Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-05-16, OM, Bl. Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest St. Faustina

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 10-05-16 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

October 5, 2016

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Gal 2:1-2, 7-14

Brothers and sisters:
After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
taking Titus along also.
I went up in accord with a revelation,
and I presented to them the Gospel that I preach to the Gentiles–
but privately to those of repute–
so that I might not be running, or have run, in vain.
On the contrary,
when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised,
just as Peter to the circumcised,
for the one who worked in Peter for an apostolate to the circumcised
worked also in me for the Gentiles,
and when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me,
James and Cephas and John,
who were reputed to be pillars,
gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership,
that we should go to the Gentiles
and they to the circumcised.
Only, we were to be mindful of the poor,
which is the very thing I was eager to do.

And when Cephas came to Antioch,
I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.
For, until some people came from James,
he used to eat with the Gentiles;
but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself,
because he was afraid of the circumcised.
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him,
with the result that even Barnabas
was carried away by their hypocrisy.
But when I saw that they were not on the right road
in line with the truth of the Gospel,
I said to Cephas in front of all,
“If you, though a Jew,
are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew,
how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 117:1bc, 2

R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
Praise the LORD, all you nations,
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

Alleluia Rom 8:15bc

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”

[Salvation]

For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

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KEYWORDS: catholic; lk11; ordinarytime; prayer; saints;

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From: Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14

Visit to Jerusalem

---

[1] Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking
Titus along with me. [2] I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but priva-
tely before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the Gen-
tiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain. [7] But on the contrary,
when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised,
just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised [8] (for he
who worked through Peter for the mission to the circumcised worked through
me also for the Gentiles), [9] and when they perceived the grace that was given
to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me
and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and
they to the circumcised; [10] only they would have us remember the poor, which
very thing I was eager to do.

Peter and Paul at Antioch

---

[11] But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he
stood condemned. [12] For before certain men came from James, he ate with
the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing
the circumcision party. [13] And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely,
so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity. [14] But when I saw
that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas
before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how
can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

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

1-10. St Paul had ended his first apostolic journey by returning to Antioch in Sy-
ria, from where he had set out. We know that the Christian community in that ci-
ty, which was an important crossroads of race and culture, had developed as a
providential result of the dispersal of Jerusalem Christians following on Stephen’s
martyrdom (cf. Acts 11:19-26). Some of these refugees had brought the new faith
to Antioch but had confined themselves to preaching and converting Jews. Later,
through the activity of other Christians, Jews of the Diaspora, that is, domiciled
outside Palestine, and pagans also began to adopt the new religion. Barnabas
had been commissioned by the Jerusalem church to organize the young Chris-
tian community in Antioch (cf. Acts 11:19-24). He later chose Paul, who had
been living quietly in Tarsus, to act as his assistant (cf. Acts 11:25-26).

The disciples in Antioch, where the name “Christians” was first used to describe
them, belonged to the whole gamut of social and ethnic backgrounds, as we can
see from the short list of “prophets and teachers” of the church at Antioch (cf.
Acts 13:1-3): some were of African origin, like Symeon “who was called Niger”;
others came from the western Mediterranean, like Lucius of Cyrene; Manaen was
from the household of Herod the tetrarch; and there were Jews from communities
outside Palestine — for example, Barnabas and Saul themselves.

Among these different types, we find some Christians of Jewish background who
felt that pagan converts to Christianity should observe the prescriptions of the Mo-
saic Law (including the detailed precepts which Jewish tradition kept adding to
that Law); these guardians of the gate of entry into the chosen people were requi-
ring that pagan converts be circumcised, as all Jews were.

When these “Judaizers” from Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1) asserted that circumci-
sion was necessary for salvation, they were raising an issue which went much
deeper than simply conforming to the Law of Moses: was the Redemption
wrought by Christ enough, of itself, for attaining salvation, or was it still neces-
sary for people to become part of the people of Israel, conforming to all its ritual
requirements?

Clearly, this question was a source of considerable division. Acts 15:2 refers to
its causing “no small dissension”. The present passage of Galatians shows that
Paul, receiving a revelation from God, decided to grasp the nettle by stating un-
equivocally that Christ’s redemption — on its own, and alone — brings salvation.
In other words, circumcision was not necessary, nor did the elaborate ritual regu-
lations of Judaism apply to Christians. In Jerusalem Paul expounded “the Gospel”
he had been proclaiming to the Gentiles. He was accompanied by Barnabas, and
by a young disciple, Titus, the son of pagan parents, quite possibly baptized by
Paul himself (cf. Tit 1:4, where he calls him his “true child”), who would later be-
came one of his most faithful co-workers.

1. Between his conversion and the date of his letter, St Paul had visited Jerusa-
lem three times (cf. Acts 9:26; 11:29-30; 15:1-6). Of these three journeys he
here mentions only two, omitting the time he and Barnabas went there (cf. Acts
11:29-30), because that visit was not particularly significant.

The Judaizers’ demands were inadmissible and clearly dangerous. That was why
Paul and Barnabas had opposed them openly at Antioch, and in fact it was their
failure to achieve unity and peace on this point that had led them to go up to the
Holy City to obtain a decision from the Apostles themselves and the priests li-
ving in Jerusalem.

10. The Acts of the Apostles show us how concerned the early Church was
about looking after the material needs of its members. We can see this, for ex-
ample, when it tells us about “serving tables”, which refers to the work of giving
help to the needy: this began to take up more and more time, with the result that
the seven deacons were appointed to allow the Apostles to concentrate on their
own specific work — prayer and the ministry of the word or preaching (cf. Acts 6:
1-6).

