Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

 September is the Month dedicated to the Sorrowful Mother

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 2:33 Qualities of the Abbot - Ch 4 The Tools for Good Works

For He is good, the Lord.

MARY, JOY OF THE AFFLICTED,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, 

PRAY FOR US.

So now, O children, listen to me, be attentive to the words of my mouth!

(Proverbs 7:24)

Dear faithful readers, I'm a bit behind schedule this week due to some traveling. However, I am back. And guess what, this week we are in Saint Benedict's chapter on the Tools for Good Works. Why not take a look at it; you will find plenty of tools to pick up and put to good use. Why not pick just one tool to use this week, beginning with first, "love the Lord God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself" (RB 4:1). I think I'll work with placing my hope in God alone (RB 4:41). Our voice for the week certainly did that. I best get busy. ☺

So, for our voice of the week, I turn to Venerable Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (1928-2002), who spent 12 years as a prisoner in communist Vietnam with more than two thirds of that time in solitary confinement. One might expect such a man to be bitter, resentful, and angry. However, I have read a little of what he wrote and been amazed at his positive attitude and joy. In fact, one colleague of the Cardinal's who worked with him at the National Catholic Register, Kishore Jayabalan, said this about the Cardinal: "He was almost always smiling or laughing, but never in a superficial or happy-go-lucky way. You could tell his joy came through his suffering and identification with Christ." Here are the Cardinal's ten "rules of life." * 

I will live the present moment to its fullest.

I will discern between God and God's works.

I will hold firmly to one secret: prayer.

I will see in the holy Eucharist my only power.

I will have only one wisdom: the science of the cross.

I will seek the peace the world will not give.

I will speak one language and wear one uniform: charity.

I will have one very special love: Mary.

I will carry out a revolution by renewal in the Holy Spirit.

I will remain faithful to my mission in the Church and for the Church as a witness to Jesus Christ.

OUR LADY OF SORROWS,

VENERABLE FRANCIS XAVIER NGUYEN VAN THUAN,

SAINT MIRIN,

POPE SAINT CORNELIUS,

SAINT CYPRIAN,

SAINT NINIAN,

SAINT MARTIN OF FINOJOSA, CISTERCIAN BISHOP,

SAINT ROBERT BELLARMINE,

SAINT HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, BISHOP,

SAINT ALBERT OF JERUSALEM,

SAINT EDITH KEMSING,

SAINT STANISLAW KOSTKA,

SAINT JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO,

SAINT EMILY DE RODAT,

SAINT JANUARIUS,

SAINT THEODORE OF TARSUS,

SAINT ANDREW KIM TAEGON AND PAUL CHONG HASANG,

 AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS,

SAINT MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST,

PRAY FOR US.

* See Tom Hoopes, "Learn Vietnam Hero Cardinal Van Thuan's 10 Rules of Life with Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton," in Seton Reflections, September 16, 2024. 

Today's photo: Sing to Him a new song.

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

August is the month dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament 

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 63 Community Rank - Ch 66 The Porter of the Monastery

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

SACRED HOST, GREATEST AID TO HOLINESS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, MOTHER OF OUR MAKER,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Wisdom has built her house ...

"Let whoever is simple turn in here ...Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding."

(Wisdom 9:1-6)

Welcome to the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, still in the midst of the month dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, have mercy on us.

It occurred to me during Lauds this morning that it is not difficult to be overcome with the riches of the Word. There has been so much week after week to hear, chew, reflect upon, and pray about. This is especially true as we make our way through Chapter 6 of Saint John's Gospel; Multiplication of the Loaves, Walking on Water, The Bread of Life Discourse, and next Sunday, The Words of Eternal Life. Do not give up: these sayings are difficult. With our faith, we seek understanding. Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that He will give is His flesh for the life of the world! Forever. Believe. Help our unbelief. When you receive Holy Communion throughout this week, pray for understanding. Unless we eat the true food and drink the true drink of the Eucharist, we will not have life within us! United, we profess our faith: I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. 

