Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 07-08-08

USCCB,.org/New American Bible ^ | 07-08-08 | New American Bible

[Salvation]

July 8, 2008

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week                                 in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading 1
Hos 8:4-7, 11-13

Thus says the LORD:
They made kings in Israel, but not by my authority;
they established princes, but without my approval
. With their silver and gold they made
idols for themselves, to their own destruction.
Cast away your calf, O Samaria!
my wrath is kindled against them;
How long will they be unable to attain
innocence in Israel?
The work of an artisan,
no god at all,
Destined for the flames—
such is the calf of Samaria!

When they sow the wind,
they shall reap the whirlwind;
The stalk of grain that forms no ear
can yield no flour;
Even if it could,
strangers would swallow it.

When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin,
his altars became occasions of sin.
Though I write for him my many ordinances,
they are considered as a stranger’s.
Though they offer sacrifice,
immolate flesh and eat it,
the LORD is not pleased with them.
He shall still remember their guilt
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 115:3-4, 5-6, 7ab-8, 9-10

R. (9a) The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Our God is in heaven;
whatever he wills, he does.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They have mouths but speak not;
they have eyes but see not;
They have ears but hear not;
they have noses but smell not.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They have hands but feel not;
they have feet but walk not.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone that trusts in them.
R. The house of Israel trusts in the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
Mt 9:32-38

A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
The crowds were amazed and said,
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said,
“He drives out demons by the prince of demons.”

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

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July Devotion: The Precious Blood

July Devotion: The Precious Blood 

Like the Sacred Wounds of Jesus, His Precious Blood deserves special honor because of its close relation to the Sacred Passion. That honor was given to it from the beginning by the Apostles who praised its redeeming power. (Rom. 5:9 "we are justified by His blood"; Heb. 13:12 "and so Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people by His blood, suffered outside the gate"; 1 John 1:7 "and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.") 

The Church has always held devotion to the Precious Blood in high esteem. We continue to recognize and publicly acknowledge the profound indebtedness of the whole human race to Christ, Priest and Victim. 

 

Standing at the foot of the cross, we see Jesus' head, hands, feet, and side pouring out streams of precious blood. It is precious because it: 

·      Redeems us and atones for our sins. Through His precious blood we are reconciled to God, made one with Him. Death ceases to be death and heaven's gates are opened to us.  

·      Cleanses us from all sin.  

·      Preserves us and keeps us safe from the grasp of evil.  When the Father sees us washed in the Blood of the Lamb we are spared.  

·      Comforts us. It is the constant reminder that Jesus - true God and true man suffered and died to save us and to open heaven to us because He loves us.  

·      Sanctifies us.  The same blood that justifies by taking away sin, continues to work within us.  Its action gives us the grace to continue on the path toward the Kingdom of God.  It assists us in achieving our new nature, leading us onward in subduing sin and in following the commands of God.  

Jesus shed His precious blood seven times during His life on earth.  They events were: 

·      Jesus shed His Blood in the Circumcision  

·      Jesus shed His Blood whilst praying in the Garden of Olives  

·      Jesus shed His Blood in the scourging  

·      Jesus shed His Blood in the crowning with thorns  

·      Jesus shed His Blood while carrying His cross  

·      Jesus shed His Blood in the crucifixion  

·      Jesus shed His Blood and water when His side was pierced 

The Power of the Precious Blood 

"I adore You, O Precious Blood of Jesus, flower of creation, fruit of virginity, ineffable instrument of the Holy Spirit, and I rejoice at the thought that You came from the drop of virginal blood on which eternal Love impressed its movement; You were assumed by the Word and deified in His person. I am overcome with emotion when I think of Your passing from the Blessed Virgin's heart into the heart of the Word, and, being vivified by the breath of the Divinity, becoming adorable because You became the Blood of God." (St. Albert the Great)  

 

At their recent meeting, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had continuous Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for "healing and peace."   They encouraged parishes and communities to have ongoing Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.  In these dark months of woundedness, pain and violence we need to turn to the Precious Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist, for healing, peace, and light.  

"What power we have in the Precious Blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!  He is there to protect us, to be our refuge and our redemption.  (In Exodus 12, God told Moses to have His chosen people mark their door posts with the blood of an unblemished lamb, during the first Passover. Those who did this were spared when the Angel of the death passed by). This is why Archbishop Sheen said that we must call down the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.  For, he warned, when we stop calling down the Blood of the Lamb, we start calling down the blood of each other."  (From our book Bread of Life)      

"And the Lamb on the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water" (Rev 7:17). 

"In the tumultuous events of our time, it is important to look to the Eucharist: it must be at the heart of the life of priests and consecrated people; the light and strength of spouses in putting into practice their commitment to fidelity, chastity and the apostolate; the ideal in education and in training children, adolescents and young people; the comfort and support of those who are troubled, of the sick and all who are weeping in the Gethsemane of life."  (Pope John Paul II)  

Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! 

"The only time our Lord asked the Apostles for anything was the night when He went into His agony.  But as often in the history of the church since that time, evil was awake, but the disciples were asleep.  That is why there came out of His anguished and lonely Heart a sigh: 'Could you not watch one hour with Me?'" (Mt 26:40).  Not for an hour of activity did he plead, but for an hour of friendship (Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen).  

 

St. Maria Goretti,  Patroness of Youth & Children of Mary, Feast-July 6 St. Maria of Italy (1890-1902), couldn't wait to make her First Communion.  She wanted to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist so that she could become more beautiful and pure like Him; she wanted Him to live in her, close to her heart.  After she received Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for the first time, she stayed in Church for a long time after Mass to talk to Him. Maria's family lived with and worked for a farmer. His son Alessandro kept trying to make Maria sin against purity.  One day, when everyone else was working, Alessandro grabbed Maria and tried to make her sin.  Maria kept crying out for him to stop, and each time she did, he stabbed her. Courageously,   Maria resisted him and was stabbed fourteen times. St. Maria died the next day.  

"Look at Maria Goretti....  Like her, be capable of defending your purity of heart and body.  Be committed to the struggle against evil and sin.  Always esteem and love, purity and virginity." (Pope John Paul II, 1990)      

A Prayer for Priests 

O my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful; to those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may grasp it as their support.  In the great ocean of Your mercy, lift those poor unfortunate ones who have fallen, that being engulfed therein they may receive the grace to return to Your Great Loving Heart.  Amen.  Precious Blood of Jesus, protect them!A

 

menHe

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you"  (Jn 6:53).  

The Eucharist is the fruit of our Lords Passion. Jesus gave up His Body on the cross so that He may give you His Body in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus poured out His very last drop of Blood on the cross so that He may fill you with His Divine Love each time that you receive Him in Holy Communion and visit Him in Eucharistic Adoration! 

