Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-04-04, Optional, St. John of Damascus

December 4, 2004
Saturday of the First Week of Advent

Reading I
Is 30:19-21, 23-26

Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.

He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.

Responsorial Psalm
147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R (see Isaiah 30:18d) Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Great is our LORD and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.

Gospel
Mt 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8

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."

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."

From: Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

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."

The Calling and First Mission of the Apostles

[1] And He called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority
over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and
every infirmity.

[5a] These twelve Jesus sent out charging them, [6] "But go rather to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel. [7] And preach as you go, saying, `The
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
lepers, cast out demons. You received without pay, give without pay."

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 mankind, 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 itself 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, behaving 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
farmwork, 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 feeling 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 Paul VI reminds us: "the responsibility for
spreading the Gospel that saves belongs to everyone--to all who have
received it! The missionary 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).

1-4. Jesus calls His twelve Apostles after recommending to them to
pray to the Lord to send laborers into His harvest (cf. Matthew 9:38).
Christians' apostolic action should always, then, be preceded and
accompanied by a life of constant prayer: apostolate is a divine
affair, not a merely human one. Our Lord starts His Church by calling
twelve men to be, as it were, twelve patriarchs of the new people of
God, the Church. This new people is established not by physical but by
spiritual generation. The names of those Apostles are specifically
mentioned here. They were not scholarly, powerful or important
people: they were average, ordinary people who responded faithfully to
the grace of their calling--all of them, that is, except Judas
Iscariot. Even before His death and resurrection Jesus confers on them
the power to cast out unclean spirits and cure illnesses--as an earnest
of and as training for the saving mission which He will entrust to
them.

The Church reveres these first Christians in a very special way and is
proud to carry on their supernatural mission, and to be faithful to the
witness they bore to the teaching of Christ. The true Church is absent
unless there is uninterrupted apostolic succession and identification
with the spirit which the Apostles made their own.

"Apostle": this word means "sent"; Jesus sent them out to preach His
Kingdom and pass on His teaching.

The Second Vatican Council, in line with Vatican I, "confesses" and
"declares" that the Church has a hierarchical structure: "The Lord
Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father, called to Himself those
whom He willed and appointed twelve to be with Him, whom He might send
to preach the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 3:13-19: Matthew 10:1-10).
These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college
or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen
from among them (cf. John 21:15-17). He sent them first of all to the
children of Israel and then to all peoples (cf. Romans 1:16), so that,
sharing in His power, they might make all peoples His disciples and
sanctify and govern them (cf. Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15; Luke
24:45-48; John 20:21-23) and thus spread the Church and, administering
it under the guidance of the Lord, shepherd it all days until the end
of the world (cf. Matthew 28:28)" ("Lumen Gentium", 19).

1. In this chapter St. Matthew describes how Jesus, with a view to the
spreading of the Kingdom of God which He inaugurates, decides to
establish a Church, which He does by giving special powers and training
to these twelve men who are its seed.

5-6. In His plan of salvation God gave certain promises (to Abraham
and the Patriarchs), a Covenant and a Law (the Law of Moses), and sent
the prophets. The Messiah would be born into this chosen people, which
explains why the Messiah and the Kingdom of God were to be preached to
the house of Israel first before being preached to the Gentiles.
Therefore, in their early apprenticeship, Jesus restricts the Apostles'
area of activity to the Jews, without this taking from the world-wide
scope of the Church's mission. As we will see, much later on He
charges them to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19;
"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation"
(Mark 16:16). The Apostles also, in the early days of the spread of
the Church, usually sought out the Jewish community in any new city
they entered, and preached first to them (cf. Acts 13:46).