As we go forth with our voices for the week, rooted in the love of Christ, may we try to understand the will of the Lord, be filled with the Spirit, and address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in our hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father! Amen. (see Eph 5:15-20). Whew. ☺

The greater the malady He cures, the greater the glory of the Physician.

(Blessed Anthony Grassi, 1592-1671)

Keep your eyes upon God and let Him do His will.

(Saint Francis de Sales,1567-1622)

Even today, human beings have no control over storms at sea, and sometimes very little control over storms in the heart. Only God has the power to still the tempest without and the tempests within.

(Magnificat, August 13, 2024, Prayer for the Evening, Introduction to Psalm 107, p. 172)

What is a home? It is a place where I am loved, cared for, missed, accepted as I am, where I belong. This home is offered in the heart of Christ to each of us. He said, Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there (Mt 18:20) ...

(Servant of God Sister Ida Peterfy, 1922-2000)

O most benign and generous heart of Jesus, have mercy on all those who suffer ...

O loving Savior, arouse in me the feelings of Thy charitable heart toward all who come to me for help.

The heart of every man is attached to whatever is his treasure. Let us direct our life that all the affections of our heart may be concentrated on the greatest of all treasures, the most amiable Heart of Jesus.

(Saint John Eudes, 1601-1680)

If you follow Mary, you will not get off course; if you cry to her, you will not give up hope; if you think of her, you will not go astray.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153)

I was born poor, I lived poor, I die poor.

(Pope Saint Pius X, 1835-1914, final testament)

BLESSED GUERRIC, CISTERCIAN ABBOT,

BLESSED VICTORIA RASOAMANARIVO,

SAINT ALBERTO HERTADO CURCHAGA,

BLESSEDS JOHN-BAPTISTE DUVERNEUIL, MICHAEL-ALOYSIOUS BRULARD AND JAMES GAGNOT,

SAINT JOHN EUDES,

SAINT EZEKIEL MORENO,

SAINT OSWIN,

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, DOCTOR,

POPE SAINT PIUS X,

OUR LADY, MOTHER AND QUEEN,

SAINT JOHN KEMBLE,

SAINT ROSE OF LIMA,

SAINT EUGENE,

SAINT JOHN WALL,

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW, APOSTLE,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Welcome to Alaska. Photo courtesy of my beloved sister, Vicki, on an adventure with three of her girlfriends, including dear Kathy Kate! His praise shall be ever in my mouth.

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Seventh Sunday of Easter/The Ascension of the Lord

May is the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mother's Day

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 2:16 Qualities of the Abbot - Ch 3 Summoning the Brothers for Counsel

For the Lord, the Most High, the awesome.

MARY, GATE OF HEAVEN,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, 

give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of Him.

(Ephesians 1:17)

Welcome to the Ascension of the Lord, in the month of May dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Mother's Day too. May our souls magnify the Lord and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior, then, for as Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote:

May is Mary's month, and I

Muse at that and wonder why: 

Her feasts follow reason,

Dated due to season ...

All things rising, all things sizing

Mary sees, sympathizing

With that world of good,

Nature's motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind

With delight calls to mind

How she did in her stored

Magnify the Lord.

Well but there was more than this

Spring's universal bliss

Much, had much to say

To offering Mary May ...

This ecstasy all through mothering earth

Tells Mary her mirth till Christ's birth

To remember and exultation

In God who was her salvation.

For all mothers, then, we pray with heartfelt gratitude, respect, and deep admiration. Mary, Mother of God, please cover all mothers in your protective veil.

