Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 07-11-05, Memorial, St. Benedict, Abbot

July 11, 2005
Memorial of Saint Benedict, abbot

Psalm: Monday 31

Reading I
Ex 1:8-14, 22

A new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
He said to his subjects, "Look how numerous and powerful
the people of the children of Israel are growing, more so than we ourselves!
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;
otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies
to fight against us, and so leave our country."

Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the children of Israel
to oppress them with forced labor.
Thus they had to build for Pharaoh
the supply cities of Pithom and Raamses.
Yet the more they were oppressed,
the more they multiplied and spread.
The Egyptians, then, dreaded the children of Israel
and reduced them to cruel slavery,
making life bitter for them with hard work in mortar and brick
and all kinds of field work—the whole cruel fate of slaves.

Pharaoh then commanded all his subjects,
"Throw into the river every boy that is born to the Hebrews,
but you may let all the girls live."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 124:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8

R. (8a) Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Had not the LORD been with us—
let Israel say, had not the LORD been with us—
When men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive,
When their fury was inflamed against us.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Then would the waters have overwhelmed us;
The torrent would have swept over us;
over us then would have swept
the raging waters.
Blessed be the LORD, who did not leave us
a prey to their teeth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
We were rescued like a bird
from the fowlers' snare;
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
R. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Gospel
Mt 10:34—11:1

Jesus said to his Apostles:
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.
I have come to bring not peace but the sword.
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one's enemies will be those of his household.

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

"Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is righteous
will receive a righteous man's reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because he is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."

When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples,
he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.

From: Exodus 1:8-14, 22

The Sons of Israel are Oppressed

[8] Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. [9] And
he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too
mighty for us. [10] Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they
multiply, and, if war befall us, they join our enemies and fight against us
and escape from the land." [11] Therefore they set taskmasters over them to
afflict them with heavy burdens; and they built for Pharaoh store-cities,
Pithom and Ra-amses. [12] But the more they were oppressed, the more they
multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread
of the people of Israel. [13] So they made the people of Israel serve with
rigor, [14] and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and
brick, and in all kinds of work in the field; in all their work they made
them serve with rigor.

[22] Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the
Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live."

Commentary:

1:8-14 The situation of the children of Israel is dramatically portrayed:
the more they are oppressed, the stronger they become (v. 12). The frequent
contrasts In the account and the fact that no names are supplied give the
impression that God himself (even though he is yet not named) is on the
Israelites' side and is against the pharaoh and his people. From the very
beginning, over and above the comings and goings of men, God is at work; a
religious event is taking shape.

For the first time the Bible here speaks of the "people [of the Sons] of
Israel" (v. 9). The sacred book counter-poses two peoples--the people of the
pharaoh, cruel and oppressive, and the people of Israel, the victims of
oppression. Over the course of their struggle to leave Egypt, the children
of Israel will gradually become conscious of this--that they form a people
chosen by God and released from bondage in order to fulfill an important
historical mission. They are not a motley collection of tribes or families,
but a people. "God, with loving concern contemplating, and making
preparation for, the salvation of the whole human race, in a singular
undertaking chose for himself a people to whom he would entrust his
promises" (Vatican II, "Del Verbum", 14). At the same time the religious
framework of this inspired book is established: on one side stand the
enemies of God, on the other the people of the children of the Covenant (cf.
Acts 3:25; "Catechism of the Catholic Church", 527).

1:8. We do not know who exactly this new king" was. He was probably Rameses
II (early 13th century BC), who belonged to the nineteenth dynasty. This
pharaoh sought to restore imperial control over foreigners and invaders. The
phrase "did not know Joseph" indicates how helpless and alone the "sons of
Israel" were. The people of Israel never did count for very much
politically, and yet God wills them to have an essential place in his plans.