St Paul was faithful to this charge about not forgetting the poor, as we can see
from many references in his letters to collections for the poor (cf. 1 Cor 16:1-3;
2 Cor 8:1-l5; 9:l5; etc.). Indeed, one of the reasons for his last visit to Jerusalem
was to hand over the monies collected in the Christian communities of Greece
and Asia Minor.

11-14. In his dealing with Jews, St Paul sometimes gave way in secondary mat-
ters, provided that this did not take from the essence of the Gospel: he had Ti-
mothy, whose mother was Jewish, circumcised “because of the Jews that were
in those places” (Acts 16:3), and he himself kept to Jewish practices in order to
allay suspicion and jealousy (cf. Acts 21:22-26). Similarly, he recommends pa-
tience and certain understanding towards those “weak” in the faith, that is, Chris-
tians of Jewish origin who held on to some Jewish observances connected with
fast days, clean and unclean food and abstinence from the flesh of animals sacri-
ficed to idols (cf. Rom 14:2-6; 1 Cor 10:23-30). But on the key issue of Christians’
freedom from the Mosaic Law, the Apostle was always firm and unambiguous,
relying on the decisions of the Council of Jerusalem.

Paul’s correction of Peter did not go against the latter’s authority. On the con-
trary, if it had been just anyone, the Teacher of the Gentiles might have let the
matter pass; but because it was Cephas, that is, the “rock” of the Church, he
had to take action in order to avoid the impression being given that Christians
of Gentile origin were obliged to adopt a Jewish lifestyle.

Far from undermining the holiness and unity of the Church, this episode demon-
strated the great spiritual solidarity among the Apostles, St Paul’s regard for the
visible head of the Church, and Peter’s humility in correcting his behavior. St Au-
gustine comments: “He who was rebuked was worthier of admiration and more
difficult to imitate than he who made the rebuke [...]. This episode serves as a
fine example of humility, the greatest of Christian teachings, because it is
through humility that charity is maintained” (”Exp. in Gal.”, 15).

12. When he speaks of these Judaizers as coming “from James”, this does not
mean that they had been sent by that Apostle. It is, rather, a reference to their
coming from Jerusalem, where, after the persecution organized by Herod Agrippa
and the forced flight of St Peter (cf. Acts 12-17), St James the Less remained as
bishop. But what is probable is that these Christians, who had not given up the
Mosaic Law and Jewish observances, made use of that Apostle’s name: as “the
brother of the Lord”, he enjoyed universal veneration and respect.

*********************************************************************************************
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.

[Salvation]

From: Luke 11:1-4

The Our Father

---

[1] He (Jesus) was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His
disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught His disciples.”
[2] And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Our Father, hallowed be Thy
name. Thy Kingdom come. [3] Give us each day our daily bread; [4] and forgive
us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead
us not into temptation.’”

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

1-4. St. Luke gives us a shorter form of the Lord’s Prayer, or Our Father, than
St. Matthew (6:9-13). In Matthew there are seven petitions, in Luke only four.
Moreover, St. Matthew’s version is given in the context of the Sermon on the
Mount and specifically as part of Jesus’ teaching on how to pray; St. Luke’s is
set in one of those occasions just after our Lord has been at prayer — two diffe-
rent contexts. There is nothing surprising about our Lord teaching the same
thing on different occasions, not always using exactly the same words, not al-
ways at the same length, but always stressing the same basic points. Natural-
ly, the Church uses the longer form of the Lord’s Prayer, that of St. Matthew.

“When the disciples asked the Lord Jesus, ‘Teach us to pray’, He replied by sa-
ying the words of the ‘Our Father’, thereby giving a concrete model which is also
a universal model. In fact, everything that can and must be said to the Father is
contained in those seven requests which we all know by heart. There is such
simplicity in them that even a child can learn them, but at the same time such
depth that a whole life can be spent meditating on their meaning. Isn’t that so?
Does not each of those petitions deal with something essential to our life, direc-
ting it totally towards God the Father? Doesn’t this prayer speak to us about
‘our daily bread’, ‘forgiveness of our sins, since we forgive others’ and about pro-
tecting us from ‘temptation’ and ‘delivering us from evil?’” (Bl. John Paul II, “Ge-
neral Audience”, 14 March 1979).

The first thing our Lord teaches us to ask for is the glorification of God and the
coming of His Kingdom. That is what is really important — the Kingdom of God
and His justice (cf. Matthew 6:33). Our Lord also wants us to pray confident that
our Father will look after our material needs, for “your Heavenly Father knows
that you need them all” (Matthew 6:32). However, the Our Father makes us as-
pire especially to possess the goods of the Holy Spirit, and invites us to seek
forgiveness (and to forgive others) and to avoid the danger of sinning. Finally the
Our Father emphasizes the importance of vocal prayer. “’Domine, doce nos ora-
re. Lord teach us to pray!’ And our Lord replied: ‘When you pray say: “Pater nos-
ter, qui es in coelis”... Our Father, who art in Heaven...’. What importance we
must attach to vocal prayer!” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 84).

