Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

Saints: Saint Lawrence, Deacon, Martyr (-258)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 57 The Artisans of the Monastery

Mass:  2 Cor 9:6-10; Resp Ps 112; Jn 12:24-26

The just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.

WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME WILL NOT WALK IN DARKNESS BUT WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE, SAYS THE LORD,

ALLELUIA.

(Gospel versicle, Mass)

A funny story I once heard was from a priest who was in Rome, set to meet some friends at the Church of Saint Lawrence, Chiesa de San Lorenzo. The priest hales a taxi, gets in, and asks to be taken to the Church. Unbeknownst to the priest, there are nearly ten churches dedicated to, or associated with the life of Saint Lawrence in Rome. It happened though, that through trial and error, the taxi driver managed to eventually get the priest to where he was meant to be. You know, Chiesa di San Lorenzo. 😉

So on this Feast of Saint Lawrence, we ask Saint Lawrence to intercede for us so that we sow bountifully through whatever is presented to us today, "without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor 9:7). We remember that God is able to make every grace abundant for us, so that in all things, always having what we need, we may have abundance for every good work (2 Cor 9:8). In this way, we sow so that in all things God may be glorified (Rule of Saint Benedict 57:9/1 Pet 4:11). 

Lawrence was a deacon of the Church at Rome ... in his life he loved Christ; in his death he followed in His footsteps ... 

Let us understand, then, how a Christian must follow Christ even though he does not shed his blood for Him, and his faith is not called upon to undergo the great test of the martyr's suffering ...

Christ humbled Himself . Christian, that is what you must make your own. Christ became obedient. How is it that you are proud? When this humbling experience was completed and death itself lay conquered, Christ ascended into heaven. Let us follow Him there, for we hear Paul saying: If you have been raised with Christ, you must lift your thoughts on high, where Christ now sits at the right hand of God.

(From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop, in Office of Readings, August 10)

SAINT LAWRENCE,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Sunflower with bee from d in West Linn, OR.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

Saints: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Martyr, Co-Patron Saint of Europe (1891-1942); Saint Nathy (6th century); Saint Felim (6th century)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 56 The Abbot's Table

Mass: Dt 10:12-22; Resp Ps 147; Mt 17:22-27

God sends forth His command to the earth; swiftly runs His sword!

MARY, QUEEN OF MARTYRS,

PRAY FOR US.

As floods of memories come pouring in of late, partly due to just reading Jacqueline Winspear's (of the Maisie Dobbs series fame) memoir, This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing, I share some of them. There are a few things I know about our saint of the day, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein. For one, she is one of six co-patron saints of Europe. Saint Benedict of Nursia leads the way as principal patron, and the others in the illustrious group with Saint Teresa Benedicta include Saint Catherine of Siena, Saints Cyril and Methodius, and Saint Bridget of Sweden. Some other newsy news is that in the summer of 2010 when I was studying German in Freiburg, Germany, I spent some time with the Benedictine Sisters at Freiburg. One of their sisters of happy memory was a friend of Edith's. They were both Jewish converts to Catholicism. Edith used to spend time with the sisters at Freiburg and the room where she stayed is preserved and a very sacred space. I had the privilege of sitting in the room on occasion to soak up the atmosphere. More news is that Edith, who also worked as an assistant to Edmund Husserl at the University of Freiburg (I've seen the house where she lived), used to spend time at the Archabbey of Bueron in Germany, in the years between 1928-1933. The Abbot at the time was her spiritual director. There is a plaque at Beuron commemorating Edith and I have a postcard of it here. I also have a postcard with an aerial view of Bueron, and a holy card too. Edith is certainly one who did what the Lord asks of us, all the way until her death at Auschwitz on August 9, 1942. Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, please intercede for us and help us fear the Lord, our God, and follow His ways exactly, to love and serve the Lord, our God, with all our heart and all our soul, and to keep His commandments and statutes (Dt 10:12-14). 

When you seek truth you seek God whether you know it or not.

(Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

SAINT TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS,

SAINT NATHY,

SAINT FELIM,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: A view from the Kuilai Ridge Trail, Kauai.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

In other years: Saint Dominic (1170-1221); Saint Mary of the Cross (1842-1909)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 55:15-22 Clothing and Footwear

Mass: 1 Kgs 19:4-8; Resp Ps 34; Eph 4:30-5:2; Jn 6:41-51

Glorify the Lord with me.

