Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In other years: Saint Kenelm (-821); Blessed John Sugar, Priest, and Robert Grissold, Martyrs (16-17th century); Blessed Inacio de Azevedo (1528-1570); Blessed Therese of Saint Augustine and Companions (18th century) 

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 38 The Reader for the Week

Mass: Gn 18:1-10a; Resp Ps 15; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42

The Lord honors those who fear Him.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Martha welcomed Jesus ... Mary sat beside the Lord at His feet.

(Lk 10:38-39)

Buona domenica. Thoughts are few on this Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. What goes over and over is this: It took Martha to welcome Jesus so that Mary could sit at His feet. Behold, I stand at the door and knock, says the Lord. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me (Communion Antiphon, Mass). Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. Open it up and welcome Him. Then sit at His feet.

It is Christ in you, the hope for glory. It is He whom we proclaim, admonishing everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

(Col 1:28)

SAINT KENELM,

BLESSED JOHN SUGAR AND ROBERT GRISSOLD,

BLESSED INACIO DE AZEVEDO,

BLESSED THERESE OF SAINT AUGUSTINE AND COMPANIONS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: When doing the dishes, I glance now and then at this. It's a privilege.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Saturday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 37 The Elderly and Children

Mass: Micah 2:1-5; Resp Ps 10; Mt 12:14-21

Magnify the Lord.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the Son of the eternal Father.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

On this Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, we pray especially for all Carmelites, who instituted this feast in the 14th century. About this day, we learn that "Holy Scripture celebrates the beauty of Mount Carmel, where the prophet Elijah defended Israel's pure faith in the living God [see 1 Kings 18:16-46]. In the 12th century some hermits took up residence on this mountain and eventually set up the Carmelite Order, which is dedicated to living a contemplative life under the patronage of the Holy Mother of God" (The Liturgy of the Hours According to the Roman Rite). Dear Mary, Holy Mother of God, please pray for all the faithful. Amen.

You've read the following quotation before, a good one to remember. Hail, Mary, full of grace ...

How much more worthy in the eyes of God is one Hail Mary offered from the heart than the greatest deed done without pure love for God.

(Saint Rafael Arnaiz, 1911-1938, from Impressions of La Trappe, in Saint Rafael Arnaiz: The Collected Works, p. 23)

OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL,

SAINT SIMON STOCK,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: To honor Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In loving memory of Sister Carmel Wisner, OSB, and Father Kevin Alban, O.Carm. Pray for us.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Bonaventure, Cardinal-Bishop, Doctor of the Church (1218-1274): Saint Swithun (-862); Saint Osmund of Salisbury (-1099)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 36 The Sick Brothers 

Mass: Is 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8; Resp Ps (Is 38); Mt 12:1-8

Those live whom the Lord protects.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

For the Son of Man is the Lord of the sabbath.

(Mt 12:8)

Heed the words of the Lord that the Prophet Isaiah delivered to Hezekiah in today's first reading: "Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you shall not recover" (Is 38:1). Hezekiah's response? He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord (Is 38:2). Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke Thee, have mercy on us. Lord, yours is the life of my spirit. You have given me health and life (Hezekiah's song of thanksgiving, see Is 38:9-20). Amen.

We must suspend all operations of the mind and we must transform the peak of our affections, directing them to God alone. This is a sacred mystical experience ...

If you ask how such things can occur, seek the answer in God's grace, not in doctrine; in the longing of the will, not in the understanding; in the sighs of prayer, not in research; seek the bridegroom not the teacher; God and not man; darkness and not daylight; and look not to the light but rather to the raging fire that carries the soul to God with intense fervor and glowing love ...

Let us die, then, and enter into the darkness, silencing our anxieties, our passions and all the fantasies of our imagination ...

My flesh and my heart fail me, but God is the strength of my heart and my heritage for ever. Blessed be the Lord for ever, and let all the people say: Amen. Amen!

(From the Journey of the Mind to God by Saint Bonaventure, in Office of Readings, July 15)

SAINT BONAVENTURE,

SAINT SWITHUN, 

SAINT OSMUND OF SALISBURY,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Crocosmia adorned in brilliant red. 

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Camillus de Lellis, Priest (1550-1614); Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, "Lily of the Mohawks", "Genevieve of France" (1656-1680)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 35:12-18 Kitchen Servers of the Week

Mass: Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19; Resp Ps 102; Mt 11:28-30

From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Your name and your title, O Lord, are the desire of our souls.

(Is 26:8)

We have two great saints to commemorate today, one whose name rolls off the tongue ...Camillus de Lellis. I just may end up repeating it throughout the day. In fact, I started last night ... Camillus de Lellis. He's a powerful intercessor and can help us to grow in the virtue of charity. In poor health himself, Camillus devoted his to life to care of the sick, and eventually founded the Servants of the Sick (later known as Camillians). Camillus de Lellis did so by taking Jesus' words from today's Gospel to heart: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28). Camillus longed to take other's labors and burdens upon himself, attested to by one of his companions:

Let me begin with holy charity. It is the root of all the virtues and Camillus' most characteristic trait. I can attest that he was on fire with this holy virtue-not only toward God, but also toward his fellowmen, and especially toward the sick. The mere sight of the sick was enough to soften and melt his heart and make him utterly forget all the pleasures, enticements and interests of this world. When he was taking care of his patients, he seemed to spend and exhaust himself completely, so great was his devotion and compassion. He would have loved to take upon himself their illness, their every affliction, could he but ease their pain and relieve their weakness.