1. Jesus often went away to pray (cf. Luke 6:12; 22:39ff). This practice of the
Master causes His disciples to want to learn how to pray. Jesus teaches them
to do what He Himself does. Thus, when our Lord prays, He begins with the
Word “Father!”: “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46); see
also Matthew 11:25; 26:42, 53; Luke 23:34; John 11:41; etc.). His prayer on
the Cross, “My God, My God,...” (Matthew 27:46), is not really an exception
to this rule, because there He is quoting Psalm 22, the desperate prayer of the
persecuted just man.

Therefore, we can say that the first characteristic prayer should have is the sim-
plicity of a son speaking to his Father. “You write: ‘To pray is to talk with God.
But about what?’ About what? About Him, about yourself: joys, sorrows, succes-
ses, failures, noble ambitions, daily worries, weaknesses! And acts of thanksgi-
ving and petition: and love and reparation. In a word: to get to know Him and to
get to know yourself: ‘to get acquainted!’” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 91).

2. “Hallowed be Thy name”: in this first petition of the Our Father “we pray that
God may be known, loved, honored and served by everyone and by ourselves in
particular.” This means that we want “unbelievers to come to a knowledge of the
true God, heretics to recognize their errors, schismatics to return to the unity of
the Church, sinners to be converted and the righteous to persevere in doing
good.” By this first petition, our Lord is teaching us that ‘we must desire God’s
glory more than our own interest and advantage.” This hallowing of God’s name
is attained “by prayer and good example and by directing all our thoughts, affec-
tions and actions towards Him” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 290-293).

“Thy Kingdom come”: “By the Kingdom of God we understand a triple spiritual
kingdom — the Kingdom of God in us, which is grace; the Kingdom of God on
earth, which is the Catholic Church; and the Kingdom of God in Heaven, which
is eternal bliss [...]. As regards grace, we pray that God reign in us with His
sanctifying grace, by which He is pleased to dwell in us as a king in his throne-
room, and that He keeps us united to Him by the virtues of faith, hope and chari-
ty, by which He reigns in our intellect, in our heart and in our will [...]. As regards
the Church, we pray that it extend and spread all over the world for the salvation
of men [...]. As regards Heaven, we pray that one day we be admitted to that
eternal bliss for which we have been created, where we will be totally happy”
(”ibid.”, 294-297).

3. The Tradition of the Church usually interprets the “bread” as not only material
bread, since “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3). Here Jesus wants us
to ask God for “what we need each day for soul and body [...]. For our soul we
ask God to sustain our spiritual life, that is, we beg Him to give us His grace, of
which we are continually in need [...]. The life of our soul is sustained mainly by
the divine word and by the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar [...]. For our bodies
we pray for what is needed to maintain us” (”St. Pius X Catechism”, 302-305).

Christian doctrine stresses two ideas in this petition of the Our Father: the first
is trust in Divine Providence, which frees us from excessive desire to accumu-
late possessions to insure us against the future (cf. Luke 12:16-21); the other
idea is that we should take a brotherly interest in other people’s needs, thereby
moderating our selfish tendencies.

4. “So rigorously does God exact from us forgetfulness of injuries and mutual
affection and love, that He rejects and despises the gifts and sacrifices of those
who are not reconciled to one another” (”St. Pius V Catechism”, IV, 14, 16).

“This sisters, is something which we should consider carefully; it is such a se-
rious and important matter that God should pardon us our sins, which have me-
rited eternal fire, 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 Thee, Thy pardo-
ning of me must be a free gift: there is abundant scope here for Thy mercy.
Blessed be Thou, who endurest one that is so poor” (St. Teresa of Avila, “Way
of Perfection”, Chapter 36).

“And lead us not into temptation”: it is not a sin to “feel” temptation but to “con-
sent” to temptation. It is also a sin to put oneself voluntarily into a situation which
can easily lead one to sin. God allows us to be tempted, in order to test our fide-
lity, to exercise us in virtue and to increase our merits with the help of grace. In
this petition we ask the Lord to give us His grace not to be overcome when put to
the test, or to free us from temptation if we cannot cope with it.

********************************************************************************************
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.

[Salvation]

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

---

First reading

Galatians 2:1-2,7-14 ©

It was not till fourteen years had passed that I went up to Jerusalem again. I went with Barnabas and took Titus with me. I went there as the result of a revelation, and privately I laid before the leading men the Good News as I proclaim it among the pagans; I did so for fear the course I was adopting or had already adopted would not be allowed. On the contrary, they recognised that I had been commissioned to preach the Good News to the uncircumcised just as Peter had been commissioned to preach it to the circumcised. The same person whose action had made Peter the apostle of the circumcised had given me a similar mission to the pagans. So, James, Cephas and John, these leaders, these pillars, shook hands with Barnabas and me as a sign of partnership: we were to go to the pagans and they to the circumcised. The only thing they insisted on was that we should remember to help the poor, as indeed I was anxious to do.

  When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, since he was manifestly in the wrong. His custom had been to eat with the pagans, but after certain friends of James arrived he stopped doing this and kept away from them altogether for fear of the group that insisted on circumcision. The other Jews joined him in this pretence, and even Barnabas felt himself obliged to copy their behaviour.

  When I saw they were not respecting the true meaning of the Good News, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, ‘In spite of being a Jew, you live like the pagans and not like the Jews, so you have no right to make the pagans copy Jewish ways.’

---

Responsorial Psalm	Psalm 116:1-2 ©

Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.

O praise the Lord, all you nations,

  acclaim him all you peoples!

Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.

Strong is his love for us;

  he is faithful for ever.

Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.

---

Gospel Acclamation	Ps118:24

Alleluia, alleluia!

