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From: Sirach 48:1-14

Elijah

[1] Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire,
and his word burned like a torch.
[2] He brought a famine upon them,
and by his zeal he made them few in number.
[3] By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens,
and also three times brought down fire.
[4] How glorious you were, O Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!
And who has the right to boast which you have?
[5] You who raised a corpse from death
and from Hades, by the word of the Most High;
[6] who brought kings down to destruction,
and famous men from their beds;
[7] who heard rebuke at Sinai
and judgments of vengeance at Horeb;
[8] who anointed kings to inflict retribution,
and prophets to succeed you.
[9] You who were taken up by a whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with horses of fire;
[10] you who are ready at the appointed time, it is written,
to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury
to turn the heart of the father to the son,
and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
[11] Blessed are those who saw you,
and those who have been adorned in love;
for we also shall surely live.

Elisha

[12] It was Elijah who was covered by the whirlwind,
and Elisha who was filled with his spirit;
in all his days he did not tremble before any ruler,
and no one brought him into subjection.
[13] Nothing was too hard for him,
and when he was dead his body prophesied.
[14] As in his life he did wonders,
so in death his deeds were marvellous.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

48:1-16. This passage is a summary of the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
The author highlights Elijah’s mission to turn the heart of the father to his sons, to
placate God’s wrath (v. 10). In the New Testament these same words are applied
to John the Baptist, with reference to his mission of preparing the way of the Lord
(Lk 1:17; cf. Ma! 4:5-6). Thanks to the preaching of those prophets, Sirach re-
minds us, a remnant of the people remained faithful (v. 16), and the continuation
of the history of salvation was assured.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Matthew 6:7-15

An Upright Intention in Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting (Continuation)

[Jesus said to His disciples:] [7] “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases
as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
[8] Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask
Him. [9] Pray then like this:
Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
[10] Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.
[11] Give us this day our daily bread;
[12] And forgive us our debts,
As we also have forgiven our debtors;
[13] And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
[14] For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive
you; [15] but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

7-8. Jesus condemns the superstitious notion that long prayers are needed to at-
tract God’s attention. True piety is not so much a matter of the amount of words
as of the frequency and the love with which the Christian turns towards God in all
the events, great or small, of his day. Vocal prayer is good, and necessary; but
the words count only if they express our inner feelings.

9-13. The “Our Father” is, without any doubt, the most commented-on passage
in all Sacred Scripture. Numerous great Church writers have left us commentaries
full of poetry and wisdom. The early Christians, taught by the precepts of salvation,
and following the divine commandment, centered their prayer on this sublime and
simple form of words given them by Jesus. And the last Christians, too, will raise
their hearts to say the “Our Father” for the last time when they are on the point
of being taken to Heaven. In the meantime, from childhood to death, the “Our Fa-
ther” is a prayer which fills us with hope and consolation. Jesus fully realized how
helpful this prayer would be to us. We are grateful to Him for giving it to us, to the
Apostles for passing it on to us and, in the case of most Christians, to our mothers
for teaching it to us in our infancy. So important is the Lord’s Prayer that from apo-
stolic times it has been used, along with the Creed, the Ten Commandments and
the Sacraments, as the basis of Christian catechesis. Catechumens were intro-
duced to the life of prayer by the “Our Father”, and our catechisms today use it
for that purpose.

St. Augustine says that the Lord’s Prayer is so perfect that it sums up in a few
words everything man needs to ask God for (cf. “Sermon”, 56). It is usually seen
as being made up of an invocation and seven petitions—three to do with praise of
God and four with the needs of men.

9. It is a source of great consolation to be able to call God “our Father”; Jesus,
the Son of God, teaches men to invoke God as Father because we are indeed
His children, and should feel towards Him in that way. “The Lord [...] is not a
tyrannical master or a rigid and implacable judge; He is our Father. He speaks
to us about our lack of generosity, our sins, our mistakes; but He also does so
in order to free us from them, to promise us His friendship and His love [...]. A
child of God treats the Lord as his Father. He is not obsequious and servile, he
is not merely formal and well-mannered; he is completely sincere and trusting”
(St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 64).

“Hallowed by Thy name”: in the Bible a person’s “name” means the same as the
person himself. Here the name of God means God Himself. Why pray that His
name be hallowed, sanctified? We do not mean sanctification in the human
sense — leaving evil behind and drawing closer to God — for God is Holiness It-
self. God, rather, is sanctified when His holiness is acknowledged and honored
by His creatures — which is what this first petition of the “Our Father” means (cf.
“St. Pius Catechism”, IV, 10).

