JULY 14, 2012 : MEMORIAL OF BLESSED KATERI TEKAKWITHA, VIRGIN.

Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin
Lectionary: 388

Reading 1 Is 6:1-8

In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:
with two they veiled their faces,
with two they veiled their feet,
and with two they hovered aloft.

They cried one to the other,
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!"
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it and said,
"See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
"Here I am," I said; "send me!"

Responsorial Psalm Ps 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5

R. (1a) The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
And he has made the world firm,
not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.

Gospel Mt 10:24-33

Jesus said to his Apostles:
"No disciple is above his teacher,
no slave above his master.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more those of his household!

"Therefore do not be afraid of them.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father?s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father."

www.usccb.org

Meditation: "Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell"

What does fear have to do with the kingdom of God? Fear is a powerful force. It can lead us to panic and flight or it can spur us to faith and action. The fear of God is the antidote to the fear of losing one's life. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want! Come, O sons, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. (Psalm 34:4,9,11) What is godly fear? It is reverence for the One who made us in love and who sustains us in mercy and kindness. The greatest injury or loss which we can experience is not physical but spiritual – the loss of one's soul to the power of hell. A healthy fear of God leads to spiritual maturity, wisdom and right judgment and it frees us from the tyranny of sinful pride, cowardice – especially in the face of evil, and spiritual deception. Do you trust in God's grace and mercy and submit to his word?
When Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God he met opposition and hostility. He tells his disciples that they must expect the same treatment if they are to live and to proclaim the reign of God. There is both a warning and a privilege in his statement. Just as Jesus had to carry his cross, so the disciples must carry their cross and not try to evade it. To suffer for the faith is to share in the work of Christ. As one hymn states: Lift high the Cross of Christ! Tread where his feet have trod. The Holy Spirit gives us power and grace to live as disciples of Jesus Christ. Do you trust in God’s grace to carry your cross for Jesus’ sake?
"Lord Jesus, it is my joy and privilege to be your disciple. Give me strength and courage to bear any hardship and suffering which may come my way in your service. May I witness to others the joy of the gospel."

www.dailyscripture.net

Persecution, for Heaven’s Sake

Memorial of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin

Father Edward McIlmail, LC  Listen to podcast version here. Matthew 10:24-33 Jesus said to his Apostles: "No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father´s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the one constant in my life. You are my beginning and my end. I love you as my savior. I trust you as my closest companion. I hope in you as the one who will welcome me into eternal joy. Petition: Grant me, Lord, the courage to face persecutions, great and small, for the faith. 1. Forewarned is Forearmed: Jesus´ opponents called him a devil. Either ignorance or hardness of heart prevented them from seeing the good in Our Lord. Opposition to him continues to this day — only now, we receive the brunt of the attacks. Christ warns that his followers will be reviled, just as he was denounced. Hence, it´s no surprise that we are labeled "backward" for our pro-life stance, or "intolerant" because we believe in moral truths. Persecution underscores the authenticity of our faith. If we never face any opposition, we might not be living the faith well enough or publicly enough. How do I handle persecution for my faith? 2. What is True is Always True: Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed. Here, Our Lord assures us that all will be revealed in due time. Lies and fallacies move at the speed of light, thanks to the Internet. Truth seems to travel a lot slower. The problem isn´t new. “For the time will come," St. Paul warned in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, "when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths." Whether it´s the truth about marriage or the dignity of the human embryo, the truth will emerge in the public mind, eventually. Likewise, the truth of Christ has to take root in us if we are to have joy and a sense of meaning. The unhappiest moments of life occur when we stray from Christ´s path. Which vice most needs to be weeded out of my life? 3. Intolerable Tolerance: If we deny Christ, he will deny us at Judgment Day. That´s a sobering thought. So many times the temptation arises to muffle our faith, to give into human respect and keep silent in the face of evil. It can take many forms. We stay mum when a relative brags about moving in with her boyfriend. We say nothing when a fellow Catholic matter-of-factly defends abortion or contraception. Or we as parents fail to intervene when a child spends hours alone on the Internet. All this silence and inaction we chalk up to "tolerance." But Christ didn´t tell his disciples to "Go, be tolerant of all things." Rather, he implored: "Go and make disciples of all nations." Have I kept silent about something when I should have spoken up? Conversation with Christ: Lord, following you isn´t easy. Attacks can come on all sides: from family, friends, the media. I almost wish Christianity was easier, but then, it wasn´t easy for you, either. So help me avoid complaining. Grant me strength to be daring for you. Resolution: I will raise a delicate point with someone who needs to hear my Christian witness.