Train me, Lord, to observe your law,

to keep it with my heart.

Alleluia!

Or	Rm8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

The spirit you received is the spirit of sons,

and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’

Alleluia!

---

Gospel	Luke 11:1-4 ©

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:

“Father, may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come;

give us each day our daily bread,

and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test.”’

[Salvation]

The Beginning of the End of Abortion -- 40 Days for Life --

[Salvation]

Bogota, Colombia

October 4, 2016

“Our stories of mothers who have said yes to the lives of their children motivate many of our followers to send us their own testimonies of their experiences with unexpected pregnancies or in crisis situations,” said one of Bogota’s 40 Days for Life team members. “This is one of them.”

“I was a teenager who was the perfect daughter, in a family that was not so perfect,” recalled this young woman.

“I always did well at school, outstanding grades, no problems of discipline … was very wise and obedient in my house. As I am an only child, my parents always expected only the best of me,” she said.

Her life changed dramatically when she was 16. She learned that she was pregnant.

So much for the perfect daughter, she thought. Everyone would be so disappointed in her, especially her mother.

“I cried for hours, not knowing what was going to happen with me. The only thing I was sure about was that I wasn’t going to end the life of my son. Abortion was never an option for me.”

The young woman was overcome with thoughts of how she would deal with her family, her boyfriend’s family, her school friends – but nothing would convince her that abortion would solve her troubles. “Thank God, that’s always been so clear.”

Ten years ago this month, “God blessed me with the best gift – a spectacular baby spectacular who came filled with smiles and love to those around him. It was all better once he was born. The two families were happy. The suffering and fear were gone, and I graduated from school.”

It’s been ten years full of challenges, she said, “but I feel blessed to look at those green eyes full of life each and every day. Saying yes to life was the best decision I could make, despite the fear and the circumstances.”

This mom understands that every life is a gift from God. “My son has taught me to be a better person, to strive every day to be the best version of myself, to be their best example, to be the best mom I can be for him.”

She has no doubt that ten years ago, she made the best decision possible by saying yes to life.

[Salvation]

Bogota, Colombia

October 4, 2016

“Our stories of mothers who have said yes to the lives of their children motivate many of our followers to send us their own testimonies of their experiences with unexpected pregnancies or in crisis situations,” said one of Bogota’s 40 Days for Life team members. “This is one of them.”

“I was a teenager who was the perfect daughter, in a family that was not so perfect,” recalled this young woman.

“I always did well at school, outstanding grades, no problems of discipline … was very wise and obedient in my house. As I am an only child, my parents always expected only the best of me,” she said.

Her life changed dramatically when she was 16. She learned that she was pregnant.

So much for the perfect daughter, she thought. Everyone would be so disappointed in her, especially her mother.

“I cried for hours, not knowing what was going to happen with me. The only thing I was sure about was that I wasn’t going to end the life of my son. Abortion was never an option for me.”

The young woman was overcome with thoughts of how she would deal with her family, her boyfriend’s family, her school friends – but nothing would convince her that abortion would solve her troubles. “Thank God, that’s always been so clear.”

Ten years ago this month, “God blessed me with the best gift – a spectacular baby spectacular who came filled with smiles and love to those around him. It was all better once he was born. The two families were happy. The suffering and fear were gone, and I graduated from school.”

It’s been ten years full of challenges, she said, “but I feel blessed to look at those green eyes full of life each and every day. Saying yes to life was the best decision I could make, despite the fear and the circumstances.”

This mom understands that every life is a gift from God. “My son has taught me to be a better person, to strive every day to be the best version of myself, to be their best example, to be the best mom I can be for him.”

She has no doubt that ten years ago, she made the best decision possible by saying yes to life.

[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

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[Salvation]

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[annalex]

Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 11
1.	AND it came to pass, that as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.	Et factum est : cum esset in quodam loco orans, ut cessavit, dixit unus ex discipulis ejus ad eum : Domine, doce nos orare, sicut docuit et Joannes discipulos suos.	και εγενετο εν τω ειναι αυτον εν τοπω τινι προσευχομενον ως επαυσατο ειπεν τις των μαθητων αυτου προς αυτον κυριε διδαξον ημας προσευχεσθαι καθως και ιωαννης εδιδαξεν τους μαθητας αυτου
2.	And he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.	Et ait illis : Cum oratis, dicite : Pater, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum.	ειπεν δε αυτοις οταν προσευχησθε λεγετε πατερ ημων ο εν τοις ουρανοις αγιασθητω το ονομα σου ελθετω η βασιλεια σου γενηθητω το θελημα σου ως εν ουρανω και επι της γης
3.	Give us this day our daily bread.	Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie.	τον αρτον ημων τον επιουσιον διδου ημιν το καθ ημεραν
4.	And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.	Et dimitte nobis peccata nostra, siquidem et ipsi dimittimus omni debenti nobis. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.	και αφες ημιν τας αμαρτιας ημων και γαρ αυτοι αφιεμεν παντι οφειλοντι ημιν και μη εισενεγκης ημας εις πειρασμον αλλα ρυσαι ημας απο του πονηρου

(*) "γενηθητω το θελημα σου ως εν ουρανω και επι της γης", "be done Thy will as in Heaven so upon the earth" ending verse 2 is not translated.
(**) "αλλα ρυσαι ημας απο του πονηρου", "but deliver us from the evil one" ending verse 4 is not translated.