7-8. Previously, the prophets, when speaking of the messianic times,
had used imagery suited to the people's spiritual immaturity. Now,
Jesus, in sending His Apostles to proclaim that the promised Kingdom of
God is imminent, lays stress on its spiritual dimension. The power
mentioned in verse 8 are the very sign of the Kingdom of God or the
reign of the Messiah proclaimed by the prophets. At first (Chapters 8
and 9) it is Jesus who exercises these messianic powers; now He gives
them to His disciples as proof that His mission is divine (Isaiah
35:5-6; 40:9; 52:7; 61:1).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. John was born around the year 676 in the city of Damascus and
was educated there in theology and the classics. His father was a
government official under Arab rule and John succeeded him to this
position when he was old enough. After several years, John resigned
and moved to the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem and there
he spent the rest of his life doing service and giving glory to God.

While living in the monastery, he wrote many works. Three of his
most influential works directly addressed religious and political
concerns of his time. One of his writings came out against the
iconoclasts, a second writing was a treatise summarizing the Greek
Fathers of the Church, and the third group of writings that he is
known for is his poetry. Through his homilies and other writings,
John also helped spread devotion to the Blessed Mother and the
Assumption. He died around the year 749 and is considered the last
of the Greek Fathers.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and
heirs of God. Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the
apostles, martyrs, ascetics, and just men who announced the coming
of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life,
patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death so that we
may also share their crowns of glory. -St. John Damascus

TODAY IN HISTORY

1154 Adrian IV elected to the papacy (only Englishman ever elected
to the papacy)
1563 Council of Trent holds last session
1674 Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette builds a mission on the
shores of Lake Michigan, becoming the first structure of Chicago.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

Alma Redemptoris Mater

Loving Mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for the return of all people that have fallen away from their
faith.

Mt 9:35 - 10:8
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
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
Chapter 10
1	And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.	et convocatis duodecim discipulis suis dedit illis potestatem spirituum inmundorum ut eicerent eos et curarent omnem languorem et omnem infirmitatem
2	And the names of the twelve Apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,	duodecim autem apostolorum nomina sunt haec primus Simon qui dicitur Petrus et Andreas frater eius
3	James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus,	Iacobus Zebedaei et Iohannes frater eius Philippus et Bartholomeus Thomas et Mattheus publicanus et Iacobus Alphei et Thaddeus
4	Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.	Simon Cananeus et Iudas Scariotes qui et tradidit eum
5	These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not.	hos duodecim misit Iesus praecipiens eis et dicens in viam gentium ne abieritis et in civitates Samaritanorum ne intraveritis
6	But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.	sed potius ite ad oves quae perierunt domus Israhel
7	And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.	euntes autem praedicate dicentes quia adpropinquavit regnum caelorum
8	Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give.	infirmos curate mortuos suscitate leprosos mundate daemones eicite gratis accepistis gratis date

One Bread, One Body

All Issues > Volume 21, Number 1

<< Saturday, December 4, 2004 >>

St. John Damascene

Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26

Psalm 147

Matthew 9:35—10:1, 6-8

View Readings

BOTTOM UP

“He will heal the bruises left by His blows.” —Isaiah 30:26

It’s possible to be so traumatized by disaster that a normal life no longer seems possible. In such a condition, a person can spend so much energy “waiting for the other shoe to drop” that they miss out on God’s good plans for them (Jer 29:11). It’s hard for them to trust again, to believe again, to hope again. After all, why get our hopes up only to be disappointed one more time?

Jesus is coming soon, and every barrier to His coming must be removed (see Is 40:4). Over and over in the Advent readings, God repeats His message of love, abundance, protection, and provision to those who have suffered much. God must remove every temptation to hopelessness, so He bombards us with words of His amazing love. At the same time, our culture bombards us with words promising quick escape from pain through the “auld lang syne” of the good old days. Many fall for the quick fix of excitement the culture offers at Christmas. It’s tempting to want to hope for a happy holiday instead of putting our hopes in God.

With God, often the great abundance comes only after we hit bottom. Only when the old runs out can we be given the best (see Jn 2:3ff). The resurrection comes only after walking through crucifixion. The exaltation comes after being humbled (1 Pt 5:6). The reward comes after the devastation (see Jl 2:25).