Many Fathers of the Church saw in this pharaoh a personification of those
who are opposed to the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ. St Bede, for
example, reminds the Christian that if, having been baptized and having
listened to the teachings of the faith, he goes back to living in a worldly
way, "another king who knows not Joseph" will come to birth in him, that is,
the selfishness which opposes the plans of God (cf. "Commentaria In
Pentateuchum", 2,1).

1:11. Pithom and Ra-amses are called "store-cities" because provisions for
the frontier garrisons were stored in the silos of their temples. Reliable
archeological studies identify Pithom (which in Egyptian means "dwelling of
Athon") with some ruins a few kilometers from present-day Ishmailia, not far
from the Suez canal. A temple of Athon has been discovered there, and huge
stores of bricks. It is more difficult to say where Ra-amses was. The
balance of probability is that it was the earlier city of Avaris, a capital
during the dynasties of invader pharaohs. It would later be called Tanis,
and nowadays it is just a series of big ruins near a fishing village, San
el-Hagar, near Port Said, on the eastern part of the Nile delta.
Archeologists have discovered there the remains of an elaborate temple built
by Rameses II (1279-1212 BC), probably the pharaoh mentioned here.

1:14. In ancient Egypt it was normal for people, particularly foreigners, to
work for the pharaoh. This was not regarded as a form of slavery or
"oppression"; we know, for example, there were towns or entire cities which
accommodated the workers engaged in building the tombs or temples of the
pharaohs. The oppression the sacred writer refers to lay in the fact that
the Egyptians imposed particularly hard tasks on the Israelites--such as
brick-making, building and agricultural labor--and treated them cruelly.

St lsidore of Seville, commenting on this passage, compares it with the
situation of mankind which, after original sin, is subject to the tyranny of
the devil, who often manages to turn work into slavery.

Just as the pharaoh imposed the hard labor of mortar and brick, so too the
devil forces sinful man to engage in "earthly, dusty tasks which are
moreover mixed with straw, that is to say, with frivolous and irrational
acts" (cf. "Quaestiones In Exodum", 3).

1:22. The original text always refers to "the River" because the entire life of
ancient Egypt depended on it. Obviously it is referring to the Nile.

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.

From: Matthew 10:34-11:1

Jesus' Instructions to the Apostles (Continuation)

(Jesus said to His disciples) [34] "Do not think that I have come to
bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
[35] For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter
against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
[36] and a man's foes will be those of his own household. [37] He who
loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who
loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; [38] and he
who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. [39] He
who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake
will find it.

[40] He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives
Him who sent Me. [41] He who receives a prophet because he is a
prophet shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a
righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous
man's reward. [42] And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a
cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he
shall not lose his reward."

The Mission of John the Baptist. Jesus' Reply

[1] And when Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He
went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Commentary:

34-37. Our Lord has not come to bring a false and earthly peace--the
sort of tranquility the self-seeking person yearns for; He wants us to
struggle against our own passions and against sin and its effects. The
sword He equips us with for this struggle is, in the words of
Scripture, "the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God"
(Ephesians 6:17), "lively and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and
discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).

The word of God in fact leads to these divisions mentioned here. It
can lead, even within families, to those who embrace the faith being
regarded as enemies by relatives who resist the word of truth. This is
why our Lord goes on (verse 37) to say that nothing should come between
Him and His disciple--not even father, mother, son or daughter: any and
every obstacle (cf. Matthew 5:29-30) must be avoided.