I am still with yesterday's (May 11, 2023) first reading at Mass taken from the Acts of the Apostles 18:23-28, which just happens to be related to today's second reading for Mass, one verse quoted above, from Saint Paul's Letter to the Ephesians. In the account from the Acts of Apostles, we heard about a Jew called Apollos who was an eloquent speaker. He was an authority on Scriptures, had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus. However, Apollos knew only the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos speak boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. There are many things to learn from this story. I focus though on the importance of helping one another grow in understanding of the faith. It is one of the spiritual works of mercy, that is, instructing the ignorant. Apollos certainly wasn't ignorant. Still, he needed to go further and learn more. We are all called to grow in our understanding of the faith. So, we spend time in prayer, listening and asking God to help us understand, we open the Bible and spend time with a verse, phrase, or word, and reflect on how God is speaking to us. We look for books, like the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Ratzinger's classic, Introduction to Christianity, or Romano Guardini's classic, The Lord, for example, and courses and people to help us. We are united as theologians on our knees, and theologians at the desk. After all, it was Saint John Henry Newman who said that we need an educated laity. We need an educated Church, no matter our state in life. So, in our desire to grow in wisdom and knowledge, we ask the God of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of Him. As we have the humility and courage to grow in our own understanding of the faith, and then instruct others, the Lord is with us. At the same time, we might remember something Saint John Damascene said of Mary: Mary "has captivated my spirit ... day and night I see her in my imagination. It is she, the Mother of Virtue, who gives me eloquence."

Our voices this week all speak of women in general, and mothers and Mary, Mother of God, more specifically.  We begin with something we heard from Alice von Hildebrand some time ago. Her voice echoes.

A woman by her very nature is maternal - for every woman, either married or unmarried, is called upon to be a biological, psychological, or spiritual mother - she knows intuitively that to give, to nurture, to care for others, to suffer with and for them - for maternity implies suffering - is infinitely more powerful in God's sight than to conquer nations and fly to the moon.

(Alice von Hildebrand, 1923-2022)

Thank you, every woman, for the simple fact of being a woman! Through the insight that is so much of your womanhood, you enrich the world's understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic.

(Pope Saint John Paul II, "Letter to Women," 2, June 29, 1995)

I am at peace in the midst of fifty children. I am as a Mother encompassed by many children of different dispositions ... bound to love, instruct, and provide for the happiness of all, to give the example of cheerfulness.

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

Good Mistress, graciously look down on us; direct and guide our destinies wheresoever you will. Pacify the storm of our wicked passions, guide us into the quiet port of the divine will, and grant us the blessedness to come.

(Saint John Damascene, 675/6-749, Priest, Doctor of the Church)

Our Lady of Faith, Mother of all the lonely and the frightened of all the ages, help us to keep faith through the long days and the longer nights: faith in God who does not desert us, who is with us all the days, even unto the consummation of the world (Mt 28:20). Mother of all, you whose faith did not falter because your love was so great, make our hearts large, that God may fill them with His love forever.

(Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P, 1914-1988, author, illustrator, especially of children's literature)

Mother Teresa's words follow, words many mothers might agree with.

May God break my heart so completely that the world falls in.

(Saint Teresa of Calcutta, 1910-1997)

And as we go forth this week, united in faith and prayer,

Let us ask for grace

and let us ask through Mary

because she has found what she sought

and she cannot be disappointed.

Let us ask for grace

but grace with God.

For with human beings

 grace is a delusion.

Let others ask for merit

let us eagerly ask for grace.

Why?

Is it not by grace 

that we are here?

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary)

 

SAINTS NEREUS AND ACHILLES, MARTYRS,

SAINT PANCRAS, MARTYR,

THE CARHTUSIAN MARTYRS,

BLESSED JANE OF PORTUGAL OP,

OUR LADY OF FATIMA,

SAINT ERCONWALD,

BLESSED IMELDA LAMBERTINI OP, PATRON OF FIRST COMMUNICANTS, 

SAINT MATTHIAS, APOSTLE,

SAINT ISIDORE THE FARMER, PATRON OF MADRID, 

SAINT CARTHAGE,

BLESSED ANDREW ABELLON OP,

BLESSED GILES OF VAOZELA OP,

SAINT SIMON STOCK,

SAINT BRENDAN,

SAINT JOHN STONE,

SAINT ERIK OF SWEDEN,

SAINT PACHOMIUS,

POPE SAINT JOHN I,

BLESSED ANTONIA MESINA,

SAINT PASCAL BAYLON, HEAVENLY PROTECTOR OF EUCHARISTIC CONGRESSES AND ASSOCIATIONS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Sing hymns of praise.

