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.

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28)

"Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb"
(Lk 1:42).

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. Paschal Baylon

Feast Day: May 17
Born: 1540 :: Died: 1592

Paschal was born at Torre Hermosa, in Aragon (which today is Spain). His pious parents Martin Baylon and Elizabeth Jubera were peasants. From the time he was seven, he worked as a shepherd. His parents could not afford to send him to school but he taught himself to read and write by asking everyone he met to help him. He did this so that he could read from holy books and he often whispered prayers during the day as he took care of the sheep.

When he was twenty-four, Paschal became a Franciscan brother. The other friars liked him. Paschal was easy to get along with and kind. They noticed that he often did the most unpleasant and hardest jobs that no one wanted to do.

He did hard penances that were even stricter than their rules. Yet he was a happy person. When he was a shepherd, he had wished he could be in church praying to Jesus. Now his wish had come true. He loved to keep Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament company. He was also very happy to serve at Mass.

St. Paschal's two great loves were the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Mother. Every day Paschal prayed the Rosary with great love. He also wrote beautiful prayers to our Heavenly Mother.

Out of some scraps of paper, St. Paschal made himself a little notebook. In it, he wrote down some beautiful thoughts and prayers. After he died, his superior showed the little book to the local archbishop who reading it said, "These simple souls are stealing heaven from us!"

Paschal died in 1592 at the age of fifty-two.

Reflection: How can we grow closer to Jesus in the Eucharist and to Mary? We can make a special visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and ask Mary to help us be faithful to her Son.

Mark
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Mark 9
30.	9:29 And departing from thence, they passed through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know it.	9:29 Et inde profecti prætergrediebantur Galilæam : nec volebat quemquam scire.	και εκειθεν εξελθοντες παρεπορευοντο δια της γαλιλαιας και ουκ ηθελεν ινα τις γνω
31.	9:30 And he taught his disciple, and said to them: The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise again the third day.	9:30 Docebat autem discipulos suos, et dicebat illis : Quoniam Filius hominis tradetur in manus hominum, et occident eum, et occisus tertia die resurget.	εδιδασκεν γαρ τους μαθητας αυτου και ελεγεν αυτοις οτι ο υιος του ανθρωπου παραδιδοται εις χειρας ανθρωπων και αποκτενουσιν αυτον και αποκτανθεις τη τριτη ημερα αναστησεται
32.	9:31 But they understood not the word, and they were afraid to ask him.	9:31 At illi ignorabant verbum : et timebant interrogare eum.	οι δε ηγνοουν το ρημα και εφοβουντο αυτον επερωτησαι
33.	9:32 And they came to Capharnaum. And when they were in the house, he asked them: What did you treat of in the way?	9:32 Et venerunt Capharnaum. Qui cum domi essent, interrogabat eos : Quid in via tractabatis ?	και ηλθεν εις καπερναουμ και εν τη οικια γενομενος επηρωτα αυτους τι εν τη οδω προς εαυτους διελογιζεσθε
34.	9:33 But they held their peace, for in the way they had disputed among themselves, which of them should be the greatest.	9:33 At illi tacebant : siquidem in via inter se disputaverunt : quis eorum major esset.	οι δε εσιωπων προς αλληλους γαρ διελεχθησαν εν τη οδω τις μειζων
35.	9:34 And sitting down, he called the twelve, and saith to them: If any man desire to be first, he shall be the last of all, and the minister of all.	9:34 Et residens vocavit duodecim, et ait illis : Si quis vult primus esse, erit omnium novissimus, et omnium minister.	και καθισας εφωνησεν τους δωδεκα και λεγει αυτοις ει τις θελει πρωτος ειναι εσται παντων εσχατος και παντων διακονος
36.	9:35 And taking a child, he set him in the midst of them. Whom when he had embraced, he saith to them:	9:35 Et accipiens puerum, statuit eum in medio eorum : quem cum complexus esset, ait illis :	και λαβων παιδιον εστησεν αυτο εν μεσω αυτων και εναγκαλισαμενος αυτο ειπεν αυτοις
37.	9:36 Whosoever shall receive one such child as this in my name, receiveth me. And whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.	9:36 Quisquis unum ex hujusmodi pueris receperit in nomine meo, me recipit : et quicumque me susceperit, non me suscipit, sed eum qui misit me.	ος εαν εν των τοιουτων παιδιων δεξηται επι τω ονοματι μου εμε δεχεται και ος εαν εμε δεξηται ουκ εμε δεχεται αλλα τον αποστειλαντα με

30. And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.
31. For he taught his disciples, and said to them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
32. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
33. And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that you disputed among yourselves by the way?
34. But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.
35. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and said to them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
36. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said to them,
37. Whoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receives me: and whoever shall receive me, receives not me, but him that sent me.

