Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 09-06-12

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 09-06-12 | Revised New American Bible

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Sep 06, Morning Prayer for Thursday of the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:
Ordinary: 654
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 920

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. IV:
Ordinary: 618
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 884

Christian Prayer:
Ordinary: 689
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 824

Morning Prayer for Thursday in Ordinary Time

God, come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Christ our light we ask your blessing
Touch our lives with love we pray
May your holy spirit guide us
Leading us to you this day.

Come holy Spirit, in glorious light,
Dispel the darkness of the night.

Christ our light we ask your blessing
Touch our lives with love we pray
May your holy spirit guide us
Leading us to you this day.

“Christ Our Light” performed by Sr. Monica Butler; Music: Val Goldsack
“Christ Our Light” performed by Sr. Monica Butler is available from Amazon.com.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 Stir up your mighty power, Lord; come to our aid.

Psalm 80
Lord, come, take care of your vineyard
Come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).

O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
you who lead Joseph’s flock,
shine forth from your cherubim throne
upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Lord God of hosts, how long
will you frown on your people’s plea?
You have fed them with tears for their bread,
an abundance of tears for their drink.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbors,
our enemies laugh us to scorn.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
to plant it you drove out the nations.
Before it you cleared the ground;
it took root and spread through the land.

The mountains were covered with its shadow,
the cedars of God with its boughs.
It stretched out its branches to the sea,
to the Great River it stretched out its shoots.

Then why have you broken down its walls?
It is plucked by all who pass by.
It is ravaged by the boar of the forest,
devoured by the beasts of the field.

God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.
Men have burnt it with fire and destroyed it.
May they perish at the frown of your face.

May your hand be on the man you have chosen,
the man you have given your strength.
And we shall never forsake you again:
give us life that we may call upon your name.

God of hosts, bring us back;
let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Lord God, eternal shepherd, you so tend the vineyard you planted that now it extends its branches even to the farthest coast. Look down on your Church and come to us. Help us remain in your Son as branches on the vine, that, planted firmly in your love, we may testify before the whole world to your great power working everywhere.

Ant. Stir up your mighty power, Lord; come to our aid.

Ant. 2 The Lord has worked marvels for us; make it known to the ends of the world.

Canticle — Isaiah 12:1-6
Joy of God’s ransomed people
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink ( John 7:37).

I give you thanks, O Lord;
though you have been angry with me,
your anger has abated, and you have consoled me.

God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the Lord,
and he has been my savior.

With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation, and say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.

Sing praise to the Lord for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.

Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. The Lord has worked marvels for us; make it known to the ends of the world.

Ant. 3 Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Psalm 81
Solemn renewal of the Covenant
See that no one among you has a faithless heart (Hebrews 3:12).

Ring out your joy to God our strength,
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel,
the sweet-sounding harp and the lute,
blow the trumpet at the new moon,
when the moon is full, on our feast.

For this is Israel’s law,
a command of the God of Jacob.
He imposed it as a rule on Joseph,
when he went out against the land of Egypt.

A voice I did not know said to me:
“I freed your shoulder from the burden;
your hands were freed from the load.
You called in distress and I saved you.

I answered, concealed in the storm cloud,
at the waters of Meribah I tested you.
Listen, my people, to my warning,
O Israel, if only you would heed!

Let there be no foreign god among you,
no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you from the land of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

But my people did not heed my voice
and Israel would not obey,
so I left them in their stubbornness of heart
to follow their own designs.

O that my people would heed me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
At once I would subdue their foes,
turn my hand against their enemies.

The Lord’s enemies would cringe at their feet
and their subjection would last forever.
But Israel I would feed with finest wheat
and fill them with honey from the rock.”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Lord God, open our mouths to proclaim your glory. Help us to leave sin behind and to rejoice in professing your name.

Ant. Ring out your joy to God our strength.