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Month of February Dedicated to the Holy Family

Quinquagesima Sunday

In other years: Blessed Alvarez of Cordoba OP (-1430); Saint Conrad Confalonieri, Franciscan hermit (1290-1351)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 16 The Celebration of the Divine Office During the Day

Mass:  Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; Resp Ps103; 1 Cor 3:16-23; Mt 5:38-48

The Lord is kind and merciful.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

HOLY FAMILY, TESTED BY THE GREATEST OF DIFFICULTIES,

PRAY FOR US.

Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.

(Lev 19:18)

Welcome to Quinquagesima Sunday, the "fiftieth" Sunday. If you count Easter as Day 1, and count backwards, you will reach exactly 50 when you get to today. One thing that means is Ash Wednesday, the days following, and the holy Season of Lent are coming soon. Therefore, it is not too early to get ready. These next few days serve as a warm-up of sorts, days to prepare. And today's readings at Mass can certainly help us. In addition, you can turn to Saint Benedict and his Chapter 4 on the Tools for Good Works, where he exhorts us to never repay one bad turn for another, to never injure anyone, to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, never speak ill of others, harbor neither hatred or jealousy of  anyone, do nothing out of envy, pray for our enemies out of love for Christ, and if we have a dispute with someone, make peace before the sun goes down (Rule of Saint Benedict 4:29-32, 40, 65-66, 72-72). That should keep us busy. It may be good too, to ask how often you remember to pray for those who make your life difficult or unpleasant. What is it you need to do so that you will have something above the assigned measure to offer God of your own will with the joy of the Holy Spirit? In other words, as Saint Benedict writes, what do you have to deny yourself of so as to look forward to holy Easter with joy and spiritual longing? (see Rule of Saint Benedict 49:6-7). 

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise ...

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

(1 Cor 3:18; Mt 5:48)

BLESSED ALVAREZ OF CORDOBA,

SAINT CONRAD CONFALONIERI,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: You will find these just outside our main entrance. He heals all your ills.

© Gertrude Feick 2023

Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercian Abbot, Doctor of the Church "Doctor Mellifluus" (1090-1153)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 64:1-6 The Election of an Abbot

Mass: Ezk 43:1-7ab; Resp Ps 85; Mt 23:1-12

For the Feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16 or Sirach 39:8-14; Resp Ps 19 or 37; Ph 3:17-4:1; Mt 5:13-19 or Jn 17:20-26

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, SEAT OF MERCY,

PRAY FOR US.

Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; 

I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.

(Wisdom 7:7)

The "Doctor Mellifluus," "the last of the Fathers, but certainly not inferior to the earlier ones," was remarkable for such qualities of nature and of mind, and so enriched by God with heavenly gifts, that in the changing and often stormy times in which he lived, he seemed to dominate by his holiness, wisdom and most prudent counsel.

(Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Doctor Mellifluus the Last of the Fathers, May 24, 1953)

How fitting and right it is that as we commemorate the great Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Benedict writes on the election of the abbot, "Goodness of life and wisdom in teaching must be the criteria for choosing the one to be made abbot ..." (Rule of Saint Benedict, 64:2). Saint Bernard knew that God "is the guide of Wisdom and the director of the wise, for both we and our words are in His hand, as well as prudence and knowledge of crafts" (Wisdom 7:16). Therefore, Pope Pius XII could write: Saint Bernard's "teaching was drawn, almost exclusively, from the pages of Sacred Scripture and from the Fathers, which he had at hand day and night in his profound meditations" (Doctor Mellifluus). 

We end with two quotations from Saint Bernard, the first I am unable to find a source for at the moment, the second from a letter of his. In God we trust. 😊

You will find something more in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux)

We wear ourselves with our scribbling to each other, but is the spirit ever weary of loving? We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves for those we love.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, The Letters of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Letter 90)  

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: For Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, from Saint Bernard Catholic Parish, Eureka, CA.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

Saints: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercian Abbot and Doctor, "Last of the Fathers" (1090-1153)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 64:1-6 The Election of an Abbot

Mass: 

Solemnity of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16 or Sirach 39:8-14; Ph 3:17-4:1; Mt 5:13-19 or Jn 17:20-26

Feria: Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22; Resp Ps 146; Mt 22:34-40

For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

How fitting it is on this day that we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, that we also begin Saint Benedict's Chapter 64 on the Election of an Abbot. It is there in the Holy Rule that Saint Benedict writes, "Goodness of life and wisdom in teaching must be the criteria for choosing the one to be made abbot" (RB 64:2). Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was certainly one who was blessed with goodness of life and wisdom in teaching. The following comes from one of his sermons on the Song of Songs, 37:1. 

You remember that you have agreed with me that no one is saved without self-knowledge, since it is the source of that humility on which salvation depends, and the fear of the Lord that is as much the beginning of salvation as of wisdom. No one, I repeat, is saved without that knowledge ... 

But what if you have no knowledge of God? Is hope of salvation compatible with ignorance about God? Surely not. For you cannot love what you do not know, nor possess what you do not love. Know yourself and you will have a wholesome fear of God; know him and you will also love him. In the first, wisdom has its beginning, in the second its crown, for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "love is the fulfilling of the law." You must avoid both kinds of ignorance, because without fear and love salvation is not possible.

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX,

MARY, OUR LADY OF CITEAUX,

MARY, OUR LADY OF CLAIRVAUX,

MARY, OUR LADY OF LA TRAPP,

MARY, OUR LADY OF NAZARETH,

MARY, OUR LADY OF KLAARLAND,

MARY, OUR LADY OF THE REDWOODS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: My oldest sister Kathy and I saw this tempura and gold on wood piece at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2017. By Italian artist Agnolo Gaddi (1350-1396), it was once part of a larger altarpiece whose center panel is now missing. The four saints you see, from left to right, are Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

Month of May Dedicated to Our Lady and a “Marathon” of Prayer to End the Pandemic

Saints of the Day: Saint Bede the Venerable )673-735); Pope Saint Gregory VII (1020-1085); Saint Mary Magdalen of Pazzi (1566-1607)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 6 Restraint of Speech 

Mass: Sirach 35:1-12; Resp Ps 50; Mk 10:28-31

Hear, my people, and I will speak.

Here is some wisdom from the Book of Sirach: To refrain from evil pleases the Lord, and to avoid injustice is an atonement (Sir 35:3). We can look to Saint Benedict for ways to do this from yet another one of my favorite chapters, today on restraint of speech. Our holy father Benedict urges us to "follow the Prophet's counsel: I said, I have resolved to keep watch over my ways that I may never sin with my tongue. I have put a guard over my mouth. I was silent and was humbled, and I refrained even from good words (Ps 38[39]:2-3)." Saint Benedict goes on to say, "because it is written: In a flood of words you will not avoid sin (Prov 10:19); and elsewhere, The tongue holds the key to life and death (Prov 18:21)" (RB 6:1, 4-5). 

All the ways of this world are as fickle and unstable as a sudden storm at the sea.

(Saint Bede the Venerable)

Come, Holy Spirit ...

Come! As you descended upon Mary that the Word might become flesh, work in us through grace as you worked in her through nature and grace.

Come! Food of every chaste thought, fountain of all mercy, sum of all purity.

Come! Consume in us whatever prevents us from being consumed by you.