[annalex]

1. And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
2. And he said to them, When you pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
3. Give us day by day our daily bread.
4. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

BEDE; After the account of the sisters, who signified the two lives of the Church, our Lord is not without reason related to have both Himself prayed, and taught His disciples to pray, seeing that the prayer which He taught contains in itself the mystery of each life, and the perfection of the lives themselves is to be obtained not by our own strength, but by prayer. Hence it is said, And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place.

CYRIL; Now whereas He possesses every good in abundance, why does He pray, since He is full, and has altogether need of nothing? To this we answer, that it befits Him, according to the manner of His dispensation in the flesh, to follow human observances at the time convenient for them. For if He eats and drinks, He rightly was used to pray, that He might teach us not to be lukewarm in this duty, but to be the more diligent and earnest in our prayers.

TIT. BOST. The disciples having seen a new way of life, desire a new form of prayer, since there were several prayers to be found in the Old Testament. Hence it follows, When he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, in order that we might not sin against God in asking for one thing instead of another, or by approaching God in prayer in a manner that we ought not.

ORIGEN; And that he might point out the kind of teaching, the disciple proceeds, as John also taught his disciples. Of whom in truth you have told us, that among them that are born of women there had arisen none greater than he. And because you have commanded us to seek things that are great and eternal, whence shall we arrive at the knowledge of these but from You, our God and Savior?

GREG. NYSS.. He unfolds the teaching of prayer to His disciples, who wisely desire the knowledge of prayer, directing them how they ought to beseech God to hear them.

BASIL; There are two kinds of prayer, one composed of praise with humiliation, the other of petitions, and more subdued. Whenever then you pray, do not first break forth into petition; but if you condemn your inclination, supplicate God as if of necessity forced thereto. And when you begin to pray, forget all visible and invisible creatures, but commence with the praise of Him who created all things. Hence it is added, And he says to them, When you pray, say, Our Father.

PSEUDO-AUG. The first word, how gracious is it? You durst not raise your face to heaven, and suddenly you receive the grace of Christ. From an evil servant you are made a good son. Boast not then of your working, but of the grace of Christ; for therein is no arrogance, but faith. To proclaim what you have received is not pride, but devotion. Therefore raise your eyes to your Father, who begot you by Baptism, redeemed you by His Son. Say Father as a son, but claim no especial favor to t yourself. Of Christ alone is He the especial Father, of us the common Father. For Christ alone He begot, but us he created. And therefore according to Matthew when it is said, Our Father, it is added, which art in heaven, that is, in those heavens of which it was said, The heavens declare the glory of God. Heaven is where sin has ceased, and where there is no sting of death.

THEOPHYL. But He says not, which art in heaven, as though He were confined to that place, but to raise the hearer up to heaven, and draw him away from earthly things.

GREG. NYSS.. See how great a preparation you need, to be able to say boldly to God, O Father, for if you have your eyes fixed on worldly things, or court the praise of men, or are a slave to your passions, and utter this prayer, I seem to hear God saying, 'Whereas you that are of a corrupt life call the Author of the incorruptible your Father, you pollute with your defiled lips an incorruptible name. For He who commanded you to call Him Father, gave you not leave to utter lies. But the highest of e all good things is to glorify God's name in our lives. Hence He adds, Hallowed be thy name. For who is there so debased, as when He sees the pure life of those who believe, does not glorify the name invoked in such a life. He then who says in his prayer, Be thy name, which I call upon, hallowed in me, prays this, "May I through Your concurring aid be made just, abstaining from all evil."

CHRYS. For as when a man gazes upon the beauty of the heavens, he says, Glory be you, O God; so likewise when He beholds a man's virtuous actions, seeing that the virtue of man glorifies God much more than the heavens.

PSEUDO-AUG. Or it is said, Hallowed be thy name; that is, let Your holiness be known to all the world, and let it worthily praise You. For praise becomes the upright, and therefore He bids them pray for the cleansing of the whole world.

CYRIL; Since among those to whom the faith has not yet come, the name of God is still despised. But when the rays of truth shall have shined upon them, they will confess the Holy of Holies.

TIT. BOST. And because in the name of Jesus is the glory of God the Father, the name of the Father will be hallowed whenever Christ shall be known.

ORIGEN; Or, because the name of God is given by idolaters, and those who are in error, to idols and creatures, it has not as yet been so made holy, as to be separated from those things from which it ought to be. He teaches us therefore to pray that the name of God may be appropriated to the only true God; to whom alone belongs what follow, Thy kingdom come, to the end that may be put down all the rule, authority, and power, and kingdom of the world, together with sin which reigns in our mortal bodies.

GREG. NYSS.. We beseech also to be delivered by the Lord from corruption, to be taken out of death. Or, according to some, Thy kingdom come, that is, May Your Holy Spirit come upon us to purify us.

PSEUDO-AUG. For then comes the kingdom of God, when we have obtained His grace. For He Himself says, The kingdom of God is within you.

CYRIL; Or they who say this seem to wish to have the Savior of all again illuminating the world. But He has commanded us to desire in prayer that truly awful time, in order that men might know that it behoves them to live not in sloth and backwardness, lest that time bring upon them the fiery punishment, but rather honestly and according to His will, that that time may weave crowns for them. Hence it follows, according to Matthew, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

CHRYS. As if He says, Enable us, O Lord, to follow the heavenly life, that whatever You will, we may will in also.