"The Eucharist, in the Mass and outside of the Mass, is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and is therefore deserving of the worship that is given to the living God, and to Him alone" (Pope John Paul II, September 29, 1979, Phoenix Park, Ireland) 

"The bread and wine, fruit of human hands, transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit into the body and blood of Christ, become a pledge of the 'new heaven and new earth,' announced by the Church in her daily mission." "In Christ, whom we adore present in the mystery of the Eucharist, the father uttered his final word with regard to humanity and human history." "To live the Eucharist, it is necessary, as well, to spend much time in adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, something which I myself experience every day drawing from it strength, consolation and assistance."  "How could the Church fulfill her vocation without cultivating a constant relationship with the Eucharist, without nourishing herself with this food which sanctifies, without founding her missionary activity on this indispensable support?" "To evangelize the world there is need of apostles who are 'experts' in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the Eucharist" (Pope John Paul II, World Mission Message 2004).

 

The Power of the Precious Blood of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist  

"The Precious Blood belongs in an especial manner to men. Much more, therefore, does God invite them to come to its heavenly baths, and receive therein, not only the cleansing of their souls, but the power of a new and amazing life. Every doctrine in theology is a call to the Precious Blood.  Every ceremony in the Church tells of it . . . .  Every supernatural act is a growth of it. Everything that is holy on earth is either a leaf, bud, blossom or fruit of the Blood of Jesus. To its fountains God calls the sinner, that he may be lightened of his burdens. There is no remission of him in anything else.  Only there is his lost sonship to be found. The saints are no less called by God to these invigorating streams. It is out of the Precious Blood that men draw martyrdoms, vocations, celebacies, austerities, heroic charities, and all the magnificent graces of high sanctity.  The secret nourishment of prayer is from those fountains" (Father Faber, The Precious Blood).  

LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, hear us.

Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, save us.

Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God, save us.

Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament, save us.

Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony, save us.

Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging, save us.

Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
  save us.

Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross, save us.

Blood of Christ, price of our salvation, save us.

Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness, save us.

Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
  save us.

Blood of Christ, stream of mercy, save us.

Blood of Christ, victor over demons, save us.

Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs, save us.

Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors, save us.

Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins, save us.

Blood of Christ, help of those in peril, save us.

Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened, save us.

Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow, save us.

Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent, save us.

Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying, save us.

Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts, save us.

Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life, save us.

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory, save us.

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor, save us.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
  spare us, O Lord!.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
  graciously hear us, O Lord!.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
  have mercy on us. .

V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, in your Blood.

R. And made us, for our God, a kingdom.

Let us pray.

Almighty and Eternal God, you have appointed your only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by His Blood. Grant we beg of You, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation, and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

Chaplet of the Most Precious Blood

The Traditional Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Catholic Caucus)

Devotion to the Precious Blood

DOCTRINE OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,And More on the Precious Blood

Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

NOTHING IS MORE POTENT AGAINST EVIL THAN PLEADING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST

FORMER PENTECOSTAL RELATES MIRACLE THAT OCCURRED WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

St.Gaspar:Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood[AKA The Hammer of Freemasons]

[Salvation]

JULY 2008

 

General:

That there may be an increase in the number of those who volunteer to serve the Christian community with generous and prompt availability. 

 

Mission:

That World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, may kindle the fire of divine love in numerous young people and render them sowers of hope for a new humanity.

[Salvation]

From: Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13

Kings and princes condemned

---

[4] They made kings, but not through me.
They set up princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
[5] l have spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will it he
till they are pure [6] in Israel?

A workman made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.
[7] For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads,
it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
aliens would devour it.

Israel ruined by relying on foreign help

---

[11]Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
[12] Were I to write for him my laws by ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
[13] They love sacrifice;
they sacrifice flesh and eat it;
but the Lord has no delight in them.
Now he will remember their iniquity,
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

8:1-14. This passage begins and ends with imperatives (v. 1; cf. 9:1). The first
stanza (vv. 1-7) gives God’s order to Hosea to be his herald (to blow the trumpet
or horn), to warn against impending danger: a vulture is hovering over “the house
of the Lord”, probably a reference to the shrine at Bethel (v. 1). The people re-
spond (“My God”: v. 2) and back their cry for help by saying that he should hear
them because they acknowledge him as their God: “we Israel know thee.”

But the Lord, through the prophet, says that that is not so: Israel does not know
him, for it has “spurned the good” (v. 3). The prophet denounces two sins here:
they have acted without reference to God, by appointing kings “but not through
me” (v. 4); and they have made idols of silver and gold (the golden calf of Sama-
ria gets special mention: vv. 4-5). These are grievous sins; therefore, having
sown the wind, “they shall reap the whirlwind”, to quote the proverb, and a short
wisdom maxim tells them what punishment awaits them (vv. 6-7).

The punishment announced in v. 7 (being “devoured by aliens”) has already be-
fallen Israel in the first verse of the second stanza (vv. 8-14), which denounces
foreign pacts (vv. 9-10) and the idolatry that Israel falls into as a consequence of
them (vv. I l-13). The prophet begins by saying that the alliances that Israel tries
to make with foreign powers, involving probably tribute to the king of Assyria (vv.
8-10), will be to no avail. What these three verses seem to be saying is that
Israel now tries to make alliances that are at odds with its true nature: inevitably,
they will take its freedom away. The oracle goes on to denounce the effects that
these pacts will have on worship of the Lord: there will he an increased number
of places of worship but, because Canaanite rites will he mixed in with Yahwist
ones, the religious services, far from expiating sins, will multiply them (v. 11).
Moreover, even the offerings that they do make to the Lord will not be pleasing to
him, for they will not he backed up by fulfilment of the Law of the Lord (vv. 12-13).
The same point is being made as in 6:6: “Outward sacrifice, to he genuine, must
be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: ‘The sacrifice acceptable to God is a
broken spirit ...‘ (Ps 51:19). The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced
sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbour” (Ca-
techism of the Catholic Church, 2100). So, the prophet sees that Israel needs to
he cleansed; hence the threat that “they shall return to Egypt”, that is, become
enslaved once again.

The last verse re-introduces the idea of “forgetting God”. By building palaces and
fortresses, Israel is showing that he “has forgotten his Maker”, that is, does not
put his trust in him: if Assyria “devours” part of the nation’s land (vv. 8-9), the fire
of God will “devour” the strongholds, on which it had relied (v. 14). “Forgetting
God” is a favourite theme of Hosea’s (cf. 2:13; 4:6), but the threat of destruction
by fire is repeated a number of times in Amos (cf. Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12; 2:5).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

[Salvation]

From: Matthew 9:32-38

The Dumb Devil

---

[32] As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to Him
(Jesus). [33] And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and
the crowds marvelled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” [34]
But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

The Need for Good Shepherds

---

[35] And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues
and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every
infirmity. [36] When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because
they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then He
said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] pray
therefore the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

35. The Second Vatican Council uses this passage when teaching about the
message of Christian charity which the Church should always be spreading:
“Christian charity is extended to all without distinction of race, social condition
or religion, and seeks neither gain nor gratitude. Just as God loves us with a
gratuitous love, so too the faithful, in their charity, should be concerned for man-
kind, loving it with that same love with which God sought man. As Christ went
about all the towns and villages healing every sickness and infirmity, as a sign
that the Kingdom of God had come, so the Church, through its children, joins it-
self with men of every condition, but especially with the poor and afflicted, and
willingly spends herself for them” (”Ad Gentes”, 12).