READING Romans 14:17-19

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of justice, peace, and the joy that is given by the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in this way pleases God and wins the esteem of men. Let us, then, make it our aim to work for peace and to strengthen one another.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

RESPONSORY

In the early hours of the morning, I think of you, O Lord.
– In the early hours of the morning, I think of you, O Lord.

Always you are there to help me.
– I think of you, O Lord.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
– In the early hours of the morning, I think of you, O Lord.

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Ant. Give your people knowledge of salvation, Lord, and forgive us our sins.

Luke 1:68-79
The Messiah and his forerunner

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Give your people knowledge of salvation, Lord, and forgive us our sins.

INTERCESSIONS

Blessed be God, our Father, who protects his children and never spurns their prayers. Let us humbly implore him:
– Enlighten us, Lord.

We thank you, Lord, for enlightening us through your Son,
fill us with his light throughout the day.
– Enlighten us, Lord.

Let your wisdom lead us today, Lord,
that we may walk in the newness of life.
– Enlighten us, Lord.

May we bear hardships with courage for your name’s sake,
and be generous in serving you.
– Enlighten us, Lord.

Direct our thoughts, feelings and actions this day,
help us to follow your providential guidance.
– Enlighten us, Lord.

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.

Concluding Prayer

Lord,
true light and source of all light,
listen to our morning prayer.
Turn our thoughts to what is holy
and may we ever live in the light of your love.
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.

DISMISSAL

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
– Amen.

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Sep 06, Midday Prayer for Thursday of the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:
Ordinary: 659
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 926 (Midday)

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. IV:
Ordinary: 623
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 890 (Midday)

Midday Prayer for Thursday using Current Psalmody

God, come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Glory to God in the highest
And peace to His people on earth
Lord God, Heavenly King, Almighty God and Father
We worship You
We give You thanks
We praise You for Your glory

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father
Lord God, Lamb of God
You take away the sins of the world
Lord, have mercy on us
You are seated at the right hand of the Father
Receive our prayer

For You alone are the Holy One
For You alone are the Lord
For You alone are the Most High
Jesus Christ
With the Holy Spirit
In the glory of God the Father

Amen.

Glory to God in the highest by St. Paul’s Choir Indianapolis; Lyrics are based upon the text of the Sacred Liturgy

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 More precious than gold or silver, Lord, is the way of life you teach us.

Psalm 119
IX (Teth)

Lord, you have been good to your servant
according to your word.
Teach me discernment and knowledge
for I trust in your commands.

Before I was afflicted I strayed
but now I keep your word.
You are good and your deeds are good;
teach me your commandments.

Though proud men smear me with lies
yet I keep your precepts.
Their minds are closed to good
but your law is my delight.

It was good for me to be afflicted,
to learn your will.
The law from your mouth means more to me
than silver and gold.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Lord, teach us goodness, discipline and wisdom, and these gifts will keep us from becoming hardened by evil, weakened by laziness or ignorant because of foolishness.

Ant. More precious than gold or silver, Lord, is the way of life you teach us.

Ant. 2 I have put my hope in God; I have no fear of man.

Psalm 56
Trust in God’s word
This psalm shows Christ in his passion (Saint Jerome).

Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.

When I fear, I will trust in you,
in God whose word I praise.
In God I trust, I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?

All day long they distort my words,
all their thought is to harm me.
They band together in ambush,
track me down and seek my life.

You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
are they not written in your book?
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.

This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear:
what can mortal man do to me?

I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, victim for our sins, you trusted in your Father’s protection and kept silent when you were tormented. Give us that same confidence and we will gladly suffer with you and for you, offering the Father our sacrifice of praise and walking before him in the light of the living.

Ant. I have put my hope in God; I have no fear of man.

Ant. 3 Your merciful love reaches high as the heavens, Lord.

Psalm 57
Morning prayer in affliction
This psalm tells of our Lord’s passion (Saint Augustine).

Have mercy on me, God, have mercy
for in you my soul has taken refuge.
In the shadow of your wings I take refuge
till the storms of destruction pass by.

I call to God the Most High,
to God who has always been my help.
May he send from heaven and save me
and shame those who assail me.

