Posted on 10/22/2008 9:04:57 PM PDT by Salvation
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Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week
in Ordinary Time
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Reading 1
Eph 3:14-21
Brothers and sisters:
I kneel before the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory
to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,
and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,
by the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19
R. (5b) The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Gospel
Lk 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
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Feasts:
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October Devotion: The Holy Rosary
Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. Pope Leo XIII personally started the practice of devoting October to the Rosary devotion. In a letter of September 1, 1883, mindful of the Rosary's power to strengthen faith and foster a life of virtue, he outlined the triumphs of the Rosary in past times and admonished the faithful to dedicate the month of October to the Blessed Virgin through the daily recitation of her Rosary in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, in order to obtain through her intercession the grace that God would console and defend His Church in her sufferings. We highly recommend that you read Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, or "On the Most Holy Rosary." It explains even further this wonderful devotion, and introduces the optional mysteries of light, or Luminous mysteries. |
INVOCATION
Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us.
TO THE QUEEN OF THE HOLY ROSARY
Queen of the most holy Rosary, in these times of such brazen impiety, manifest thy power with the signs of thine ancient victories, and from thy throne, whence thou dost dispense pardon and graces, mercifully regard the Church of thy Son, His Vicar on earth, and every order of clergy and laity, who are sore oppressed in the mighty conflict. Do thou, who art the powerful vanquisher of all heresies, hasten the hour of mercy, even though the hour of God's justice is every day provoked by the countless sins of men. For me who am the least of men, kneeling before thee in supplication, do thou obtain the grace I need to live righteously upon earth and to reign among the just in heaven, the while in company with all faithful Christians throughout the world, I salute thee and acclaim thee as Queen of the most holy Rosary:
Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us.
TO OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
O Virgin Mary, grant that the recitation of thy Rosary may be for me each day, in the midst of my manifold duties, a bond of unity in my actions, a tribute of filial piety, a sweet refreshment, an encouragement to walk joyfully along the path of duty. Grant, above all, O Virgin Mary, that the study of thy fifteen mysteries may form in my soul, little by little, a luminous atmosphere, pure, strengthening, and fragrant, which may penetrate my understanding, my will, my heart, my memory, my imagination, my whole being. So shall I acquire the habit of praying while I work, without the aid of formal prayers, by interior acts of admiration and of supplication, or by aspirations of love. I ask this of thee, O Queen of the holy Rosary, through Saint Dominic, thy son of predilection, the renowned preacher of thy mysteries, and the faithful imitator of thy virtues. Amen.
FOR THE CRUSADE OF THE FAMILY ROSARY
The Family Rosary Crusade, organized and directed by Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., sought to revive the practice of families reciting the Rosary daily within their homes. The Crusade has the encouragement and support of Pope Pius XII and it is succeeding admirably in realizing the desire of the Pope that no family would allow a day to pass without the recitation of the Rosary. This prayer was composed by Cardinal Spellman when the Crusade visited his Archdiocese.
O Queen of the most holy Rosary: with hearts full of confidence we earnestly beseech you to bless the Crusade of the Family Rosary. From you came the grace to begin it. >From you must come the grace to win souls to it. We beg you to bless this Crusade so that from every home the incense of this prayer will daily rise before you, O admirable Mother.
O Queen of Homes: by the power of the Rosary we beseech you to embrace all the members of our family in the love of your Immaculate Heart. May you abide with us and we with you, praying to you while you pray for us. May you preside in our homes as once you did at Nazareth with Jesus and Joseph, filling them with the holiness of your presence and inspiration.
O Queen of Peace: it is you who have placed the Rosary in our hands. It is you who bid us to recite it daily. By the power of the Family Rosary we beseech you to obtain peace for uspeace within our hearts, our homes, our country and throughout the world. Through the daily recitation of the Family Rosary we beg you to keep sin from our souls, enmities from our hearts and war from our shores. By the graces received from the devotion of the Family Rosary we pray to be made helpful to one another in following the paths of virtue so that we may be found worthy to be called children of your family, children of your home. Amen.
Cardinal Spellman
Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954
Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Apostles Creed: I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. >From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)
Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Rosary-Prayers Aiming to Break Record [Catholic Caucus]
Rosary vs. Repetitious Prayer [Ecumenical]
The Luminous Mysteries [of the Rosary]: Knowing Jesus in His Public Ministry
New campaign launched to promote family rosary
The Rosary and the Republic
Chant the Rosary... in Latin!
Protestants and the rosary
Estimated 50,000 recite rosary in event at Rose Bowl
Our Lady of Victory (HLI Page)
Tips on Praying a Family Rosary
SRI LANKA CATHOLICS START ROSARY CHAIN FOR PEACE
Rosary Aids Spiritual Growth, Says Pope
Pray the Rosary
Rosary to Mark St. Martha's Feast
October: Month of the Holy Rosary
Very simple guide to praying/learning the Rosary
The Rosary and Orthodoxy
Father Benedict Groeschel on the Rosary
THE HOLY ROSARY
Catholic Caucus: The Holy Rosary
The Power of the Rosary - A Weapon Against Terrorism
Rosary May Contribute to Unity Says Protestant Theologian
Papal Address on the Rosary as a Weapon of Peace
From: Ephesians 3:14-21
The Apostle’s Prayer
[20] Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do more abundantly
than all that we ask or think, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all.
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Commentary:
14. St Paul now continues the prayer which he interrupted in v. 1, to entreat the
Father to let Christians understand as deeply as possible the divine plan for sal-
vation implemented in Christ (vv. 16-l9).
“I bow my knees”: the Jews generally prayed standing up. Only at moments of
special solemnity did they kneel or prostrate themselves in adoration. The Apos-
tle, by introducing this almost liturgical reference, is expressing the intensity of
his prayer, and the humility which inspires it.
Bodily gestures—genuflections, bowing of the head, beating the breast, et cetera
—which accompany prayer should be sincere expressions of devotion. They allow
the entire person, body and soul, to express his love for God. “Those who love
acquire a refinement, a sensitivity of soul, that makes them notice details which
are sometimes very small but which are important because they express the love
of a passionate heart” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 92).
15. To “take a name” from something means to derive one’s being or existence
from it, and the word translated here as “family” (”patria” in Greek) means a
grouping of individuals who are descended from a common father; it could be
translated as “paternity”, as the New Vulgate does.
The Apostle is saying that every grouping which is regarded as a family, whether
it be on earth (like the Church or the family), or in heaven (like the Church trium-
phant and the choirs of angels), takes its name and origin from God, the only
Father in the full meaning of the word. Thus, the word “Father” can be correctly
used to designate not only physical but also spiritual fatherhood.
The parenthood of married people is an outstanding example of the love of God
the Creator. They are cooperators in that love, and, in a certain sense, its inter-
preters (cf. Vatican II, “Gaudium Et Spes”, 50). Hence, “when they become
parents, spouses receive from God the gift of a new responsibility. Their parental
love is called to become for the children the visible sign of the very love of God,
‘from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named”’ (John Paul II, “Fami-
liaris Consortio”, 14).
16-17. The strengthening of the inner man through the Spirit means growth in
faith, charity and hope, which is what the Apostle prays for here (cf. vv. 16-19).
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”
(Heb 11:1); it is, then, a virtue whereby the Christian in this life anticipates, im-
perfectly, the object of his hope—that perfect union with God which will take place
in heaven.
Love follows from knowledge: one cannot love someone one does not know. And
so, when goodness is known, it comes to be loved. Thus, the knowledge of God,
which faith provides, is followed by the love of God, which stems from charity.
Charity, for its part, is the basis of the Christian’s spiritual life. “The spiritual edi-
fice cannot stay standing—the same is true of a tree without roots, or a house
without a foundation, which can easily be toppled—unless it be rooted and groun-
ded in love” (St Thomas Aquinas, “Commentary on Eph, ad loc.”).
18. St Paul asks God to give Christians understanding of the “mystery of Christ”,
which essentially is the outcome of his love. In referring to the vast dimensions
of this mystery he uses an enigmatic phrase— “the breadth and length and height
and depth”. These and similar terms were used by Stoic philosophy to designate
the cosmos as a whole. Here they express the immense scale of the “mystery”
which embraces the entire plan of salvation, the actions of Christ and the activity
of the Church. St Augustine interpreted these words as referring to the cross, the
instrument of salvation which Christ used to show the full extent of his love (cf.