GREG. NYSS.. For sin since He says that the life of man after the resurrection will be like to that of Angels, it follows, that our life in this world should be so ordered with respect to that which we hope for hereafter, that living in the flesh we may not live according to the flesh. But hereby the true Physician of the souls destroys the nature of the disease, that those who have been seized with sickness, whereby they have departed from the Divine will, may forthwith be released from the disease by being joined to the Divine will. For the health of the soul is the due fulfillment of the will of God.

AUG. It seems according to the Evangelist Matthew, that the Lord's prayer contains seven petitions, but Luke has comprehended it in five. Nor in truth does the one disagree from the other, but the latter has suggested by his brevity how those seven are to be understood. For the name of God is hallowed in the spirit, but the kingdom of God is about to come at the resurrection of the body. Luke then, showing that the third petition is in a manner a repetition of the two former, wished to make it so understood by omitting it. He then added three others. And first, of daily bread, saying, Give us day by day our daily bread.

PSEUDO-AUG. In the Greek the word is that is, something added to the substance. It is not that bread which goes into the body, but that bread of everlasting life, which supports the substance of our soul. But the Latins call this "daily" bread, which the Greeks call "coming to." If it is daily bread, why is it eaten a year old, as is the custom with the Greeks in the east? Take daily what profits you for the day; so live that you may daily be thought worthy to receive. The death of our Lord is signified thereby, and the remission of sins, and cost you not daily partake of that bread of life? He who has a wound seeks to be cured; the wound is that we are under sin, the cure is the heavenly and dreadful Sacrament. If you receive daily, daily does "Today" come to you. Christ is to you Today; Christ rises to thee daily.

TIT. BOST. Or the bread of souls is the Divine power, bringing the everlasting life which is to come, as the bread which comes out of the earth preserves the temporal life. But by saying "daily," He signifies the Divine bread which comes and is to come, which we seek to be given to us daily, requiring a certain earnest and taste of it, seeing that the Spirit which dwells in us has wrought a virtue surpassing all human virtues, as chastity, humility, and the rest.

CYRIL; Now perhaps some think it unfit for saints to seek from God bodily goods, and for this reason assign to these words a spiritual sense. But granting that the chief concern of the saints should be to obtain spiritual gifts, still it becomes them to see that they seek without blame, according to our Lord's command, their common bread. For from the fact that He bids them ask for bread, that is daily food, it seems that He implies that they should possess nothing, but rather practice an honorable poverty. For it is not the part of those who have bread to seek it, but rather of those who are oppressed with want.

BASIL; As if He said, For your daily bread, namely, that which serves for our daily wants, trust not to yourself, but fly to God for it, making known to Him the necessities of your nature.

CHRYS. We must then require of God the necessities of life; not varieties of meats, and spiced wines, and the other things which please the palate, while they load your stomach and disturb your mind, but bread which is able to support the bodily substance, that is to say, which is sufficient only for the day, that we may take no thought of the morrow. But we make only one petition about things of sense, that the present life may not trouble us.

GREG. NYSS.. Having taught us to take confidence through good works, He next teaches us to implore the remission of our offenses, for it follows, And forgive us our sins.

TIT. BOST. This also was necessarily added, for no one is found without sin, that we should not be hindered from the holy participation on account of man's guilt. For whereas we are bound to render to Christ all manner of holiness, who makes His Spirit to dwell in us, we are to be blamed if we keep not our temples clean for Him. But this defect is supplied by the goodness of God, remitting to human frailty the severe punishment of sin. And this act is done justly by the just God, when we forgive as it were our debtors, those, namely, who have injured us, and have not restored what was due. Hence it follows, For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.

CYRIL; For He wishes, if I may so speak, to make God the imitator of the patience which men practice, that the kindness which they have shown to their fellow servants, they should in like manner seek to receive in equal balance from God, who recompenses to each man justly, and knows how to have mercy upon all men.

CHRYS. Considering then these things, we ought to show mercy to our debtors. For they are to us if we are wise the cause of our greatest pardon; and though we perform only a few things, we shall find many. For we owe many and great debts to the Lord, of which if the least part should be exacted from us, we should soon perish.

PSEUDO-AUG. But what is the debt except sin? If you had not received, you would not owe money to another. And therefore sin is imputed to you. For you had money with which you were born rich, and made after the likeness and image of God, but you have lost what you then had. As when you put on pride you lose the gold of humility, you have receipted the devil's debt which was not necessary; the enemy held the bond, but the Lord crucified it, and canceled it with His blood. But the Lord is able, who has taken away our sins and forgiven our debts, to guard us against the snares of the devil, who is wont to produce sin in us. Hence it follows, And lead us not into temptation, such as we are not able to bear, but like the wrestler we wish only such temptation as the condition of man can sustain.

TIT. BOST. For it is impossible not to be tempted by the devil, but we make this prayer that we may not be abandoned to our temptations. Now that which happens by Divine permission, God is sometimes in Scripture said to do. And in this way by hindering not the increase of temptation which is above our strength, he leads us into temptation.

MAX. Or, the Lord commands us to pray, Lead us not into temptation, that is, let us not have experience of lustful and self-induced temptations. But James teaches those who contend only for the truth, not to be unnerved by involuntary and troublesome temptations, saying, lily brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations.

BASIL; It does not however become us to seek by our prayers bodily afflictions. For Christ has universally commanded men every where to pray that they enter not into temptation. But when one has already entered, it is fitting to ask from the Lord the power of enduring, that we may have fulfilled in us those words, He that endures to the end shall be saved.

AUG. But what Matthew has placed at the end, But deliver us from evil, Luke has not mentioned, that we might understand it belongs to the former, which was spoken of temptation. He therefore says, But deliver us, not, "And deliver us," clearly proving this to be but one petition, "Do not this, but this." But let every one know that he is therein delivered from evil, when he is not brought into temptation.

PSEUDO-AUG. For each man seeks to be delivered from evil, that is, from his enemies and sin, but he who gives himself up to God, fears not the devil, for if God is for us, who he can be against us?

Catena Aurea Luke 11

[annalex]

Agony in the Garden

Duccio di Buoninsegna

1308-11
Tempera on wood, 51 x 76 cm
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena

[Salvation]

Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska

Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska
October 5th

from Vatican website

"What a paradise it is for a soul when the heart knows itself to be so loved by God" (St. Faustina - Notebook VI, 1756)

***

St. Faustina was born on August 25, 1905 in Glogowiec in Poland of a poor and religious family of peasants, the third of ten children. She was baptized with the name Helena. From a very tender age she stood out because of her love of prayer, work, obedience, and also her sensitivity to the poor. At the age of nine she made her first Holy Communion living this moment very profoundly in her awareness of the presence of the Divine Guest within her soul. She attended school for three years. At the age of sixteen she left home and went to work as a housekeeper in order to find the means of supporting herself and of helping her parents.

At the age of seven she had already felt the first stirrings of a religious vocation. After finishing school, she wanted to enter the convent but her parents would not give her permission. Called during a vision of the Suffering Christ, on August 1, 1925 she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and took the name Sister Mary Faustina. She lived in the Congregation for thirteen years and lived in several religious houses. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter.

Externally nothing revealed her rich mystical interior life. She zealously performed her tasks and faithfully observed the rule of religious life. She was recollected and at the same time very natural, serene and full of kindness and disinterested love for her neighbor. Although her life was apparently insignificant, monotonous and dull, she hid within herself an extraordinary union with God.

It is the mystery of the Mercy of God which she contemplated in the word of God as well as in the everyday activities of her life that forms the basis of her spirituality. The process of contemplating and getting to know the mystery of God's mercy helped develop within Sr. Mary Faustina the attitude of child-like trust in God as well as mercy toward the neighbors. O my Jesus, each of Your saints reflects one of Your virtues; I desire to reflect Your compassionate heart, full of mercy; I want to glorify it. Let Your mercy, O Jesus, be impressed upon my heart and soul like a seal, and this will be my badge in this and the future life (Diary 1242). Sister Faustina was a faithful daughter of the Church which she loved like a Mother and a Mystic Body of Jesus Christ. Conscious of her role in the Church, she cooperated with God's mercy in the task of saving lost souls. At the specific request of and following the example of the Lord Jesus, she made a sacrifice of her own life for this very goal. In her spiritual life she also distinguished herself with a love of the Eucharist and a deep devotion to the Mother of Mercy.

The mission of Sister Mary Faustina consists in 3 tasks:

­ reminding the world of the truth of our faith revealed in the Holy Scripture about the merciful love of God toward every human being.

­ Entreating God's mercy for the whole world and particularly for sinners, among others through the practice of new forms of devotion to the Divine Mercy presented by the Lord Jesus, such as: the veneration of the image of the Divine Mercy with the inscription: Jesus, I Trust in You, the feast of the Divine Mercy celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, chaplet to the Divine Mercy and prayer at the Hour of Mercy (3 p.m.). The Lord Jesus attached great promises to the above forms of devotion, provided one entrusted one's life to God and practiced active love of one's neighbor.

­ The third task in Sr. Mary Faustina's mission consists in initiating the apostolic movement of the Divine Mercy which undertakes the task of proclaiming and entreating God's mercy for the world and strives for Christian perfection, following the precepts laid down by the Blessed Sr. Mary Faustina. The precepts in question require the faithful to display an attitude of child-like trust in God which expresses itself in fulfilling His will, as well as in the attitude of mercy toward one's neighbors. Today, this movement within the Church involves millions of people throughout the world; it comprises religious congregations, lay institutes, religious, brotherhoods, associations, various communities of apostles of the Divine Mercy, as well as individual people who take up the tasks which the Lord Jesus communicated to them through Sr. Mary Faustina.

Sister Mary Faustina, consumed by tuberculosis and by innumerable sufferings which she accepted as a voluntary sacrifice for sinners, died in Krakow at the age of just thirty three on October 5, 1938 with a reputation for spiritual maturity and a mystical union with God. The reputation of the holiness of her life grew as did the cult to the Divine Mercy and the graces she obtained from God through her intercession. In the years 1965-67, the investigative Process into her life and heroic virtues was undertaken in Krakow and in the year 1968, the Beatification Process was initiated in Rome. The latter came to an end in December 1992. On April 18, 1993 our Holy Father John Paul II raised Sister Faustina to the glory of the altars.

Principle Source: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/ns_lit_doc_20000430_faustina_en.html

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Homily of the Holy Father
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER 

MASS IN ST PETER'S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION 
OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA

Sunday, April 30, 2000

 

1. "Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius"; "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever" (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of Easter, as if receiving from Christ's lips these words of the Psalm; from the lips of the risen Christ, who bears the great message of divine mercy and entrusts its ministry to the Apostles in the Upper Room:  "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20: 21-23).