THEOPHYL. It is after miracles that the Lord inserts a discourse concerning His Passion, lest it should be thought that He suffered because He could not help it; wherefore it is said, And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee: and he would not that any man should know it.

For he taught his disciples, and said to them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him.

BEDE; He always mingles together sorrowful and joyful things, that sorrow should not by its suddenness frighten the Apostles, but be borne by them with prepared minds.

THEOPHYL. After, however, saying what was sorrowful, He adds what ought to rejoice them; wherefore it goes on: And after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day; in order that we may learn that joys come on after struggles. There follows: But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

BEDE; This ignorance of the disciples proceeds not so much from slowness of intellect, as from love for the Savior, for they were as yet carnal, and ignorant of the mystery of the cross, they could not therefore believe that He whom they had recognized as the true God, was about to die; being accustomed then to hear Him often talk in figures, and shrinking from the event of His death, they would have it, that something was conveyed figuratively in those things, which he spoke openly concerning His betrayal and passion. It goes on: And he came to Capernaum.

PSEUDO-JEROME; Capernaum means the city of consolation, and agrees with the former sentence, which He had spoken: And after that he is killed, he shall arise the third day. There follows: And being in the house he asked them, What was it that you disputed among yourselves by the way?

But they held their peace.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Matthew however says, that the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? The reason is, that he did not begin the narrative from its commencement, but omitted our Savior's knowledge of the thoughts and words of His disciples; unless we understand Him to mean, that even what they thought and said, when away from Christ, was said to Him, since it was as well known to Him as if it had been said to Him. It goes on: For by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. But Luke says, that "the thought entered into the disciples which of them should be the greatest"; for the Lord laid open their thought and intention from their private discourse, according to the Gospel narrative.

PSEUDO-JEROME; It was fit also that they should dispute concerning the chief place by the way the dispute is like the place where it is held; for lofty station is only entered upon to be quitted: as long as a man keeps it, it is slippery, and it is uncertain at what stage, that is, on what day it will end.

BEDE, The reason why the dispute concerning the chief place arose amongst the disciples seems to have been, that Peter, James, and John, were led apart from the rest into the mountain, and that something secret was there entrusted to them, also that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were promised to Peter, according to Matthew. Seeing however the thoughts of the disciples, the Lord takes care to heal the desire of glory by humility; for He first, by simply commanding humility, admonishes them that a high station was not to be aimed at. Wherefore it goes on: And he sat down, and called the twelve, and said to them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

JEROME; Where it is to be observed, that the disciples disputed by the way concerning the chief place, but Christ Himself sat down to teach humility; for princes toil while the humble repose.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. The disciples indeed wished to receive honor at the hands of the Lord; they also had a desire to be made great by Christ, for the greater a man is, the more worthy of honor he becomes, for which reason He did not throw an obstacle in the way of that desire, but brought in humility.

THEOPHYL. For His wish is not that we should usurp for ourselves chief places, but that we should attain to lofty heights by lowliness. He next admonishes them by the example of a child's innocence; wherefore there follows: And he took a child, and set him inn the midst of them.

CHRYS. By this very sight, persuading them to humility and simplicity; for this little one was pure from envy and vain glory, and from a desire of superiority. But He does not only say, If you become such, you shall receive a great reward, but also, if you will honor others, who are such for my sake. Wherefore there follows: And when he had taken him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receives me.

BEDE; By which, He either simply shows, that those who would become greater must receive the poor of Christ in honor of Him, or He would persuade them to be in malice children, to keep simplicity without arrogance, charity without envy, devotedness without anger. Again, by taking the child into His arms, He implies that the lowly are worthy of His embrace and love. He adds also, In my name, that they might, with the fixed purpose of reason, follow for His names sake that mold of virtue to which the child keeps, with nature for his guide. And because He taught that He Himself was received in children, lest it should be thought that there was nothing in Him but what was seen, he added, And whoever shall receive me, receive not me, but Him that sent me; thus wishing, that we should believe Him to be of the same nature and of equal greatness with His Father.

THEOPHYL. See, how great is humility, for it wins for itself the indwelling of the Father, and of the Son, and also of the Holy Ghost.

Catena Aurea Mark 9

Tuesday

May 17, 2016

When I am Having A Bad Day...

