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July 14, 2016 Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin Reading 1 Is 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 The way of the just is smooth;the path of the just you make level.Yes, for your way and your judgments, O LORD,we look to you;Your name and your titleare the desire of our souls.My soul yearns for you in the night,yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you;When your judgment dawns upon the earth,the world’s inhabitants learn justice.O LORD, you mete out peace to us,for it is you who have accomplished all we have done. O LORD, oppressed by your punishment,we cried out...

July 13, 2016 Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 10:5-7, 13b-16 Thus says the LORD:Woe to Assyria! My rod in anger,my staff in wrath.Against an impious nation I send him,and against a people under my wrath I order himTo seize plunder, carry off loot,and tread them down like the mud of the streets.But this is not what he intends,nor does he have this in mind;Rather, it is in his heart to destroy,to make an end of nations not a few. For he says:“By my own power I have done it,and by my wisdom, for...

July 11, 2016 Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot Reading 1 Is 1:10-17 Hear the word of the LORD,princes of Sodom!Listen to the instruction of our God,people of Gomorrah!What care I for the number of your sacrifices?says the LORD.I have had enough of whole-burnt ramsand fat of fatlings;In the blood of calves, lambs and goatsI find no pleasure. When you come in to visit me,who asks these things of you?Trample my courts no more!Bring no more worthless offerings;your incense is loathsome to me.New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.Your new moons and festivals I...

July 9, 2016 Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Is 6:1-8 In the year King Uzziah died,I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,with the train of his garment filling the temple.Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:with two they veiled their faces,with two they veiled their feet,and with two they hovered aloft. They cried one to the other,“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!All the earth is filled with his glory!”At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shookand the house was filled with...

July 6, 2016 Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 Israel is a luxuriant vinewhose fruit matches its growth.The more abundant his fruit,the more altars he built;The more productive his land,the more sacred pillars he set up.Their heart is false,now they pay for their guilt;God shall break down their altarsand destroy their sacred pillars.If they would say,“We have no king”—Since they do not fear the LORD,what can the king do for them? The king of Samaria shall disappear,like foam upon the waters.The high places of Aven shall be destroyed,the sin of Israel;thorns...

July 5, 2016 Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time 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 madeidols 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 attaininnocence 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 earcan yield...

Beware of Fake Mercy - Behold True Mercy in the Call of St. Matthew Msgr. Charles Pope • July 3, 2016 • This year in particular (the year of mercy), we are summoned to reflect on the concept of mercy. Many think of mercy as an overlooking of sin rather than as a remedy for it. To some, the fact of God’s mercy is a sign that He doesn’t care about sin and is content to leave us in it. Those who speak to the reality of mercy are often called harsh, mean-spirited, etc. Many set mercy and sin...

July 1, 2016 Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 8:4-6, 9-12 Hear this, you who trample upon the needyand destroy the poor of the land!“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,“that we may sell our grain,and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?”We will diminish the containers for measuring,add to the weights,and fix our scales for cheating!We will buy the lowly man for silver,and the poor man for a pair of sandals;even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!” On that day, says the Lord GOD,I will make the sun...

June 30, 2016 Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 7:10-17 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam,king of Israel:“Amos has conspired against you here within Israel;the country cannot endure all his words.For this is what Amos says:Jeroboam shall die by the sword,and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.” To Amos, Amaziah said:“Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!There earn your bread by prophesying,but never again prophesy in Bethel;for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet,nor have I belonged to...

In her book, The Shepherd Who Didn’t Run, on the life of Fr. Stanley Rother, America’s first declared martyr, María Ruiz Scaperlanda details how poor scholarship, possibly stemming from a learning disability, almost derailed Rother’s ordination. Recently Aleteia featured a prayer for struggling students to Saint Joseph Cupertino, another famously weak theologian, and it got us thinking about how God uses the sublimely brilliant, like Aquinas and Augustine, as well as everyday folks who do not feel called to be scholars, for his divine purposes.For instance, look at these three saints who failed numerous academic examinations, but continue to...

