Saturday of the Second Week of Advent

Year of Saint Joseph

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

Saint: Pope Saint Damasus I, Martyr (304-384); Saint Maria Maravillas of Jesus (1891-1974)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 58:1-16 The Procedure for Receiving Brothers

Mass:  Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11; Resp Ps 80; Mt 17:9a, 10-13

Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.

MARY, REFUGE OF SINNERS,

PRAY FOR US.

It is not that unusual of an occurrence that Saint Benedict, in our reading from the Holy Rule, speaks to us in some way about the Gospel for the day. In today's Gospel, those that came before Jesus, including Elijah and Saint John the Baptist suffered. So too will Jesus, the Son of Man suffer (Mt 17:12). We should expect the same. In his chapter on the reception of new members, Saint Benedict tells us that entrance into the monastery should never be easy. The one who wishes to enter should wait patiently. If she can bear harsh treatment and difficulty of entry, and has persisted in her request, then she may be allowed to stay in the guest quarters. After that she might be allowed to stay in the novitiate (RB 58:3-5). I am reminded of my days in the United States Peace Corps, or rather when I was ready to join, immediately. However, it took about 12 months to fill out all the forms, go through interviews, get necessary medical testing, and so on. Was I serious about it or not? There was no use in the Peace Corps wasting their time and valuable resources, and acting on the whim of another. I didn't blame them.

In any case, if the one interested in entering the monastery keeps going, the concern "must be whether the novice truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trials. The novice should clearly be told all the hardships and difficulties that will lead him to God" (RB 58:7-8). With this in mind, there will be plenty of hardships and difficulties that catch one by surprise, or rather come in unexpected ways. And often they are in the form of what Cardinal Basil Hume (d. 1999) calls "the small hurts of daily life." These small hurts come to anyone who searches for God, at home with the family, at work, in community, in school, at play, or wherever one finds herself. Cardinal Hume has this to say:

I don't know about you, but in my experience there are quite a number of daily hurts that are part of life, and as far as I am personally concerned, I think about a dozen missed opportunities occur every day. It is important to see the small hurts that happen each day as a call from God to turn to Him. Sometimes He cannot get through without shouting very loud and clear, and the most effective way of shouting is to pull us up short. Suffering is one of those ways. All those small things that come our way-feeling neglected, feeling there are those who despise us, the sense of being criticized unfairly-those are the sort of things that leave a hurt, not a big hurt, but a little one.

How do we use such moments? It is astonishing how a little hurt can cause quite an explosion inside of anger and fury with the other person because they have despised or criticized us. I am sure there is only one way to turn something destructive into something positive and that is to realize it is a real self-emptying when those things happen. It is good then just to go down on your knees in prayer. I remember some time ago, when someone said something that was a real snub and made me feel extremely wild inside and very humiliated. But, uncharacteristically, I went into church and thanked God for it, and to my astonishment came our feeling better.

(The Mystery of the Cross, pp. 53-54)

With the grace of God, united in faith and prayer, we keep going.

POPE SAINT DAMASUS I,

SAINT MARIA MARAVILLAS OF JESUS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Meet baby Charlie, a grandnephew, at five months. Precious in the eyes of the Lord, and in the eyes of anyone who sees this beautiful child of God. Those "small hurts of daily life" slip away when you look at a sweet little child such as this. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Wednesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

Saints: Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs (-304); Saints Pothinus and Blandina, Martyrs (-177)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 7:35-43

Mass: Tobit 3:1-11a, 16-17a; Resp Ps 25; Mk 12:18-27

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me, teach me your paths.

MARY, QUEEN OF MARTYRS,

PRAY FOR US.

Since we are busy commemorating martyrs this week, it is fitting and right to turn to Saint Benedict and his chapter on humility, which we are also busy with this week. Today, our holy father Saint Benedict presents us with the fourth step of humility (RB 7:35-43). The step begins with describing obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, when one's heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape (RB 7:35-36). Certainly, everyone is presented with circumstances similar to these at home, work, in community, and all sorts of places. It's how we handle these circumstances, with the grace of God, that matters. This may also be why Saint Benedict makes it clear early in the Holy Rule, in the Prologue where he writes, "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" (RB Prol. 48). He also makes it clear in Chapter 58 on the reception of new members. There, we learn that the concern must be whether the novice truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trials. Furthermore, and of great importance, the novice should be clearly told all the hardships and difficulties that will lead him to God (RB 58:7-8). What is also important to keep in mind is that, as an experienced person may know some of the hardships and difficulties that arise, many hardships are unexpected, arise at what might seem to be unlikely places and at inconvenient times, and are not necessarily welcome guests. We turn to Saint Benedict for some last words:

For Scripture has it: Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved (Mt 10:22), and again, Be brave of of heart and rely on the Lord (Ps 26[27]:14). 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 put to death continually; we are regarded as sheep marked for the slaughter (Rm 8:36; Ps 43[44]:22). They are so confident in their expectation of reward from God that they continue joyfully and say, But in all this we overcome become of him who so greatly loved us (Rm 8:37). Elsewhere Scripture says: O God, you have tested us, you have tried us as silver is tried by fire; you have led us into a snare, you have placed afflictions on our backs (Ps 65[66]:10-11). Then, to show that we ought to be under a superior, it adds: You have placed men over our heads (Ps 65[66]:12).

In truth, those who are patient amid hardships and unjust treatment are fulfilling the Lord's command: When struck on one cheek, they turn the other; when deprived of their coat, they offer their cloak also; when pressed into service for one mile, they go two (Mt 5:39-41). With the Apostle Paul, they bear with false brothers, endure persecution, and bless those who curse them (2 Cor 11:26; 1 Cor 4:12).

(Rule of Saint Benedict 7:36-43)

SAINTS MARCELLINUS AND PETER,

SAINT POTHINUS AND BLANDINA,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: There is someone hiking in this photo. She is my dear sister, vfo, here on the Rogue River hiking trail near Grants Pass, Oregon.

© Gertrude Feick 2021