May God send his truth and his love.
My soul lies down among lions,
who would devour the sons of men.
Their teeth are spears and arrows,
their tongue a sharpened sword.

O God, arise above the heavens;
may your glory shine on earth!

They laid a snare for my steps,
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my path
but fell in it themselves.

My heart is ready, O God,
my heart is ready.
I will sing, I will sing your praise.
Awake, my soul,
awake, lyre and harp,
I will awake the dawn.

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples,
I will praise you among the nations,
for your love reaches to the heavens
and your truth to the skies.

O God, arise above the heavens;
may your glory shine on earth!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

Lord, send your mercy and your truth to rescue us from the snares of the devil, and we will praise you among the peoples and proclaim you to the nations, happy to be known as companions of your Son.

Ant. Your merciful love reaches high as the heavens, Lord.

READING Galatians 5:16-17

Live in accord with the spirit and you will not yield to the cravings of the flesh. The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh; the two are directly opposed. That is why you do not do what your will intends.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

O God, you are good, and all goodness flows from you.
– O Lord, teach me the ways of holiness.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

All-powerful and ever-living God,
with you there is no darkness,
from you nothing is hidden.
Fill us with the radiance of your light:
may we understand the law you have given us
and live it with generosity and faith.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
– Amen.

ACCLAMATION (only added when praying in community)

Let us praise the Lord.
– And give him thanks.

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Sep 06, Evening Prayer for Thursday of the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III:
Ordinary: 668
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 931

Liturgy of the Hours Vol. IV:
Ordinary: 632
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 916

Christian Prayer:
Ordinary: 694
All from the Psalter: Thursday, Week II, 830

Evening Prayer for Thursday in Ordinary Time

God, come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

HYMN

Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving
To God our creator triumphantly raise.
Who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us,
Who guideth us on to the end of our days.
God’s banners are o’er us, His light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night.
Till shadows have vanished and darkness is banished
As forward we travel from light into Light.

His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
The sun in his orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The depths of the ocean proclaim him divine.
We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing;
With glad adoration a song let us raise
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving:
“To God in the highest, Hosanna and praise!”

“Let All Things Now Living” by Michael Card; Author: Katherine K. Davis (1939); Meter: 66 11 66 11 D; Scripture: Job 38; Job 26; Genesis 1

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 I have made you the light of all nations to carry my salvation to the ends of the earth.

Psalm 72
The Messiah’s royal power
Opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11).

I

O God, give your judgment to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people
in justice and your poor in right judgment.

May the mountains bring forth peace for the people
and the hills, justice.
May he defend the poor of the people
and save the children of the needy
and crush the oppressor.

He shall endure like the sun and the moon
from age to age.
He shall descend like rain on the meadow,
like raindrops on the earth.

In his days justice shall flourish
and peace till the moon fails.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the Great River to earth’s bounds.

Before him his enemies shall fall,
his foes lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and the sea coasts
shall pay him tribute.

The kings of Sheba and Seba
shall bring him gifts.
Before him all kings shall fall prostrate,
all nations shall serve him.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. I have made you the light of all nations to carry my salvation to the ends of the earth.

Ant. 2 The Lord will save the children of the poor and rescue them from slavery.

II

For he shall save the poor when they cry
and the needy who are helpless.
He will have pity on the weak
and save the lives of the poor.

From oppression he will rescue their lives,
to him their blood is dear.
Long may he live,
may the gold of Sheba be given him.
They shall pray for him without ceasing
and bless him all the day.

May corn be abundant in the land
to the peaks of the mountains.
May its fruit rustle like Lebanon;
may men flourish in the cities
like grass on the earth.

May his name be blessed for ever
and endure like the sun.
Every tribe shall be blessed in him,
all nations bless his name.

Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel,
who alone works wonders,
ever blessed his glorious name.

Let his glory fill the earth.
Amen! Amen!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm-prayer

We call upon your name, Father, and pronounce it blessed above the earth. Give your people the fullness of peace and justice in your kingdom.

