Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 18:7 The Order of the Psalmody- Ch 22 The Sleeping Arrangements of the Monks

He brought them to their desired haven.

HEART OF JESUS, OUR PEACE AND OUR RECONCILIATION,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, HOUSE OF GOLD,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

They were filled with great awe and said to one another,

"Who then is this whom even the wind and sea obey?"

(Mark 4:41)

And as seen in today's photo, even the clouds obey Our Lord. It is He who created heaven and earth. We too, then, should be filled with great awe.

Welcome to the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time, in the middle of the month of June dedicated to the Sacred Heart, in these weeks leading up to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress scheduled for next month in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Hoosier State. It's hot here folks, making it very difficult to sleep. However, we had a bit of relief last night, Still, summer has arrived with force. 

How did you do last week? Take another look at last week's reflection. Have you taken inventory? Were there changes that needed to be made so you could rest both soul and body so as to better love and serve God, your neighbor and yourself? If not, we can take another look this week. We worry, we become anxious, we are overwhelmed. If this weren't so, why would Jesus, in today's Gospel (Mt 6:24-34), bother to tell us not to worry or be anxious? Things come; things go. However, we worry about tomorrow. So, Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow. Sufficient for a day is its own evil. No kidding. Jesus helps us grow in faith. Our Lord beckons us to trust Him. No matter what. Please, Lord, help us to grow in faith, in trust. We are not in this alone. We anchor ourselves in the Rock, Jesus. Blessed Clelia Merloni (1861-1930) encourages us: "In your trials, don't give up turning to God with filial trust. If you call upon Jesus with faith and trust, I assure you, your prayer will be heard by Him. Remember Jesus is sensitive to our ills and has compassion on all our suffering." And His mother will help too. After all, never was it known, that anyone who fled to her protection, or sought her intercession, was left unaided (The Memorare). May we be inspired, may we grow in trust and in faith. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. I believe, help my unbelief.

Keep going, faithful readers. We remain united in faith and prayer.

I will not mistrust Him, Meg, although I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear. I shall remember how St. Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I shall do as he did: call upon Christ and pray to Him for help. And then I trust He shall place His holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning.

(Saint Thomas More, 1478-1535, in a letter to his daughter Meg, while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London)

In God's will there is great peace.

(Saint Josephine Bakhita, 1869-1947)

By the Mass and Communion, I must become more and more like Christ.

(Blessed Marcel Callo, 1921-1945)

The Holy Face is my life. He is my strength ...

If we wish to adore the real face of Jesus ... we can find it in the divine Eucharist, where the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and the Face of Our Lord is hidden under the white veil of Host.

(Saint Gaetano Catanose, 1879-1963)

The rest of this week's voices come from Madeliene Delbrel, The Little Monk: Wisdom from a Little Friend of Big Faith (Crossroad, 2005). Little monk; little friend; delightful little book; from the little chapter "Humility."

To shine is not the same thing as to enlighten.

(On a day of great eloquence)

The center of the monastery is God's place: don't put yourself in the wrong chair.

(When the little monk had been pontificating)

When certain people question your character, don't respond by doubting theirs.

(When some awfully correct folks told the little monk why he was wrong)

And one last voice from the little chapter "Greatness," which is about humility in any case.

To call oneself "humble" rarely means that one is humble; the truly humble know that they are but novices in matters of humility.

(When the little monk had been self-effacing all around)

SAINT JOSEPH CAFASSO,

SAINT JOHN BOSCO,

SAINT ETHELDREDA,

SAINT THOMAS GARNET,

SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST,

SAINT WILLIAM OF VERCELLI,

SAINT JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA,

SAINT LUAN,

BLESSED MARY JOSEPHINE CATANEA,

SAINT JOHN SOUTHWORTH,

OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR,

BLESSED NYKYTA BUDKA,

BLESSED VASYL VELYCHKOVSKY,

SAINT CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT LADISLAUS, 

SAINT IRENAEUS, BISHOP, MARTYR, DOCTOR,

SAINT VINCENTIA GEROSA,

SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: I captured this glorious sight last Thursday morning. They rejoiced when they were calmed.

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 7:35-59 Humility

Let Your ears be attentive.

HEART OF JESUS, SOURCE OF ALL CONSOLATION,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, MOTHER OF HOPE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Where are you? ... 

Who told you that you were naked?

(Genesis 3:9, 11)

Welcome to the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time in the month of June dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It's certainly a nice place to be, that is, in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You can't go wrong there. At the same time, it is also nice to be in the Immaculate Heart of His Mother, Mary. Place yourself in the heart of both Son and Mother. All will be well and all manner of things will be well, Julian of Norwich (c.1343-1416) tells us.

