Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Pope Saint Gregory the Great (540-604), Doctor of the Church, one of the great Latin fathers with Saint Ambrose (340-397), Saint Jerome (347-420), and Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Readings of the Day
RB: Prologue 14-20
Mass: 1 Cor :18-23; Resp Ps 24; Lk 5:1-11

The Lord's are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it.

Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Benedict, Father of Western Monasticism (480-547)

Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 33 Monks and Private Ownership
Mass: For the Solemnity of St Benedict: Pr 2:1-9; Resp Ps 34; Mt 19:27-29
For Ferial Day: Gn 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5; Resp Ps 105; Mt 10:7-15

Taste and see the goodness of God.

Solemnity of Our Holy Father Saint Benedict (c.480-547)

Readings of the day: 
RB: Ch 33 Personal Possessions in the Monastery 
Mass: Pr 2:1-9; Ps 34; Ep 4:1-6 or Col 3:12-17; Lk 22:24-27 or Mt 19:27-29 or Mt 5:1-12a

Listen carefully to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.

(RB Prologue 1)

In the apostolic letter Pacis Nuntius (October 24, 1964), Pope Paul VI proclaimed St. Benedict as the principal patron of Europe giving him the illustrious and fitting titles of messenger of peace, creator of unity, teacher of civility, and above all the herald of the religion of Christ and the founder of western monasticism! It sounds even better in Italian: ‘Messaggero di pace, realizzatore di unione, maestro di civiltà, e soprattutto araldo della religione di Cristo e fondatore della vita monastica in Occidente’! It is no wonder St Benedict remains so popular. His message, contained in what he calls ‘a little rule for beginners’, speaks to the needs of the modern world so much in need of peace, unity, and civility. For your reflection, I include here eleven (It’s July 11^th!) of my favorite verses from the Holy Rule of St Benedict. It was not easy to pick out only eleven. I leave it to you to decide the relevancy of Benedict’s message. My hope is that you may be prompted to pick up a copy of the Holy Rule and reflect on the wisdom contained therein. It is ‘little’ as it consists of a Prologue followed by 73 short chapters.

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.

(RB Prologue 49)

You must honor everyone.

(RB 4:8)

Your way of acting should be different than the world’s way.

(RB 4:20)

If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself.

(RB 4:42)

Guard your lips from harmful or deceptive speech.

(RB 4:51)

If you have a dispute with someone, make peace before the sun goes down.

(RB 4:73)

God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7).

(RB 5:16)

How important it is to lay our petitions before the Lord God of all things with the utmost humility and sincere devotion.

(RB 20:2)

The brothers or sisters must serve one another.

(RB 35:1)

Care of the sick must rank above and before all else, so that they may truly be served as Christ.

(RB 36:1)

They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other (Rm 12:10), supporting with the greatest patience one another’s weaknesses of body or behavior.

(RB 72:4-5)

O God, who made Abbot Saint Benedict

an outstanding master in the school of divine service,

grant, we pray,

that, putting nothing before love of you,

we may hasten with a loving heart

in the way of your commands.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

(Collect, Mass)

Europe rediscovers hope when the human person is at the heart of its institutions.

St Benedict, pray for us!

(Pope Francis, Twitter, July 11, 2018)

Saint Scholastica (c. 480-547)

Readings of the day: RB 8 The Divine Office at Night

Mass: 1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34; Resp. Psalm 106; Mark 8:1-10

St Scholastica with St Benedict

Today we celebrate St Scholastica, the twin sister of St Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-547). Together, they are known as the ‘holy twins’. What we know about Scholastica is contained in Book Two of the Dialogues of St Gregory the Great, Life and Miracles of St Benedict. In Ch. 33 of the Dialogues, Pope St Gregory writes about Scholastica, who was consecrated to God in early childhood and who used to visit with her brother once a year. It was in the meeting detailed by St Gregory that Scholastica’s prayer was even mightier than her brother’s. After the siblings had already ‘spent the whole day singing God’s praises and conversing about the spiritual life’, Scholastica asked her brother to stay the night so they could continue their holy conversation. Adamant about returning to his own monastery, Benedict refused. Even though the sky was clear, Scholastica ‘folded her hands on the table and rested her head upon them in earnest prayer.’ Just then a torrential downpour began and Benedict was unable to leave. Asking his sister what on earth she had done, Scholastica replied, ‘When I appealed to you, you would not listen to me. So I turned to my God and He heard my prayer.’ God answering Scholastica’s prayer is not surprising to St Gregory who remarks, ‘Do we not read in St John that God is Love? Surely it is not more than right that [Scholastica’s] influence was greater than [Benedict’s], since hers was the greater love.’ Because of the love that Scholastica had for her brother, she and Benedict profited greatly from continuing their spiritual discussion all through the night. Ch. 34 continues with three days after their visit when Benedict ‘stood in his room looking up toward the sky…beheld his sister’s soul leaving her body and entering the heavenly court in the form of a dove.’ Benedict subsequently had his sister’s body brought to his abbey [Monte Cassino in Italy] and placed in the tomb which had already been prepared for him.

When recalling this story, one saying comes to mind, ‘Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.’ So important when we are talking about building and maintaining our relationships with those we love. It may be that we are unable to be near our loved ones, or at least close enough to visit regularly. We can still call, write a letter, and most importantly, pray for him or her. The same holds for maintaining and strengthening our relationship with Jesus. Pray. Today may be a good day to spend a little extra time visiting with Jesus.

The Lord is present in our lives showing us all His love and

encouraging us to respond with generosity.

(Pope Francis, Twitter, Feb. 10, 2018)