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

1 posted on 02/19/2016 8:48:23 PM PST by Salvation

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 5
43.	You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy.	Audistis quia dictum est : Diliges proximum tuum, et odio habebis inimicum tuum.	ηκουσατε οτι ερρεθη αγαπησεις τον πλησιον σου και μισησεις τον εχθρον σου
44.	But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you:	Ego autem dico vobis : Diligite inimicos vestros, benefacite his qui oderunt vos, et orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos :	εγω δε λεγω υμιν αγαπατε τους εχθρους υμων ευλογειτε τους καταρωμενους υμας καλως ποιειτε τοις μισουσιν υμας και προσευχεσθε υπερ των επηρεαζοντων υμας και διωκοντων υμας
45.	That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.	ut sitis filii Patris vestri, qui in cælis est : qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos : et pluit super justos et injustos.	οπως γενησθε υιοι του πατρος υμων του εν [τοις] ουρανοις οτι τον ηλιον αυτου ανατελλει επι πονηρους και αγαθους και βρεχει επι δικαιους και αδικους
46.	For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this?	Si enim diligitis eos qui vos diligunt, quam mercedem habebitis ? nonne et publicani hoc faciunt ?	εαν γαρ αγαπησητε τους αγαπωντας υμας τινα μισθον εχετε ουχι και οι τελωναι το αυτο ποιουσιν
47.	And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? do not also the heathens this?	Et si salutaveritis fratres vestros tantum, quid amplius facitis ? nonne et ethnici hoc faciunt ?	και εαν ασπασησθε τους φιλους υμων μονον τι περισσον ποιειτε ουχι και οι τελωναι ουτως ποιουσιν
48.	Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.	Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester cælestis perfectus est.	εσεσθε ουν υμεις τελειοι ωσπερ ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις τελειος εστιν

2 posted on 02/20/2016 9:21:04 AM PST by annalex (fear them not)

43. You have heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.
44. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;
45. That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
46. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the Publicans do the same?
47. And if you salute your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Publicans do so?
48. Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.

GLOSS. The Lord has taught above that we must not resist one who offers any injury, but must be ready even to suffer more; He now further requires us to show to them that do us wrong both love and its effects. And as the things that have gone before pertain to the completion of the righteousness of the Law, in like manner this last precept is to be referred to the completion of the law of love, which, according to the Apostle, is the fulfilling of the Law.

AUG. That by the command, You shall love your neighbor, all mankind were intended, the Lord showed in the parable of the man who was left half dead, which teaches us that our neighbor is every one who may happen at any time to stand in need of our offices of mercy; and this who does not see must be denied to none, when the Lord says, Do good to them that hate you.

ID. That there were degrees in the righteousness of the Pharisees which was under the old Law is seen herein, that many hated even those by whom they were loved. He therefore who loves his neighbor, has ascended one degree, though as yet he hates his enemy; which is expressed in that, and shall hate your enemy, which is not to be understood as a command to the justified, but a concession to the weak.

ID. I ask the Manichaeans why they would have this peculiar to the Mosaic Law, that was said by them of old time, you shall hate your enemy? Has not Paul said of certain men that they were hateful to God? We must inquire then how we may understand that, after the example of God, to whom the Apostle here affirms some men to be hateful, our enemies are to be hated; and again after the same pattern of Him who makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, our enemies are to be loved. Here then is the rule by which we may at once hate our enemy for the evil's sake that is in him, that is, his iniquity, and love him for the good's sake that is in him, that is, his rational part. This then, thus uttered by them of old, being heard, but not understood, hurried men on to the hatred of man, when they should have hated nothing but vice. Such the Lord corrects as He proceeds, saying, I say to you, Love your enemies. He who had just declared that He came not to subvert the Law, but to fulfill it, by bidding us love our enemies, brought us to the understanding of how we may at once hate the same man for his sins whom we love for his human nature.

GLOSS. But it should be known that in the whole body of the Law it is nowhere written, You shall hate your enemy. But it is to be referred to the tradition of the Scribes, who thought good to add this to the Law, because the Lord bade the children of Israel pursue their enemies, and destroy Amalek from under Heaven.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. As that, You shall not lust, was not spoken to the flesh, but to the spirit, so in this the flesh indeed is not able to love its enemy, but the spirit is able; for the love and hate of the flesh is in the sense, but of the spirit is in the understanding. If then we feel hate to one who has wronged us, and yet will not to act upon that feeling, know that our flesh hates our enemy, but our soul loves him.

