Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-06-05, Opt. St. Bruno, Blsd. Marie-Rose Durocher

October 6, 2005
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Psalm: Thursday 43

Reading I
Mal 3:13-20b

You have defied me in word, says the LORD,
yet you ask, “What have we spoken against you?”
You have said, “It is vain to serve God,
and what do we profit by keeping his command,
And going about in penitential dress
in awe of the LORD of hosts?
Rather must we call the proud blessed;
for indeed evildoers prosper,
and even tempt God with impunity.”
Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,
and the LORD listened attentively;
And a record book was written before him
of those who fear the LORD and trust in his name.
And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,
my own special possession, on the day I take action.
And I will have compassion on them,
as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
Then you will again see the distinction
between the just and the wicked;
Between the one who serves God,
and the one who does not serve him.
For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
And the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R. (Ps 40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Gospel
Lk 11:5-13

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?”

From: Luke 11:5-13

Effective Prayer

[5] And He (Jesus) said to them (the disciples), "Which of you who has
a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me
three loaves; [6] for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I
have nothing to set before him'; [7] and he will answer from within,
'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in
bed; I cannot get up and give you anything'? [8] I tell you, though he
will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet
because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he
needs. [9] And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and
you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [10] For every one
who asks receives, and he who seeks find, and to him who knocks it will
be opened. [11] What father among you, if his son asks for a fish,
will instead of a fish give him a serpent; [12] or if he asks for an
egg, will give him a scorpion? [13] If you then, who are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

Commentary:

5-10. One of the essential features of prayer is trusting
perseverance. By this simple example and others like it (cf. Luke
18:1-7) our Lord encourages us not to desist in asking God to hear us.
"Persevere in prayer. Persevere even when your efforts seem barren.
Prayer is always fruitful" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 101).

9-10. Do you see the effectiveness of prayer when it is done
properly? Are you not convinced like me that, if we do not obtain what
we ask God for, it is because we are not praying with faith, with a
heart pure enough, with enough confidence, or that we are not
persevering in prayer the way we should? God has never refused nor
will ever refuse anything to those who ask for His graces in the way
they should. Prayer is the great recourse available to us to get out
of sin, to persevere in grace, to move God's heart and to draw upon us
all kinds of blessing from Heaven, whether for the soul or to meet our
temporal needs" (St. John Mary Vianney, "Selected Sermons", Fifth
Sunday after Easter).

11-13. Our Lord uses the example of human parenthood as a comparison to
stress again the wonderful fact that God is our Father, for God's
fatherhood is the source of parenthood in Heaven and on earth (cf.
Ephesians 3:15). "The God of our faith is not a distant Being who
contemplates indifferently the fate of men--their desires, their
struggles, their sufferings. He is a Father who loves His children so
much that He sends the Word, the Second Person of the Most Blessed
Trinity, so that by taking on the nature of man He may die to redeem
us. He is the loving Father who now leads us gently to Himself,
through the action of the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts" ([St] J.
Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", p. 84).

13. The Holy Spirit is God's best gift to us, the great promise Christ
gives His disciples (cf. John 5:26), the divine fire which descends on
the Apostles at Pentecost, filling them with fortitude and freedom to
proclaim Christ's message (Acts 2). "The profound reality which we see
in the texts of Holy Scripture is not a remembrance from the past, from
some golden age of the Church which has since been buried in history.
Despite the weaknesses and the sins of every one of us, it is the
reality of today's Church and the Church in all times. 'I will pray to
the Father,' our Lord told His disciples, 'and He will give you another
Counsellor to be with you for ever.' Jesus has kept His promise. He
has risen from the dead and, in union with the eternal Father, He sends
us the Holy Spirit to sanctify us and to give us life" ([St] J. Escriva,
"Christ Is Passing By", 12).

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.

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father, your love for us surpasses all our hopes and desires. Forgive our failings, keep us in your peace and lead us in the way of salvation. 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:

less

Activities:

October 06, 2005

St. Bruno, priest; Bl. Marie Rose Durocher, virgin

Old Calendar: St. Bruno, confessor

St. Bruno was born in 1030 in Cologne, Germany. He became a priest and achieved fame as a professor of theology at Rheims. He decided to leave the world and pursue a life of complete solitude and prayer. He established his hermitage in Chartreuse, near Grenoble, France. Soon he attracted disciples and he established the first monastery of Carthusian monks. Pope Urban II called him to Rome, but later Bruno was able to establish a second monastery in Italy. He died in 1101 at Calabria.