www.regnumchristi.com

The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty

‘Do not be afraid of them.’
Jesus warns his disciples. Just as he has suffered as a teacher, they as his followers will suffer also as they go about proclaiming his teachings. He calls on his disciples not to be afraid of those who challenge his teachings they are proclaiming. All will be made clear.

Jesus then instructs them not to be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. The power over both body and soul only resides in the Father. He is not a Father to be feared in the way the Pharisees taught. ‘Fear of the Lord’ in Jesus’ terms means being deeply aware of God’s sacred presence and having a profound desire to do God’s holy will. Lord, we pray for the grace to always resist fear whenever it seeks to cripple our spirit.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY
TAKE TIME
Take time to rest - it is the foundation of health and vitality.
Take time to think - it is the source of achievement.
Take time to read - it is the foundation of wisdom.
Take time to play - it is the secret of staying young.
Take time to be quiet - it is the opportunity to seek God.
Take time to share - it is too short a life to be selfish.
Take time to be aware - it is the opportunity to help others.
Take time to laugh - it's the music of the heart.
Take time to be loved - it nourishes the soul.
Take time to be friendly - it is the road to happiness.
Take time to pray - it is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to dream - it's the well of inspiration.
There is time for everything.

- 'There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven' Ecclesiastes 3:1
 
From A Canopy of Stars: Some Reflections for the Journey by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ [David Lovell Publishing 2003]
www.churchresources.info

MINUTE MEDITATIONS 

Living Witness
Prayer, silence, the Eucharist, liturgy, the needs of the world, and a sense of sharing in the Church’s mission are essential elements in religious renewal and spiritual growth. All religious men and women are to be living witnesses of God’s love.
— from Catholic Update Guide to Vocations

July 14
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
(1656-1680)

The blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Nine years after the Jesuits Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf were tomahawked by Iroquois warriors, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville, New York.

Her mother was a Christian Algonquin, taken captive by the Iroquois and given as wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five Nations. When she was four, Kateri lost her parents and little brother in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the Blackrobes (Jesuit missionaries), but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian captives. She was moved by the words of three Blackrobes who lodged with her uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction. She refused to marry a Mohawk brave and at 19 finally got the courage to take the step of converting. She was baptized with the name Kateri (Catherine) on Easter Sunday.
Now she would be treated as a slave. Because she would not work on Sunday, she received no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.
She was always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On the advice of a priest, she stole away one night and began a 200-mile walking journey to a Christian Indian village at Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.

Statue of Kateri Tekakwitha by Joseph-Emile Brunet
at the Basilica of Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre', near Quebec City.

For three years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in charity and in strenuous penance. At 23 she took a vow of virginity, an unprecedented act for an Indian woman, whose future depended on being married. She found a place in the woods where she could pray an hour a day—and was accused of meeting a man there!
Her dedication to virginity was instinctive: She did not know about religious life for women until she visited Montreal. Inspired by this, she and two friends wanted to start a community, but the local priest dissuaded her. She humbly accepted an “ordinary” life. She practiced extremely severe fasting as penance for the conversion of her nation. She died the afternoon before Holy Thursday. Witnesses said that her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the touch of a smile came upon her lips. She was beatified in 1980. A second miracle was officially confirmed in December 2011; to date, her canonization has not yet been scheduled.

Comment:

We like to think that our proposed holiness is thwarted by our situation. If only we could have more solitude, less opposition, better health. Kateri repeats the example of the saints: Holiness thrives on the cross, anywhere. Yet she did have what Christians—all people—need: the support of a community. She had a good mother, helpful priests, Christian friends. These were present in what we call primitive conditions, and blossomed in the age-old Christian triad of prayer, fasting and alms: union with God in Jesus and the Spirit, self-discipline and often suffering, and charity for her brothers and sisters.