Ant. The Lord will save the children of the poor and rescue them from slavery.

Ant. 3 Now the victorious reign of our God has begun.

Canticle – Revelation 11:17-18; 12:10b-12a
The judgment of God

We praise you, the Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was.
You have assumed your great power,
you have begun your reign.

The nations have raged in anger,
but then came your day of wrath
and the moment to judge the dead:
The time to reward your servants the prophets
and the holy ones who revere you,
the great and the small alike.

Now have salvation and power come,
the reign of our God and the authority
of his Anointed One.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who night and day accused them before God.

They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
So rejoice, you heavens,
and you that dwell therein!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Now the victorious reign of our God has begun.

READING 1 Peter 1:18-23

By obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves for a genuine love of your brothers; therefore; love one another constantly from the heart. Your rebirth has come, not from a destructible but from an indestructible seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Sacred Silence (indicated by a bell) – a moment to reflect and receive in our hearts the full resonance of the voice of the Holy Spirit and to unite our personal prayer more closely with the word of God and public voice of the Church.

RESPONSORY

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall want for nothing.
– The Lord is my shepherd, I shall want for nothing.

He has brought me to green pastures.
– I shall want for nothing.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
– The Lord is my shepherd, I shall want for nothing.

CANTICLE OF MARY

Ant. If you hunger for holiness, God will satisfy your longing, good measure, and flowing over.

Luke 1:46-55
The soul rejoices in the Lord

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. If you hunger for holiness, God will satisfy your longing, good measure, and flowing over.

INTERCESSIONS

Lift up your hearts to our Lord and Savior who gives his people every spiritual blessing. In the spirit of devotion, let us ask him:
– Bless your people, Lord.

Merciful God, strengthen Benedict, our Pope, and all our bishops,
keep them free from harm,
– Bless your people, Lord.

Look favorably on our country, Lord,
free us from all evil.
– Bless your people, Lord.

Call men to serve at your altar,
and to follow you more closely in chastity, poverty and obedience.
– Bless your people, Lord.

Take care of your handmaidens vowed to virginity,
that they may follow you, the divine Lamb, wherever you go.
– Bless your people, Lord.

May the dead rest in eternal peace,
may their union with us be strengthened through the sharing of spiritual goods.
– Bless your people, Lord.

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.

Concluding Prayer

Father of mercy,
hear our evening prayer of praise,
and let our hearts never waver
from the love of your law.
Lead us on through night’s darkness
to the dawning of eternal life.
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.

DISMISSAL

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
– Amen.

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Sep 06, Night Prayer for Thursday of the 22nd week of Ordinary Time

Ribbon Placement:
Liturgy of the Hours:
Vol I, page 1183
Vol II, Page 1642
Vol III, Page 1283
Vol IV, Page 1247

Christian Prayer:
Page 1049

General instruction:
Please pray with us actively, especially by joining with us in saying antiphons and responses, most of which are indicated in this highlight.

Consider an examination of your own conscience before beginning to best make use of our time together in prayer.

Night Prayer for Thursday

God, come to my assistance.
– Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
– as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

Examination of conscience:

We are called to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men, in our hearts and in our minds, in our actions and inactions. To do so, it is vital that we examine our conscience daily and to ask for God’s mercy as we fall short and to ask for His strength to do better.

Lord Jesus raise us to new life:
Lord, have mercy
– Lord have mercy

Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins:
Christ, have mercy.
– Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus you feed us with your body and blood:
Lord, have mercy
– Lord have mercy

HYMN

O Lord my God! when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul! my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

”How Great Thou Art” by Melinda Kirigin-Voss; Originally this was a Swedish folk melody, “O Store Gud” by Carl Boberg (1859-1940) and was translated by Stuart K. Hine in 1899.
”How Great Thou Art” by Melinda Kirigin-Voss is available from Amazon.com.

PSALMODY

Ant. 1 In you, my God, my body will rest in hope.