GREG. Love to an enemy is then observed when we are not sorrowful at his success, or rejoice in his fall. We hate him whom we wish not to he bettered, and pursue with ill wishes the prosperity of the man in whose fall we rejoice. Yet it may often happen that without any sacrifice of charity, the fall of an enemy may gladden us, and again his exaltation make us sorrowful without any suspicion of envy; when, namely, by his fall any deserving man is raised up, or by his success any undeservedly depressed. But herein a strict measure of discernment must be observed, lest in following out our own hates, we hide it from ourselves under the specious pretense of another's benefit. We should balance how much we owe to the fall of the sinner, how much to the justice of the Judge. For when the Almighty has struck any hardened sinner, we must at once magnify His justice as Judge, and feel with the other's suffering who perishes.

GLOSS. They who stand against the Church oppose her in three ways: with hate, with words, and with bodily tortures. The Church on the other hand loves them, as it is here, Love your enemies; does good to them, as it is, Do good to them that hate you; and prays for them, as it is, Pray for them that persecute you and accuse you falsely.

JEROME; Many measuring the commandments of God by their own weakness, not by the strength of the saints, hold these commands for impossible, and say that it is virtue enough not to hate our enemies; but to love them is a command beyond human nature to obey. But it must be understood that Christ enjoins not impossibilities but perfection. Such was the temper of David towards Saul and Absalom; the Martyr Stephen also prayed for his enemies while they stoned him, and Paul wished himself anathema for the sake of his persecutors. Jesus both taught and did the same, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

AUG. These indeed are examples of the perfect sons of God; yet to this should every believer aim, and seek by prayer to God, and struggles with himself to raise his human spirit to this temper. Yet this so great blessing is not given to all those multitudes which we believe are heard when they pray, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

ID. Here arises a question, that this commandment of the Lord, by which He bids us pray for our enemies, seems opposed by many other parts of Scripture. In the Prophets are found many imprecations upon enemies; such as that in the 109th Psalm, Let his children be orphans (Ps 109:9). But it should be known, that the Prophets are wont to foretell things to come in the form of prayer or wish. This has more weight as a difficulty that John says, There is a sin to death, I say not that he shall pray for it (1 John 5:16); plainly showing that there are some brethren for whom he does not bid us pray; for what went before was, If any know his brother sin a sin, &c. Yet the Lord bids us pray for our persecutors. This question can only be resolved, if we admit that there are some sins in brethren more grievous than the sin of persecution in our enemies. For thus Stephen prays for those that stoned him, because they had not yet believed on Christ; but the Apostle Paul does not pray for Alexander though he was a brother, but had sinned by attacking the brotherhood through jealousy. But for whom you pray not, you do not therein pray against him. What must we say then of those against whom we know that the saints have prayed, and that not that they should be corrected (for that would be rather to have prayed for them), but for their eternal damnation; not as that prayer of the Prophet against the Lord's betrayer, for that is a prophecy of the future, not an imprecation of punishment; but as when we read in the Apocalypse the Martyrs' prayer that they may be avenged. But we ought not to let this affect us. For who may dare to affirm that they prayed against those persons themselves, and not against the kingdom of sin? For that would be both a just and a merciful avenging of the Martyrs, to overthrow that kingdom of sin, under the continuance of which they endured all those evils. And it is overthrown by correction of some, and damnation of such as abide in sin. Does not Paul seem to you to have avenged Stephen on his on his own body, as he speaks, I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection.

PSEUDO-AUG. And the souls of them that are slain cry out to be avenged; as the blood of Abel cried out of the ground not with a voice, but in spirit. As the work is said to laud tine workman, when he delights himself in the view thereof; for the saints are not so impatient as to urge what they know will come to pass at the appointed time.

