http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-06-25
Ordinary Time: June 25th
Tuesday of the Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time
Daily Readings for: June 25, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Father, guide and protector of your people, grant us an unfailing respect for your name, and keep us always in your love. Grant 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
o Monastery Soup
ACTIVITIES
o Scripture in the Home
PRAYERS
o June Devotion: The Sacred Heart
Old Calendar: St. William, abbot
Saint William was born to noble parents at the beginning of the twelfth century. He was orphaned while still an infant and was raised by relatives. He built a monastery on the summit of Monte Vergine near Naples, and established a community of hermits, to whom he gave a rule inspired in great measure by that of St. Benedict. He died in 1142. According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is his feast.
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St. William of Monte Virgine, Abbot
William was born in Vercelli, Italy, in 1085. His parents died when he was a baby. Relatives raised him. When William grew up, he became a hermit. He worked a miracle, curing a blind man, and found himself famous. William was too humble to be happy with the people’s admiration. He really wanted to remain a hermit so that he could concentrate on God. He went away to live alone on a high, wild mountain. No one would bother him now. But even there he was not to remain alone. Men gathered around the saint and they built a monastery dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Because of William’s monastery, people gave the mountain a new name. They called it the Mountain of the Virgin.
After a while, some of the monks began to complain that the lifestyle was too hard. They wanted better food and an easier schedule. William would not relax the rule for himself. Instead, he chose a prior for the monks. Then he and five faithful followers set out to start another monastery, as strict as they were used to. One of his companions was St. John of Mantua. Both William and John of Mantua were leaders. They realized as time went on that they would do better if they split up, each to start a monastery. They were great friends, but they saw things differently. John went east and William went west. Both did very well. In fact, both became saints.
Later, King Roger of Naples helped St. William. William’s good influence on the king angered some evil men of the court. They tried to prove to the king that William was really evil, that he was hiding behind a holy habit. They sent a bad woman to tempt him, but she was unsuccessful. It seems that she repented and gave up her life of sin. St. William died on June 25, 1142.
He is also known as St. William of Vercelli, or St. William of Monte Vergine.
Symbols: Wolf; trowel; lily; passion flower.
Often Portrayed as: a pilgrim, usually near Santiago de Compostela; abbot near a wolf wearing a saddle; receiving an appearance by Christ; saddling a wolf that killed his ass.
Things to Do:
• William’s pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Apostle in Spain was the turning point of his life. Is it not easily possible for you to make a pilgrimage to some holy place in your neighborhood now during the summertime? First of all, however, are you familiar with the relics in your own parish church? Remember that any visit to a church is a pilgrimage to the grave of a saint!
• Read more about the life of St. William here and the monastery he founded, Monte Vergine.
http://wau.org/meditations/current/
Meditation: Matthew 7:6, 12-14
12th Week in Ordinary Time
Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. (Matthew 7:12)
This one verse from the Gospel of Matthew has been enshrined for centuries as “The Golden Rule.” And yet for all the attention it gets, we can all admit how difficult it can be to live it out! It’s not uncommon for us to take a more restrictive approach to this saying: “Treat me as I feel I should be treated, and then we’ll see if I want to treat you the same way.”
It’s interesting to note that immediately after this saying, Jesus tells us to enter through the “narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13). On the one hand, we can imagine this to mean that the narrow gate involves our doing all sorts of things to please the Lord and earn our way into his favor. But that is the exact opposite of the central truth of the gospel message. That message tells us that we are saved by grace, something God gives us freely and without regard to our actions. We are saved by Jesus’ death on the cross—because we can’t save ourselves!
Perhaps we should look at this narrow gate as the gate of surrender. Perhaps it is a matter of our allowing Jesus into our hearts and into our relationships so that he can teach us a new way of living and a new way of loving. And the truth is, it’s hard to humble ourselves to such a degree. It’s hard to give Jesus control of our lives, even if he promises to rule us in love and compassion, in tenderness and mercy.
Brothers and sisters, the Golden Rule works only to the degree that we let Jesus work in us. He can teach us to offer forgiveness and love instead of judgment and hatred. His love can soften our hearts so that he can reshape them to reflect his own compassion, peace, and eagerness to serve. The Golden Rule works only as we seek the grace to treat other people the way Jesus has treated us. And we can only do that if we let Jesus treat us the right way.
So open the narrow gate of your heart. Invite Jesus in. Let him take up residence, and he will teach you a new way to live.
“Jesus, come live in me so that I can become an instrument of your mercy and grace.”
Genesis 13:2, 5-18; Psalm 15:2-5