Psalm 16
God is my portion, my inheritance
The Father raised up Jesus from the dead and broke the bonds of death (Acts 2:24).

Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: “You are my God.
My happiness lies in you alone.”

He has put into my heart a marvelous love
for the faithful ones who dwell in his land.
Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows.
Never will I offer their offerings of blood.
Never will I take their name upon my lips.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight:
welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.

You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. In you, my God, my body will rest in hope.

READING 1 Thessalonians 5:23

May the God of peace make you perfect in holiness. May he preserve you whole and entire, spirit, soul, and body, irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

RESPONSORY

Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth.
– I commend my spirit.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

Gospel Canticle

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.

Luke 2:29-32
Christ is the light of the nations and the glory of Israel

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:

my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:

a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

Ant. Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake, we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, rest in his peace.

Concluding Prayer

Lord God,
send peaceful sleep
to refresh our tired bodies.
May your help always renew us
and keep us strong in your service.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
– Amen.

Blessing

May the all-powerful Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death.
– Amen.

Antiphon or song in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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Luke
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Luke 5
1.	AND it came to pass, that when the multitudes pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth,	Factum est autem, cum turbæ irruerunt in eum ut audirent verbum Dei, et ipse stabat secus stagnum Genesareth.	εγενετο δε εν τω τον οχλον επικεισθαι αυτω του ακουειν τον λογον του θεου και αυτος ην εστως παρα την λιμνην γεννησαρετ
2.	And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.	Et vidit duas naves stantes secus stagnum : piscatores autem descenderant, et lavabant retia.	και ειδεν δυο πλοια εστωτα παρα την λιμνην οι δε αλιεις αποβαντες απ αυτων απεπλυναν τα δικτυα
3.	And going into one of the ships that was Simon's, he desired him to draw back a little from the land. And sitting he taught the multitudes out of the ship.	Ascendens autem in unam navim, quæ erat Simonis, rogavit eum a terra reducere pusillum. Et sedens docebat de navicula turbas.	εμβας δε εις εν των πλοιων ο ην του σιμωνος ηρωτησεν αυτον απο της γης επαναγαγειν ολιγον και καθισας εδιδασκεν εκ του πλοιου τους οχλους
4.	Now when he had ceased to speak, he said to Simon: Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.	Ut cessavit autem loqui, dixit ad Simonem : Duc in altum, et laxate retia vestra in capturam.	ως δε επαυσατο λαλων ειπεν προς τον σιμωνα επαναγαγε εις το βαθος και χαλασατε τα δικτυα υμων εις αγραν
5.	And Simon answering said to him: Master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing: but at thy word I will let down the net.	Et respondens Simon, dixit illi : Præceptor, per totam noctem laborantes nihil cepimus : in verbo autem tuo laxabo rete.	και αποκριθεις ο σιμων ειπεν αυτω επιστατα δι ολης της νυκτος κοπιασαντες ουδεν ελαβομεν επι δε τω ρηματι σου χαλασω το δικτυον
6.	And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great multitude of fishes, and their net broke.	Et cum hoc fecissent, concluserunt piscium multitudinem copiosam : rumpebatur autem rete eorum.	και τουτο ποιησαντες συνεκλεισαν πληθος ιχθυων πολυ διερρηγνυτο δε το δικτυον αυτων
7.	And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sinking.	Et annuerunt sociis, qui erant in alia navi, ut venirent, et adjuvarent eos. Et venerunt, et impleverunt ambas naviculas, ita ut pene mergerentur.	και κατενευσαν τοις μετοχοις τοις εν τω ετερω πλοιω του ελθοντας συλλαβεσθαι αυτοις και ηλθον και επλησαν αμφοτερα τα πλοια ωστε βυθιζεσθαι αυτα
8.	Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.	Quod cum vidisset Simon Petrus, procidit ad genua Jesu, dicens : Exi a me, quia homo peccator sum, Domine.	ιδων δε σιμων πετρος προσεπεσεν τοις γονασιν ιησου λεγων εξελθε απ εμου οτι ανηρ αμαρτωλος ειμι κυριε
9.	For he was wholly astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken.	Stupor enim circumdederat eum, et omnes qui cum illo erant, in captura piscium, quam ceperant :	θαμβος γαρ περιεσχεν αυτον και παντας τους συν αυτω επι τη αγρα των ιχθυων η συνελαβον
10.	And so were also James and John the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus saith to Simon: Fear not: from henceforth thou shalt catch men.	similiter autem Jacobum et Joannem, filios Zebedæi, qui erunt socii Simonis. Et ait ad Simonem Jesus : Noli timere : ex hoc jam homines eris capiens.	ομοιως δε και ιακωβον και ιωαννην υιους ζεβεδαιου οι ησαν κοινωνοι τω σιμωνι και ειπεν προς τον σιμωνα ο ιησους μη φοβου απο του νυν ανθρωπους εση ζωγρων
11.	And having brought their ships to land, leaving all things, they followed him.	Et subductis ad terram navibus, relictis omnibus, secuti sunt eum.	και καταγαγοντες τα πλοια επι την γην αφεντες απαντα ηκολουθησαν αυτω