Before speaking these words, Jesus shows his hands and his side. He points, that is, to the wounds of the Passion, especially the wound in his heart, the source from which flows the great wave of mercy poured out on humanity. From that heart Sr Faustina Kowalska, the blessed whom from now on we will call a saint, will see two rays of light shining from that heart and illuminating the world:  "The two rays", Jesus himself explained to her one day, "represent blood and water" (Diary, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, p. 132).

2. Blood and water! We immediately think of the testimony given by the Evangelist John, who, when a solider on Calvary pierced Christ's side with his spear, sees blood and water flowing from it (cf. Jn 19: 34). Moreover, if the blood recalls the sacrifice of the Cross and the gift of the Eucharist, the water, in Johannine symbolism, represents not only Baptism but also the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 3: 5; 4: 14; 7: 37-39).

Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the heart of Christ crucified:  "My daughter, say that I am love and mercy personified", Jesus will ask Sr Faustina (Diary, p. 374). Christ pours out this mercy on humanity though the sending of the Spirit who, in the Trinity, is the Person-Love. And is not mercy love's "second name" (cf. Dives in misericordia, n. 7), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect, in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and, especially, in its immense capacity for forgiveness?

Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and witness of Sr Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. By divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely linked with the history of the 20th century, the century we have just left behind. In fact, it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her. Those who remember, who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people, know well how necessary was the message of mercy.

Jesus told Sr Faustina:  "Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy" (Diary, p. 132). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third. It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time.

3. What will the years ahead bring us? What will man's future on earth be like? We are not given to know. However, it is certain that in addition to new progress there will unfortunately be no lack of painful experiences. But the light of divine mercy, which the Lord in a way wished to return to the world through Sr Faustina's charism, will illumine the way for the men and women of the third millennium.

However, as the Apostles once did, today too humanity must welcome into the upper room of history the risen Christ, who shows the wounds of his Crucifixion and repeats:  Peace be with you! Humanity must let itself be touched and pervaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ. It is the Spirit who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father's love and of fraternal unity.

4. It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called "Divine Mercy Sunday". In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings. Christ has taught us that "man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called "to practise mercy' towards others:  "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Mt 5: 7)" (Dives et misericordia, n. 14). He also showed us the many paths of mercy, which not only forgives sins but reaches out to all human needs. Jesus bent over every kind of human poverty, material and spiritual.

His message of mercy continues to reach us through his hands held out to suffering man. This is how Sr Faustina saw him and proclaimed him to people on all the continents when, hidden in her convent at £agiewniki in Kraków, she made her life a hymn to mercy:  Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.

5. Sr Faustina's canonization has a particular eloquence:  by this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium. I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.

In fact, love of God and love of one's brothers and sisters are inseparable, as the First Letter of John has reminded us:  "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments" (5: 2). Here the Apostle reminds us of the truth of love, showing us its measure and criterion in the observance of the commandments.

It is not easy to love with a deep love, which lies in the authentic gift of self. This love can only be learned by penetrating the mystery of God's love. Looking at him, being one with his fatherly heart, we are able to look with new eyes at our brothers and sisters, with an attitude of unselfishness and solidarity, of generosity and forgiveness. All this is mercy!

To the extent that humanity penetrates the mystery of this merciful gaze, it will seem possible to fulfil the ideal we heard in today's first reading:  "The community of believers were of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather everything was held in common" (Acts 4: 32). Here mercy gave form to human relations and community life; it constituted the basis for the sharing of goods. This led to the spiritual and corporal "works of mercy". Here mercy became a concrete way of being "neighbor" to one's neediest brothers and sisters.

6. Sr Faustina Kowalska wrote in her Diary:  "I feel tremendous pain when I see the sufferings of my neighbours. All my neighbours' sufferings reverberate in my own heart; I carry their anguish in my heart in such a way that it even physically destroys me. I would like all their sorrows to fall upon me, in order to relieve my neighbour" (Diary, p. 365). This is the degree of compassion to which love leads, when it takes the love of God as its measure!

It is this love which must inspire humanity today, if it is to face the crisis of the meaning of life, the challenges of the most diverse needs and, especially, the duty to defend the dignity of every human person. Thus the message of divine mercy is also implicitly a message about the value of every human being. Each person is precious in God's eyes; Christ gave his life for each one; to everyone the Father gives his Spirit and offers intimacy.

7. This consoling message is addressed above all to those who, afflicted by a particularly harsh trial or crushed by the weight of the sins they committed, have lost all confidence in life and are tempted to give in to despair. To them the gentle face of Christ is offered; those rays from his heart touch them and shine upon them, warm them, show them the way and fill them with hope. How many souls have been consoled by the prayer "Jesus, I trust in you", which Providence intimated through Sr Faustina! This simple act of abandonment to Jesus dispels the thickest clouds and lets a ray of light penetrate every life. Jezu, ufam tobie.

8. Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (Ps 88 [89]: 2). Let us too, the pilgrim Church, join our voice to the voice of Mary most holy, "Mother of Mercy", to the voice of this new saint who sings of mercy with all God's friends in the heavenly Jerusalem.

And you, Faustina, a gift of God to our time, a gift from the land of Poland to the whole Church, obtain for us an awareness of the depth of divine mercy; help us to have a living experience of it and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters. May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, spurring sinners to conversion, calming rivalries and hatred and opening individuals and nations to the practice of brotherhood. Today, fixing our gaze with you on the face of the risen Christ, let us make our own your prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope:  Christ Jesus, I trust in you! Jezu, ufam tobie!   

[Salvation]

 

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.