Bronze statue of Kateri Tekakwitha .
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Quote:

Kateri said: “I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love. The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me. All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing. With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I’ll give to my relatives and to the poor. If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross. He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”

www.americancatholic.org

ST. CAMILLUS DE LELLIS, CONFESSOR

Patron of the sick, nurses, hospitals and physicians.

He was born in 1550 at Bacchianico in Abruzzo, in the kingdom of Naples.  He lost his mother in his infancy, and six years after his father, who was a gentleman, and had been an officer first in the Neapolitan and afterwards in the French troops in Italy.  Camillus having learned only to read and write, entered himself young in the army and served first in the Venetian and afterwards in the Neapolitan troops till, in 1574, his company was disbanded.  He had contracted so violent a passion for cards and gaming that he sometimes lost even necessaries.  All playing at lawful games for exorbitant sums, and absolutely all games of hazard for considerable sums, are forbidden by the law of nature, by the imperial or civil law, by the severest laws of all Christian or civilized nations, and by the canons of the church.  No contract is justifiable in which neither reason nor proportion is observed.  The best remedy for this vice is, that those who are infected with it be obliged, or at least exhorted, to give whatever they have won to the poor.

Camillus was insensible of the evils attending gaming till necessity compelled him to open his eyes; for he at length was reduced to such straits that for subsistence he was obliged to drive two asses and to work at a building which belonged to the Capuchin friars.  The divine mercy had not abandoned him through all his wanderings, but had often visited him with strong interior calls to penance.  A moving exhortation which the guardian of the Capuchins one day made him completed his conversion.  Ruminating on it as he rode from him upon his business, he at length alighted, fell on his knees, and vehemently striking his breast, with many tears and loud groans deplored his past unthinking sinful life, and cried to heaven for mercy.  This happened in February in the year 1575, the twenty-fifth of his age; and from that time to his last breath he never interrupted his penitential course.  He made an essay of a novitiate both among the Capuchins and the Grey Friars, but could not be admitted to his religious profession among either on account of a running sore in one of his legs, which was judged incurable.  Therefore, leaving his own country he went to Rome, and there served the sick in St. James's hospital of incurables for years with great fervor. He wore a knotty hair shirt, and a rough brass girdle next his skin; watched night and day about the sick, especially those that were dying, with the most scrupulous attention. He was most zealous to suggest to them devout acts of virtue, and to procure them every spiritual help. Fervent humble prayer was the assiduous exercise of his soul, and he received the Holy Communion every Sunday and holiday, making use of St. Philip Neri for his confessarius.  The provisors or administrators having been witnesses to his charity, prudence, and piety, after some time appointed him director of the hospital.

Camillus, grieving to see the sloth of hired servants in attending the sick, formed a project of associating certain pious persons for that office, who should be desirous to devote themselves to it out of a motive of fervent charity. He found proper persons so disposed, but met with great obstacles in the execution of his design.  With a view of rendering himself more useful in spiritually assisting the sick, he took a resolution to prepare himself to receive holy orders.  For this purpose he went through a course of studies with incredible alacrity and ardor, and received all his orders from Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of St. Asaph's, suffragan to Cardinal Savelli, the bishop vicegerent in Rome, under Pope Gregory XIII.  A certain gentleman of Rome, named Firmo Calmo, gave the saint six hundred Roman sequines of gold (about two hundred and fifty pounds sterling) which he put out for an annuity of thirty-six sequines a year during his life; this amounting to a competent patrimony for the title of his ordination, required by the council of Trent and the laws of the diocese.  The same pious gentleman, besides frequent great benefactions during his life bequeathed his whole estate, real and personal, on Camillus's hospital at his death.  The Saint was ordained priest at Whitsuntide in 1584, and being nominated to serve a little chapel called our Lady's ad miracula, he quitted the direction of the hospital.  Before the close of the same year he laid the foundation of his congregation for serving the sick, giving to those who were admitted into it a long black garment with a black cloth for their habit.  The saint prescribed them certain short rules, and they went every day to the great hospital of the Holy Ghost, where they served the sick with so much affection, piety, and diligence that it was visible to all who saw them that they considered Christ himself as lying sick or wounded in his members.

They made the beds of the patients, paid them every office of charity, and by their short pathetic exhortations disposed them for the last sacraments and a happy death.  The founder had powerful adversaries and great difficulties to struggle with; but by confidence in God he conquered them all.  In 1585 his friends hired for him a large house, and the success of his undertaking encouraged him to extend further his pious views; for he ordained that the members of his congregation should bind themselves by the obligation of their institute to serve persons infected with the plague, prisoners, and those who lie dying in private houses.

Sickness is often the most severe and grievous of all trials, whence the devil made it his last assault in tempting Job.  It is a time in which a Christian stands in need of the greatest constancy and fortitude; yet, through the weakness of nature, is generally the least able to keep his heart united with God, and usually never stands more in need of spiritual comfort and assistance. The state of sickness is always a visitation of God, who by it knocks at the door of our heart and puts us in mind of death; it is the touchstone of patience, and the school or rather the harvest of penance, resignation, divine love, and every virtue.  Yet by a most fatal abuse is this mercy often lost and perverted by sloth, impatience, sensuality, and forwardness. Those who in time of health were backward in exercising fervent acts of faith, hope, charity, contrition, etc., in sickness are still more indisposed for practices with which they are unacquainted: and, to their grievous misfortune, sometimes pastors cannot sufficiently attend them, or have not a suitable address which will give them the key of their hearts or teach them the art of insinuating into the souls of penitents the heroic sentiments and an interior relish of those essential virtues.

This consideration moved Camillus to make it the chief end of his new establishment to afford or procure the sick all spiritual succor, discreetly to suggest to them short pathetic acts of compunction and other virtues, to read by them, and to pray for them.  For this end he furnished his priests with proper books of devotion, especially on penance and on the sufferings of Christ; and he taught them to have always at hand the most suitable ejaculations extracted from the psalms and other devotions. But dying persons were the principal object of our saint's pious zeal and charity.  A man's last moments are the most precious of his whole life, and are of infinite importance, as on them depends his eternal lot.  Then the devil useth his utmost efforts to ruin a soul, and "cometh down, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time."  The saint therefore redoubled his earnestness to afford every spiritual help to persons who seemed in danger of death.  He put them early in mind to settle their temporal concerns, that their thoughts might be afterwards employed entirely on the affair of their soul. He advised those friends not to approach them too much whose sight or immoderate grief could only disturb or afflict them.  He disposed them to receive the last sacraments by the most perfect acts of compunction, resignation, faith, hope, and divine love; and he taught them to make death a voluntary sacrifice of themselves to the divine will, and in satisfaction for sin, of which it is the punishment.  He instructed them to conjure their blessed Redeemer by the bitter anguish which his divine heart felt in the garden and on the cross, and by his prayer with a loud voice and tears, in which he deserved to be heard for his reverence, that he would show them mercy, and give them the grace to offer up their death in union with his most precious death, and to receive their soul as he with his last breath recommended his own divine soul into the hands of his heavenly Father, and with it those of all his elect to the end of the world.  He instituted prayers for all persons in their agony, or who were near their death.

Everyone was charmed at so perfect a project of charity, and all admired that such noble views and so great an undertaking should have been reserved to an obscure, illiterate person.  Pope Sixtus V confirmed this congregation in 1586, and ordered that it should be governed by perennial superior.  Camillus was the first, and Roger, an Englishman, was one of his first companions.  The Church of St. Mary Magdalen was bestowed on him for the use of his congregation.  In 1518 he was invited to Naples, and with twelve companions founded there a new house. Certain galleys having the plague on board were forbid to enter the harbor; wherefore these pious "Servants of the Sick" (for that was the name they took) went on board and attended them; on which occasion two of their number died of the pestilence, and were the first martyrs of charity in this holy institute.  St. Camillus showed a like charity in Rome when a pestilential fever swept off great numbers, and again when that city was visited by a violent famine.  In 1591 Gregory XV erected this congregation into a religious Order, with all the privileges of the mendicant Orders, and under the obligation of the four vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and perpetually serving the sick, even those infected with the plague. He forbade these religious men to pass to any other Order except to that of the Carthusians.  Pope Clement VIII in 1592 and 1600 again confirmed this Order, with additional privileges.  Indeed the very end of this institution engaged all men to favor it; especially those who considered how many thousands die, even in the midst of priests, without sufficient help in preparing themselves for that dreadful hour which decides their eternity: what superficial confessions, what neglect in acts of contrition, charity, restitution, and other essential duties, are often to be feared; which grievous evils might be frequently remedied by the assiduity of well qualified ministers.