10. “Thy Kingdom come”: this brings up again the central idea of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ — the coming of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is so identical
with the life and work of Jesus Christ that the Gospel is referred to now as the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, now as the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 9:35). On
the notion of the Kingdom of God see the commentary on Matthew 3:2 and 4:17.
The coming of the Kingdom of God is the realization of God’s plan of salvation in
the world. The Kingdom establishes itself in the first place in the core of man’s
being, raising him up to share in God’s own inner life. This elevation has, as it
were, two stages—the first, in this life, where it is brought about by grace; the
second, definitive stage in eternal life, where man’s elevation to the supernatural
level is fully completed. We for our part need to respond to God spontaneously,
lovingly and trustingly.

“Thy will be done”: this third petition expresses two desires. The first is that man
identify humbly and unconditionally with God’s will—abandonment in the arms of
his Father God. The second that the will of God be fulfilled, that man cooperate
with it in full freedom. For example, God’s will is to be found in the moral aspect
of the divine law—but this law is not forced on man. One of the signs of the co-
ming of the Kingdom is man’s loving fulfillment of God’s will. The second part of
the petition, “on earth as it is in Heaven”, means that, just as the angels and
saints in Heaven are fully at one with God’s will, so—we desire—should the same
thing obtain on earth.

Our effort to do God’s will proves that we are sincere when we say the words,
“Thy will be done.” For our Lord says, “Not every one who says to Me, ‘Lord,
Lord’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
who is in Heaven.” (Matthew 7:21). “Anyone, then, who sincerely repeats this
petition, ‘Fiat voluntas tua’, must, at least in intention, have done this already”
(St. Teresa of Avila, “Way of Perfection”, chapter 36).

11. In making this fourth petition, we are thinking primarily of our needs in this
present life. The importance of this petition is that it declares that the material
things we need in our lives are good and lawful. It gives a deep religious dimen-
sion to the support of life: what Christ’s disciple obtains through his own work is
also something for which he should implore God—and he should receive it grate-
fully as a gift from God. God is our support in life: by asking God to support him
and by realizing that it is God who is providing this support, the Christian avoids
being worried about material needs. Jesus does not want us to pray for wealth
or to be attached to material things, but to seek and make sober use of what
meets our needs. Hence, in Matthew as well as in Luke (Luke 11:2), there is re-
ference to having enough food for every day. This fourth petition, then, has to do
with moderate use of food and material things—far from the extremes of opulence
and misery, as God already taught in the Old Testament “Give me neither pover-
ty nor riches; feed me with the food which is needful for me, lest I be full, and de-
ny Thee, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the
name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8).

The Fathers of the Church interpreted the bread asked for here not only as ma-
terial food but also as referring to the Blessed Eucharist, without which our spirit
cannot stay alive.

According to the “St. Pius V Catechism” (cf. IV, 13, 21) the Eucharist is called
our daily bread because it is offered daily to God in the Holy Mass and because
we should worthily receive it, every day if possible, as St. Ambrose advises: “If
the bread is daily, why do you take it only once a year [...]? Receive daily what
is of benefit to you daily! So live that you may deserve to receive it daily!” (”De
Sacramentis”, V, 4).

12. “Debts”: clearly, here, in the sense of sin. In the Aramaic of Jesus’ time the
same word was used for offense and debt. In this fifth petition, then, we admit
that we are debtors because we have offended God. The Old Testament is full
of references to man’s sinful condition. Even the “righteous” are sinners. Recog-
nizing our sins is the first step in every conversion to God. It is not a question of
recognizing that we have sinned in the past but of confessing our present sinful
condition. Awareness of our sinfulness makes us realize our religious need to
have recourse to the only One who can cure it. Hence the advantage of praying
insistently, using the Lord’s Prayer to obtain God’s forgiveness time and again.

The second part of this petition is a serious call to forgive our fellow-men, for we
cannot dare to ask God to forgive us if we are not ready to forgive others. The
Christian needs to realize what this prayer implies: unwillingness to forgive others
means that one is condemning oneself (see the notes on Matthew 5:23-24 and
18:21:21-35).

13. “And lead us not into temptation”: “We do not ask to be totally exempt from
temptation, for human life is one continuous temptation (cf. Job 7:1). What, then,
do we pray for in this petition? We pray that the divine assistance may not forsake
us, lest having been deceived, or worsted, we should yield to temptation; and that
the grace of God may be at hand to succor us when our strength fails, to refresh
and invigorate us in our trials” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, IV, 15, 14).