Obviously these words of Jesus do not set up any opposition between the
first and fourth commandments (love for God above all things and love
for one's parents): He is simply indicating the order of priorities.
We should love God with all our strength (cf. Matthew 22:37), and make
a serious effort to be saints; and we should also love and respect--in
theory and in practice--the parents God has given us; they have
generously cooperated with the creative power of God in bringing us
into the world and there is so much that we owe them. But love for our
parents should not come before love of God; usually there is no reason
why these two loves should clash, but if that should happen, we should
be quite clear in our mind and in heart about what Jesus says here. He
has in fact given us an example to follow on this point: "How is it
that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father's
house?" (Luke 2:49)--His reply when, as a youth, Mary and Joseph found
Him in the Temple of Jerusalem after a long search. This event in our
Lord's life is a guideline for every Christian--parent or child.
Children should learn from it that their affection for their parents
should never come before their love for God, particularly when our
Creator asks us to follow Him in a way which implies special
self-giving on our part; parents should take the lesson that their
children belong to God in the first place, and therefore He has a right
to do with them what He wishes, even if this involves sacrifice, even
heroic sacrifice. This teaching of our Lord asks us to be generous and
to let God have His way. In fact, however, God never lets Himself be
outdone in generosity. Jesus has promised a hundredfold gain, even in
this life, and later on eternal life (cf. Matthew 19:29), to those who
readily respond to His will.

38-39. The teaching contained in the preceding verses is summed up in
these two succinct sentences. Following Christ, doing what He asks,
means risking this present life to gain eternal life.

"People who are constantly concerned with themselves, who act above all
for their own satisfaction, endanger their eternal salvation and cannot
avoid being unhappy even in this life. Only if a person forgets
himself and gives himself to God and to others, in marriage as well as
in any other aspect of life, can he be happy on this earth, with a
happiness that is a preparation for, and a foretaste of, the joy of
Heaven" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 24). Clearly, Christian
life is based on self-denial: there is no Christianity without the Cross.

40. To encourage the Apostles and to persuade others to receive them,
our Lord affirms that there is an intimate solidarity, or even a kind
of identity, between Himself and His disciples. God in Christ, Christ
in the Apostles: this is the bridge between Heaven and earth. (cf. 1
Corinthians 3:21-23).

41-42. A prophet's mission is not essentially one of announcing future
events; his main role is that of communicating the word of God (cf.
Jeremiah 11:2; Isaiah 1:2). The righteous man, the just man, is he who
obeys the Law of God and follows His paths (cf. Genesis 6:9; Isaiah
3:10). Here Jesus tells us that everyone who humbly listens to and
welcomes prophets and righteous men, recognizing God in them, will
receive the reward of a prophet and a righteous man. The very fact of
generously receiving God's friends will gain one the reward that they
obtain. Similarly, if we should see God in the least of His disciples
(verse 42), even if they do not seem very important, they are
important, because they are envoys of God and of His Son. That is why
he who gives them a glass of cold water--an alms, or any small
service--will receive a reward, for he has shown generosity to our Lord
Himself (cf. Matthew 25:40).

1. In chapters 11 and 12 the Gospel records the obduracy of the Jewish
leaders toward Jesus, despite hearing His teaching (chapter 5-7) and
seeing the miracles which bear witness to the divine nature of His
person and His doctrine (chapters 8 and 9).

Catholic Culture

Collect:
God our Father, you made St. Benedict an outstanding guide to teach men how to live in your service. Grant that by preferring your love to everything else, we may walk in the way of your commandments. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Recipes:

» Eggs Benedict
» Lenten Eggs Benedict

Activities:

less

Prayers:

July 11, 2005

Memorial of St. Benedict, abbot

Old Calendar: St. Pius I, pope and martyr

St. Benedict was born at Nursia in Umbria in about 480 and was sent to Rome to be educated, but soon left the world to live a solitary life at Subiaco. After living in a cave in the mountains for two years as a hermit, he he had acquired such a reputation that disciples came in numbers to join him and important Roman families entrusted him with the education of their children. He organized a form of monastic life in twelve small monasteries. Under his guidance, as abbot, the monks vowed to seek God and devoted themselves to work and prayer. A few years later St. Benedict left the district of Subiaco to found the great abbey of Monte Cassino on the heights of Campania. There he wrote his Rule in which are wonderfully combined the Roman genius and the monastic wisdom of the Christian East. St. Benedict died in 547.