She is my mother. When I’m having a bad day, I picture myself throwing my arms around her, ‘Mom, mom, please help me!’ But instead of complaining how Bobby pulled my hair at recess, I tell her that I’m worried about my own children and whether or not I’m a good mother. She holds me close in her lap and she tells me it’s going to be all right, that I am strong and that I can do anything with the strength of Jesus.

‘Shhhh,’ she says. I just rest in her. I’m silent. I let her hold me and pray over me. I let her pray for me and take my prayers to her son. She asks her son to show me mercy. She asks her Son to give me strength.”

An excerpt of an article by Sterling Jaquith for CatholicMom.com at http://catholicmom.com/2016/05/13/ilovemamamary/

Year of Mercy Calendar for Today: “Pay for the meal/coffee of the person behind you.”

Catholic Culture

Ordinary Time: May 17th

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time

MASS READINGS

May 17, 2016 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, always pondering spiritual things, we may carry our in both word and deed that which is pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Recipes (1)

Coffee Bread-and-Butter Pudding

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Prayers (4)

Old Calendar: St. Paschal Baylon, confessor

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Paschal Baylon, who lived and died in the kingdom of Aragon, Spain. He spent his early years as a shepherd and often gave religious instruction to the shepherds on the hills of Aragon. At the age of twenty-four he entered the Franciscan Order and embraced the humble, austere life of a lay brother. He was noted for his devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Pope Leo XIII declared him protector or all Eucharistic Congresses and works. His feast is no longer on the calendar in the United States.

St. Paschal Baylon
Paschal Baylon (named after the day of his birth and death: Pentecost Sunday—Pascha Pentekostes) was a simple, pious shepherd boy who later became an ardent spiritual son of St. Francis and the heavenly patron of adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament. He belongs to that illustrious circle of saints who, by heroic holiness of life, refurbished the Church's crown that had been desecrated by the heretics of the sixteenth century. He hailed from the Spanish section of Valencia and died at the age of 52. As he lay dead upon the bier, he opened and closed his eyes twice when the sacred species were elevated at the consecration. Leo XIII declared him the heavenly patron of all Eucharistic leagues and societies.

One day Paschal heard the bells of a convent announce the approaching consecration at Mass. Such an ardent longing for God overcame him that, prompted by yearning and love, he involuntarily cried out: "O God, most worthy of all adoration, please let me see You!" Hardly had he uttered the prayer when a glowing star appeared in the sky. As he watched, the heavens opened; the star disappeared and was replaced by a chalice with the Host, flanked by two adoring angels. Christian art has selected this vision to show his chief virtue, viz., love for the most holy Eucharist.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Cooks; Eucharistic congresses and organizations (proclaimed by Pope Leo XIII); Obado, Bulacan, Phillipines.

Symbols: In adoration before a vision of the Host.

Things to Do:

Whoever intends to live with the Church must make the holy Eucharist the primary concern of his life. But he can accomplish this only by participating as actively as possible with the priest in offering the Sacrifice and by receiving holy Communion as part of the sacrificial banquet. Receive the Blessed Sacrament today with the desire to fully appreciate this great gift.

The Word Among Us

Meditation: James 4:1-10

7th Week in Ordinary Time

Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? (James 4:1)

Wouldn’t we all like to know? We see our world torn apart by war. We see conflicts at all levels of society, including divisions that threaten to destroy our families. Civilizations have been dealing with conflict in one form or another since history began. Of course, there are often complex political reasons, but James cuts through all the arguments and tells us that conflict stems from sin—from those things within us that are at enmity with God.

We may not always acknowledge it, but a war is raging right now in each of our hearts! Our desires for the things of God are directly opposed to our desires for the things of this world (Galatians 5:17). As we contend with these dueling desires, the internal conflict can become external and cause strife with other people. No one is exempt from this tension: even the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest (Mark 9:33-34)!

So what’s the answer? Should we just throw up our hands and resign ourselves to a life of battles and wars? Absolutely not! James outlines two key steps to overcoming this conflict: we must submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. If we come to God, he will come to us (James 4:7-8). Before we can take any of those steps, however, we first have to look within ourselves and recognize the struggle we are facing. When we’ve realized that we can’t deal with it on our own, then we are ready to ask God for help!

If you want peace in the world, start by building peace in your own life. Humbly turn your heart to God and ask him to help you resist the passions that pull you away from him. If you do, you will see victory little by little. You will become more peaceful as you become more closely attached to Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Then, the people in your family, at work, and in your community will be drawn to you as they sense that peace—and they’ll start to change too. As the old song says, peace on earth really can “begin with me”!

“Lord, as you calmed the Sea of Galilee, please calm the storms within me. Let your peace abide in my heart and become a beacon to those around me!”

