in faith and prayer, are blessed in the eyes of the Lord. We ask the Lord to help us, as He says: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light (Mt 11:28-30). The Kingdom of God is ours (Lk 6:20).

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 life ...

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 49-50)

SAINT CLODOALD,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: More yellow than gold, still beauty to behold. So shall the king desire your beauty.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Saint Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church (1206-1280)

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 37 Care for the Elderly and the Young
Mass: Phm 7-20; Resp Ps 146; Lk 17:20-25

Refresh my heart in Christ

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle

Readings of the day: RB 18:7-11

1 P 5:1-4; Resp. Ps 23; Mt 16:13-19

 

The Chair of Saint Peter, Bernini

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea,

but the encounter with an event, a person,

which gives life a new horizon and decisive direction.

(Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est, 1)

Jesus questions Simon Peter: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter responds: ‘You are Christ, the Son of the living God.’ This encounter with the living and true God certainly gave Peter’s life a new horizon and decisive direction. May we open our hearts and minds and respond to an on-going invitation: I invite all Christians everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day…No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord’ (Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 3). 

You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

WHO IS JESUS FOR YOU?

Tuesday, Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: RB 24

Mass: Romans 8:18-25; Resp. Psalm 126; Luke 13:18-21

“To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?

It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour

until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”

If we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.

Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. 

In hope we were saved.

ALLELUIA.

The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.

Psalm 126