Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Saints: Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591); Saint John Rigby (1570-1600)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 17 The Number of Psalms to be Sung at These Hours

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

Great is the Lord and holy to be praised.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Welcome to the Summer Solstice. In Your light we see light. It is said that one of our saints of the day, Saint Aloysious Gonzaga sought solace in daily prayer to Mary, beginning at the age of seven. And he joined the Society of Jesus as the age of 16 or 17. May Saint Aloysious Gonzaga intercede for all Jesuits. Ad maiorem Dei gloriam For the greater glory of God!

We are given another clear command by Jesus today. You will recognize it as the Golden Rule: Do to others whatever you would have them do to you (Mt 7:12). Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us.

Meekness was the method of Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized, and still others to gain hope in God's mercy. Thus He bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.

(Saint John Bosco, 1815-1888)

SAINT ALOYSIUS GONZAGA,

SAINT JOHN RIGBY,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This one is coming along nicely. Renowned is He as a stronghold.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

In other years: Saints Cyril and Methodius, (9th century), brothers born in Thessalonica who "translated liturgical texts into the Slavonic language and invented the Glagolithic and possibly also the Cyrillic alphabet."; Saint Valentine, Martyr (? 3rd century) 

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 12 The Celebration of the Solemnity of Lauds

Mass: Lev 13:1-2, 44-46; Resp Ps 32; 1 Cor 10:31-11:1; Mk 1:40-45

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you just; exult you upright of heart. 

SAINT JOSEPH, PROTECTOR OF THE CHURCH,

PRAY FOR US.

Saint Paul's words are fitting as we ready ourselves to enter the holy season of Lent: "Do everything for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). Dear Jesus, help us to do everything so that "in all things, God may be glorified (1 Pt 4:11).

This is how He fulfills the Good News that He proclaims: God drew near to our lives, He is moved with compassion with the fate of wounded humanity, and comes to break down every barrier that prevents us from being in relationship with Him, with others and with ourselves.

(Pope Francis, Angelus Address, February 14, 2021).

SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS,

SAINT VALENTINE,

PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Other saints: Maur and Placid, Disciples of Saint Benedict

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 2:33-40

Mass: Heb 4:1-5, 11; Resp Ps 78; Mk 2:1-12 

Do not forget the works of the Lord!

Obedience is a blessing to be shown by all, not only to the abbot but also to one another as brothers, since we know that it is by this way of obedience that we go to God.

(RB 71:1)

If you do not know anything about Maur and Placid, disciples of Saint Benedict, you can learn about them from Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) in Life and Miracles of Saint Benedict (Book Two of the Dialogues). The most famous story of the boys is found in Ch 7. The short version (aware that I tend to get carried away with the current 😊) is that while Abbot Benedict was in his room, the young monk Placid went to the lake to fetch water. Placid let the bucket fill too rapidly, lost his balance and fell into the water, where the current took him away from the shore. Although not with Placid, "the man of God" Benedict knew what happened. So holy Benedict called on Brother Maurus to go help the boy. With the "unhesitating obedience" of the first step of humility (RB 5:1), Maurus received a blessing from Benedict then ran to the water to help Placid. Unknowingly, Maurus ran across the surface of the water and pulled struggling Placid out of the water by his hair and took him to shore. Dear Maurus thought he was running on the ground the whole time! "Overcome with fear and amazement at a deed he would never have thought possible," Maurus "returned to his abbot and told him what had taken place." Abbot Benedict wouldn't take any credit for the deed but "attributed it to the obedience of his disciple. Maurus on the contrary claimed that it was due entirely to the abbot's command." After all, how could Maurus be responsible. He didn't even know he was doing it. So the boy Placid settled the matter: "When I was being drawn out of the water, I saw the abbot's cloak over my head; he is the one I thought was bringing me to shore." 

The response to this account by the deacon Peter in the Dialogues: "What marvelous deeds these are! They are sure to prove inspiring to all who hear them." One response for us is to join those in today's Gospel: "They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, 'We have never seen anything like this'" (Mk 2:12). At the same time, we remember the teaching of Saint Benedict from the Prologue of the Holy Rule, where Benedict quotes the psalmist and Saint Paul: "Not to us, Lord, not to us give the glory, but to your name alone ... By God's grace I am what I am ... He who boasts should make his boast in the Lord (RB Prologue 30-32). 

MAUR AND PLACID, 

PRAY FOR US.

SAINT BENEDICT,

PRAY FOR US.

JOSEPH MOST OBEDIENT,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: With plenty of rain these days, the Mattole River rushes.

© Gertrude Feick 2021