In this petition of the “Our Father” we recognize that our human efforts alone do
not take us very far in trying to cope with temptation, and that we need to have
humble recourse to God, to get the strength we need. For, “God is strong
enough to free you from everything and can do you more good than all the devils
can do you harm. All that God decrees is that you confide in Him, that you draw
near Him, that you trust Him and distrust yourself, and so be helped; and with
this help you will defeat whatever hell brings against you. Never lose hold of this
firm hope [...] even if the demons are legion and all kinds of severe temptations
harass you. Lean upon Him, because if the Lord is not your support and your
strength, then you will fall and you will be afraid of everything” (St. John of Avila,
“Sermons, 9, First Sunday of Lent”).

“But deliver us from evil”: in this petition, which, in a way, sums up the previous
petitions, we ask the Lord to free us from everything our enemy does to bring us
down; we cannot be free of him unless God Himself free us, in response to our
prayers.

This sentence can also be translated as “Deliver us from the Evil One”, that is to
say, the devil, who is in the last analysis the author of all evils to which we are
prone.

In making this request we can be sure that our prayer will be heard because Je-
sus Christ, when He was on the point of leaving this world, prayed to the Father
for the salvation of all men: “I do not pray that Thou shouldst take them out of the
world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

14-15. In verses 14 and 15 St. Matthew gives us a sort of commentary of our Lord
on the fifth petition of the “Our Father”.

A God who forgives is a wonderful God. But if God, who is thrice-holy, has mercy
on the sinner, how much more ought we to forgive others—we sinners, who know
from our own experience the wretchedness of sin. No one on earth is perfect.
Just as God loves us, even though we have defects, and forgives us, we should
love others, even though they have defects, and forgive them. If we wait to love
people who have no defects, we shall never love anyone. If we wait until others
mend their ways or apologize, we will scarcely ever forgive them. But then we
ourselves will never be forgiven. “All right: that person has behaved badly towards
you. But, haven’t you behaved worse towards God?” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”,
686).

Thus, forgiving those who have offended us makes us like our Father, God: “In lo-
ving our enemies there shines forth in us some likeness to God our Father, who,
by the death of His Son, ransomed from everlasting perdition and reconciled to
Himself the human race, which before was most unfriendly and hostile to Him”
(”St. Pius V Catechism”, IV, 14, 19).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16 ©

Moses said to the people: ‘Remember how the Lord your God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but that man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

‘Do not become proud of heart. Do not forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery: who guided you through this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents, scorpions, thirst; who in this waterless place brought you water from the hardest rock; who in this wilderness fed you with manna that your fathers had not known.’

Psalm

Psalm 147:12-15,19-20 ©

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

or

Alleluia!

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Zion, praise your God!

He has strengthened the bars of your gates

he has blessed the children within you.

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

or

Alleluia!

He established peace on your borders,

he feeds you with finest wheat.

He sends out his word to the earth

and swiftly runs his command.

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

or

Alleluia!

He makes his word known to Jacob,

to Israel his laws and decrees.

He has not dealt thus with other nations;

he has not taught them his decrees.

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

or

Alleluia!

Second reading

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 ©

The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.

Sequence

The Sequence may be said or sung in full, or using the shorter form indicated by the asterisked verses.

Sing forth, O Zion, sweetly sing

The praises of thy Shepherd-King,

In hymns and canticles divine;

Dare all thou canst, thou hast no song

Worthy his praises to prolong,

So far surpassing powers like thine.

Today no theme of common praise

Forms the sweet burden of thy lays –

The living, life-dispensing food –

That food which at the sacred board

Unto the brethren twelve our Lord

His parting legacy bestowed.

Then be the anthem clear and strong,

Thy fullest note, thy sweetest song,

The very music of the breast:

For now shines forth the day sublime

That brings remembrance of the time

When Jesus first his table blessed.

Within our new King’s banquet-hall

They meet to keep the festival

That closed the ancient paschal rite:

The old is by the new replaced;

The substance hath the shadow chased;

And rising day dispels the night.

Christ willed what he himself had done

Should be renewed while time should run,

In memory of his parting hour:

Thus, tutored in his school divine,

We consecrate the bread and wine;

And lo – a Host of saving power.

This faith to Christian men is given –

Bread is made flesh by words from heaven:

Into his blood the wine is turned:

What though it baffles nature’s powers

Of sense and sight? This faith of ours

Proves more than nature e’er discerned.

Concealed beneath the two-fold sign,

Meet symbols of the gifts divine,

There lie the mysteries adored:

The living body is our food;

Our drink the ever-precious blood;

In each, one undivided Lord.

Not he that eateth it divides

The sacred food, which whole abides

Unbroken still, nor knows decay;

Be one, or be a thousand fed,

They eat alike that living bread

Which, still received, ne’er wastes away.