Before the reform of the General Roman Calendar St. Benedict's feast was celebrated on March 21. Today was the feast of St. Pius I who was pope from 140 to 155. He was possibly the brother of Hermas, the author of the book known as the Shepherd of Hermas, one of the earliest books extant on penance. During his pontificate Pius experienced the difficulties caused by the heretic Marcion who came to Rome and broke away from the Church; he is also the contemporary of the Roman apologist St. Justin. He was buried at the Vatican.

St. Benedict

Born in Nursia, Italy, he was educated in Rome, was repelled by the vices of the city and in about 500 fled to Enfide, thirty miles away. He decided to live the life of a hermit and settled at mountainous Subiaco, where he lived in a cave for three years, fed by a monk named Romanus.

Despite Benedict's desire for solitude, his holiness and austerities became known and he was asked to be their abbot by a community of monks at Vicovaro. He accepted, but when the monks resisted his strict rule and tried to poison him, he returned to Subiaco and soon attracted great numbers of disciples. He organized them into twelve monasteries under individual priors he appointed, made manual work part of the program, and soon Subiaco became a center of spirituality and learning. He left suddenly, reportedly because of the efforts of a neighboring priest, Florentius, to undermine his work, and in about 525 settled at Monte Cassino.

He destroyed a pagan temple to Apollo on its crest, brought the people of the neighboring area back to Christianity, and in about 530 began to build the monastery that was to be the birthplace of Western monasticism. Soon disciples again flocked to him as his reputation for holiness, wisdom, and miracles spread far and wide. He organized the monks into a single monastic community and wrote his famous rule prescribing common sense, a life of moderate asceticism, prayer, study, and work, and community life under one superior. It stressed obedience, stability, zeal, and had the Divine Office as the center of monastic life; it was to affect spiritual and monastic life in the West for centuries to come.

While ruling his monks (most of whom, including Benedict, were not ordained), he counseled rulers and Popes, ministered to the poor and destitute about him, and tried to repair the ravages of the Lombard Totila's invasion. He died at Monte Cassino on March 21.

Excerpted from the Dictionary of Saints, John J. Delaney.

Patron: Against nettle rash; against poison; against witchcraft; agricultural workers; cavers; coppersmiths; dying people; erysipelas; Europe; farm workers; farmers; fever; gall stones; Heerdt, Germany; inflammatory diseases; Italian architects; kidney disease; monks; nettle rash; Norcia, Italy; people in religious orders; poison; schoolchildren; servants who have broken their master's belongings; speliologists; spelunkers; temptations; witchcraft.

Symbols: Bell; broken cup; broken cup and serpent representing poison; broken utensil; bush; crosier; man in a Benedictine cowl holding Benedict's rule or a rod of discipline; raven.

Things to Do:

Purchase a copy of The Rule of Saint Benedict (Vintage Spiritual Classics) and/or St. Benedict and St. Therese: The Little Rule & the Little Way, Citadel of God: A Novel About Saint Benedict, Listen My Son: St. Benedict for Fathers. Try St. Benedict: Hero of the Hills for the children.
Read about the Monasteries of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica and learn more about St. Benedict.
Monasteries kept bees to provide honey for sweetening and mead made from fermented honey — wax was in great demand for candles. Honey and mead were used to make herbal remedies more palatable! Learn more about St. Benedict and the Blessing of Bees. Read Address on Bees by Pius XII.
After Benedict had been living as a hermit for several years a religious community came to him after the death of their abbot and asked Benedict to take over. Some of the monks didn't like this plan and the rigor of his rule and attempted to kill him with poisoned bread and wine. When St. Benedict made the sign of the Cross over the cup of wine and the bread, the cup holding the wine shattered (some versions say it spilled) and some versions indicate a raven carried off the bread. This website gives an explanation of the St. Benedict Medal and the meaning of the symbols on it which includes the poisoned cup and the raven. And for more about the medal read The Medal of St. Benedict by Fr. Bernardine Patterson OSB.
From Catholic Culture's Library: Rule of St. Benedict, Fulgens Radiatur (On St. Benedict) Pius XII, Order of St. Benedict, The Holy Father's Message of July 7, 1999 sent to the Abbot of Subiaco for the celebration of the 1,500th anniversary of the foundation of St. Benedict's first monastery there.