CHRYS. Note through what steps we have now ascended here, and how he has set us on the very pinnacle of virtue. The first step is not to begin to do wrong to any; the second, that in avenging a wrong done to us we be content with retaliating equal; the third, to return nothing of what we have suffered; the fourth, to offer one's self to the endurance of evil; the fifth, to be ready to suffer even more evil than the oppressor desires to inflict; the sixth, not to hate him of whom we suffer such things; the seventh, to love him; the eighth, to do him good; the ninth, to pray for him. And because the command is great, the reward proposed is also great, namely, to be made like to God, You shall be the sons of your Father which is in heaven.

JEROME; For whoever keeps the commandments of God is thereby made the son of God; he then of whom he here speaks is not by nature his son, but by his own will.

AUG. After that rule we must here understand of which John speaks, He gave them power to be made the sons of God. One is His Son by nature; we are made sons by the power which we have received; that is, so far as we fulfill those things that we are commanded. So He says not, Do these things because you are sons, but, do these things that you may become sons. In calling us to this then, He calls us to His likeness, for He says, He makes His sun to rise on the righteous and the unrighteous. By the sun we may understand not this visible, but that of which it is said, To you that fear the name of the Lord, the Sun of righteousness shall arise (Mal 4:2); and by the rain, the water of the doctrine of truth; for Christ was seen, and was preached to good as well as bad.

HILARY; Or, the sun and rain have reference to the baptism with water and Spirit.

AUG. Or we may take it of this visible sun, and of the rain by which the fruits are nourished, as the wicked mourn in the book of Wisdom, The Sun has not risen for us (Wisdom 5:6). And of the rain it is said, I will command the clouds that they rain not on it (Is 5:6). But whether it be this or that, it is of the great goodness of God, which is set forth for our imitation. He says not, 'the sun,' but His sun, that is, the sun which Himself has made, that hence we may be admonished with how great liberality we ought to supply those things that we have not created, but received as a boon from Him.

ID.But as we laud Him for his gifts, let us also consider how He chastises those whom He loves. For not everyone who spares is a friend, nor everyone who chastises an enemy; it is better to love with severity than to use lenity wherewith to deceive.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. He was careful to say, On the righteous and the unrighteous, and not 'on the unrighteous as on the righteous'; for God gives all good gifts not for men's sake, but for the saints' sake, as likewise chastisements for the sake of sinners. In bestowing His good gifts, He does not separate the sinners from the righteous that they should not despair; so in His infliction not the righteous from sinners that they should be made proud; and that the more, since the wicket are not profited by the good things they receive, but turn them to their hurt by their evil lives; nor are the good hurt by evil things, but rather profit to increase of righteousness.

AUG. For the good man is not puffed up by worldly goods, nor broken by worldly calamity. But the bad man is punished in temporal losses, because he is corrupted by temporal gains. Or for another reason he would have good and evil common to both sorts of men, that good things might not be sought with vehement desire, when they were enjoyed even by the wicked; nor the evil things shamefully avoided, when even the righteous are afflicted by them.

GLOSS.To love one that loves us is of nature, but to love our enemy of charity. If you love them who love you, what reward have you? to wit, in heaven. None truly, for of each it is said, You have received your reward. But these things we ought to do, and not leave the other undone.

RABAN.If then sinners be led by nature to show kindness to those that love them, with how much greater show of affection ought you not to embrace those that do not love you? For it follows, Do not even the publicans do so? The publicans are those who collect the public imposts; or perhaps those who pursue the public business or the gain of this world.

GLOSS. But if you only pray for them that are your kinsfolk, what more has your benevolence than that of the unbelieving? Salutation is a kind of prayer.

RABAN. Ethnici, that is, the Gentiles, for the Greek word is translated 'gens' in Latin; those, that is, who abide such as they were born, to wit, under sin.

REMIG. Because the utmost perfection of love cannot go beyond the love of enemies, therefore as soon as the Lord has bid us love our enemies, He proceeds, Be you then perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. He indeed is perfect, as being omnipotent - man, as being aided by the Omnipotent. For the word ' as' is used in Scripture, sometimes for identity, and equality, as in that, As I was with Moses, so will I be with you (Joshua 1:5); sometimes to express likeness only as here.

PSEUDO-CHRYS.For as our sons after the flesh resemble their fathers in some part of their bodily shape, so do spiritual sons resemble their father God, in holiness.

Catena Aurea Matthew 5

3 posted on 02/20/2016 9:21:47 AM PST by annalex (fear them not)

Pantocrator, Christ Savior and Life Giver

Metropolitan Jovan Zograf, Iconographer

1384
Church of the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration, Zrze - Prilep

4 posted on 02/20/2016 9:22:13 AM PST by annalex (fear them not)

To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; marshmallow; ...

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ Ping

Please FReepmail me to get on/off the Lenten Ping List.

5 posted on 02/20/2016 11:18:13 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

From: Deuteronomy 26:16-19

Israel, the People of the Lord

[16] “This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and or-
dinances; you shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with
all your soul. [17] You have declared this day concerning the Lord that he is
your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his com-
mandments and his ordinances, and will obey his voice; [18] and the LORD has
declared this day concerning you that you are a people for his own possession,
as e has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, [19]
that he will set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in
fame and in honor, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God,
as he has spoken.”

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

26:16-19. The main part of Moses’ second discourse (chaps. 5-26) ends with
a new, solemn proclamation of the Covenant between the Lord and his people,
on which their mutual relationship is based. Israel is the people — property of
God, chosen by him from among all nations. And the Lord, for his part, is the
God and Lord of Israel, whom he has solemnly promised to protect.

Verses 17 and 18 begin with turns of phrase typical of the language of con-
tacts and pacts: one contracting party has the other declare or swear some-
thing. This gives the passage great beauty and strength: through the wording
of the Covenant, Israel makes the Lord undertake to be its God and protector,
while God calls on Israel to testify that it will be faithful to his commandments.
The wording of the Covenant is extolled in other passages of the Old Testa-
ment. Thus, Hosea 2:25 uses the imagery of love to express the dialogue be-
tween God and Israel: “You are my people. [...] Thou art my God.”

By treating man in this way, God shows himself to be both near to man and far
above him. The mutual commitment of God and men in the Covenant is not a
simple business-like transaction; it is something enduring, something which is
being renewed all the time: for man, and particularly for the Christian, every day
is a renewal of the Covenant, a new beginning (cf. Is 43:19). St. J. Escriva writes
“Committed. How much I like that word! We children of God freely put ourselves
under an obligation to live a life of dedication to God, striving that He may have
complete and absolute sovereignty over our lives” (”The Forge”, 855).

As regards the structure of Deuteronomy in its present form, vv. 16-19 act as
both a summing up of Moses’ second discourse and as a preparation for chap-
ter 28, the end of that discourse, consisting of “Blessings and Curses” exhor-
ting Israel to be faithful to the Covenant it has made with the Lord.

*********************************************************************************************
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.

6 posted on 02/20/2016 11:19:13 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

From: Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus and His Teaching, the Fulfillment of the Law (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [43] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall
love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ [44] But I say to you, Love your ene-
mies and pray for those who persecute you. [45] So that you may be sons of
your Father who is in Heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the
good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. [46] For if you love those
who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the
same? [47] And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than
others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? [48] You, therefore, must be
perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

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

43. The first part of this verse—”You shall love your neighbor”—is to be found in
Leviticus 19:18. The second part—”hate your enemy”—is not to be found in the
Law of Moses. However, Jesus’ words refer to a widespread rabbinical interpre-
tation which understood “neighbors” as meaning “Israelites”. Our Lord corrects
this misinterpretation of the Law: for Him everyone is our neighbor (cf. the para-
ble of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37).

43-47. This passage sums up the teaching which precedes it. Our Lord goes
so far as to say that a Christian has no personal enemies. His only enemy is
evil as such—sin—but not the sinner. Jesus Himself puts this into practice with
those who crucified Him, and He continues to act in the same way towards sin-
ners who rebel against Him and despise Him. Consequently, the saints have
always followed His example—like St. Stephen, the first martyr, who prayed for
those who were putting him to death. This is the apex of Christian perfection—
to love, and pray for, even those who persecute us and calumniate us. It is the
distinguishing mark of the children of God.

46. “Tax collectors”: the Roman empire had no officials of its own for the collec-
tion of taxes: in each country it used local people for this purpose. These were
free to engage agents (hence we find reference to “chief tax collectors”: cf. Luke
19:2). The global amount of tax for each region was specified by the Roman au-
thorities; the tax collectors levied more than this amount, keeping the surplus
for themselves: this led them to act rather arbitrarily, which was why the people
hated them. In the case of the Jews, insult was added to injury by the fact that
the chosen people were being exploited by Gentiles.