(From the life of Saint Camillus, by his companion, in Office of Readings, July14)

Our other saint of the day is Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. Words from the Prophet Isaiah in our first reading of the day were likely in the heart of Kateri: "My soul yearns for you in the night, yes, my spirit keeps vigil for you" (Is 26:9). Pope Benedict XVI canonized Kateri not so long ago, on October 21, 2012. The Holy Father had this to say in his homily:

Kateri impresses us by the action of grace in her life in spite of the absence of external help and by the courage of her vocation, so unusual in her culture. In her, faith and culture enrich each other! May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are. Saint Kateri, Protectress of Canada and the first native American saint, we entrust to you the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America! May God bless the first nations!

We can certainly use the help of both of these great saints. We turn to them and say, 

SAINT KATERI TEKAKWITHA,

SAINT CAMILLUS DE LELLIS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: The Lord looked down from His holy height on this little beauty of a crocosmia, also known as montbretia. This was the first of several photos I took yesterday morning. This one is a favorite; I've been waiting for them. Stay tuned for more from our garden of delights.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Henry (973-1024); Saint Teresa of Los Andes (1900-1920)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 35:1-11 Kitchen Servers of the Week

Mass: Is 10:5-7; Resp Ps 94; Mt 11:25-27

All the upright of heart shall follow it.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; 

you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.

(Gospel acclamation, Mass)

We will let today's photo and not yet two Teddy help us reflect. Here, Teddy walks tall among the giants in Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, CA. I'm told that Teddy is quite the explorer and has constant commentary on everything. Our Father certainly revealed these things to the childlike. God is praised.

 

And some words too, from the ancient Life of Saint Henry, one of our saints of the day, included in the July 13 Office of Readings.

After the most blessed servant of God had been anointed king, he was not satisfied with the anxieties of his realm; so, in order to attain the crown of immortality, he determined to campaign for the King of all, for to serve Him is to rule ...

"Henry, king by the preordained mercy of God, to all the sons of the Church, both future and present. By the most salutary instructions of sacred eloquence we are taught and advised to abandon temporal riches, to lay aside earthly goods, and to strive to reach the eternal and everlasting dwelling-places in heaven. For present glory is fleeting and meaningless, while it is possessed, unless in it we can glimpse something of heaven's eternity. But God's mercy toward the human race provided a useful remedy when He made the reward for earthly existence a share in our heavenly country."

SAINT HENRY,

SAINT TERESA OF LOS ANDES,

PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saints Louis Martin and Marie Azelie Guerin (19th century); Saint John Jones (-1598)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 34 Distribution of Goods According to Need

Mass: Is 7:1-9; Resp Ps 48; Mt 11:20-24

Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised.

MARY QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Let not your courage fail.

(Is 7:4)

Even though we are no longer in the year dedicated to families, the Year of the Family "Amoris laetitia The Joy of Love," we always pray for families. And we have two great intercessors commemorated today, namely, Saint Louis Martin and Marie Azelie Guerin, the first-ever married couple with children to be canonized in the same ceremony. Remarkably, five of their nine children (four died in infancy) entered religious life, including the Little Flower, that is, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church. Still, their life was simple and faith filled. One Carmelite source has this to say: "Louis and Zelie did not do anything extraordinary in their lifetimes, but rather lived their faith in a very simple, humble way, teaching by example, knowing what it was like to mourn the loss of loved ones, nurturing the vocation of their children, and putting their faith into action by reaching out to others in need" (Society of the Little Flower).  At their 2015 canonization, Pope Francis preached this: "The holy spouses Louis Martin and Marie-Azelie Guerin practiced Christian service in the family, creating day by day an environment of faith and love which nurtured the vocations of their daughters, among whom was Saint Therese of the Child Jesus." Furthermore, "the radiant witness of these new saints inspires us to persevere in joyful service to our brothers and sisters, trusting in the help of God and the maternal protection of Mary. From heaven may they now watch over us and sustain us by their powerful intercession" (October 18, 2015). May we be inspired. Mary, queen of families, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pillar of families, pray for us.

SAINTS LOUIS MARTIN AND MARIE AZELIE GUERIN,

SAINT JOHN JONES,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This one was taken early this last Sunday morning. Nice. The joy of all the earth.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Solemnity of Our Holy Father Benedict, Abbot

Saint Benedict (480-547)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 33 Monks and Private Ownership

Mass: Pr 2:1-9; Resp Ps 34 (Taste and See the Goodness of God); Eph 4:1-6 or Col 3:12-17; Lk 22:24-27 or Mt 19:27-29 or Mt 5:1-12a

Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ,

and may He bring us all together to everlasting life.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 72:11-12)

Welcome to another Monday and the blessing of not just another Monday. Rejoice in the Lord, let me say it again, rejoice! It is the Solemnity of our holy father Saint Benedict, who Pope Saint Paul VI proclaimed the principal patron saint of Europe in his 1964 apostolic letter Pacis Nuntius. In the letter, Pope Paul VI gave Saint Benedict the illustrious 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. We give glory to God and ask Saint Benedict, Pope Saint Paul VI, and Cardinal Basil Hume to intercede for all members of the Order of Saint Benedict throughout the world, for their spiritual and temporal welfare.

One thing hasn't changed about this Monday. Like others, it is busy. And at only 9:20 a.m. we've put in a fair share of ora, not without some labora. Since "idleness is the enemy of the soul", we "have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading" (Rule of Saint Benedict, 48:1). United in faith and prayer and "clothed then with faith and the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the Gospel as our guide, that we may deserve to see Him who has called us to His heavenly kingdom" (RB Prologue 21). Moreover, "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).

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

(Col. 3:17)

OUR HOLY FATHER SAINT BENEDICT,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Used with permission of the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel, OR. Icon through the hand of Brother Claude, OSB. And attend to them with the ear of your hearts.

© Gertrude Feick 2022