JESUS, THE BREAD OF LIFE,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

I have been reflecting on how often things just happen when they happen, at the right time, when they are supposed to, according to God's time. Early last evening, just before looking over the readings for today's Mass, a friend introduced me to a blessing by John O'Donohue (1956-2008), from his book Benedictus: A Book of Blessings (Bantam Press, 2007), published just two months before John's death. I read the blessing, then went to the readings for today's Mass. From all three readings, the antiphons, Responsorial Psalm, and all else, I heard God speaking to me the loudest through Saint Paul and his Letter to the Ephesians. It was there that Saint Paul writes this: "All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ" (Eph 4:31-32). I immediately went back to the blessing as I thought it to provide fitting commentary on Saint Paul's exhortation. Entitled "for love in time of conflict" (p. 50), the blessing goes like this:

When the gentleness between you hardens

And you fall out of your belonging with each other,

May the depths you have reached hold you still.

When no true word can be said, or heard,

And you mirror each other in the script of hurt,

When even the silence has become raw and torn,

May you hear again an echo of your first music.

When the weave of affection starts to unravel

And anger begins to sear the ground between you,

Before this weather of grief invites

The black seed of bitterness to find root,

May your souls come to kiss.

Now is the time for one of you to be gracious,

To allow a kindness beyond thought and hurt,

Reach out with sure hands

To take the chalice of your love,

And carry it carefully through this echoless waste

Until this winter pilgrimage leads you

Towards the gateway to spring. 

We can turn too to today's Gospel, where Jesus reveals Himself as the Bread of Life (Jn 6:48). The Holy Father helps with his words. Jesus the Bread of Life, "He alone nourishes the soul; He alone forgives us from that evil that we cannot overcome on our own; He alone makes us feel loved even if everyone else disappoints us. He alone gives us the strength to love, and He alone gives us the strength to forgive in difficulties; He alone gives that peace to the heart that it is searching for, He alone gives eternal life when life here on earth ends. He is the essential bread of life" (Pope Francis, Angelus Address, August 8, 2021). 

Jesus, the Bread of Life, Son of the Living God, help us to be gracious, kind, and compassionate, to reach out and forgive those who trespass against us, so that all bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling, and malice be removed from our hearts. Saint Dominic, Saint Mary of the Cross, Saint Joseph, please intercede for us.

Dominic possessed such great integrity and was so strongly motivated by divine love, that without a doubt he proved to be a bearer of honor and grace. He was a man of great equanimity, except when moved to compassion and mercy. And since a joyful heart animates the face, he displayed the peaceful composure of a spiritual man in the kindness he manifested outwardly and by the cheerfulness of his countenance.

(From various writings on the history of the Order of Preachers, in Office of Readings, August 8)

SAINT DOMINIC,

SAINT MARY OF THE CROSS,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: For brother James A., on his birthday. Setting sun, Lake Tippecanoe, Leesburg, IN. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

First Saturday of the Month

Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saints: Pope Saint Sixtus II and his companions, Martyrs (-258); Saint Cajetan (1480-1547)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 55:1-14 The Clothing and Footwear of the Brothers

Mass: Dt 6:4-13; Resp Ps 18; Mt 17:14-20

Extolled be God my savior!

MARY, VIRGIN MOST FAITHFUL,

PRAY FOR US.

It's the First Saturday of the Month so let's keep it simple with Jesus' unambiguous words: Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you (Mt 17:20). May we not be people of little faith. By the grace of God we go. 

Let all our people fix their minds on death but rather immortality; let them commit themselves to the Lord in complete faith and unflinching courage and make their confession with joy rather than in fear, knowing that in this contest the soldiers of God and Christ are not slain but rather win their crowns.

(From a letter by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr, in Office of Readings, August 7)

If you want Christ to love you and help you, you must love Him and always make an effort to please Him. Do not waver in your purpose, because even if all the saints and every single creature should abandon you, He will always be near you, whatever your needs.

(From a letter by Saint Cajetan, priest, in Office of Readings, August 7)

POPE SAINT SIXTUS II AND HIS COMPANIONS,

SAINT CAJETAN,

SAINT JOSPEH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Yellow rose on the hill.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

The Transfiguration of the Lord

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

First Friday of the Month

43rd Anniversary of the Death of Saint Giovanni Baptiste Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, Pope Saint Paul VI

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 54 Letters or Gifts for Monks

Mass: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14; Resp Ps 97; 2 Pet 1:16-19; Mk 9:2-10

The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.

HEART OF JESUS, OF INFINITE MAJESTY,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

As is my custom every year on this glorious feast, I pulled out three postcards from my 2000 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It was during the Jubilee Year and shortly before I entered the monastery. The cards are from Mount Tabor. One is of the Mount, the Mount of the Transfiguration; another from inside the Basilica of the Transfiguration, a picture of the Transfiguration Mosaic by R. Villani; and my favorite is of the stained glass window of the crypt in the Basilica, with peacocks, symbols of immortality. I remember the day of the visit, a beautiful day when I, with a few others, walked up the mountain. At the same time, others were driven up the mountain in cars, cars that were not moving slowly. One thing I remember it that people were hang gliding off the side of the mountain and I wanted to join in. Yes, it was good to be there. And there is another thing I remember. It was so good to be in the Holy Land that I considered staying there to work on a kibbutz. A wise monk in the group suggested that I reconsider. Can you imagine? 😊 Kyrie eleison.