48. Verse 48 is, in a sense, a summary of the teaching in this entire chapter,
including the Beatitudes. Strictly speaking, it is quite impossible for a created
being to be as perfect as God. What our Lord means here is that God’s own per-
fection should be the model which every faithful Christian tries to follow, even
though he realizes that there is an infinite distance between himself and his Crea-
tor. However, this does not reduce the force of this commandment; it sheds more
light on it. It is a difficult commandment to live up to, but along with this we must
take account of the enormous help grace gives us to go so far as to tend towards
divine perfection. Certainly, perfection which we should imitate does not refer to
the power and wisdom of God, which are totally beyond our scope; here the con-
text seems to refer primarily to love and mercy. Along the same lines, St. Luke
quotes these words of our Lord: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful”
(Luke 6:36; cf. note on Luke 6:20-49).

Clearly, the “universal call to holiness” is not a recommendation but a command-
ment of Jesus Christ.

“Your duty is to sanctify yourself. Yes, even you. Who thinks that this task is on-
ly for priests and religious? To everyone, without exception, our Lord said: ‘Be ye
perfect, as My Heavenly Father is perfect’” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 291). This
teaching is sanctioned by chapter 5 of Vatican II’s Constitution “Lumen Gentium”,
where it says (40): “The Lord Jesus, divine teacher and model of all perfection,
preached holiness of life (of which He is the author and maker) to each and every
one of His disciples without distinction: ‘You, therefore, must be perfect, as your
Heavenly Father is perfect’ [...]. It is therefore quite clear that all Christians in any
state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection
of love, and by this holiness a more human manner of life is fostered also in earth-
ly society.”

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

7 posted on 02/20/2016 11:19:55 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Violet.

First reading
Deuteronomy 26:16-19 ©

Moses said to the people: ‘The Lord your God today commands you to observe these laws and customs; you must keep and observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.

‘You have today made this declaration about the Lord: that he will be your God, but only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and listen to his voice. And the Lord has today made this declaration about you: that you will be his very own people as he promised you, but only if you keep all his commandments; then for praise and renown and honour he will set you high above all the nations he has made, and you will be a people consecrated to the Lord, as he promised.’

Psalm
Psalm 118:1-2,4-5,7-8 ©

They are happy who follow God’s law!

They are happy whose life is blameless,

who follow God’s law!

They are happy who do his will,

seeking him with all their hearts.

They are happy who follow God’s law!

You have laid down your precepts

to be obeyed with care.

May my footsteps be firm

to obey your statutes.

They are happy who follow God’s law!

I will thank you with an upright heart

as I learn your decrees.

I will obey your statutes;

do not forsake me.

They are happy who follow God’s law!

Gospel Acclamation	cf.Lk8:15

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Blessed are those who,

with a noble and generous heart,

take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Or	2Co6:2

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Now is the favourable time:

this is the day of salvation.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Gospel	Matthew 5:43-48 ©

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

8 posted on 02/20/2016 11:22:03 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Pray for Pope Francis.

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16 posted on 02/20/2016 12:22:50 PM PST by aimee5291

17 posted on 02/20/2016 1:01:29 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Jesus, High Priest

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

18 posted on 02/20/2016 1:04:49 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

19 posted on 02/20/2016 1:05:38 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

3. The Lord's Prayer: 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 who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

5. Glory Be: 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.

6. Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.

End with the Hail Holy Queen:
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Final step -- The Sign of the Cross

The Mysteries of the Rosary By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary. The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Joyful Mysteries

(Mondays and Saturdays)

1. The Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) [Spiritual fruit - Humility] 2. The Visitation (Luke 1: 39-56) [Spiritual fruit - Love of Neighbor]
3. The Nativity (Luke 2:1-20) [Spiritual fruit - Poverty of Spirit]
4. The Presentation (Luke 2:21-38) [Spiritual fruit - Purity of mind & body]
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-52) [Spiritual fruit - Obedience ]

20 posted on 02/20/2016 1:09:27 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

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February 20, 2016

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Reading 1 Dt 26:16-19

Responsorial Psalm PS 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

Verse Before the Gospel 2 Cor 6:2b

Gospel Mt 5:43-48

Readings at Mass