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Daily Gospel Commentary

Friday of the Fifth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Discourse on the psalms, 4th on psalm 103[104], §17

"They said, 'He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak.'"

“I will sing to the Lord all my life” (Ps 103[104]:33). What is the psalmist singing about? He is singing of all that God is. Let us sing the glory of the Lord all our life long. Our present life is only hope; our future life will be eternity. The life of this mortal life is the hope of immortal life: “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.” And because I shall live in him without end, so long as I live I shall sing to my God.

When we have begun to sing to the Lord in the heavenly city don’t let us imagine we are to do anything else there; our whole life will then be to sing the glory of God. If here below the object of our praise bores us, our songs of praise can do so too. But if we love him eternally, we shall also praise him eternally: “I will sing for my God while I live!”

23 posted on 02/09/2018 9:13:21 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Saint Jerome Emiliani

Franciscan Media

Statue of Saint Jerome Emiliani | Bataan, Philippines | photo by JudgefloroImage: Statue of Saint Jerome Emiliani | Bataan, Philippines | photo by Judgefloro

Saint Jerome Emiliani

Saint of the Day for February 9

(1486 – February 8, 1537)

 

Saint Jerome Emiliani’s Story

A careless and irreligious soldier for the city-state of Venice, Jerome was captured in a skirmish at an outpost town and chained in a dungeon. In prison Jerome had a lot of time to think, and he gradually learned how to pray. When he escaped, he returned to Venice where he took charge of the education of his nephews—and began his own studies for the priesthood.

In the years after his ordination, events again called Jerome to a decision and a new lifestyle. Plague and famine swept northern Italy. Jerome began caring for the sick and feeding the hungry at his own expense. While serving the sick and the poor, he soon resolved to devote himself and his property solely to others, particularly to abandoned children. He founded three orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes and a hospital.

Around 1532, Jerome and two other priests established a congregation, the Clerks Regular of Somasca, dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth. Jerome died in 1537 from a disease he caught while tending the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928, Pius Xl named him the patron of orphans and abandoned children.


Reflection

Very often in our lives it seems to take some kind of “imprisonment” to free us from the shackles of our self-centeredness. When we’re “caught” in some situation we don’t want to be in, we finally come to know the liberating power of Another. Only then can we become another for “the imprisoned” and “the orphaned” all around us.


The Liturgical Feast of Saint Jerome Emiliani is February 8.


Saint Jerome Emiliani is the Patron Saint of:

Orphans
Abandoned Children


24 posted on 02/09/2018 4:48:02 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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