St. Pius I

The Holy See remained vacant for three days, then Pius, an Italian from Aquileia, stepped into the shoes of the Fisherman. His father's name was Rufinus, and his brother Hermas was a former slave and the author of the early Christian document, The Shepherd, whose contents would seem to indicate that a monarchial episcopate was now recognized in Rome.

Pius was preoccupied with the challenge of the Gnostic leaders who by this time had been joined by Marcion of Pontus, and who continued to disseminate their system of belief widely. In July of 144, Pius presided over the assembly of presbyters that excommunicated Marcion from the orthodox community. But just as tormented as Pius was with the Gnostics, he was comforted in his friendship with Justin Martyr, that tremendous defender of Christ's doctrines, who now resided in Rome. A converted pagan, Justin sought the truth and through various schools of philosophy found it in Christianity.

An early source credits Pius with the decree that all heretics willing to repent should be received and baptized. Tradition holds that he died a martyr and was buried on Vatican Hill.

Excerpted from The Popes: A Papal History, J.V. Bartlett.

Things to Do:

Want your high schoolers to learn more about the Popes and the history of the Church? Order this textbook from Amazon.com, The story of the church,: Her founding, mission and progress.

A Voice in the Desert

Monday July 11, 2005 Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (Exodus 1:8-14, 22) Gospel (St. Matthew 10:34-11:1)

In the first reading today, we hear about the Egyptians who are forcing the Israelites into cruel slavery and all the horrible things that they had to do. Yet, at the same time, what we look at within our own lives is this slavery that we are dealing with which is far, far worse than that which the Egyptians inflicted upon the Israelites, because the slavery that our society is in is a slavery to Satan. It is not a slavery to a human king or to a human people, but rather it is a slavery to sin and it is a slavery to the devil.

And so Our Lord comes into this world to free us from that slavery, but the price is not an easy one. Not only is the price the blood of Our Lord, but if we are going to be freed from this slavery, like the children of Israel, we are going to have to make a journey out of the land of slavery, across the desert, and into the Promised Land. We would simply like to be able to say, “We’re free! We’re out!” But that is not the way it worked for the people of Israel and it is not the way it works for us either. All of us know that if we try to overcome some area of sin in our lives, we can go to confession and our sin is forgiven. On that level we are free. But just like Pharaoh saying to the Israelites, “Get out of my country,” okay, now they were going to leave and what were they going to do? They were free but they still had to walk across the desert. So we come out of the confessional; now we have to fight against these areas of sin in our lives.

Our Lord tells us that, number one, He has come to bring a sword instead of peace. Certainly that can be understood on the objective level, but on the subjective level we realize what we have to do. If we are going to overcome sin, it is going to require a fight. He did not come just to simply say, “Your sins are gone. You can be completely at peace now.” He came to bring a sword. We have to fight against sin.

Then He told us that we have to love Him more than anything else. This is critical, not only that we love Him more than anyone on the human level, but we have to love Him more than we love sin, because if we love sin more than we love Christ, we are basically telling Him that we love Satan more than we love Him. I do not think any of us want to say that, but the problem is by our actions that is precisely what we do. So, once again, the fight is on. This is why Our Lord tells us that whoever will lose his life will save it, but whoever will try to save his life will lose it. If we are caught up in ourselves, and in fact if we love ourselves more than we love Christ we are in the same boat because then we will only do His Will as long as it is something that seems convenient to us or if it is something that we like. But if it is the idea of having to go out across the desert, to take up the sword and fight against Satan and his minions and our own inclinations, well, that does not sound very fun. If we are caught up in ourselves, we are not going to be willing to take on the battle. We have to love Christ more than anything.