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1. And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2. And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

AMBROSE; When the Lord had performed many and various kinds of cures, the multitude began to heed neither time nor place in their desire to be healed. The evening came, they followed; a lake is before them, they still press on; as it is said, And it came to pass, as the people pressed upon him.

CHRYS. For they clung to Him with love and admiration, and longed to keep Him with them. For who would depart while He performed such miracles? who would not be content to see only His face, and the mouth that uttered such things? Nor as performing miracles only was He an object of admiration, but His whole appearance was overflowing with grace. Therefore when He speaks, they listen to Him in silence, interrupting not the chain of His discourse; for it is said, that they might hear the word of God, &c. It follows, And he stood near the lake of Gennesaret.

THEOPHYL; The lake of Gennesaret is said to be the same as the sea of Galilee or the sea of Tiberias; but it is called the sea of Galilee from the adjacent province, the sea of Tiberias from a neighboring city. Gennesaret, however, is the name given it from the nature of the lake itself, (which is thought from its crossing waves to raise a breeze upon itself,) being the Greek expression for "making a breeze to itself." For the water is not steady like that of a lake, but constantly agitated by the breezes blowing over it. It is sweet to the taste, and wholesome to drink. In the Hebrew tongue, any extent of water, whether it be sweet or salt, is called a sea.

THEOPHYL. But the Lord seeks to avoid glory the more it followed Him, and therefore separating Himself from the multitude, He entered into a ship, as it is said, And he saw two ships standing near the lake: but the Fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

CHRYS. This was a sign of leisure, but according to Matthew He finds them mending their nets. For so great was their poverty, that they patched up their old nets, not being able to buy new ones. But our Lord was very desirous to collect the multitudes, that none might remain behind, but they might all behold Him face to face; He therefore enters into a ship, as it is said, And he entered into a ship, which was Simon's, and prayed him.

THEOPHYL. Behold the gentleness of Christ; He asks Peter; and the willingness of Peter, who was obedient in all things.

CHRYS. After having performed many miracles, He again commences His teaching, and being on the sea, He fishes for those who were on the shore. Hence it follows, And he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.

GREG. NAZ. Condescending to all, in order that He might draw forth a fish from the deep, i.e. man swimming in Or the ever changing scenes and bitter storms of this life.

THEOPHYL; Now mystically, the two ships represent circumcision and uncircumcision. The Lord sees these, because in each people He knows who are His, and by seeing, i.e. by a merciful visitation, He brings them nearer the tranquillity of the life to come. The fishermen are the doctors of the Church, because by the net of faith they catch us, and bring us as it were ashore to the land of the living. But these nets are at one time spread out for catching fish, at another washed and folded up. For every time is not fitted for teaching, but at one time the teacher must speak with the tongue, and at another time we must discipline ourselves. The ship of Simon is the primitive Church, of which St. Paul says, He that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of circumcision. The ship is well called one, for in the multitude of believers there was one heart and one soul.