Open your heart again. You’ve been crushed, but “affliction makes for endurance, and endurance for tested virtue, and tested virtue for hope. And this hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rm 5:3-5). “Hope in the Lord” (Ps 131:3).

Prayer: Father, “I consider the sufferings of the present to be as nothing compared with the glory” to be found in You (Rm 8:18).

Promise: “No longer will your Teacher hide Himself.” —Is 30:20

Praise: St. John spent all of his life under Moslem rule, much of it fighting not them but heresy within the Church.

American Cathlic's Saint of the Day

December 4, 2004

St. John Damascene

(676?-749)

John spent most of his life in the monastery of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, and all of his life under Muslim rule, indeed, protected by it. He was born in Damascus, received a classical and theological education, and followed his father in a government position under the Arabs. After a few years he resigned and went to the monastery of St. Sabas.

He is famous in three areas. First, he is known for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images. Paradoxically, it was the Eastern Christian emperor Leo who forbade the practice, and it was because John lived in Muslim territory that his enemies could not silence him. Second, he is famous for his treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers (of which he became the last). It is said that this book is to Eastern schools what the Summa of Aquinas became to the West. Thirdly, he is known as a poet, one of the two greatest of the Eastern Church, the other being Romanus the Melodist. His devotion to the Blessed Mother and his sermons on her feasts are well known.

Comment:

John defended the Church’s understanding of the veneration of images and explained the faith of the Church in several other controversies. For over 30 years he combined a life of prayer with these defenses and his other writings. His holiness expressed itself in putting his literary and preaching talents at the service of the Lord.

Quote:

“The saints must be honored as friends of Christ and children and heirs of God, as John the theologian and evangelist says: ‘But as many as received him, he gave them the power to be made the sons of God....’ Let us carefully observe the manner of life of all the apostles, martyrs, ascetics and just men who announced the coming of the Lord. And let us emulate their faith, charity, hope, zeal, life, patience under suffering, and perseverance unto death, so that we may also share their crowns of glory” (Exposition of the Orthodox Faith).

ROMAN MISSAL -- DOUAY TEXTS

he will surely have pity on thee:
at the voice of thy cry,

-----------------†JMJ†-----------------
Saturday, 1st Week in the Season of Advent
---------------†AMDG†---------------

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON – Ps 79:4, 2
[Veni, et osténde nobis fáciem tuam, Dómine,
qui sedes super Chérubim, et salvi érimus.
Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth
Convert us, O God: and shew us thy face, and we shall be saved.

OPENING PRAYER
God our Father,
you loved the world so much
you gave your only Son to free us
from the ancient power of sin and death.
Help us who wait for his coming
and lead us to true liberty.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.

I confess to almighty God,
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault
--strike the breast--
in my thoughts and in my words
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin,
all the angels and saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

FIRST READING – Is 30:19-21, 23-26
The Merciful One will show you mercy when you cry out.

For the people of Sion shall dwell in Jerusalem:
weeping thou shalt not weep,
he will surely have pity on thee: at the voice of thy cry,
as soon as he shell hear, he will answer thee.
And the Lord will give you spare bread, and short water:
and will not cause thy teacher to flee away from thee any more,
and thy eyes shall see thy teacher.

21 And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: This is the way, walk ye in it: and go not aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 22 And thou shalt defile the plates of thy graven things of silver, and the garment of thy molten things of gold, and shalt cast them away as the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. Thou shalt say to it: Get thee hence.

And rain shall be given to thy seed,
wheresoever thou shalt sow in the land:
and the bread of the corn of the land shall be most plentiful, and fat.
The lamb in that day shall feed at large in thy possession:

And thy oxen, and the ass colts that till the ground,
shall eat mingled provender as it was winnowed in the floor.
And there shall be upon every high mountain,
and upon every elevated hill rivers of running waters in the day
of the slaughter of many, when the tower shall fall.

And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun,
and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,
as the light of seven days:
in the day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people,
and shall heal the stroke of their wound.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Ps 146:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Beáti omnes qui exspéctant Dóminum
(Is 30:18d)

Praise ye the Lord,
because psalm is good:
to our God be joyful and comely praise.
The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem:
he will gather together the dispersed of Israel.

Who healeth the broken of heart,
and bindeth up their bruises.
Who telleth the number of the stars:
and calleth them all by their names.

Great is our Lord,
and great is his power:
and of his wisdom there is no number.
The Lord lifteth up the meek,
and bringeth the wicked down even to the ground.

7 Sing ye to the Lord with praise: sing to our God upon the harp. 8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth. Who maketh grass to grow on the mountains, and herbs for the service of men. 9 Who giveth to beasts their food: and to the young ravens that call upon him. 10 He shall not delight in the strength of the horse: nor take pleasure in the legs of a man.

11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him: and in them that hope in his mercy.

ALLELUIA – Is 33:22
Dóminus iudex noster, léwgifer noster, rex noster: ipse salvábit nos.
Alleluia, alleluia
For the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king:
he will save us.
Alleluia, alleluia.

GOSPEL – Mt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus' heart was moved with pity for them.

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.

And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them:
because they were distressed,
and lying like sheep that have no shepherd.
Then he saith to his disciples,
The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he send forth labourers into his harvest.

And having called his twelve disciples together,
he gave them power over unclean spirits,
to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases,
and all manner of infirmities.

2 And the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, 3 James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, and James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus, 4 Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent:

commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not.

But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And going, preach, saying:
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils:
freely have you received, freely give.

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Lord,
may the gift we offer in faith and love
be a continual sacrifice in your honor
and truly become our eucharist and our salvation.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON – Apoc 22:12
Ece vénio cit et merces mea mecum est, dicit Dóminus,
dare unicuíque secúndum ópera sua.
Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me,
to render to every man according to his works.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
God of mercy,
may this Eucharist bring us your divine help,
free us from our sings,
and prepare us for the birthday of our Savior,
who is Lord for ever and ever.

SODALITY
FIRST SATURDAY OF DECEMBER

FIRST JOYFUL MYSTERY -- ANNUNCIATION

Presence of God

Grace I Ask
Understanding of this great prayer.

Hail Mary … these are the words of the angel's greeting to you… I repeat them… I say "good morning" to you… knowing that you are listening… May my prayer be pleasing to you.

Full of grace … grace makes us like God… you are full of grace… as muchl ike God as you possibly can be… help me to become spiritually "graceful."

The Lord is with thee … because you are pleasing to Him… because you are full of grace… I will always find him if I turn to you… for He is always with you… Please help me to stay with you both… always.

Blessed are thou among women … "blessed" means happy… you are surely the happiest of all women… because you are the closest to God… Help me to understand that lasting happiness and joy can be found only in God.

And blessed is the fruit of they womb … how happy anyone wold be to have you for a mother… yet you are my mother… for you were given to me by…

Jesus … God and Man… your creator and your Son… who came as King to rule my life… Help me to obey His commands and follow his advice.

Holy Mary … sinless Mary… all-pure Mary… most powerful Mary… help me… your Sodalist…to be a little like you.

Mother of God … mother of Christ… mother of divine grace… my mother… never turn away from your children, but …

Pray for us … for us… in our place… be our substitute… for us… all of us… Sodalists, all Catholics, all who need your help, for we are all…

sinners … who have failed your Son so often… help us…

Now … for weak are weak at every moment… help us today, tomorrow…

And at the hour of our death … stand by our cross as you stood by that of your Son… help us to die in God's favor… and come to life without end.

Amen … please, may it be so!

MENTAL PRAYER: Challenge to the Lay Apostle
Theologians Sodality Academy (St. Marys, KS; 1958)

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