Psalm 55:7-11, 23
Mark 9:30-37

Regnum Christi

Daily Prayer 2016-05-17
Listen to podcast version here.

The Journey Away from Self

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

May 17, 2016 - Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Father Edward Hopkins, LC

Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me."

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe in you, present and interested in my life. I believe you await my prayer to guide my heart, my visits to the Eucharist to strengthen my will, and my challenges to help my surrender. I trust you will give your life to me in exchange for my self-denial. I love you and want to love you more by embracing and living out your will. Mother Mary, teach me to say with you, “Let it be done unto me.”

Petition: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”

Apostolic Training: This was one journey Jesus chose to do in secret. Why? Because he wanted to dedicate all his attention and efforts to teaching his apostles the deepest and most important secret of his life: He must die! All that they had lived so far was thus incomplete, merely a preparation for the final act of his mission: the consummation of his love, his total immolation on the cross. Would they understand the need for the seed to die before rising to new life? How hard it would be for them to listen! He was their Lord, the powerful, Messianic king coming to free them and establish his kingdom of truth and love. They still imagined scenarios of new victories, cures, defeat of demons, the silencing of their opposition…. How far their dreams were from Jesus’ message! We too have our own desires and needs. Can we detach ourselves from these dreams long enough to understand in prayer his will and his plan of salvation for us?

Slow Learners: Not only did they “not understand the saying,” but “they were afraid to question him.” In other words, they did not want to know. How often our communication problem is not something intellectual, but rather something of the will! Our desire is more to “get our way,” “make our point” or “affirm ourselves.” Learning Christ’s way requires that we in some way unlearn our own ways. “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). This explains why no one can be neutral before Christ; he challenges us to change our life. Jesus occasioned the fierce opposition of those who would ultimately put him to death. How open am I to his challenges? Do I listen in prayer in order to respond with a docile but firm “Amen”?

The Hardest Lesson: Like little boys caught in the act, the apostles don’t dare admit that they have been arguing about who among them is greatest. Not only do they fail “to listen” to Jesus; to the contrary, they are busy asserting their will. What would it take to teach them this most difficult but vital truth? So Jesus, with a father’s love, holds a child before them and begins the lesson anew. This small child is the greatest! To be last, to serve, to give your life makes you great, since this is how God comes to us. Only the sight of Jesus crucified would burn this lesson more deeply on their hearts. Am I learning this lesson of sacrificial love to become the greatest I can become?

Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord, open my heart to listen to your will for me. Free me from my own self-love, ideas and dreams. Teach me to die to myself as I enter into prayer and as I enter into work. Help me to work, pray and live so that you and your love can rise up in my life in place of the poverty of my own qualities and efforts.

Resolution: I will listen well before trying to offer my own thoughts or desires in prayer and in interacting with family and others, so better to hear the Lord.

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 32, Issue 3

<< Tuesday, May 17, 2016 >>

James 4:1-10
View Readings

Psalm 55:7-11, 23

Mark 9:30-37
Similar Reflections

RANKLED WITH RANKINGS

"If anyone wishes to rank first, he must remain the last one of all." —Mark 9:35

Rankings! Ratings! Polls! Surveys! Standings! Our culture thrives on these measures. We constantly argue about who is most important (Mk 9:34). We have political approval polls, opinion polls, talk shows, sports standings, Most Valuable Players, Nielsen ratings of TV shows, Fortune 500 companies, and even TV shows which rank who is worthy to "survive" another week at the expense of eliminating someone else. However, our modern culture is not the first to be obsessed about ranking. The apostles on several occasions fell into this trap of rivalry. It's part of our fallen human nature (Jas 4:5). If we continue to live by the world's competitive standards, we will destroy ourselves or at least "vote each other off the island"! (see Gal 5:15) We need a new nature to escape this trap.

In our Baptism, Jesus gives us a new nature which brings us into His kingdom. Jesus' kingdom is not like that of this world; living under Jesus' lordship is the complete opposite (Jas 4:4). We are to "never act out of rivalry or conceit" (Phil 2:3). Jesus warns: "It cannot be that way with you" (Mt 20:26). Jesus molds diverse people into complementary parts (1 Cor 12:12ff), not competing ones. We are to be "like-minded" and not rivals (see 1 Cor 1:10). "Let all parties think humbly of others as superior to themselves" (Phil 2:3).

Prayer: Father, "I have come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil 3:8). Give me the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16).

Promise: "Cast your care upon the Lord, and He will support you; never will He permit the just man to be disturbed." —Ps 55:23

Praise: José accepted Jesus as Lord and himself as His servant.

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