AUG. From which ship He taught the multitude, for by the authority of the Church He teaches the Gentiles. But the Lord entering the ship, and asking Peter to put off a little from the land, signifies that we must be moderate in our words to the multitude, that they may be neither taught earthly things, nor from earthly things rush into the depths of the sacraments. Or, the Gospel must first be preached to the neighboring countries of the Gentiles, that (as He afterwards says, Launch out into the deep) He might command it to be preached afterwards to the more distant nations.

4. Now when he had left speaking, he said to Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5. And Simon answering said to him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.
6. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net broke.
7. And they beckoned to their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

CYRIL; Having sufficiently taught the people, He returns again to His mighty works, and by the employment of fishing fishes for His disciples. Hence it follows, When he had left off speaking, he said to Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

CHRYS. For in His condescension to men, He called the wise men by a star, the fishermen by their art of fishing.

THEOPHYL. Peter did not refuse to comply, as it follows, And Simon answering said to him, Master, we have toiled all night and have taken nothing. He did not go on to say, "I will not hearken to you, nor expose myself to additional labor," but rather adds, Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net. But our Lord, since he had taught the people out of the ship, left not the master of the ship without reward, but conferred on him a double kindness, giving him first a multitude of fishes, and next making him His disciple:

as it follows, And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes. They took so many fishes that they could not pull them out, but sought the assistance of their companions;

as it follows, But their net broke, and they beckoned to their partners who were in the other ship to come, &c. Peter summons them by a sign, being unable to speak from astonishment at the draught of fishes. We next hear of their assistance, And they came and filled both the ships.

AUG. John seems indeed to speak of a similar miracle, but this is very different from the one he mentions. That took place after our Lord's resurrection at the lake of Tiberias, and not only the time, but the miracle itself is very different. For in the latter the nets being let down on the right side took one hundred and fifty-three fishes, and these of large size, which it was necessary for the Evangelist to mention, because though so large the nets were not broken, and this would seem to have reference to the event which Luke relates, when from the multitude of the fishes the nets were broken.

AMBROSE; Now in a mystery, the ship of Peter, according to Matthew, is beaten about by the waves, according to Luke, is filled with fishes, in order that you might understand the Church at first wavering, at last abounding. The ship is not shaken which holds Peter; that is which holds Judas. In each was Peter; but he who trusts in his own merits is disquieted by another's. Let us beware then of a traitor, lest through one we should many of us be tossed about. Trouble is found there where faith is weak, safety here where love is perfect. Lastly, though to others it is commanded, Let down your nets, to Peter alone it is said, Launch out into the deep, i.e. into deep researches. What is so deep, as the knowledge of the Son of God! But what are the nets of the Apostles which are ordered to be let down, but the interweaving of words and certain folds, as it were, of speech, and intricacies of argument, which never let those escape whom they have once caught. And rightly are nets the Apostolical instruments for fishing, which kill not the fish that are caught, but keep them safe, and bring up those that are tossing about in the waves from the depths below to the regions above. But he says, Master, we have toiled the whole night and have caught nothing; for this is not the work of human eloquence but the gift of divine calling. But they who had before caught nothing, at the word of the Lord enclosed a great multitude of fishes.

CYRIL; Now this was a figure of the future. For they will not labor in vain who let down the net of evangelical doctrine, but will gather together the shoals of the Gentiles.

AUG. Now the circumstance of the nets breaking, and the ships being filled with the multitude of fishes that they began to sink, signifies that there will be in the Church so great a multitude of carnal men, that unity will be broken up, and it will be split into heresies and schisms.

THEOPHYL; The net is broken, but the fish escape not, for the Lord preserves His own amid the violence of persecutors.

AMBROSE; But the other ship is Judea, out of which James and John are chosen. These then came from the synagogue to the ship of Peter in the Church, that they might fill both ships. For at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, whether Jew or Greek.