And the only way we are going to know if we love Him that much is completely laid out for us right here in the Gospel. Whoever loves Me will take up his cross and follow Me. That is the only way: if we are willing to follow in His footsteps, if we are willing to take the Cross upon our shoulders and be crushed underneath the weight of it, to be crucified upon it. It is the only way. If we are unwilling to do that, then what we really have to acknowledge within ourselves is that we love something or someone more than Christ. The “someone” we love more than Christ is first and foremost self, and the things that we love more than Christ are all of our sins. Do any of us really want to say that? We can look at a crucifix and we can look in the mirror, then we can ask ourselves, “Where does my hope lie?” If anyone thinks that the hope lies in the self, we are in big trouble – forever. Our only hope is in Christ, and our only hope is in the Cross.

That is what Our Lord is asking us to do. If we want to be free from the slavery to sin and to Satan, then we need to be willing to take up the Cross. We need to be willing to pick up the sword and to fight, to cut these sins out of our lives so that we can be free. That is the only way. So there are the two elements necessary: to go to Confession, so that the sins are forgiven and the bonds of slavery are broken; but then to cross the desert, to fight against these inclinations within ourselves, to win the battle in order to enter into the Promised Land, to take up the Cross and follow Our Lord everyday.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

One Bread, One Body

<< Monday, July 11, 2005 >>

St. Benedict

Exodus 1:8-14, 22

Psalm 124

Matthew 10:34—11:1

View Readings

NOTHING BUT THE CROSS

“He who will not take up his cross and come after Me is not worthy of Me.” —Matthew 10:38

We are Christians, disciples of Christ. We follow Jesus, Who saved us not through His power or wisdom, but through His ministry of suffering. Jesus came to earth to die on the cross to atone for our sins, pay the price for our salvation (1 Cor 6:20), and reconcile us to God (Col 1:20).

We must never spiritualize our faith and forget that Jesus suffered horribly in the flesh (Heb 5:8). We just can’t follow Jesus merely from the hope that He can do great things for us. That treats Jesus as a “sugardaddy,” denying all that He is and the reason He came to earth. Jesus died a disgraceful death. He was publicly humiliated, scorned as a condemned criminal. He Who was holy and innocent bore a cross meant for a murderer (Lk 23:25).

We Christians imitate Jesus. That means we take up our cross each day, deny our very selves, and follow in His footsteps (Lk 9:23). This is impossible in our human nature. Through our baptism into Jesus’ cross and death, however, we become sharers in the divine nature (Rm 6:4; 2 Pt 1:4). Now we can embrace the cross as Jesus embraced His cross. In the logic of the cross, by taking up our cross, we discover who we are (Mt 10:39).

If you falter carrying your cross, remember that Jesus understands. He fell several times carrying His cross. He knows the cross is heavy but He also wants you to experience the joy in sharing in His sufferings (1 Pt 4:13). So cross off your list anything that leads you away from Jesus’ cross. Take up your cross.

Prayer: Jesus, may I know nothing but Your cross (1 Cor 2:2). May I be crucified to the world and the world to me (Gal 6:14).

Promise: “Broken was the snare, and we were freed. Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” —Ps 124:7-8

Praise: St. Benedict worked miracles, prophesied, and wrote a rule of monastic life which has been used by monks for centuries.

Pope Benedict XVI on St. Benedict

Code: ZE05071004

Date: 2005-07-10

On St. Benedict of Norcia

"Prefer Nothing to the Love of Christ"

VATICAN CITY, JULY 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today from the window of his study, before praying the midday Angelus with some 40,000 tourists and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Tomorrow the feast of St. Benedict of Norcia is celebrated, patron of Europe, a saint who is particularly dear to me, as can be intuited from my choice of his name.