The good, the guilty share therein,

With sure increase of grace or sin,

The ghostly life, or ghostly death:

Death to the guilty; to the good

Immortal life. See how one food

Man’s joy or woe accomplisheth.

We break the Sacrament, but bold

And firm thy faith shall keep its hold,

Deem not the whole doth more enfold

Than in the fractured part resides

Deem not that Christ doth broken lie,

’Tis but the sign that meets the eye,

The hidden deep reality

In all its fullness still abides.

– – – – – –

*Behold the bread of angels, sent

For pilgrims in their banishment,

The bread for God’s true children meant,

That may not unto dogs be given:

Oft in the olden types foreshowed;

In Isaac on the altar bowed,

And in the ancient paschal food,

And in the manna sent from heaven.

*Come then, good shepherd, bread divine,

Still show to us thy mercy sign;

Oh, feed us still, still keep us thine;

So may we see thy glories shine

In fields of immortality;

*O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,

Our present food, our future rest,

Come, make us each thy chosen guest,

Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest

With saints whose dwelling is with thee.

Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn6:51

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,

says the Lord.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 6:51-58 ©

Jesus said to the Jews:

‘I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;

and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,

for the life of the world.’

Then the Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you will not have life in you.

Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood

has eternal life,

and I shall raise him up on the last day.

For my flesh is real food

and my blood is real drink.

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood

lives in me

and I live in him.

As I, who am sent by the living Father,

myself draw life from the Father,

so whoever eats me will draw life from me.

This is the bread come down from heaven;

not like the bread our ancestors ate:

they are dead,

but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’

Perpetual Novena for the Nation (Ecumenical)

Prayers for The Religion Forum (Ecumenical)

Jesus, High Priest

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

Pray the Rosary

1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.

End with the Hail Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Final step -- The Sign of the Cross

The Mysteries of the Rosary

By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Luminous Mysteries or Mysteries of Light
(Thursdays) see Rosarium Virginis Mariae
1. Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan (II Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 3:17 and parallels) [Spiritual fruit - Gratitude for the gift of Faith]
2. Jesus' self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana (John 2:1- 12) [Spiritual fruit - Fidelity]
3. Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with His call to conversion (Mark 1:15, Mark 2:3-13; Luke 7:47- 48, John 20:22-23) [Spiritual fruit - Desire for Holiness]
4. Jesus' Transfiguration (Luke 9:35 and parallels) [Spiritual fruit - Spiritual Courage]
5. Jesus' institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery. (Luke 24:13-35 and parallels, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25) [Spiritual fruit - Love of our Eucharistic Lord]

~ PRAYER ~

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+

A Prayer for our Free Nation Under God
God Save Our Country web site (prayer warriors)
Prayer Chain Request for the United States of America
Pray for Nancy Pelosi
Prayer and fasting will help defeat health care reform (Freeper Prayer Thread)
Prayer Campaign Started to Convert Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians to Pro-Life
[Catholic Caucus] One Million Rosaries
Non-stop Rosary vigil to defeat ObamaCare

From an Obama bumper sticker on a car:

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8"

PLEASE JOIN US -

Evening Prayer
Someone has said that if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.
Did you know that during WWII there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace?

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (7:00 PM Mountain) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Please forward this to your praying friends.

June Devotion: The Sacred Heart

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The month of June is set apart for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. "From among all the proofs of the infinite goodness of our Savior none stands out more prominently than the fact that, as the love of the faithful grew cold, He, Divine Love Itself, gave Himself to us to be honored by a very special devotion and that the rich treasury of the Church was thrown wide open in the interests of that devotion." These words of Pope Pius XI refer to the Sacred Heart Devotion, which in its present form dates from the revelations given to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673-75.

The devotion consists in the divine worship of the human heart of Christ, which is united to His divinity and which is a symbol of His love for us. The aim of the devotion is to make our Lord king over our hearts by prompting them to return love to Him (especially through an act of consecration by which we offer to the Heart of Jesus both ourselves and all that belongs to us) and to make reparation for our ingratitude to God.

INVOCATION

O Heart of love, I put all my trust in Thee; for I fear all things from my own weakness, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEART

Devotion to the Sacred Heart was the characteristic note of the piety of Saint Gertrude the Great (1256-1302), Benedictine nun and renowned mystic. She was, in fact, the first great exponent of devotion to the Sacred Heart. In our efforts to honor the Heart of Jesus we have this prayer as a model for our own:
Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. Thou art my refuge and my sanctuary, 0 my amiable Savior. Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Thine is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Thy love, and let my heart be so united with Thine, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things be conformed to Thine. May Thy divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen.
Saint Gertrude

FOR THE CHURCH

O most holy Heart of Jesus, shower Thy blessings in abundant measure upon Thy holy Church, upon the Supreme Pontiff and upon all the clergy; to the just grant perseverance; convert sinners; enlighten unbelievers; bless our relations, friends and benefactors; assist the dying; deliver the holy souls in purgatory; and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. Amen.