36. “He had compassion for them”: the Greek verb is very expressive; it means
“He was deeply moved”. Jesus was moved when He saw the people, because
their pastors, instead of guiding them and tending them, led them astray, beha-
ving more like wolves than genuine shepherds of their flock. Jesus sees the
prophecy of Ezekiel 34 as now being fulfilled; in that passage God, through the
prophet, upbraids the false shepherds of Israel and promises to send them the
Messiah to be their new leader.

“If we were consistent with our faith when we looked around us and contemplated
the world and its history, we would be unable to avoid feeling in our own hearts
the same sentiments that filled the heart of our Lord” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is
Passing By”, 133). Reflection on the spiritual needs of the world should lead us
to be tirelessly apostolic.

37-38. After contemplating the crowds neglected by their shepherds, Jesus uses
the image of the harvest to show us that that same crowd is ready to receive the
effects of Redemption: “I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see now the fields are
already white for harvest” (John 4:35). The field of the Jewish people cultivated
by the prophets—most recently by John the Baptist—is full of ripe wheat. In farm
work, the harvest is lost if the farmer does not reap at the right time; down the
centuries the Church feels a similar need to be out harvesting because there is
a big harvest ready to be won.

However, as in the time of Jesus, there is a shortage of laborers. Our Lord tells
us how to deal with this: we should pray to God, the Lord of harvest, to send the
necessary laborers. If a Christian prays hard, it is difficult to imagine his not fee-
ling urged to play his part in this apostolate. In obeying this commandment to
pray for laborers, we should pray especially for there to be no lack of shepherds,
who will be able to equip others with the necessary means of sanctification
needed to back up the apostolate.

In this connection [Pope] Paul VI reminds us: “the responsibility for spreading
the Gospel that saves belongs to everyone—to all who have received it! The mis-
sionary duty concerns the whole body of the Church; in different ways and to
different degrees, it is true, but we must all of us be united in carrying out this
duty. Now let the conscience of every believer ask himself: Have I carried out
my missionary duty? Prayer for the Missions is the first way of fulfilling this
duty” (”Angelus Address”, 23 October 1977).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

[Salvation]

Scripture readings taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd

Mass Readings

First reading

Hosea 8:4 - 13 ©

They have set up kings, but not with my consent, and appointed princes, but without my knowledge. Out of their own silver and gold they have made idols, which are doomed to destruction. I spurn your calf, Samaria, my anger blazes against it. (How long will it be before they purge themselves of this, the sons of Israel?) A workman made the thing, this cannot be God! Yes, the calf of Samaria shall go up in flames. They sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind; their wheat will yield no ear, the ear will yield no flour, or, if it does, foreigners will swallow it. Ephraim has built altar after altar, they have only served him as occasion for sin. Were I to write out the thousand precepts of my Law for him, they would be paid no more attention than those of a stranger. They love sacrificing; right, let them sacrifice! They love meat; right, let them eat it! the Lord takes no pleasure in these. He is now going to remember their iniquity and punish their sins; they will have to go back to Egypt.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 113B

Gospel

Matthew 9:32 - 37 ©

They had only just left when a man was brought to him, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’ Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness. And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

[Salvation]

By the time the thread is finished you will have five translations of the Gospel reading.

New American Bible
RSV — used by Navarre
Jerusalem Bible
Douay-Rheims
Vulgate

So take your pick. The RSV and Jerusalem and Douay Rheims are much more accurate than the NAB.

[Salvation]

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Weekday

First Reading: Psalm: Gospel:

Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 Psalm 115:3-10 Matthew 9:32-38 We shall steer safely through every storm, as long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed in God. -- St. Francis de Sales

[Salvation]

The Angelus 

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary: 
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit. 

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. 

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word. 

Hail Mary . . . 

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us. 

Hail Mary . . . 

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us pray: 

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen. 

[SumProVita]

The Navarre has excellent commentary. Thanks. ;-)

[Salvation]

The Jerusalem study Bible is also very good.

[Salvation]

Office of Readings and Invitatory Psalm

Office of Readings

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.

---

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 36 (37)

The fate of the evil and the righteous

Do not envy the wicked;
 do not be jealous of those that do evil.
They will dry up as quickly as hay;
 they will wither like the grass.

Put your trust in the Lord and do good,
 and your land and habitation will be secure.
Take your delight in the Lord,
 and he will give you what your heart desires.

Entrust your journey to the Lord, and hope in him:
 and he will act.
He will make your uprightness shine like the light,
 your judgement like the sun at noon.

Take your rest in the Lord, and hope in him:
 do not envy the one who thrives in his own way,
 the man who weaves plots.
Abstain from wrath, abandon anger:
 do not envy him who turns to evil,
for those who do evil will be destroyed,
 but those on the side of the Lord
 will inherit the earth.

A moment yet – and the sinner will be gone:
 you will look where he was and find nothing.
But the needy will inherit the land
 and delight in abundant peace.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

---

Psalm 36 (37)

The wicked will plot against the righteous
 and gnash his teeth at him;
but the Lord will deride him in his turn,
 for the Lord has seen what awaits him.

The wicked have pulled out their swords,
 the wicked have drawn their bows,
to throw down the poor and the destitute,
 to murder whoever follows the straight path.
But their swords will enter their own hearts,
 and their bows will splinter.

For the righteous, the little they have is better
 than the abundant wealth of the wicked.
The limbs of the wicked will be broken
 while the Lord gives his strength to the just.

The Lord knows when the day of the perfect will come;
 and their inheritance will be eternal.
They will not be troubled in evil times,
 and in times of famine they will have more than enough.

For the wicked will perish:
 the enemies of the Lord will be like the flowers of the fields,
 and like smoke they will vanish away.

The wicked man borrows and does not return;
 but the righteous takes pity and gives.
The blessed ones of the Lord will inherit the earth,
 but those whom he curses will be cut off.

It is the Lord who strengthens the steps of man
 and chooses his path.
Even if he trips he will not fall flat,
 for the Lord is holding his hand.

I was young and I have grown old,
 but I have not seen the righteous man abandoned
 nor his children seeking for bread.
All day long he takes pity and lends,
 and his seed will be blessed.

Shun evil and do good,
 and you will live for ever.
For the Lord loves right judgement,
 and will not abandon his chosen ones.

The unjust will be destroyed for ever,
 and the seed of the wicked will be cut off,
but the righteous will inherit the earth
 and live there from age to age.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

---

Psalm 36 (37)

The mouth of the righteous will speak wisdom,
 and his tongue will utter right judgement.
The law of his God is in his heart
 and his steps will not stumble.
The wicked man watches the just
 and seeks to kill him;
but the Lord will rescue the just man from his hands
 and not condemn the just in the time of judgement.

Put your hope in the Lord and follow his paths,
 and he will raise you up and make the land your inheritance,
 let you watch as the wicked are cut off.
I have seen the sinner triumph,
 flourish like a green cedar,
but he is gone, he is there no longer:
 I have looked for him but have not found him.

Preserve innocence, follow uprightness:
 for the future belongs to the man of peace.
The unrighteous will be destroyed altogether,
 their posterity will be cut off.
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
 and their protection in time of trouble.
The Lord will come to their help and free them,
 rescue them from the wicked and save them,
 because they have put their trust in him.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

---

Reading

2 Samuel 18:6 - 19:5 ©

The troops marched out to take the field against Israel, and battle was joined in the Forest of Ephraim. There Israel’s army was beaten by David’s followers; it was a great defeat that day, with twenty thousand casualties. The fighting spread throughout the region and, of the troops, the forest claimed more victims that day than the sword. Absalom happened to run into some of David’s followers. Absalom was riding a mule and the mule passed under the thick branches of a great oak. Absalom’s head caught fast in the oak and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule he was riding went on. Someone saw this and told Joab. ‘I have just seen Absalom’ he said ‘hanging from an oak.’ Joab said to the man who told him, ‘If you saw him, why did you not strike him to the ground then and there? I would have taken it on myself to give you ten silver shekels and a belt too.’ But the man answered Joab, ‘Even were I to feel the weight of a thousand silver shekels in my hand, I would not lift my hand against the king’s son. In our own hearing the king gave you and Abishai and Ittai these orders, “For my sake spare young Absalom.” Had I acted treacherously, thus endangering my life, nothing is hidden from the king, and you yourself would have stood by idle.’ Then Joab said, ‘I cannot waste my time with you like this.’ And he took three lances in his hand and thrust them into Absalom’s heart while he was still alive there in the oak tree. Then ten soldiers, Joab’s armour-bearers, stepped forward, cut Absalom down and finished him off. Then Joab had the trumpet sounded and the troops stopped pursuing Israel, for Joab held the troops back. They took Absalom, flung him into a deep pit in the forest and reared a great cairn over him. All the Israelites had fled, each man to his tent. David was sitting between the two gates. The lookout had gone up to the roof of the gate, on the ramparts; he looked up and saw a man running all by himself. The watch called out to the king and told him. The king said, ‘If he is by himself, he has good news to tell.’ As the man drew still nearer, the watch saw another man running, and the watch who was on top of the gate called out, ‘Here comes another man running by himself. David said, ‘He too is a bearer of good news.’ The watchman said, ‘I recognise the way the first man runs; Ahimaaz son of Zadok runs like that.’ ‘He is a good man’ the king said ‘and he comes with good news.’ Ahimaaz approached’ the king. ‘All hail!’ he said, and bowed down before the king with his face to the earth. ‘Blessed be the Lord your God’ he said ‘who has handed over the men who rebelled against my lord the king!’ ‘Is all well with young Absalom?’ the king asked. Ahimaaz replied, ‘I saw there was a great uproar when Joab despatched your servant, but I do not know what it was.’ The king said, ‘Move aside and stand there.’ He moved aside and stood waiting. Then the Cushite arrived. ‘Good news for my lord the king!’ cried the Cushite. ‘The Lord has vindicated your cause today by ridding you of all who rebelled against you.’ ‘Is all well with young Absalom?’ the king asked the Cushite. ‘May the enemies of my lord the king’ the Cushite answered ‘and all who rebelled against you to your hurt, share the lot of that young man.’ The king shuddered. He went up to the room over the gate and burst into tears, and weeping said, ‘My son Absalom! My son! My son Absalom! Would I had died in your place! Absalom, my son, my son!’ Word was brought to Joab, The king is now weeping and mourning for Absalom.’ And the day’s victory was turned to mourning for all the troops, because they learned that the king was grieving for his son. And the troops returned stealthily that day to the town, as troops creep back ashamed when routed in battle. The king had veiled his face and was crying aloud, ‘My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!’

---

Reading	From a discourse on the psalms by Saint Augustine, bishop
Whether they like it or not, those who are outside the church are our brothers
We entreat you, brothers, as earnestly as we are able, to have charity, not only for one another, but also for those who are outside the Church. Of these some are still pagans, who have not yet made an act of faith in Christ. Others are separated, insofar as they are joined with us in professing faith in Christ, our head, but are yet divided from the unity of his body. My friends, we must grieve over these as over our brothers; and they will only cease to be so when they no longer say our Father. The prophet refers to some men saying: When they say to you: You are not our brothers, you are to tell them: You are our brothers. Consider whom he intended by these words. Were they the pagans? Hardly; for nowhere either in Scripture or in our traditional manner of speaking do we find them called our brothers. Nor could it refer to the Jews, who do not believe in Christ. Read Saint Paul and you will see that when he speaks of “brothers”, without any qualification, he refers always to Christians. For example, he says: Why do you judge your brother or why do you despise your brother? And again: You perform iniquity and common fraud, and this against your brothers. Those then who tell us: You are not our brothers, are saying that we are pagans. That is why they want to baptise us again, claiming that we do not have what they can give. Hence their error of denying that we are their brothers. Why then did the prophet tell us: Say to them: You are our brothers? It is because we acknowledge in them that which we do not repeat. By not recognising our baptism, they deny that we are their brothers; on the other hand, when we do not repeat their baptism but acknowledge it to be our own, we are saying to them: You are our brothers. If they say, “Why do you seek us? What do you want of us?” we should reply: You are our brothers. They may say, “Leave us alone. We have nothing to do with you”. But we have everything to do with you, for we are one in our belief in Christ; and so we should be in one body, under one head. And so, dear brothers, we entreat you on their behalf, in the name of the very source of our love, by whose milk we are nourished, and whose bread is our strength, in the name of Christ our Lord and his gentle love. For it is time now for us to show them great love and abundant compassion by praying to God for them. May he one day give them a clear mind to repent and to realise that they have nothing now but the sickness of their hatred, and the stronger they think they are, the weaker they become. We entreat you then to pray for them, for they are weak, given to the wisdom of the flesh, to fleshly and carnal things, but yet they are our brothers. They celebrate the same sacraments as we, not indeed with us, but still the same. They respond with the same Amen, not with us, but still the same. And so pour out your hearts for them in prayer to God.

---

Concluding Prayer

O God, the world had fallen flat in the dust but your Son’s humility stood it upright once more.
 Fill your faithful people with a holy joy:
 take those whom you have torn away from slavery to sin
 and make them rejoice eternally.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
 who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
 God for ever and ever.
Amen.

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings (on USCCB site):
» July 08, 2008
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Collect: Father, through the obedience of Jesus, your servant and your Son, you raised a fallen world. Free us from sin and bring us the joy that lasts for ever. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

« July 08, 2008 »

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, widow

 

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Bl. Peter Vigne, a French priest, was beatified on October 3, 2004 by Pope John Paul II and proposed to the universal Church as an example of a tireless missioanry and apostle of the Most Holy Sacrament.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal. Her optional memorial in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on July 4.

---

Bl. Peter Vigne
Peter Vigne was born August 20 1670 in Privas (France), a small town still feeling the effects of the Wars of Religion from the previous century. His father, Peter Vigne, an honest textile merchant, and his mother, Frances Gautier, married in the Catholic Church, had their five children baptised in the Catholic parish of Saint Thomas, Privas. Two daughters died in infancy. Peter and his two older siblings, John-Francis and Eleonore, lived with their parents in relative comfort.