Born in Norcia about 480, Benedict's first studies were in Rome but, disappointed with city life, he retired to Subiaco, where he stayed for about three years in a cave -- the famous "sacro speco" -- dedicating himself wholly to God.

In Subiaco, making use of the ruins of a cyclopean villa of the emperor Nero, he built some monasteries, together with his first disciples, giving life to a fraternal community founded on the primacy of the love of Christ, in which prayer and work were alternated harmoniously in praise of God.

Years later, he completed this project in Monte Cassino, and put it in writing in his Rule, the only work of his that has come down to us. Amid the ashes of the Roman Empire, Benedict, seeking first of all the kingdom of God, sowed, perhaps even without realizing it, the seed of a new civilization which would develop, integrating Christian values with classical heritage, on one hand, and the Germanic and Slav cultures on the other.

There is a particular aspect of his spirituality, which today I would particularly like to underline. Benedict did not found a monastic institution oriented primarily to the evangelization of barbarian peoples, as other great missionary monks of the time, but indicated to his followers that the fundamental, and even more, the sole objective of existence is the search for God: "Quaerere Deum."

He knew, however, that when the believer enters into a profound relationship with God he cannot be content with living in a mediocre way, with a minimalist ethic and superficial religiosity. In this light, one understands better the expression that Benedict took from St. Cyprian and that is summarized in his Rule (IV, 21) -- the monks' program of life: "Nihil amori Christi praeponere." "Prefer nothing to the love of Christ."

Holiness consists in this valid proposal for every Christian that has become a true pastoral imperative in our time, in which one perceives the need to anchor life and history in solid spiritual references.

A Sublime and perfect model of sanctity is Mary Most Holy, who lived in constant and profound communion with Christ. Let us invoke her intercession, together with that of St. Benedict, so that the Lord will multiply also in our time men and women who, through an enlightened faith, witnessed in life, will be in this new millennium salt of the earth and light of the world.

[After the Angelus the Holy Father said:]

We all feel profound sorrow for the atrocious terrorist attacks in London last Thursday. Let us pray for the people who were killed, for those who were wounded and for their dear ones. But let us also pray for the attackers: That the Lord will touch their hearts. To all those who foment sentiments of hatred and to all those who carry out such repugnant terrorist attacks, I say: God loves life, which he has created, not death. Stop, In the name of God.

Tomorrow I will go to the Val d'Aosta, where I will spend a brief period of rest. I will be a guest in the house that many times received Pope John Paul II. I thank all those who will accompany me with their prayer, and to you I say with affection: "See you soon!"

[The Pope then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

I offer a cordial greeting to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer. With great affection I invoke upon you and your families an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Mt 10:34-11:1
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
34	Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.	nolite arbitrari quia venerim mittere pacem in terram non veni pacem mittere sed gladium
35	For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.	veni enim separare hominem adversus patrem suum et filiam adversus matrem suam et nurum adversus socrum suam
36	And a man's enemies shall be they of his own household.	et inimici hominis domestici eius
37	He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.	qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me non est me dignus et qui amat filium aut filiam super me non est me dignus
38	And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me.	et qui non accipit crucem suam et sequitur me non est me dignus
39	He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.	qui invenit animam suam perdet illam et qui perdiderit animam suam propter me inveniet eam
40	He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me.	qui recipit vos me recipit et qui me recipit recipit eum qui me misit
41	He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet: and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man.	qui recipit prophetam in nomine prophetae mercedem prophetae accipiet et qui recipit iustum in nomine iusti mercedem iusti accipiet
42	And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you he shall not lose his reward.	et quicumque potum dederit uni ex minimis istis calicem aquae frigidae tantum in nomine discipuli amen dico vobis non perdet mercedem suam
Chapter 11
1	And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he passed from thence, to teach and to preach in their cities.	et factum est cum consummasset Iesus praecipiens duodecim discipulis suis transiit inde ut doceret et praedicaret in civitatibus eorum

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.