(From the writings On Revelations and On Trials by Saint Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, virgin, in Office of Readings, May 25)

SAINT BEDE THE VENERABLE,

POPE SAINT GREGORY VII,

SAINT MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZI,

SAINT JOSEPH,

MARY, MOTHER OF MERCY,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Since we are back in Ordinary Time, which as a beloved chaplain used to say, is anything but ordinary, here is an anything but ordinary dog. Meet Rainey, a Tibetan terrior who dear Tamara has been busy raising. Here's some of the anything but ordinary. Rainey is not a terrier at all. Tibetan terriers are hairy dogs that guarded the monasteries of Tibet and were imported here by a woman who thought they looked like terriers. Rainey is a lot of work, I'm told, but she's a lovely little dog. Indeed she is. Woof!

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Blessed Virgin Mary

Other saints: Blessed Jordan of Saxony, successor to Saint Dominic (c. 1177-1237)

World Radio Day

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 11 The Celebration of Vigils on Sunday

Mass: Gn 3:9-24; Resp Ps 90; Mk 8:1-10

From everlasting to everlasting you are God.

MARY, SEAT OF WISDOM,

PRAY FOR US.

It is Saturday and as is customary on most Saturdays, it is a day dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is a day when I look to the Litany of Mary for a fitting invocation. The title above goes well with part of the Responsorial Psalm I marked: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants" (Ps 90:12-13). Be assured, as in today's Gospel, Jesus says, My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat (Mk 8:2). We join those gathered in the crowd. Eat and be satisfied (Mk 8:8).

ONE DOES NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES FORTH FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.

(Gospel versicle, Mass)

Today's photo: Latest (yesterday) ice storm on "the hill" of Mt. Angel Abbey. Notice if you can the icicles on the leaves.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Irenaeus (d. 202)

Readings of the day: RB 21 The Deans of the Monastery

Mass: 2 K 24:8-17; Resp Ps 79; Mt 7:21-29

Only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven will enter the Kingdom of heaven.

It occurs to me that I should get down on my knees and pray a simple prayer attributed to St Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373):Lord, show me your way and make me willing to follow it. Amen. 

St. Irenaeus, pray for us.

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them

will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

Third Sunday of Lent

Readings of the day: RB 27 The Abbess’s Care for the Excommunicated

Mass: Ex 20:1-17; Resp Ps 19; 1 Co 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25

For Year A: Ex 17:3-7; Resp Ps 95; Rm 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,

and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

O the magnitude of St Paul’s words above. Why would we even consider having others gods? Yet we do. Just what and who are the gods we bow down before and worship? Reflecting on Jesus cleansing the temple, we can ask Jesus to cleanse the temple of our hearts from idols and everything that hinders us from receiving his love and mercy and extending love and mercy to all those we meet.

LORD, TEACH ME WISDOM IN MY SECRET HEART.

Saint Albert the Great (1200-1280)

Readings of the day: RB 37

Mass: Wisdom 6:1-11; Resp. Psalm 82; Luke 17:11-19

FOR THOSE IN POWER A RIGOROUS SCRUTINY IMPENDS.

(Wisdom 6:3)

Albert the Great, Universal Doctor, lover of wisdom—a man with power and in power—power he used for the glory of God. Born into a noble, German family, Albert joined the Dominicans at the age of 23. Scholar and teacher, Albert taught Thomas Aquinas, became a Master at Paris, organized a house of studies, was prior provincial of Germany, and, in 1260, became bishop of Ratisbon. After resigning as bishop, Albert focused on teaching and writing. He authored treatises on astronomy, chemistry, geography, and physiology. His theological works include a Summa and a commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. (see D. Farmer, Oxford Dictionary of the Saints, 10-11)

Albert was scrutinized through the canonization process. (the process is well presented in R. Fisichella’s slim volume, I Met Paul VI: The Pope by Those Who Knew Him) Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1931, Albert was named both a Doctor of the Church and the patron of the natural sciences.

For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy,

and those learned in them will have a ready response.

Desire therefore my words; long for them and you shall be instructed.

(Wisdom 6:10)

In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA.

SAINT ALBERT THE GREAT,

PRAY FOR US.