It's the First Friday of the Month and a good day to listen to the voice coming from the cloud: This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him (Mk 9:7). And as Saint Peter writes, "You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Pet 1:19).

Since each of us possesses God in his heart and is being transformed into His divine image, we also should cry out with joy: It is good for us to be here-here where all things shine with divine radiance, where there is joy and gladness and exultation; where there is nothing in our hearts but peace, serenity and stillness; where God is seen. For here, in our hearts, Christ takes up His abode together with the Father, saying as He enters; Today salvation has come to this house. With Christ, our hearts receive all the wealth of His eternal blessings, and there where they are stored up for us in Him, we see reflected as in a mirror both the firstfruits and the whole of the world to come.

(From a sermon on the transfiguration of the Lord by Anastasius of Sinai, bishop, in Office of Readings, August 6)

POPE SAINT PAUL VI,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: From the Otto's hike at Wiamea Canyon, Kauai. It was certainly good to be there too. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

The Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Feast of Our Lady of the Snow

Saints: Blessed Frederic Janssone (1838-1916)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 53:16-24 The Reception of Guests

Mass: Nb 20:1-13; Resp Ps 95; Mt 16;13-23

Oh, that today you would hear His voice.

OU LADY OF THE SNOW,

PRAY FOR US.

As we celebrate the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore), the oldest church in the West dedicated to Our Lady, and located on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, a prayer can be taken from Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Here is part of homily he delivered at the Council of Ephesus in 431. 

Mary, Mother of God, we salute you. Precious vessel, worthy of the whole world's reverence, you are an ever-shining light, the crown of virginity, the symbol of orthodoxy, an indestructible temple, the place that held Him whom no place can contain, mother and virgin. Because of you the holy gospels could say: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord ...

Behold then the joy of the whole universe. Let the union of God and man in the Son of the Virgin Mary fills us with awe and adoration. Let us fear and worship the undivided Trinity as we sing the praise of the ever-virgin Mary, the holy temple of God, and of God Himself, her Son and spotless Bridegroom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

(From a homily delivered at the Council of Ephesus by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop, in Office of Readings, August 5)

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD,

MARIA, SALUS POPULI ROMANI, 

BLESSED FREDERIC JANSSONE,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: More beauty on Kauai.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

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

National Back to School Month

Saints: Saint John Mary Vianney, Cure of Ars (1786-1859)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 53:1-15 The Reception of Guests

Mass: Nb 13:1-2, 25-14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35; Resp Ps 106; Mt 15:21-28

Remember us, Lord, as you favor your people.

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS,

MARY, QUEEN OF CONFESSORS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today we commemorate another great saint, Saint John Mary Vianney, patron of parish priests, he most humble, loving, and caring, a "noted preacher, and celebrated confessor: such was his fame, and his reputation for insight into his penitents' souls and their futures." It is said that he spent up to 18 hours a day in the confessional, "so great was his demand." Saint John Mary Vianney must have never turned anyone away. He would be pleased with Saint Benedict's chapter on the Reception of Guests, which begins today with this: "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me. Proper honor must be shown to all, especially to those who share our faith and to pilgrims" (RB 53:1-2). 

This is the glorious duty of man: to pray and to love. If you pray and love, that is where a man's happiness is.

(From the catechetical instructions by Saint John Mary Vianney, priest, in Office of Readings, August 4)

All of the following quotations attributed to Saint John Mary Vianney come from my trusty Quotable Saints. As stated on pp. 179-180, Saint John Mary Vianney is "so often quoted in this book." And I have not included all of the quotations!

The saints were so completely dead to themselves that they cared very little whether others agreed with them or not.

The saints had no hatred, no bitterness. They forgave everything.

Those who are led by the Holy Spirit have true ideas: that is why so many ignorant people are wiser than the learned. The Holy Spirit is light and strength.

Love of our neighbor consists of three things: to desire the greater good of everyone; to do what good we can when we can; to bear, excuse, and hide other's faults.

You must accept your cross; if you carry it courageously it will carry you to heaven. 

God commands you to pray, but he forbids you to worry.

If something uncharitable is said in your presence, either speak in favor of the absent, or withdraw, or, if possible, stop the conversation.

We must never lose sight of the fact that we are either saints or outcasts, that we must live for heaven or for hell: there is no middle path in this.

You either belong wholly to the world or wholly to God.

If people would do for God what they do for the world, what a great number of Christians would go to heaven.

SAINT JOHN MARY VIANNEY,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: From Catherine on the island of Kauai. Wow!

© Gertrude Feick 2021