Among many abuses and dangerous evils which the zeal of St. Camillus prevented, his attention to every circumstance relating to the care of dying persons soon made him discover that in hospitals many are buried alive, of which Cicatello relates several examples, particularly of one buried in a vault, who was found walking about in it when the next corpse was brought to be there interred.  Hence the saint ordered his religious to continue the prayers for souls yet in their agony for a quarter of an hour after they seem to have drawn their last breath, and not to suffer their faces to be covered so soon as is usual, by which means those that are not dead are stifled.  This precaution is most necessary in cases of drowning, apoplexies, and such accidents and distempers which arise from mere obstructions or some sudden revolution of humors.  St. Camillus showed still a far greater solicitude to provide comfort and assistance for the souls of those that are sick, suggesting frequent, short pathetic aspirations, showing them a crucifix, examining their past confessions and present dispositions, and making them exhortations with such unction and fervor that his voice seemed like a shrill trumpet, and pierced the hearts of all who heard him.  He encouraged his disciples to these duties with words of fire.  He did not love to hear anything spoke unless divine charity made part of the subject; and if he heard a sermon in which it was not mentioned, he would call the discourse a gold ring without a stone.

He was himself afflicted with many corporal infirmities, as a sore in his leg for forty-six years; a rupture for thirty-eight years, which he got by serving the sick; two callous sores in the sole of one of his feet, which gave him great pain; violent nephritic colics, and for a long time before he died, a loss of appetite.  Under this complication of diseases he would not suffer any one to wait on him, but sent all his brethren to serve poor sick persons.  When he was not able to stand he would creep out of his bed, even in the night, by the sides of the beds, and crawl from one patient to another to exhort them to acts of virtue, and see if they wanted anything.  He slept very little, spending a great part of the night in prayer and in serving the sick.  He used often to repeat with St. Francis: "So great is the happiness which I hope for, that all pain and suffering is a pleasure." His friars are not obliged to recite the church office unless they are in holy orders; but confess and communicate every Sunday and great holiday, have every day one hour's meditation, hear Mass, and say the litany, beads, and other devotions.  The holy founder was most scrupulously exact in every word and ceremony of the holy mass, and of the divine office He despised himself to a degree that astonished all who knew him.  He laid down the generalship in 1607, that he might be more at leisure to serve the poor: He founded religious houses at Bologna, Milan, Genoa, Florence, Ferrara, Messina, Palermo, Mantua, Viterbo, Bocchiano, Theate, Burgonono, Sinuessa, and other places.  He had sent several of his friars into Hungary, and to all other places which in his time were afflicted with the plague.  When Nola was visited with that calamity in 1600, the bishop constituted Camillus his vicar-general, and it is incredible what succors the sick received from him and his companions, of whom five died of that distemper.  God testified his approbation of the saint's zeal by the spirit of prophecy and the gift of miracles on several occasions, and by many heavenly communications and favors.

He assisted at the fifth general chapter of his Order in Rome in 1613, and after it, with the new general, visited the houses in Lombardy, giving them his last exhortations, which were everywhere received with tears. At Genoa he was extremely ill, but being a little better, Duke Doria Tursi sent him in his rich galley to Civita Vecchia, whence he was conveyed in a litter to Rome.  He recovered so as to be able to finish the visitation of his hospitals, but soon relapsed, and his life was despaired of by the physicians. Hearing this he said, "I rejoice in what hath been told me; we shall go into the house of the Lord." He received the viaticum from the hands of Cardinal Ginnasio, protector of his Order, and said with many tears: "O Lord, I confess I am the most wretched of sinners, most undeserving of Thy favor; but save me by Thy infinite goodness.  My hope is placed in Thy divine mercy through Thy precious blood." Though he had lived in the greatest purity of conscience ever since his conversion, he had been accustomed to go every day to confession with great compunction and many tears.  Then he received the extreme unction, he made a moving exhortation to his religious brethren, and having foretold that he should die that evening, he expired on the 14th of July 1614, being sixty-five years, one month, and twenty days old.  He was buried near the high altar in St. Mary Magdalen's Church; but upon the miracles which were authentically approved, his remains were taken up and laid under the altar; they were enshrined after he was beatified in 1742, and in 1746 he was solemnly canonized by Benedict XIV.