Thoughts are scattered today. Here, there, and everywhere as it goes. Just like the breeze. The lines included above from the Book of Genesis come from the first reading for Mass today. (Genesis 3:9-15). There, God goes looking for Adam and his wife who were hiding in the garden. It was at the breezy time of the day. ☺The couple was afraid, because they were naked, so they hid from God. So, God poses the questions, even though He knows the truth. At this breezy time of the day, then, just what was blowing around? Hmmm. When I read this account, something that comes to mind is the blame game. "It was 'her' fault," or, "It was 'his' fault." I think of the Family Circus cartoons I used to love. There it was the "Not me," game. The mom (Thelma), or dad (Bil) would ask who did this or that, and the children would respond, "Not me." It occurs to me too that in such a scene there was a little ghost in the photo. Was is the "Not me" ghost? I will have to take a look. I just did and found that I still love the cartoon, especially now as I smile and see the "Not me" ghost in a few scenes. Classic. Bil walks in the door carrying his tennis racket and asks two of his four children in the entryway. "Who left my racket out in the rain?, " asks Daddy. "Not me." Not me," are the responses of the two little boys, Billy and Jeffy. At the same time, the "Not me" ghost stands on the counter. Um huh. In any case, I reminded about the importance of taking responsibility for what I have done or haven't done. Instead of pointing the one finger at someone else, I am better to look at the three fingers pointing at myself. Take ownership and responsibility. No blaming allowed. The grace of God will carry us on. Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory. Please, help us to do your holy will. For, as Jesus tells us in today's Gospel (Mark 3:20-35), whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. No hiding allowed. 

Keep going, faithful readers. We are not discouraged, Saint Paul tells us in the second reading at Mass (2 Cor 4:13-5:1). "Although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For any momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if our earthly dwelling, a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven" (2 Cor 4:16-5:1). Together, united, "we are always courageous ... for we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor 5: 6-7). As in the words of the psalmist: "Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Ps 127:10).

Our voices for the week are varied. All come from saints who promoted Eucharistic devotion. Except for the first voice, that comes from Cardinal Robert Sarah in his powerful book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise, Ignatius 2017. I pick it up now and then.  I didn't know where to begin with the number of passages I've marked so far. Let's start with this one, that, as it turns out, might be responded to by a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

It is necessary to leave our inner turmoil to find God. Despite the agitations, the busyness, the easy pleasures, God remains silently present. He is in us like a thought, a word, and a presence whose secret sources are buried in God Himself, inaccessible to human inspection.

The language that everyone understands is love.

(Saint Joseph Freinademetz, 1852-1908)

It is at the foot of the altar that we find the strength we need in our isolation.

(Saint Damien de Veuster, 1840-1889)

My dear ones, the visit to the Blessed Sacrament is an extremely necessary way to conquer the devil ... the devil is deathly afraid of fervent Communions and frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament

(Saint John Bosco, 1815- 1888)

Make my tongue, O Lord, like a swift arrow to declare they marvelous works.

(Saint Anthony of Padua, "Ark of the New Testament," Doctor of the Church, 1195-1231)

Jesus Eucharistic is a conqueror ... He wants to subject the universe to His gentle sway.

(Saint Peter Julian Eymard, 1811-1868)

In other years on the date I write this, June 9, which this year falls on a Sunday, the Church commemorates Saint Ephrem (306-373), Deacon and Doctor. Saint Ephrem was a poet and a theologian, famous for, among other things, "not only for the beauty of expression of his homilies but also for his hymns, which have spread far beyond his native Syriac church and are in use in East and West alike." The following is from one his hymns used as the patristic reading for the June 9 Office of Readings. And here, Saint Ephrem too, speaks of the Eucharist.

In Your sacrament we daily embrace You and receive You into our bodies; make us worthy to experience the resurrection for which we hope. We have had Your treasure hidden within us ever since we received baptismal grace; it grows ever richer at Your sacramental table. Teach us to find our joy in Your favor! Lord, we have within us Your memorial, received at Your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new.

(From a sermon by Saint Ephrem, deacon, in Office of Readings, June 9)

From the following line-up, you see that there are several saints to commemorate this week. Pray to them, they will help you respond more fully to the universal call to holiness. Included is Saint Anthony of Padua, Patron Saint of Lost and Found. And how fitting it is to turn to Saint Anthony when something is lost. It's like he immediately gets to work. Just this last week, in the midst of a busy day, I misplaced my Carmelite scapular. After Mass, I asked Saint Anthony to please get busy and find it. Not surprisingly, in less than an hour, a sister appeared holding it ... she found it in the laundry! Go, Saint Anthony, go! Thank you. Saint Simon Stock, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us.