“De Doctrina Christiana”, 2, 41).
St Paul may indeed be trying to sum up all the richness of the “mystery” of Christ
in a graphic way—in terms of a cross whose extremities reach out in all four direc-
tions seeking to embrace the whole world. The blood which our Lord shed on the
cross brought about the Redemption, the forgiveness of sins (cf. Eph 1:7). It did
away with hostility, reconciling all men and assembling them into one body (cf.
Eph 2:15-16), the Church. Therefore the cross is an inexhaustible source of grace,
the mark of the true Christian, the instrument of salvation for all. When, through
the action of Christians, the cross of Christ is made present at all the crossroads
of the world, then is that “mystery” implemented whose purpose it is to “unite all
things in Christ” (cf. Eph 1:10).
19. Christ’s love for us is infinite; it is beyond our grasp, because it is of divine
dimensions (cf. Jn 15:9 and note on Jn 15:9-11).
Knowledge of the history of salvation and of the “mystery” of Christ is ultimately
what gives us a notion of the scale of God’s love. Therefore, it is the basis of the
Christian life: “We know and believe the love which God has for us. God is love,
and he who abides in love abides in God” (1 Jn 4:16). Eternal life will consist in
enjoying the love of God without any type of distraction. During his life on earth,
the believer receives a foretaste of this joy to the degree that he abides in the love
of Christ (cf. Jn 15:9), that is, is rooted and grounded in love (v. 17). However, this
knowledge of Christ is always very imperfect compared with that in heaven.
It is worth pointing out that the “knowledge” (”gnosis”) which St Paul is speaking
about is not simply intellectual cognition but rather a kind of knowledge which
permeates one’s whole life. It does not consist so much in knowing that God is
love as in realizing that we are personally the object, the focus, of God’s love: he
loves us one by one, as good parents love their children.
20-21. The dogmatic section of the letter concludes at this point, and St Paul
breaks into a short hymn of praise or doxology, in awe at the divine plan of salva-
tion revealed in Christ. He speaks his praise “in the church and in Christ Jesus”.
God knows more than we do; and, since he is a Father who loves us unreservedly,
he is always providing us with those things we stand in real need of; moreover,
he anticipates our requests, “for he responds to the inner, hidden desires of the
needy, not waiting for them to make explicit requests” (”St Pius V Catechism”,
IV, 2, 5).
St Thomas Aquinas points out that “neither the mind nor the will of man could
have thought or conceived or asked God that he might become man and that man
might become God, a share in the divine nature; yet the latter has been wrought
in us by his power, and the former has been effected by the incarnation of his
Son” (”Commentary on Eph, ad loc.”).
In its liturgy the Church is forever giving God the honor which is his due and prai-
sing him for the gifts which it receives in Jesus Christ: in the Mass, for example,
at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer it proclaims, “Through him [Christ], with him,
in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father,
for ever and ever. Amen.”
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States
From: Luke 12:49-53
Jesus the Cause of Dissension
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Commentary:
49-50. In the Bible, fire is often used to describe God’s burning love for men. This
divine love finds its highest expression in the Son of God become man: “God so
loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16). Jesus voluntarily gave up
His life out of love for us, and “greater love has no man than this, that a man lays
down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
In these words reported by St. Luke, Jesus Christ reveals His abounding desire
to give His life for love of us. He calls His death a baptism, because from it He will
arise victorious never to die again. Our Baptism is a submersion in Christ’s death,
in which we die to sin and are reborn to the new life of grace: “We were buried
therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans
6:4).
Through this new life, we Christians should become set on fire in the same way
as Jesus set His disciples on fire: “With the amazing naturalness of the things
of God, the contemplative soul is filled with apostolic zeal. `My heart became hot
within me, a fire blazed forth from my thoughts’ (Psalm 38:4). What could this fire
be if not the fire that Christ talks about: `I came to cast fire upon the earth, and
would that it were already kindled’ (Luke 12:49). An apostolic fire that acquires
its strength in prayer: there is no better way than this to carry on, throughout the
whole world, the battle of peace to which every Christian is called to fill up what
is lacking in the sufferings of Christ (cf. Colossians 1:24)” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ
Is Passing By”, 120).