A PRAYER OF TRUST

O God, who didst in wondrous manner reveal to the virgin, Margaret Mary, the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart, grant that loving Thee, after her example, in all things and above all things, we may in Thy Heart find our abiding home.
Roman Missal

ACT OF LOVE

Reveal Thy Sacred Heart to me, O Jesus, and show me Its attractions. Unite me to It for ever. Grant that all my aspirations and all the beats of my heart, which cease not even while I sleep, may be a testimonial to Thee of my love for Thee and may say to Thee: Yes, Lord, I am all Thine;
pledge of my allegiance to Thee rests ever in my heart will never cease to be there. Do Thou accept the slight amount of good that I do and be graciously pleased to repair all m] wrong-doing; so that I may be able to bless Thee in time and in eternity. Amen.
Cardinal Merry del Val

MEMORARE TO THE SACRED HEART
Remember, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought its mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushed beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests. Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

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Catholic Word of the Day: LITANY OF THE SACRED HEART, 10-19-09
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HAURIETIS AQUAS (On Devotion To The Sacred Heart) - Encyclical by Pope Pius XII
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"Behold this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return. Through you My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth."

- Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary

Our Lord also made 12 promises to St. Margaret Mary for those that are devoted to His Sacred Heart.

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.
I will give peace in their families.
I will console them in all their troubles.
They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.
I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
Tepid souls shall become fervent.
Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.
I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in My Heart, and it shall never be effaced.
The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at the last hour.

June 2014 Year A
Pope's Intentions
Universal: That the unemployed may receive support and find the work they need to live in dignity.

For Evangelization: That Europe may rediscover its Christian roots through the witness of believers.

Daily Gospel Commentary

Thursday of the Eleventh week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church
The way of perfection, ch. 36, 1-6 (trans. E. Allison Peers, alt.)

"Forgive us our debts"

"And forgive us, Lord, our debts, even as we forgive them to our debtors." Notice, sisters, that he does not say: "as we shall forgive," We are to understand that anyone who... has already yielded his own will to the will of God, must have done this already... Anyone, then, who sincerely repeats this petition, "Your will be done", must, at least in intention, have done this already.

You see now why the saints rejoiced in insults and persecutions: it was because these gave them something to present to the Lord when they prayed to him. What can a poor creature like myself do, who has had so little to forgive others and has so much to be forgiven herself? This, sisters, is something which we should consider carefully; it is such a serious and important matter that God should pardon us our sins... that we must pardon all trifling things which have been done to us. As I have so few, Lord, even of these trifling things, to offer you, your pardoning of me must be a free gift. There is abundant scope here for your mercy! Blessed are you to endure one who is so poor!...

Paying heed to little things about which we think we are being slighted, insisting on these nice points of honour, we become like children building houses of straw!... We shall get to the point of thinking we have done something wonderful because we have forgiven a person for some trifling thing, which was neither a slight nor an insult nor anything else. Then we shall ask the Lord to forgive us as people who have done something important, just because we have forgiven someone. Grant us, my God, to understand how little we understand ourselves and how empty our hands are when we come to you, and forgive us in your mercy.

What you do with those who beg from you is what God will do with His beggar, you! You are filled and you are empty. Fill your empty neighbor from your fullness, so that your emptiness may be filled from God's fullness.
-- Saint Augusrine of Hippo

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The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Saint Romuald, Abbot

Saint Romuald, Abbot
Optional Memorial
June 19th

Saint Romuald (detail of Crucifixion and Saints)
Fra Angelico
1441-42
Fresco, 550 x 950 cm (full fresco)
Convento di San Marco, Florence

Saint Romuald was born in Ravenna, Italy to a family of nobility. Founder of the Camaldolese monks, he was a hermit and a reformer of the monastic custom of his time. He died after a life of prayer and rigorous penance.

Collect:
O God, who through Saint Romuald renewed
the manner of life of hermits in your Church,
grant that, denying ourselves and following Christ,
we may merit to reach the heavenly realms on high.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

First Reading: Philippians 3:8-14
Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel Reading: Luke 14:25-33
Now great multitudes accompanied Him; and He turned and said to them, "If any one comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Saint Romuald, Abbot

Information: St. Romuald

Feast Day: June 19

Born: 950 at Ravenna, Italy

Died: 19 June 1027 at Val-di-Castro, Italy

Canonized: 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII