Tuesday after Epiphany

Year of Saint Joseph

Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, Bishop (1811-1860)

Readings of the Day

RB: Prologue 33-38

Mass: 1 Jn 4:7-10; Resp Ps 72; Mk 6:34-44

Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

BELOVED, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

(1 Jn 4:7)

So much for brief reflections this month, we have a fascinating saint of the day. 😊

Today we commemorate Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, who arrived in New York in 1836 from his native Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic or Czechia), and became the first male American saint, canonized by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1977. "Young and zealous" is the way Butler's Lives of the Saints describes John, and that he was. Among other notables, John was ordained not long after arriving in the U.S., then worked tirelessly for German immigrants and Native Americans in the Buffalo-Rochester, New York, area. He then joined the Redemptorists, was a popular preacher with his knowledge of eight languages, and was eventually appointed vicar of all Redemptorists in America with headquarters in Baltimore. John defended and directed women religious and introduced the School Sisters of Notre Dame into the United States to teach in schools he had already established, and became a citizen of the United States. In 1852 he was named fourth bishop of Philadelphia, where he built churches and schools, completed the unfinished cathedral, introduced Forty Hours Devotion, and founded a new congregation of women religious, who with other groups of Sisters and Brothers, staffed his overcrowded schools. While bishop, attendance at Catholic schools more than doubled. At the same time, he wrote two German Catechisms, both approved and mandated. After all this and more, at the age of 48, John, completely exhausted by his apostolic labors, collapsed on the street and died on January 5, 1860 (Butler's January, pp. 40-41).  

All said, Nepomucene is not a name you run across every day. Saint John Nepomucene (1345-1393) is the patron saint of Bohemia. However, the name is familiar to the Benedictines in Lisle, IL. Sacred Heart Monastery, home of the Benedictine Sisters in Lisle, was founded by Mother Mary Nepomucene Jaeger. And Mother Nepomucene's blood brother, Abbot Nepomucene, founded the men's Benedictine community of St. Procopius Abbey, located just across the street from the sisters. God is praised!

SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN,

PRAY FOR US.

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: A look at the Sawtooth Mountains near Stanley, ID. Thanks EJF.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Monday after Epiphany

Year of Saint Joseph

Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821): First Native-Born American Citizen to be Canonized, Patron of Catholic Education in America, Foundress of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Joseph 

Readings of the Day

RB: Prologue 21-32

Mass: 1 Jn 3:22;4:6; Resp Ps 2; Mt 4:12-17, 23-35

With trembling rejoice.

WE RECEIVE FROM HIM WHATEVER WE ASK, BECAUSE WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS AND DO WHAT PLEASES HIM.

AND HIS COMMANDMENT IS THIS; WE SHOULD BELIEVE IN THE NAME OF HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST, AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER JUST AS HE COMMANDED US.

(1 Jn 3:22-23)

In today's Gospel, we find Jesus preaching and saying: Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt 4:17). He was busy all around Galilee, teaching, proclaiming the Gospel, and curing every disease and illness among the people (Mt 4:23). The Lord's fame was spreading. People were following Him. Let's follow Jesus too. 

Clothed then with faith and the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide, that we may deserve to see Him who has called us to His kingdom (1 Th 2:12). If we wish to dwell in the tent of this kingdom, we will never arrive unless we run there by doing good deeds. But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet: Who will dwell in your tent, Lord; who will find rest upon your holy mountain? (Ps 14[15]:1). After this question, let us listen well to what the Lord says in reply, for He shows us the way to His tent. One who walks without blemish, He says, and is just in all his dealings; who speaks the truth from his heart and has not practiced deceit with his tongue; who has not wronged a fellowman in any way, nor listened to slanders against his neighbor (Ps 14[15]:2-3).

(RB Prologue 21-27)

SAINT ELIZABETH ANN BAYLEY SETON,

PRAY FOR US.

SAINT JOSEPH, 

PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

Year of Saint Joseph

Readings of the Day

RB: Prologue 14-20

Mass: Is 60:1-6; Resp Ps 72; Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Mt 2:1-12

We saw His star as it rose and have come to do the Lord homage.

RISE UP IN SPLENDOR, JERUSALEM!

YOUR LIGHT HAS COME, THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHINES UPON YOU.

(Is 60:1)

Happy Epiphany of the Lord!

We sang "We Three Kings" at Lauds. Afterwards, a sister commented, "There is a whole theology in that hymn." She is right. Why not sing it today. Prayer and praising Gladly raising, Worship Him, God on high.

Let us pause in silence before the crib to savour the tenderness of God who became near, who became flesh. And without fear, let us invite Him among us, into our homes, into our families, into our frailties. He will come and life will change.

(Pope Francis, Angelus Address, January 3, 2021)

JOSEPH, MIRROR OF PATIENCE,

PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Saint Basil the Great (330-379) and Saint Gregory of Nazianzen (330-389), Bishops, Doctors

Year of Saint Joseph

Readings of the Day

RB: Prologue 8-13

Mass: 1 Jn 2:22-28; Resp Ps 98; Jn 1:19-28

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Dear readers, starting tomorrow and throughout the month of January, daily reflections will be brief, sometimes including only one line or phrase from one of the daily readings, or perhaps a quotation. Yesterday, we started once again at the beginning of the Rule of Saint Benedict so as to read it straight through by May 1. The first word of the Holy Rule is "listen". And this is no ordinary listening as Saint Benedict tells us when he says: "Listen carefully with the ear of your heart" (Prol. 1). United as we are in faith, let us listen deeply these days to what the Lord is saying to us. How fitting that today's Gospel acclamation includes these words from the Letter to the Hebrews: "God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, He has spoken to us through His Son" (Hb 1:1-2). Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

We need to practice the art of listening, which is more than simply hearing. Listening, in communication, is an openness of heart which makes possible that closeness without which genuine spiritual encounter cannot occur. Listening helps us to find the right gesture and word that shows that we are more than simply bystanders. Only through such respectful and compassionate listening can we enter on the paths of true growth and awaken a yearning for the Christian ideal: the desire to respond fully to God's love and to bring to fruition what he has sown in our lives.

(Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium The Joy of the Gospel, 171)

SAINT BASIL THE GREAT,

SAINT GREGORY OF NAZIANZEN,

PRAY FOR US. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Year of Saint Joseph

World Day of Peace

Readings of the Day

RB: Prologue 1-7

Mass: Nb 6:22-27; Resp Ps 67; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21

God sent His Son, born of a woman.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

O PURE AND HOLY VIRGIN,

HOW CAN I FIND WORDS TO PRAISE YOUR BEAUTY?

THE HIGHEST HEAVENS CANNOT CONTAIN GOD WHOM YOU CARRIED IN YOUR WOMB.

(Office of Readings, Responsory)

United in faith and prayer on this World Day of Peace, we praise the beauty of Mary, Mother of God, by slowly and thoughtfully praying the Hail Mary: 

Hail, Mary, full of grace,

the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD,

JOSEPH, SPOUSE OF THE MOTHER OF GOD,

PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Seventh Day within the Octave of Christmas

40th Anniversary of Pope Saint John Paul II declaring Saints Cyril and Methodius ("Apostles to the Slavs") as Co-Patrons of Europe

Year of Saint Joseph

Other saints: Pope Saint Silvester I (335); SS Melania the Younger (? 383-439) and Pinian (? 379-440); Saint Columba of Sens, Martyr (date unknown); Saint John-Francis Regis (1597-1640); Saint Catherine Laboure (1806-1876)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 73 This Rule Only a Beginning of Perfection

Mass: 1 Jn 2:18-21; Resp Ps 96; Jn1:1-18

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all you lands.

FROM HIS FULLNESS WE HAVE ALL RECEIVED, GRACE IN PLACE OF GRACE.

(Jn 1:16)

Welcome to the last day of the year 2020. Did you make a list of five things you are grateful for as suggested yesterday? The following, repeated from some time ago, comes from Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude:

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us-and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by heresay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.

POPE SAINT SYLVESTER I,

SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS,

PRAY FOR US.

JOSEPH, HOPE OF THE SICK,

PRAY FOR US.

© Gertrude Feick 2020

Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord

Year of Saint Joseph

Other saints: Saint Anysius, Bishop (c. 410); Saint Egwin, Bishop (717); Bd Sebastian of Esztergom, Bishop (1036); Bd Margaret Colonna (1280)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 72 The Good Zeal of Monks

Mass: 1 Jn 2:12-17; Resp Ps 96; Lk 2:36-40

Bring gifts and enter His courts.

In these last couple days of 2020, there are many things we could be about. Something to consider, no matter what has come our way these past months, is to join faithful and devout Anna in today's Gospel by giving thanks to God (Lk 2:38). One should never weary of giving thanks to God and praising Him. Anna sure kept at it. How about making a list of five things you are thankful for? 

Something else to consider, which is also a way to give thanks to God, is to take to heart what has been called the most beautiful chapter of the Holy Rule, Chapter 72 The Good Zeal of Monks, and be people of good zeal. Good zeal works everywhere, at home, work, school, or wherever you find yourself. I include it here for you:

Just as there is a wicked zeal of bitterness which separates from God and leads to hell, so there is a good zeal which separates from evil and leads to God and everlasting life. This, then, is the good zeal which monks must foster with fervent love: They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other, supporting with greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior, and earnestly competing in obedience to one another. No one is to pursue what he judges better for himself, but instead, what he judges better for someone else. To their fellow monks they show the pure love of brothers; to God, loving fear; to their abbot, unfeigned and humble love. Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life. 

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: A king with gifts. 

© Gertrude Feick 2020