When he was 11 years of age, Peter was chosen by the Parish Priest to act as a witness, signing the parish register for Baptisms, Marriages or Deaths.

After receiving a good level of education and instruction, towards the end of his teenage years, his life was suddenly transformed by a new awareness of the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. This experience led him to centre his life on Jesus, who offered himself on the Cross for love of us, and in the Eucharist, never ceases to give himself to all men. In 1690, he entered the Sulpician Seminary in Viviers. Ordained a priest September 18, 1694 in Bourg Saint Andeol by the Bishop of Viviers, he was sent as curate to Saint-Agreve where, for six years he exercised his priestly ministry, in friendship with his Parish Priest and beloved by his parishioners.

Always attentive to discern in life's events what the Lord was asking of him, he felt called elsewhere. With understandable hesitancy in the beginning and then with increasing certitude, he pursued his spiritual itinerary along new paths. His desire to work as a missionary among the poor was central to his decision to join the Vincentians in Lyon, in 1700. There, he received a solid formation in poverty and in conducting "popular missions" and with his fellow priests began visiting towns and villages in the work of evangelisation. In 1706, he left the Vincentians of "his own free will." Now more than ever he was passionate for the salvation of souls, especially for the poor people living in the countryside. After a period of searching, his vocation took shape with increasing clarity. He became an "itinerant missionary" applying his own pastoral methods, whilst submitting his ministry to the authorization of his hierarchical superiors.

For more than thirty years he tirelessly travelled on foot or on horseback the ways of Vivarais and Dauphiné, and even further ahead. He faced the fatigue of being constantly on the move, as well as severe weather conditions, in order to make Jesus known, loved and served. He preached, visited the sick, catechised the children, administered the sacraments, even going as far as carrying “his” confessional on his back, ready at all times to celebrate and bestow the Mercy of God. He celebrated Mass, exposed the Blessed Sacrament, and taught the faithful the prayer of Adoration. Mary, "Beautiful Tabernacle of God among men" was also given a place of honour in his prayer and his teaching.

In 1712, he came to Boucieu-le-Roi, where the terrain favoured the erection of a Way of the Cross. With the help of parishioners he constructed 39 stations throughout the village and countryside, teaching the faithful to follow Jesus from the Upper Room to Easter and Pentecost. Boucieu became his place of residence. There, he gathered together a few women, charging them to "accompany the pilgrims" on the Way of the Cross and help them to pray and meditate.

It was there that he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. On November 30, 1715, in the church at Boucieu, he gave them the cross and the religious habit. He invited them to assure continuous adoration of Jesus present in the Eucharist and to live together in fellowship. Anxious to give the youth access to instruction, thus helping them grow in their faith and Christian values, Peter Vigne opened schools and also established a "Training School" for teachers.

Such a challenging and busy lifestyle needed some support. For that reason, whenever Peter Vigne was in Lyon on business, he never failed to call on his former seminary tutors, the priests of Saint Sulpice, to meet his confessor and spiritual director. Drawn by the eucharistic spirituality of the Priests of the Blessed Sacrament, founded by Monsignor d'Authier de Sisgaud, he was accepted as an associate member of this society of priests, January 25, 1724, in Valence, and benefited by their spiritual and temporal help.

Whilst continuing to accompany his young Congregation, Peter Vigne persisted with his apostolic works, and to make the fruits of his missions more available, he found time to write books: rules to live by, works of spirituality, especially the one entitled, "meditations on the most beautiful book, Jesus Christ suffering and dying on the Cross".

The physical strength of our pilgrim for God, the demands of his apostolic activities, the long hours he spent in adoration and his life of poverty, bear witness not only to a fairly robust physique, but above all to a passionate love of Jesus Christ who loved his own to the end (cf. John 13:1).

At the age of 70, the effects of exhaustion began to show. During a mission at Rencurel, in the Vercors mountains, he was taken ill and had to interrupt his preaching. Despite all his efforts to celebrate the Eucharist one more time and encourage the faithful to love Jesus, feeling his end was near, he expressed once again his missionary zeal, then withdrew in quiet prayer and reflection. A priest and two Sisters came in haste to accompany him in his final moments. On July 8, 1740, he went to join the One he had so loved, adored and served. His body was taken back to its final resting place in the little church in Boucieu where it remains to this day.

Taken from the Vatican Website.

[Salvation]

Lauds -- Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer (Lauds)

If this is the first Hour that you are reciting today, you should precede it with the Invitatory Psalm.

O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.

---

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 42 (43)

Longing for the temple

Vindicate me, Lord:
 judge my case against an unholy nation,
 rescue me from betrayers, from the wicked.
For you are the God of my refuge;
 why have you rejected me?
 why must I suffer while my enemies torment me?

Send forth your light and your truth;
 let them lead me away,
 let them lead me up your holy mountain,
 up to your sanctuary.
I shall go in to the altar of God,
 to the God of my gladness and joy.
I will sing out to you on the lyre,
 O God, my God.

Why are you so sad, my soul,
 and anxious within me?
Put your hope in the Lord, I will praise him still,
 my saviour and my God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

---

Canticle	Isaiah 38
The psalm of Hezekiah on recovering from sickness
I said, in the middle of my days I am going to the gates of the underworld. Where shall I find the remainder of my years? I said, I will not see the Lord God in the land of the living, I will never see another of the inhabitants of the earth. My dwelling-place is taken away, taken far away from me, like the tent of a shepherd. Like a weaver, he has rolled up my life and cut it off from the loom. From morning to night, you have made an end of me. I cried for help till daybreak; like a lion, he has crushed all my bones. From morning to night, you have made an end of me. I twitter like a fledgling sparrow, make noises like a dove. My eyes are weak from looking upward. But you have pulled my soul out of the pit of destruction, you have put all my sins behind you. For after all, the underworld will not proclaim you, nor death praise you; those who go down there do not wait in hope for your faithfulness. It is the living, the living who will proclaim you, as I do today. Fathers will pass on to their children the truth of your faithfulness. Save me, Lord, and to the sound of the harp we will sing to you, all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,  as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,  world without end. Amen.

---

Psalm 64 (65)

A solemn thanksgiving

To you we owe praise, O God, in Sion;
 to you we will fulfil our vows, in Jerusalem.

It is you who answer prayers:
 to you must all men come,
 because we are sinners;
even if our transgressions overwhelm us,
 you will blot them out.

Blessed is the man you have taken up and chosen:
 he will live within your halls.
We shall be filled with the good things of your house,
 with the holiness of your temple.
Marvellous is the justice with which you listen to us,
 God of our salvation,
 hope of all the earth and far-off coasts.

You make firm the mountains in their place,
 clothed in your power and might.
You make still the roaring of the sea,
 the crash of its waves; and the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at the ends of the earth
 will tremble at your wonders.
You will fill the east and the west with joy.

You have come to the earth, you have filled it,
 saturated it with fruitfulness.
The river of God is filled with water,
 as you prepare the harvest:
for thus you have prepared the land,
 watering its furrows,
 smoothing its roughnesses,
 softening it with showers,
 blessing the seeds within it.

You have crowned the year with your kindness.
 Your footsteps will drip with fruitfulness.
The desert pastures will be soaked,
 the hills will be wrapped in rejoicing.
The fields will be clothed with flocks,
 the vales overflow with corn.
They will cry out, and sing your praise.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

---

Short reading	1 Thessalonians 5:4 - 5 ©
It is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness.

---

Canticle	Benedictus
The Messiah and his forerunner
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and brought about their redemption. He has raised up the sign of salvation in the house of his servant David, as he promised through the mouth of the holy ones, his prophets through the ages: to rescue us from our enemies and all who hate us, to take pity on our fathers, to remember his holy covenant and the oath he swore to Abraham our father, that he would give himself to us, that we could serve him without fear – freed from the hands of our enemies – in uprightness and holiness before him, for all of our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his path, to let his people know their salvation, so that their sins may be forgiven. Through the bottomless mercy of our God, one born on high will visit us to give light to those who walk in darkness, who live in the shadow of death; to lead our feet in the path of peace. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,  as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,  world without end. Amen.

---

Prayers and Intercessions

?

Let us bless our Saviour, who by his resurrection has brought light to the world. Let us humbly ask him: - Lord, lead us in your footsteps. Lord, in our morning prayer we recall your resurrection: may the hope of glory illuminate our entire day. Receive, Lord, our prayers and promises, the first-fruits of our day. Grant that today we may journey forward in your love: may all that happens be for our good and the good of others. Grant, Lord, that our light may shine before men so that they see our good deeds and give glory to the Father.

Our Father, who art in Heaven,
 hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
 thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
 and forgive us our trespasses
 as we forgive those that trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
 but deliver us from evil.

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the true light that lights all men’s paths to salvation.
 Give us the power, we pray you,
 to prepare for you the ways of peace and justice.

You live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
 God for ever and ever.
Amen.

---

May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.

A M E N

[annalex]

Mt 9:32-38
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
32	And when they were gone out, behold they brought him a dumb man, possessed with a devil.	egressis autem illis ecce obtulerunt ei hominem mutum daemonium habentem
33	And after the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke, and the multitudes wondered, saying, Never was the like seen in Israel.	et eiecto daemone locutus est mutus et miratae sunt turbae dicentes numquam paruit sic in Israhel
34	But the Pharisees said, By the prince of devils he casteth out devils.	Pharisaei autem dicebant in principe daemoniorum eicit daemones
35	And Jesus went about all the cities and towns, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease, and every infirmity.	et circumibat Iesus civitates omnes et castella docens in synagogis eorum et praedicans evangelium regni et curans omnem languorem et omnem infirmitatem
36	And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd.	videns autem turbas misertus est eis quia erant vexati et iacentes sicut oves non habentes pastorem
37	Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few.	tunc dicit discipulis suis messis quidem multa operarii autem pauci
38	Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest.	rogate ergo dominum messis ut eiciat operarios in messem suam

[annalex]

32. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.
33. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spoke: and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.
34. But the Pharisees said He casts out devils through the prince of the devils.
35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages , teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

REMIG; Observe the beautiful order of His miracles; how after He has given sight to the blind, He restored speech to the dumb and healed the possessed of the demon; by which He shows Himself the Lord of power, and the author of the heavenly medicine. For it was said by Isaiah, Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, and the tongue of the dumb loosed. Whence it is said, When they were gone forth, they brought to him a man dumb, and possessed with a demon.

JEROME; The Greek word here is more frequent in common speech in the sense of deaf; but it is the manner of Scripture to use it indifferently as either.

CHRYS; This was not a mere natural defect; but was from the malignity of the demon; and therefore he needed to be brought of others, for he could not ask any thing of others as living without voice, and the demon chaining his spirit together with his tongue. Therefore Christ does not require faith of him, but immediately healed his disorder; as it follows, And when the demon was cast out, then the dumb spoke.

HILARY; The natural order of things is here preserved; the demon is first cast out, and there the functions of the members proceed. And the multitude marveled saying, It was never so seen in Israel.

CHRYS; They set Him thus above others, because He not only healed, but with such ease, and quickness; and cured diseases both infinite in number, and in quality cured incurable. This most grieved the Pharisees, that they set Him before all others, not only those that then lived, but all who had lived before, on which account it follows, But the Pharisees said, He casts out demons through the Prince of demons.

REMIG; Thus the Scribes and Pharisees denied such of the Lord's miracles as they could deny; and such as they could not they explained by an evil interpretation, according to that, In the multitude of your excellency your enemies shall lie to you.

CHRYS; What can be more foolish than this speech of theirs? For it cannot be pretended that one demon would cast out another; for they are wont to consent to one another's deeds, and not to be at variance among themselves. But Christ not only cast out demons, but healed the lepers, raised the dead, forgave sins, preached the kingdom of God, and brought men to the Father, which a demon neither could nor would do.

RABAN; Figuratively; as in the two blind men were denoted both nations, Jews and Gentiles, so in the man dumb and afflicted with die demon is denoted the whole human race.

HILARY; Or; by the dumb and deaf; and demoniac, is signified the Gentile world, needing health in every part; for sunk in evil of every kind, they are afflicted with disease of every part of the body.

REMIG; For the Gentiles were dumb; not being able to open their month in the confession of the true faith, and the praises of the Creator, or because in paying worship to dumb idols they were made like them. They were afflicted with a demon, because by dying in unbelief they were made subject to the power of the Devil.

HILARY; But by the knowledge of God the frenzy of superstition being chased away, the sight, the hearing and the word of salvation is brought in to them.

JEROME; As the blind receive light, so the tongue of the dumb is loosed, that he may confess Him whom before he denied. The wonder of the multitude is the confession of the nations. The scoff of the Pharisees is the unbelief of the Jews, which is to this day.

HILARY; The wonder of the multitude is followed up by the confession, It was never so seen in Israel; because he, for whom there was no help under the Law, is saved by the power of the Word.

REMIG; They who brought the dumb to be healed by the Lord, signify the Apostles and preachers, who brought the Gentile people to be saved before the face of divine mercy.

AUG; This account of the two blind men and the dumb demon is read in Matthew only. The two blind men of whom the others speak are not the same as these, though something similar was done with them. So that even if Matthew had not also recorded their cure, we might have seen that this present narrative was of a different transaction. And this we ought diligently to remember, that many actions of our Lord are very much like one another, but are proved not to be the same action, by being born related at different times by the same Evangelist. So that when we find cases in which one is recorded by one Evangelist, and another by another, and some difference which we cannot reconcile between their accounts, we should suppose that they are like, but not the same, events.

36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
37. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;
38. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

CHRYS; The Lord would refute by actions the charge of the Pharisees, who said, He casts out demons by the prince of demons; for a demon having suffered rebuke, does not return good but evil to those who have not shown him honor. But the Lord on the other hand, when He has suffered blasphemy and contumely, not only does not punish, but does not utter a hard speech, yea he shows kindness to them that did it, as it here follows, And Jesus went about all their to towns and villages. Herein He teaches us not to return accusations to them that accuse us but kindness. for he that ceases to do good because of accusation, shows that his good has been done because of men. But if for God's sake you do good to your fellow-servants, you will not cease from doing good whatever they do , that your reward may be greater.

JEROME; Observe how equally in villages, cities, and towns, that is to great as well as small, He preaches the Gospel, not respecting the might of the noble, but the salvation of those that believe. It follows, Teaching in their synagogues; this was His meat, going about to do the will of His Father, and saving by His teaching such as yet believed not.

GLOSS; He taught in their synagogues the Gospel of the Kingdom, as it follows, Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

REMIG; Understand, 'of God;' for though temporal blessings are also proclaimed, yet they are not called The Gospel. Hence the Law was not called a Gospel, because to such as kept. it, it held out not heavenly, but earthly, goods.

JEROME; He first preached and taught, an d then proceeded to heal sicknesses, that the works might convince those who would not believe the words. Hence it follows, Healing every sickness and every disease, for to him alone nothing is impossible.

GLOSS; By disease we may understand complaints of long standing, by sickness any lesser infirmity.

REMIG. It. should be known that those whom He healed Outwardly in their bodies, He also healed inwardly in their souls. Others cannot do this of their own power, but can by God's grace.

CHRYS; Nor does Christ's goodness rest here, but He manifests His care for them, opening the bowels of His mercy towards them; whence it follows, And seeing the multitudes, He had compassion upon them.

REMIG; Herein Christ shows in Himself the disposition of the good shepherd and not that of the hireling. Why He pitied them is added, Because they were troubled, and sick as sheep that have no shepherd - troubled either by demons, or by diverse sicknesses and infirmities.

GLOSS; Or, troubled by demons, and sick, that is, benumbed and unable to rise; and though they had shepherds, yet they were as though they had them not.

CHRYS; This is an accusation against the rulers of the Jews, that being shepherds they appeared like wolves; not only not improving the multitude, but hindering their progress. For When the multitude marveled and said, It was never so seen in Israel, these opposed themselves , saying, He casts out demons by the prince of the demons.

REMIG; But when the Son of God ,looked down from heaven upon the earth, to hear the groans of the captives, straight a great harvest began to ripen; for the multitude of the human race would never have come near to the faith, had not the Author of human salvation looked down from heaven; and it follows, Then said he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is great, butt the laborers are few.

GLOSS; The harvest are those men who can he reaped by the preachers, and separated from the number of the damned, as grain is beaten out from the chaff that it may be laid up in granaries.

JEROME; The great harvest denotes the multitude of the people; the few laborers, the want of instructors.

REMIG; For the number of the Apostles was small in comparison of so great. crops to be reaped. The Lord exhorts His preachers, that. is, the Apostles and their followers, that they should daily desire an increase of their number; Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.

CHRYS; He privately insinuates Himself to he the Lord; for it is He Himself who is Lord of the harvest. For if He sent the Apostles to reap what they had not sown, it is manifest that He sent them not to reap the things of others, but what He had sown by the Prophets. But since the twelve Apostles are the laborers, lie said, Pray the Lord of' the harvest, that he would send laborers into his harvest; and notwithstanding lie added none to their number, but rather He multiplied those twelve many times, not by increasing their numbers, but by giving them more abundant grace.

REMIG; Or, He then increased their number when He chose the seventy and two, and then when many preachers were made what time the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers.

CHRYS; He shows us that it is a great gift that one should have the power of rightly preaching, in that He tells them that they ought to pray for it. Also we are here reminded of the words of John concerning the threshing-floor, amid the fan, the chaff, and the wheat.

HILARY; Figuratively; when salvation was given to the Gentiles, then all cities and towns were enlightened by the power and entrance of Christ, and escaped every other sickness and infirmity. The Lord pities the people troubled with the violence of the unclean Spirit., and sick under the burden of the Law, and having no shepherd at hand to bestow on them the guardianship of the Holy Spirit. But of that gift there was a most abundant fruit., whose plenty far exceeded the multitude of those that drank thereof; how many ever take of it, yet an inexhaustible supply remains; and because it is profitable that there should be many to minister it, He bids us ask the Lord of the harvest, that God would provide a supply of reapers for the ministration of that gift of the Holy Spirit which was made ready; for by prayer this gift is poured out upon us from God.

Catena Aurea Matthew 9

[annalex]

Church of San Clemente

12th century
Rome

[trisham]

So beautiful.

[annalex]

A few more views.

[trisham]

Wow! Incredible!

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

July 8, 2008

For the Pauline Year

I celebrated the beautiful Votive Mass of Saint Paul this morning. One of my resolutions for the Pauline Year is to offer the Votive Mass of Saint Paul once a week whenever the rubrics permit it. The Propers for this Mass are found in the Missale Romanum, Editio Typica Tertia, 2002, page 1185. I would be curious to know how many of my brother priests will also be celebrating the Votive Mass of Saint Paul during this special year of grace.

Introit

Scio cui credidi, et certus sum quia potens est
depositum meum servare in illum diem iustus iudex.

He, to whom I have given my confidence, is no stranger to me,
and I am fully persuaded that he has the means to keep my pledge safe,
until that day comes, the Lord, that Judge.
(2 Timothy 1, 12; 4, 8)

Collect

Domine Deus, qui beatum Paulum apostolum
ad praedicandum Evangelium mirabiliter designasti,
da fide mundum universum imbui,
quam ipse coram regibus gentibusque portavit
ut iugiter Ecclesia tua capiat augmentum.

Lord God, who, in a wonderful way, set apart the blessed Apostle Paul
for the preaching of the Gospel,
grant that the entire world may be imbued with the faith,
which he carried into the presence of kings and of peoples,
so that Your Church may ceaselessly increase.

Prayer Over the Oblations

Illo nos, quaesumus, Domine, divina tractantes,
fidei lumine Spiritus perfundat,
quo beatum Paulum apostolum
ad gloriae tuae propagationem collustravit.

As we handle these divine mysteries, O Lord,
we beseech You that the Holy Spirit may pour forth the light of faith
by which He illumined the blessed Apostle Paul
so as to spread Your glory.

Preface of the Apostles I

Communion Antiphon

In fide vivo Filii Dei, qui dilexit me,
et tradidit semetipsum pro me.

My real life is the faith I have in the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave Himself for me.
(Galatians 2, 20)

Postcommunion

Corporis et Sanguinis Filii tui, Domine,
communione refectis,
concede, ut ipse Christus sit nobis vivere,
nihilque ab eius nos separet caritate
et, beato monente Apostolo,
in dilectione cum fratribus ambulemus.

Now that we are refreshed, O Lord,
by the communion of the Body and Blood of Your Son,
grant that our life may be Christ Himself,
that nothing may separate us from His charity,
and that, following the teaching of the Apostle,
we may walk with our brethren in love.

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

Tender Heart
July 8, 2008

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Father Edward McIlmail, LC

Matthew 9:32-38
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus, and when the demon was driven out the mute person spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the prince of demons." Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, it´s good that I´m here with you. Your presence makes life worth living. You are the source of hope and the model of charity that guides me. Let me focus on this prayer with the same intensity that you showed in your mission.