The life of this great saint is copied from Butler's lives of the Saints. Please pass it on to others that they may be inspired by reading the life of this holy man.

www.olrl.org/lives/

LECTIO: MATTHEW 10,24-33

Lectio: 

 Saturday, July 14, 2012

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Father,
through the obedience of Jesus,
your servant and your Son,
you raised a fallen world.
Free us from sin
and bring us the joy that lasts for ever.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 10,24-33

Jesus said to his disciples: "The disciple is not superior to teacher, nor slave to master. It is enough for disciple to grow to be like teacher, and slave like master. If they have called the master of the house "Beelzebul", how much more the members of his household? 'So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops. 'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 'So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.

3) Reflection

• Today’s Gospel presents to us diverse instructions of Jesus on the behaviour that the disciples have to adopt in the exercise of their mission.  What strikes most in these instructions are two warnings: (a) the frequency with which Jesus refers to the persecutions and suffering which they will have to bear; (b) the insistence repeated three times to the disciples not to be afraid.
• Matthew 10, 24-25: Persecutions and sufferings which mark the life of the disciples.  These two verses constitute the final part of a warning of Jesus to the disciples concerning persecutions. The disciples should know that, because of the fact of being disciples of Jesus, they will be persecuted (Mt 10, 17-23). But this should not be a reason for worrying, because a disciple should imitate the life of the Master and share the trials with him. This is part of discipleship.  “A disciple is not greater than the Teacher or a servant than his master; it is sufficient for the disciple to grow to be like his teacher and the servant like his master”. If they called Jesus Beelzebul, how much more will they insult his disciples. In other words, the disciple of Jesus should be worried if in his life there are no persecutions.
• Matthew 10, 26-27: Do not be afraid to say the truth.  The disciples should not be afraid to be persecuted. Those who persecute them, succeed to pervert the sense of the facts and to spread calumnies which change truth into lie, and the lie into truth. But no matter how great is the lie, truth will triumph at the end and will make the lie crumble down. This is why we should not be afraid to proclaim truth, the things which Jesus has taught.  Every day, the means of communication succeed to pervert the meaning of things and the persons who proclaim the truth are considered as criminals; they make the neo-liberal system to appear as just and it perverts the sense of human life.   
• Matthew 10, 28: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body. The disciples should not be afraid of those who kill the body, who torture, who strike and cause suffering.  Those who torture can kill the body, but they cannot succeed to kill liberty and the spirit in the body.  They should be afraid, yes, that the fear of suffering may lead them to hide or to deny the truth, and that this will lead them to offend God, because anyone who draws away from God will be lost forever. 
• Matthew 10, 29-31: Do not be afraid, but trust in Divine Providence. The disciples should not fear anything, because they are in God’s hands. Jesus orders to look at the birds in the air. Two sparrows are sold for a penny, but not one of them will fall to the ground without the Father wanting.  Every hair on our head has been counted.  Luke says that not one hair falls without our Father wanting it (Lk 21, 18). And so many hairs fall from our head!  Because of this “Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows”. This is the lesson which Jesus draws from the contemplation of nature.
• Matthew 10, 32-33: Do not be afraid to be the witnesses of Jesus. At the end Jesus summarizes everything in this sentence: “If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven; 33: the one who instead will disown me in the presence of human beings, I will disown him in the presence of my Father in heaven”. Knowing that we are in God’s hands and that God is with us, at every moment, we have the necessary courage and the peace to render witness and to be disciples of Jesus. 

4) Personal questions

• Are you afraid? Afraid of what? Why?   
•Have you been persecuted sometimes because of your commitment to announce the Good News of God which Jesus announced to us?

5) Concluding Prayer

Your decrees stand firm, unshakeable,
holiness is the beauty of your house,
Yahweh, for all time to come. (Ps 93,5)

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