June 29, 2016 Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul - Mass during the Day Reading 1 Acts 12:1-11 In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them.He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword,and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jewshe proceeded to arrest Peter also.–It was the feast of Unleavened Bread.–He had him taken into custody and put in prisonunder the guard of four squads of four soldiers each.He intended to bring him before the people after Passover.Peter thus was being kept in prison,but prayer...

June 28, 2016 Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr Reading 1 Am 3:1-8; 4:11-12 Hear this word, O children of Israel, that the LORD pronounces over you,over the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt: You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth;Therefore I will punish youfor all your crimes. Do two walk togetherunless they have agreed?Does a lion roar in the forestwhen it has no prey?Does a young lion cry out from its denunless it has seized something?Is a bird brought to earth by a snarewhen there is no...

June 27, 2016 Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Am 2:6-10, 13-16 Thus says the LORD:For three crimes of Israel, and for four,I will not revoke my word;Because they sell the just man for silver,and the poor man for a pair of sandals.They trample the heads of the weakinto the dust of the earth,and force the lowly out of the way.Son and father go to the same prostitute,profaning my holy name.Upon garments taken in pledgethey recline beside any altar;And the wine of those who have been finedthey drink in the house of their god. Yet...

June 26, 2016 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21 The LORD said to Elijah:“You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah,as prophet to succeed you.” Elijah set out and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat,as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen;he was following the twelfth.Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,“Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,and I will follow you.”Elijah answered, “Go back!Have I done anything to you?”Elisha left him, and taking the yoke of oxen,...

June 24, 2016 Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist - Mass during the Day Reading 1 Is 49:1-6 Hear me, O coastlands,listen, O distant peoples.The LORD called me from birth,from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.He made of me a sharp-edged swordand concealed me in the shadow of his arm.He made me a polished arrow,in his quiver he hid me.You are my servant, he said to me,Israel, through whom I show my glory. Though I thought I had toiled in vain,and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,yet my reward is with the LORD,my recompense...

June 22, 2016 Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3 The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan,“I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD.”Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported,“Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the templeand have consigned them to the master workmenin the temple of the LORD.”The scribe Shaphan also informed the kingthat the priest Hilkiah had given him a book,and then read it aloud to the king.When the...

June 21, 2016 Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious Reading 1 2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent envoys to Hezekiahwith this message: “Thus shall you say to Hezekiah, king of Judah:‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive youby saying that Jerusalem will not be handed overto the king of Assyria.You have heard what the kings of Assyria have doneto all other countries: they doomed them! Will you, then, be saved?’” Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it;then he went up to the temple of the...

An awesome documentary on the Vendee uprising and the massacre of catholics in France in the French Revolution The Vendee is a taboo in France. It is nearly forgotten but thankfully isn't. In 1793, after the execution of Louis XVI, Catholic Farmers in the Vendee region of France revolted against the newly formed godless republic headed by Robbspierre. The response by the newly created republic was monstrous. Over Half a milllion people, men women children and elderly were put to death by the government for opposing it and for promoting Catholic faith. Very few acknowledged its existence, John Paul II...

St. Anthony of Padua, Servant of the Gospel By: Jeanne Kun "Let Works of Mercy Be Our Delight"> Stories abound about the extraordinary events coloring the life of St. Anthony of Padua, the “wonder-worker.” Fish are said to have listened to him preach, their heads attentively raised out of the river, when the hard of heart refused to heed his words. A donkey knelt reverently before the Blessed Sacrament, convincing heretics who had challenged Anthony on Christ’s presence in the host. A severed foot was reportedly rejoined to its owner’s leg when Anthony blessed it. Statues depicting Anthony with the...

June 13, 2016 Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 1 Kgs 21:1-16 Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreelnext to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to be my vegetable garden,since it is close by, next to my house.I will give you a better vineyard in exchange, or,if you prefer, I will give you its value in money.”Naboth answered him, “The LORD forbidthat I should give you my ancestral heritage.”Ahab went home disturbed and angry at the answerNaboth the Jezreelite had made...