Born at St. Antoine in Quebec, Canada, Eulalie Durocher was the youngest of ten children. Assisting her brother, a parish priest, for 12 years she helped establish the first Canadian parish Sodality for young women. She lived a life of great poverty and remained unswerving in her concern for the poor. In 1843, she founded the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, dedicated to Christian education. This Order first came to the U.S. in 1859.

St. Bruno

St. Bruno, born in Cologne about 1030, was the founder of a religious Order, the Carthusians. His mother was St. Matilda, patroness of Maude, widow of King Henry I. Excepting St. Norbert, he is the only German having that honor. His contemporaries called him the light of the Church, the flower of the clergy, the glory of Germany and France. Early in life he was a canon at Cologne and Rheims. Persecution by the simoniacal archbishop of Rheims, Manasses, hastened his resolve to enter a life of solitude (1084). Legend puts it this way. A famous professor had died. While the Office of the Dead was being chanted at his funeral, he suddenly raised himself up from the coffin and said: "By the just judgment of God have I been accused, judged, damned." Thereupon Bruno renounced the world. He received from Hugo, bishop of Grenoble, a site called Chartreuse (from the color of the surrounding hills) as a place of residence.

The Order founded by Bruno is one of the strictest in the Church. Carthusians follow the Rule of St. Benedict, but accord it a most austere interpretation; there is perpetual silence and complete abstinence from flesh meat (only bread, legumes, and water are taken for nourishment). Bruno sought to revive the ancient eremitical way of life. His Order enjoys the distinction of never becoming unfaithful to the spirit of its founder, never needing a reform. Six years after initiating the foundation, Bruno was called to Rome by Pope Urban II as personal counselor. He complied with a heavy heart. However, when the Pope was forced to flee to Campania because of Emperor Henry IV, Bruno found a wilderness similar to that of Chartreuse at La Torre; there he made a second foundation, which blossomed into a flourishing community. Here in September, 1101, he became severely ill. Having called together his followers, Bruno made a public confession and died on October 6, 1101, at the age of seventy-one.

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

Patron: diabolic possession; Ruthenia.

Symbols: flowering crucifix; chalice and host; death's head; scroll with words O bonitas; star on his breast; seven stars; white scapular; olive branch; holding a book and illuminated by a ray of light.

Things to Do:

Find out more about Carthusian monks.
Read more about the First Crusade and St. Bruno's involvement; Meditate on the importance of penance and sacrifice and resolutions to make changes in one's life — Carthusians live a severe life, but even we have a place for penance.

Blessed Marie Rose

Born October 6, 1811 at St. Antoine in Quebec, Canada, Eulalie Durocher was the tenth of eleven children. She was drawn to the religious life, but turned away because of her frail health. For 12 years she assisted her brother, a parish priest, as a housekeeper. With encouragement of the bishop, in 1843 she founded the Sisters of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, taking the name Marie-Rose. Her religious order was dedicated to Christian education, especially for the poor. She died on October 6, 1849 of natural causes. This Order first came to the U.S. in 1859. Marie-Rose was beatified on May 23, 1982 by Pope John Paul II.

Patronage: Bodily ills; loss of parents; illness; frail health.

Symbols: Lilies; lilies of the valley; white rose (these flowers are symbols of virginity); book (symbol of monastic rule).

Things to Do:

God used Marie Rose as an instrument for His great work, although she was an unlikely candidate. Think about the pro-life movement and ways we help. Each unwanted child is a person that God can work through to convert the world.

American Catholic's Saint of the Day

October 6, 2005

St. Bruno

(1030?-1101)

This saint has the honor of having founded a religious order which, as the saying goes, has never had to be reformed because it was never deformed. No doubt both the founder and the members would reject such high praise, but it is an indication of the saint's intense love of a penitential life in solitude.

He was born in Cologne, Germany, became a famous teacher at Rheims and was appointed chancellor of the archdiocese at the age of 45. He supported Pope Gregory VII in his fight against the decadence of the clergy and took part in the removal of his own scandalous archbishop, Manasses. Bruno suffered the plundering of his house for his pains.