Petition: Good Jesus, enliven my heart with a sense of compassion for others.

1. Thick Skin
Jesus astonished his audiences with his miracles and teachings. Indeed, Israel had never seen anything like him. Not everyone was favorably impressed, however. The Pharisees attributed the worst of motives to Jesus. But did that stop Our Lord? Hardly. He continued his work unabated: preaching, teaching, healing. He seemed to have thick skin; insults bounced off him. Do I have that same quality? Am I undeterred in sharing the Gospel with others? Am I generous with those who need my help, such as my parish and my family? To fear "what others will think" is not Jesus´ way. He wants us to be bold in witnessing to our faith. "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father" (Matthew 10:32). Do I keep doing good, even when others speak badly of me?

2. He Felt Their Pain
Our Lord oozes compassion for confused souls. Where weakness abounds, his strength surges. Where wounds abound, his healing reigns. No one who approaches him with hope ever comes away disappointed. Christ´s heart thirsts for souls, and he shows great willingness to meet us where we are. In turn, he asks us to show that same kind of concern for those around us. Do I show compassion to those struggling in their personal lives or in their spiritual lives?

3. Lifetime Laborers
Christ, as High Priest intercedes for humanity before his heavenly Father. Christ, as true God and true man, bridges the gap between human beings and the Father. And Jesus chooses to exercise his priesthood through human instruments, down to this very day. So important is the role of priests that the Church is unthinkable without them. "The assembly gathered together for the celebration of the Eucharist, if it is to be a truly Eucharistic assembly, absolutely requires the presence of an ordained priest as its president," Pope John Paul II wrote in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, No. 29. The priesthood reflects Christ´s love for us, and the priestly life is a beautiful way to serve the Church. Moreover, each priest has numerous souls depending on his fidelity; that is why vocations are everyone´s concern. Would I be willing to support a vocation in my family? If called, would I be willing to serve as a priest?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me see the best in people. Help me see that each person motivated you to shed your blood on a cross. Grant me the compassion to see confused souls as people who need my support. Let me appreciate deeply the way you work through priests and bishops.

Resolution: I will offer up a decade of the rosary for an increase in priestly vocations.

[Salvation]

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

How Are YOU Doing?

July 8th, 2008 by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Hos 8:4-7, 11-13 / Mt 9:32-38

Good help is hard to find. It’s always been so, and we need only listen to our own conversations to verify it. In the course of any week, a lot of us will have rendered judgment on the inadequacies of gardeners, politicians, grocery store clerks, teachers, preachers, and host of other available targets. And almost certainly those very people are equally busy casting aspersions on the performances of their own list of targets, which may well include us.

One really does have to ask, if all the critics have such clean hands, how can there be so many who are deserving of criticism?! The answer, of course, is that there are no perfectly clean hands! None of us is entirely living up to the life’s work God has assigned to us via the unique shape of our gifts. As Jesus said in today’s gospel, “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.”

By virtue of both our giftedness and our baptism, every one of us is called in a unique way to help those around us to thrive and to come to life ever more fully. It’s the ultimate criterion of our success or failure as human beings.

And that brings us to today’s question: How are you doing?

[Salvation]

Vespers -- Evening Prayer

Vespers (Evening Prayer)

O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.

---

A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.

Psalm 48 (49)

The uselessness of riches

All peoples, listen –
 all who live in the world, hear what I have to say:
humble and great together,
 rich and poor alike!

My mouth will speak wisdom,
 my inmost thoughts will bring good counsel.
I will turn my ears to a mystery,
 I will expound a riddle on the lyre.

Why should I be fearful in times of trouble,
 when the crimes of usurpers hem me in?
They trust in their own strength
 and glory in their great riches.

But, after all, man cannot redeem himself,
 he cannot ransom himself before God.
The price of his soul’s redemption is too great, he cannot pay it –
 the price of eternal death avoided.
He will see that even the wise die;
 the foolish and the stupid too will perish,
 and their riches will pass to others.

Their tombs will be homes to them for ever,
 their dwelling-place for all generations,
 even if the lands they owned are named after them.
Though he be full of honour, man will not endure:
 he is like the beasts of burden, that die;
 he is like the beasts that perish.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

---

Psalm 48 (49)

Those who trust in themselves – this is the road they take.
 This is the end of those who boast.
Like sheep they go down into the underworld,
 and death is their shepherd.
They will fall headlong into the grave:
 their faces will be eaten away,
 and the underworld will be their dwelling-place.

But God will ransom my life;
 truly he will lift me from the grasp of the underworld.
Do not fear, when a man becomes rich
 and the glory of his house increases.
When he dies, he will not take it with him,
 his glory will not follow him down to the grave.
Even if he calls himself blessed,
 says “see how they praise me for my success”,
still he will join his fathers,
 cut off from light, for ever.

Though he be full of honour, yet he does not understand.
 He is like the beasts of burden, that die;
 he is like the beasts that perish.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

---

Canticle	Apocalypse 4,5
The song of the redeemed
You are worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for you made all things, and it is by your will that they existed and were created. You are worthy, Lord, to receive the book and open its seals, for you were killed, and with your blood you have ransomed people from every tribe and language and people and nation, and made them rulers and priests for God; and they will rule over the earth. The Lamb is worthy, who was killed, to receive power and riches and wisdom, strength and honour, glory and blessing. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,  as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,  world without end. Amen.

---

Short reading	Romans 3:23 - 25 ©
All have sinned and forfeited God’s glory, and all are justified through the free gift of his grace by being redeemed in Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as to win reconciliation through faith.

---

Canticle	Magnificat
My soul rejoices in the Lord
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,  and my spirit rejoices in God, my salvation. For he has shown me such favour –  me, his lowly handmaiden. Now all generations will call me blessed,  because the mighty one has done great things for me. His name is holy,  his mercy lasts for generation after generation  for those who revere him. He has put forth his strength:  he has scattered the proud and conceited,  torn princes from their thrones;  but lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things;  the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel,  he has remembered his mercy as he promised to our fathers,  to Abraham and his children for ever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,  as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,  world without end. Amen.

---

Prayers and Intercessions

?

Christ is the guardian and shepherd of our souls: he loves his people and keeps them safe. Let us give him praise and with hope and trust let us ask him: - Lord, protect your people. Eternal Shepherd, protect our Bishop, N., and all the pastors of your church. Look with kindness on those who suffer persecution: swiftly free them from their tribulations. Take pity, Lord, on the destitute and give food to the hungry. Give light to legislators, so that they perceive what is wise and just. Raise up the dead whom you redeemed with your blood: make them worthy to join you at your feast in heaven.

Our Father, who art in Heaven,
 hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
 thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
 and forgive us our trespasses
 as we forgive those that trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
 but deliver us from evil.

Lord God, the day belongs to you and so does the night.
 May the Sun of Justice shine always in our hearts
 so that we may reach the eternal light where you dwell.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
 who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
 God for ever and ever.
Amen.

---

May the Lord bless us and keep us from all harm; and may he lead us to eternal life.

A M E N