SAINT EPHREM, DEACON AND DOCTOR,

SAINT COLUMBA,

SAINT JOSE DE ANCHIETA,

BLESSED EDWARD POPPE,

SAINT BARNABAS THE APOSTLE,

SAINT ONUPHRIUS,

BLESSED ALPHONSUS MAZUREK AND COMPANIONS,

BLESSED HILARY JANUSZEWSKI,

SAINT ANTHONY OF PADUA, PATRON SAINT OF LOST AND FOUND,

SAINT DAVNET,

SAINT LIDWINA,

SAINT ALICE OR ALEYDIS,

SAINT GASPAR BERTONI,

SAINT ELISHA, PROPHET,

BLESSED MARIA CANDIDA OF THE EUCHARIST,

SAINT METHODIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE,

BLESSED PETER SNOW AND RALPH GRIMSTON,

BLESSED GERARD, CISTERCIAN MONK, OLDER BROTHER OF BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX,

SAINT GERMAINE COUSIN,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: To my voice in supplication.

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Third Week of Advent

December is the month dedicated to Advent and Christmas and the Immaculate Conception

Readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 62 The Priests of the Monastery- Ch 65 The Prior of the Monastery

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN,

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, 

PRAY FOR US.

O Sapientia! Come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Adonai! Come and redeem us with outstretched arm.

O radix Iesse! Come to deliver us, and tarry not.

O clavis David! Come and lead to freedom the prisoner who sits in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Oriens! Come and illuminate those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Rex gentium! Come and save mankind, whom you fashioned from clay.

O Emmanuel! Come and save us, O Lord our God!

Welcome to the Third Sunday of Advent and the days of the glorious "O" Antiphons that help us prepare in a more direct way for the Nativity of the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus! So how about we join Saint John the Baptist and cry out in the desert or city or country, or wherever we find ourselves and say, "make straight the way of the Lord!" Let's start with ourselves though and make straight the way of the Lord in word and deed. What is it you might do this week to prepare for the Lord? And some of our voices of the week just may lend a helping hand. Keep going!

In the hymn "On Jordan's Bank," we sing Let us lay down a road for Him who is drawing near. So as we prepare for Him who is drawing near, let's hear what Anthony Esolen has to say:*

That's some work. Clear the land, get rid of the rocks, dig down for a foundation, and lay the paving stones. And while we're at it, we must get to work on our hearts, furnishing them making them clean and sweet, so that there will be a fit room there in the inn for the Lord at His birth, and He may abide in us, and we in Him (Jn 15:4).

Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.

(Saint John of the Cross, the Mystical Doctor, 1542-1591) 

Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?

(Saint Gerard Majella, 1726-1755)

The direction of oneself toward God and toward solitude in Him prepares the soul for the acquisition of that peace that helps us in the most distracting, most active external work ... Man's silence makes room for God's word. When man is silent, God is heard. And once we listen intently to God we maintain our silence even in the midst of our speech.

(Blessed Stefan Wyszynski, 1901-1981)

The greatest things are accomplished in silence-not in the clamor and display of superficial eventfulness, but in the deep clarity of inner vision; in the almost imperceptible start of decision, in quiet overcoming and hidden sacrifice. Spiritual conception happens when the heart is quickened by love, and the free will stirs to action. The silent forces are the strong forces.

(Romano Guardini, 1885-1968, in The Lord)

None of the great things in human life spring from the intellect; every one of them issues from the heart and its love. If even human love has its own reasoning, comprehensible only to the heart that is open to it, how much truer must this be of God's love!

(Romano Guardini, 1885-1968, in The Lord)

We know that God gives us every grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

Faith lifts the soul; hope supports it; experience says it must and Love says ... let it be!

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm.

(Isaiah 7:9)

Whatever you do, think not of yourself but of God.

(Saint Vincent Ferrer, 1350-1419)

As we go forth this week, united in faith and prayer, we heed the words of Saint Paul:

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. 

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

(1 Th 5:17-18)

And at the same time, we receive Saint Paul's blessing:

May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will also accomplish it.

(1 Th 5:23-24)

BLESSED SCUBILION,

SAINT GATIAN OF TOURS,

BLESSED POPE URBAN V,

SAINT FACHANAN OF KILFENORA,

SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS,

SAINT PETER CANISIUS,

SAINT JOHN OF KETY,

SAINT CHAEROMON,

PRAY FOR US.

*A. Esolen, The Poetry of Praise "He is Near," in Magnificat, December 2023, p. 206.

Today's photo: As the earth brings forth its plants and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

© Gertrude Feick 2023