51-53. God has come into the world with a message of peace (cf. Luke 2:14) and
reconciliation (cf. Romans 5:11). By resisting, through sin, the redeeming work of
Christ, we become His opponents. Injustice and error lead to division and war.
“Insofar as men are sinners, the threat of war hangs over them and will so conti-
nue until the coming of Christ; but insofar as they can vanquish sin by coming
together in charity, violence itself will be vanquished” (Vatican II, “Gaudium Et
Spes”, 78).
During His own life on earth, Christ was a sign of contradiction (cf. Luke 2:34).
Our Lord is forewarning His disciples about the contention and division which will
accompany the spread of the Gospel (cf. Luke 6:20-23; Matthew 10:24).
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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.
| First reading | Ephesians 3:14 - 21 © |
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| This is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name: Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God. Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. |
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| Psalm or canticle: Psalm 32 |
| Gospel | Luke 12:49 - 53 © |
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| Jesus said: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over! ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’ |
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| Thursday, October 23, 2008 St. John of Capistrano, OFM, Priest (Memorial) |
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The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. |
Bookmark
O God, come to my aid.
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
A suitable hymn may be inserted at this point.
| Psalm 17 (18) |
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| Thanksgiving |
| The Lord’s ways are pure; the words of the Lord are refined in the furnace; the Lord protects all who hope in him. For what God is there, but our Lord? What help, but in the Lord our God? God, who has wrapped me in his strength and set me on the perfect path, who has made my feet like those of the deer, who has set me firm upon the heights, who trains my hands for battle, teaches my arms to bend a bow of bronze. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 17 (18) |
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| You have given me the shield of your salvation; your right hand holds me up; by answering me, you give me greatness. You have stretched out the length of my stride, my feet do not weaken. I pursue my enemies and surround them; I do not turn back until they are no more. I smash them to pieces, they cannot stand, they fall beneath my feet. You have wrapped me round with strength for war, and made my attackers fall under me. You turned my enemies’ backs on me, you destroyed those who hated me. They cried out, but there was no-one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but he did not hear. I have ground them up until they are dust in the wind, trodden them down like the mud of the street. You have delivered me from the murmurings of the people and placed me at the head of the nations. A people I do not even know serves me – at a mere rumour of my orders, they obey. The children of strangers beg for my favour; they hide away and tremble where they hide. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Psalm 17 (18) |
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| The Lord lives, my blessed Helper. Let the God of my salvation be exalted. God, you give me my revenge, you subject peoples to my rule, you free me from my enraged enemies. You raise me up from those who attack me, you snatch me from the grasp of the violent. And so I will proclaim you among the nations, Lord, and sing to your name. Time and again you save your king, you show your loving kindness to your anointed, to David and his descendants for ever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. |
| Reading | Esther 5:1 - 7:10 © |
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| On the third day, Esther, dressed in her royal robes, presented herself in the inner court of the palace, which was in front of the king’s apartments. He was seated on the royal throne in the Royal Hall, facing the door. No sooner had he seen Queen Esther standing in his court than she won his favour and he held out the golden sceptre he had in his hand to her. Esther approached and touched the end of it. ‘What is the matter, Queen Esther?’ the king said. ‘Tell me what you desire; even if it is half my kingdom, I grant it you.’ ‘Would the king be pleased’ Esther replied ‘to come with Haman today to the banquet I have prepared for him?’ The king said, ‘Tell Haman to come at once, so that Esther may have her wish.’ When the king and Haman were seated at the banquet with Queen Esther this second day, the king again said to Esther as they drank their wine, ‘Tell me what you request, Queen Esther? I grant it to you. Tell me what you desire; even if it is half my kingdom, it is yours for the asking.’ ‘If I have found favour in your eyes, O king,’ Queen Esther replied ‘and if it please your majesty, grant me my life – that is what I request; and the lives of my people – that is what I desire. For we are doomed, I and my people, to destruction, slaughter and annihilation; if we had merely been condemned to become slaves and servant-girls, I would have said nothing; but as things are, it will be beyond the means of the persecutor to make good the loss that the king is about to sustain.’ King Ahasuerus interrupted Queen Esther, ‘Who is this man?’ he exclaimed. ‘Where is he, the schemer of such an outrage?’ Esther replied, ‘The persecutor, the enemy? Why, this wretch Haman!’ Haman quaked with terror in the presence of the king and queen. In a rage the king rose and left the banquet to go into the palace garden; while Haman, realising that the king was determined on his ruin, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. When the king returned from the palace garden into the banqueting hall, he found Haman huddled across the couch where Esther was reclining. ‘What!’ the king exclaimed. ‘Is he going to rape the queen before my eyes in my own palace?’ The words were scarcely out of his mouth than a veil was thrown over Haman’s face.” Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, was present. He said, ‘How convenient! There is that fifty-cubit gallows which Haman ran up for Mordecai, whose report saved the king’s life. It is all ready at his house.’ ‘Hang him on it’ said the king. So Haman was hanged on the gallows which he had erected for Mordecai, and the king’s wrath subsided. |