He had a dream of living in solitude and prayer, and persuaded a few friends to join him in a hermitage. After a while he felt the place unsuitable and, through a friend, was given some land which was to become famous for his foundation "in the Chartreuse" (from which comes the word Carthusians). The climate, desert, mountainous terrain and inaccessibility guaranteed silence, poverty and small numbers.

Bruno and his friends built an oratory with small individual cells at a distance from each other. They met for Matins and Vespers each day, and spent the rest of the time in solitude, eating together only on great feasts. Their chief work was copying manuscripts.

The pope, hearing of Bruno's holiness, called for his assistance in Rome. When the pope had to flee Rome, Bruno pulled up stakes again, and spent his last years (after refusing a bishopric) in the wilderness of Calabria.

He was never formally canonized, because the Carthusians were averse to all occasions of publicity. Pope Clement extended his feast to the whole Church in 1674.

Comment:

If there is always a certain uneasy questioning of the contemplative life, there is an even greater puzzlement about the extremely penitential combination of community and hermit life lived by the Carthusians.

Quote:

“Members of those communities which are totally dedicated to contemplation give themselves to God alone in solitude and silence and through constant prayer and ready penance. No matter how urgent may be the needs of the active apostolate, such communities will always have a distinguished part to play in Christ's Mystical Body...” (Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life, 7).

American Catholic's Saint of the Day

October 6

Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher

(1811-1849)

Canada was one diocese from coast to coast during the first eight years of Marie-Rose Duroche’s life. Its half-million Catholics had received civil and religious liberty from the English only forty-four years before. When Marie-Rose was twenty-nine, Bishop Ignace Bourget became bishop of Montreal. He would be a decisive influence in her life.

He faced a shortage of priests and sisters and a rural population that had been largely deprived of education. Like his counterparts in the United States, he scoured Europe for help and himself founded four communities, one of which was the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Its first sister and reluctant co-foundress was Marie-Rose.

She was born in a little village near Montreal in 1811, the tenth of eleven children. She had a good education, was something of a tomboy, rode a horse named Caesar and could have married well. At sixteen she felt the desire to become a religious but was forced to abandon the idea because of her weak constitution. At eighteen, when her mother died, her priest brother invited her and her father to come to his parish in Beloeil, not far from Montreal. For thirteen years she served as housekeeper, hostess and parish worker. She became well known for her graciousness, courtesy, leadership and tact; she was, in fact, called “the saint of Beloeil.” Perhaps she was too tactful during two years when her brother treated her coldly.

As a young woman she had hoped there would someday be a community of teaching sisters in every parish, never thinking she would found one. But her spiritual director, Father Pierre Telmon, O.M.I., after thoroughly (and severely) leading her in the spiritual life, urged her to found a community herself. Bishop Bourget concurred, but Marie shrank from the prospect. She was in poor health and her father and her brother needed her.

She finally agreed and, with two friends, Melodie Dufresne and Henriette Cere, entered a little home in Longueuil, across the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal. With them were thirteen young girls already assembled for boarding school. Longueuil became successively her Bethlehem, Nazareth and Gethsemani. She was thirty-two and would live only six more years—years filled with poverty, trials, sickness and slander. The qualities she had nurtured in her “hidden” life came forward—a strong will, intelligence and common sense, an inner courage and yet a great deference to directors. Thus was born an international congregation of women religious dedicated to education in the faith.

She was severe with herself and by today’s standards quite strict with her sisters. Beneath it all, of course, was what is common to all saints: an unshakable love of her crucified Savior.

On her deathbed the prayers most frequently on her lips were “Jesus, Mary, Joseph! Sweet Jesus, I love you. Jesus, be to me Jesus!” Before she died, she smiled and said to the sister with her, “Your prayers are keeping me here—let me go.”

She was beatified in 1982.

Comment:

The Christian triad has always been and will always be prayer, penance and charity. In our day we have seen a great burst of charity, a genuine interest in the poor. Countless Christians have experienced a deep form of prayer. But penance? We squirm when we read of terrible physical penance done by people like Marie-Rose. That is not for most people, of course. But the pull of a materialistic culture oriented to pleasure and entertainment is impossible to resist without some form of deliberate and Christ-conscious abstinence. That is part of the way to answer Jesus’ call to repent and turn completely to God.