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| Reading | St Augustine's letter to Proba |
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| We do not know how to pray as we ought | |
| Perhaps you may still ask why St Paul said when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, since it is impossible that he or those to whom he wrote should not have known the Lord’s Prayer. Yet Paul himself was not exempt from such ignorance. When, to prevent him from becoming swollen-headed over the greatness of the revelations that had been given to him, he was given in addition a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, he asked the Lord three times to take it away from him. Surely that was not knowing to pray as he ought? For in the end he heard the Lord’s reply, telling him why even such a great saint’s prayer had to be refused: My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness. So when we are suffering afflictions that might be doing us either good or harm, we do not to know how to pray as we ought. But because they are hard to endure and painful, because they are contrary to our nature (which is weak) we, like all mankind, pray to have our afflictions taken from us. At least, though, we owe this much respect to the Lord our God, that if he does not take our afflictions away we should not consider ourselves ignored and neglected, but should hope to gain some greater good through the patient acceptance of suffering. For my power is at its best in weakness. Scripture says this so that we should not be proud of ourselves if our prayer is heard, when we ask for something it would be better for us not to get; and so that we should not become utterly dejected if we are not given what we ask for, despairing of God’s mercy towards us: it might be that what we have been asking for could have brought us some still greater affliction, or it could have brought us the kind of good fortune that brings corruption and ruin. In such cases, it is clear that we cannot know how to pray as we ought. Hence if anything is happens contrary to our prayer, we ought to bear the disappointment patiently, give thanks to God, and be sure that it was better for God’s will to be done than our own. The Mediator himself has given us an example of this. When he had prayed, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by, he transformed the human will that was in him because he had assumed human nature and added Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it. Thus, truly, By the obedience of one man many have been made righteous. |
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| Concluding Prayer |
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| Almighty and ever-living God, make us devoted to doing your will and serving you in your majesty with sincere hearts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
Saint John of Capistrano, priest
Optional Memorial
October 23rd
(1386-1456) Saint John was born in Italy. He became a lawyer before becoming a Franciscan. He preached in various countries of Eastern Europe, bringing about great revivals of the faith. He also led a section of the Christian army at the Battle of Belgrade in 1456 in order to defend Europe from the advances of the Turks.
Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003
Collect:
Lord,
you raised up St. John of Capistrano
to give your people comfort in their trials.
May your Church enjoy unending peace
and be secure in your protection.
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.
First Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:14-20
For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that One has died for all; therefore all have died. And He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard Him thus no longer. Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Gospel Reading: Luke 9:57-62
As they were going along the road, a man said to Jesus, "I will follow You wherever You go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head." To another He said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow You, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
| Lk 12:49-53 | ||
|---|---|---|
| # | Douay-Rheims | Vulgate |
| 49 | I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled? | ignem veni mittere in terram et quid volo si accendatur |
| 50 | And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished? | baptisma autem habeo baptizari et quomodo coartor usque dum perficiatur |
| 51 | Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation. | putatis quia pacem veni dare in terram non dico vobis sed separationem |
| 52 | For there shall be from henceforth five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three. | erunt enim ex hoc quinque in domo una divisi tres in duo et duo in tres |
| 53 | The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. | dividentur pater in filium et filius in patrem suum mater in filiam et filia in matrem socrus in nurum suam et nurus in socrum suam |
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