Quote:

To a novice leaving religious life: “Do not imitate those persons who, after having spent a few months as postulant or novice in a community, dress differently, even ludicrously. You are returning to the secular state. My advice is, follow the styles of the day, but from afar, as it were.”

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	Do More Than Just Show Up
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Thursday, October 6, 2005

Malachi 3:13-20 / Lk 11:5-13

Life is fleeting, and as we watch the years pass by ever faster and faster, we can grow impatient and can even fall victim to despair: Why is life so hard? I try to do the right things, so why don't I have more to show for my efforts? Why do cheaters always prosper? Does God really know or care what's going on? What kind of friend is God? After all this time, what reason do I have for believing that virtue really pays?

The prophet Malachi summed up those fears and frustrations when he quoted some of his own contemporaries: "It is vain to serve God; and what do we profit by keeping his command?" That is surely the way it seems at times. And when those times come, we need to have an answer that is deeply etched in our soul, an answer that comes from the inside.

That answer won't be there, on the inside, if we've been living our life totally on the outside. If our "spirituality" has consisted of "getting our visa stamped," just showing up at church and putting in our time, then we won't have come to know the Lord, we won't have come to see the world through his eyes, and there will be no answers and no spiritual power within us.

If on the other hand, we've come to know not only the words but the Lord who gives life and meaning to the words, then when the inevitable doubts and challenges come, we'll know the truth on the inside and no words will need be spoken.

When the day comes, that's where you want to be. So get to know him now, on the inside. You'll be glad you did every day of your life.

A Voice in the Desert

October 6, 2005 Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Reading (Malachi 3:13-20b) Gospel (St. Luke 11:5-13)

In the first reading today, we hear the Lord rebuking the people of Israel because they have said, “It is vain to serve the Lord, and what do we profit by keeping His command?” This is not unlike what probably many of us have said from time to time: “What good is it to pray? I pray for all these things and nothing happens. I never seem to get the things that I pray for. Why should I keep doing it? Things just keep getting worse the more that I pray.” Well, we have a choice then. Are we going to keep praying or are we going to quit? It is true that sometimes it seems the more we pray the worse things get, however, God in His mercy is allowing these things to purify us and to test us, to see if we are going to remain faithful.

The Lord tells us in the Gospel that if we ask we will receive, if we knock the door will be opened, if we seek we will find. He says, What father among you would hand his son a scorpion if he asks for an egg? or a snake if he asks for a fish? We might be tempted to say, “But when I ask for things and I don’t get what I want, it only gets worse. Isn’t that like handing me a scorpion when I asked for an egg?” With God, the things that seem to be negative are in fact very positive. The reason for that is because on the surface it may seem like the thing that we do not want, but when we look back at it we realize that in His mercy He has given us what is the very best to help us, to purify us, to strengthen us, and that in fact what He has done is answered our prayer in a way that is far more perfect than what we ever could have hoped for if it was answered in just the way that we ourselves had asked.

It is incumbent upon us to remain faithful in prayer. This is not something that is an option for us; it is required. It is just part and parcel of what it means to be Christian. But even if we want to look at it in a self-serving way, we can listen again to the words of the prophet. He tells us that the Day of the Lord is coming and he says it is like a blazing oven, when the proud and evildoers will be stubble. On that day that is coming, it will set them on fire leaving them neither root nor branch. The Day of the Lord is upon us. The Day of the Lord, according to Scripture, can be something that is very positive or something that seems very negative. It is a divine intervention. It is a point at which God intervenes in our own lives or in society in general, in the world at large, to be able to do something extraordinary, either to extend some kind of blessing or to bring about some kind of purification. The reality is that this world, as we all know, needs to be purified. It needs it pretty desperately. Therefore, we are going to see the Day of the Lord.

Regardless of what happens on the large level, the Day of the Lord can still be something extraordinarily positive for each one of us. If we can cooperate with God, if we can remain faithful in prayer, if we can see what God is trying to do, this becomes the means by which we will become saints. Now most of the world is going to spend its effort and energy cursing God for the things that are going to come, but those who pray will remain faithful through it and they will bless God. Those are the two choices. There is not going to be an in-between. You are either going to be with God or you are going to be against Him. And there is only one way you are going to be with God – that is if you pray. If we do not pray, we are going to go against God because if we are not looking at Him we are looking at ourselves. Once again, the two choices.

The prophet makes it very clear, speaking on behalf of the Lord, that there is going to be once again a clear distinction. He says, You will again see the distinction between the just and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him. So those are the choices that are given to us, to serve Him or not. If we do not serve Him, we are going to serve ourselves. We have that choice. Remember whose motto is “I will not serve” – Mr. Lucifer. The choice is ours: to serve God or not to serve Him, to be with Satan and his minions or to be with God and the good angels and all the saints. If we want to serve God, there is only one way, and that is to pray. If we are not praying, we will not be able to serve God because we will not remain faithful; and in the midst of the trials that are coming, instead of looking at God, we are going to look at ourselves and we will crash just like the devil who was cast down to earth. Those are the choices that we have. Keep the focus on God, pray, and remain faithful, and the Day of the Lord that is coming will be for you a great blessing.

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

Lk 11:5-13
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
5	And he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves,	et ait ad illos quis vestrum habebit amicum et ibit ad illum media nocte et dicit illi amice commoda mihi tres panes
6	Because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me and I have not what to set before him.	quoniam amicus meus venit de via ad me et non habeo quod ponam ante illum
7	And he from within should answer and say: Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee.	et ille de intus respondens dicat noli mihi molestus esse iam ostium clausum est et pueri mei mecum sunt in cubili non possum surgere et dare tibi
8	Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.	dico vobis et si non dabit illi surgens eo quod amicus eius sit propter inprobitatem tamen eius surget et dabit illi quotquot habet necessarios
9	And I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.	et ego vobis dico petite et dabitur vobis quaerite et invenietis pulsate et aperietur vobis
10	For every one that asketh receiveth: and he that seeketh findeth: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened:	omnis enim qui petit accipit et qui quaerit invenit et pulsanti aperietur
11	And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?	quis autem ex vobis patrem petet panem numquid lapidem dabit illi aut piscem numquid pro pisce serpentem dabit illi
12	Or if he shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion?	aut si petierit ovum numquid porriget illi scorpionem
13	If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?	si ergo vos cum sitis mali nostis bona data dare filiis vestris quanto magis Pater vester de caelo dabit spiritum bonum petentibus se

The Word Among Us

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Meditation
Luke 11:5-13

It can be discouraging to ask for something over and over again. Days drag into months that stretch into years, and we become disheartened. And then, when we read words like, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9), we scarcely react. “Wouldn’t it be great if these words were really true?” we might think. Or, “Oh well, I have asked and sought and knocked. Nothing happened.”

Nothing happened? How can that be? We have Jesus’ word in Scripture that everyone who asks receives. Everyone. Not just the exceptionally holy folks, not only the excessively blessed or deserving ones, not simply the ones who have learned how to ask the right question. Every single one of us has this earnest pledge from Jesus himself: Whoever asks, receives, period. God’s word is true. We have to hang on to this fact, especially when our experience doesn’t match up with Scripture.

Our perspective on God’s answers to us, our expectation that we will receive from the Lord, even our belief itself, depend on accepting this fact. What will enable us to cleave to this belief? The knowledge and experience of God’s love, poured out in our hearts (Romans 5:5). Knowing that love personally and intimately is the basis for our hope. This is not something we can muster ourselves. It is a free gift from the uncreated Creator and Lover of our souls. When we seek Jesus—even if we just want him to solve a problem, forgive a sin, or satisfy a longing in our hearts—we will find him. He will answer our knock at his door.

Today, knock on Jesus’ door in prayer. Spend extra time asking for the grace to believe what Scripture says. Ask again for the desire of your heart, and listen quietly for his response. He will answer. If not today, then maybe tomorrow or the next day. In his wisdom and in his time, he will answer all our needs, making us like trees planted near running water, yielding fruit in due season (Psalm 1:2-3).

“Father, here I am again, knocking at your door. Help me to believe that your word is true. Fill me with your Spirit and the knowledge of your love. Refresh and revive me as I seek to know you and love you and serve you.”

Malachi 3:13-20; Psalm 1:1-4,6

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