THEOPHYL; Or the other ship is the Church of the Gentiles, which itself also (one ship being not sufficient) is filled with chosen fishes. For the Lord knows who are His, and with Him the number of His elect is sure. And when He finds not in Judea so many believers as He knows are destined to eternal life, He seeks as it were another ship to receive His fishes, and fills the hearts of the Gentiles also with the grace of faith. And well when the net brake did they call to their assistance the ship of their companions, since the traitor Judas, Simon Magus, Ananias and Sapphira, and many of the disciples, went back. And then Barnabas and Paul were separated for the Apostleship of the Gentiles.

AMBROSE; We may understand also by the other ship another Church, since from one Church several are derived.

CYRIL; But Peter beckons to his companions to help them. For many follow the labors of the Apostles, and first those who brought out the writings of the Gospels, next to whom are the other heads and shepherds of the Gospel, and those skilled in the teaching of the truth.

THEOPHYL; But the filling of these ships goes on until the end of the world. But the fact that the ships, when filled, begin to sink, i.e. become weighed low down in the water; (for they are not sunk, but are in great danger,) the Apostle explains when he says, In the last days perilous times shall come; men shall be lovers of their own selves, &c. For the sinking of the ships is when men, by vicious habits, fall back into that world from which they have been elected by faith.

8. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10. And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Fear not; from henceforth you shall catch men.
11. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

THEOPHYL; Peter was astonished at the divine gift, and the more he feared, the less did he now presume; as it is said, When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

CYRIL; For calling back to his consciousness the crimes he had committed, he is alarmed and trembles, and as being unclean, he believes it impossible he can receive Him who is clean, for he had learnt from the law to distinguish between what is defiled and holy.

GREG. NYSS. When Christ commanded to let down the nets, the multitude of the fishes taken was just as great as the Lord of the sea and land willed. For the voice of the Word is the voice of power, at whose bidding at the beginning of the world light and the other creatures came forth. At these things Peter wonders, for he was astonished, and all that were with him, &c.

AUG. He does not mention Andrew by name, who however is thought to have been in that ship, according to the accounts of Matthew and Mark. It follows, And Jesus said to Simon, Fear not.

AMBROSE; Say you also, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, that God may answer, Fear not. Confess your sin, and the Lord will pardon you. See how good the Lord is, who gives so much to men, that they have the power of making alive. As it follows, From henceforth you shall catch men.

THEOPHYL; This especially belongs to Peter himself, for the Lord explains to him what this taking of fish means; that in fact as now he takes fishes by the net, so hereafter he will catch men by words. And the whole order of this event shows what is daily going on in the Church, of which Peter is the type.

CHRYS. But mark their faith and obedience. For though they were eagerly engaged in the employment of fishing, yet when they heard the command of Jesus, they delayed not, but forsook all and followed Him. Such is the obedience which Christ demands of us; we must not forego it, even though some great necessity urges us. Hence it follows, And having brought their ships to land.

AUG. Matthew and Mark here briefly state the matter, and how it was done. Luke explains it more at large. There seems however to be this difference, that he makes our Lord to have said to Peter only, From henceforth you shall catch men, whereas they related it as having been spoken to both the others. But surely it might have been said at first to Peter, when he marveled at the immense draught of fishes, as Luke suggests, and afterwards to both, as the other two have related it. Or we must understand the event to have taken place as Luke relates, and that the others were not then called by the Lord, but only it was foretold to Peter that he should catch men, not that he should no more be employed in fishing; and hence there is room for supposing that they returned to their fishing, so that afterwards that might happen which Matthew and Mark speak of. For then the ships were not brought to land, as if with the intention of returning, but they followed Him as calling or commanding them to come. But if according to John, Peter and Andrew followed Him close by Jordan, how do the other Evangelists say that He found them fishing in Galilee, and called them to the discipleship? Except we understand that they did not see the Lord near Jordan so as to join Him inseparably, but knew only who He was, and marveling at Him returned to their own.

AMBROSE; But mystically, those whom Peter takes by his word, he claims not as his own booty or his own gift. Depart, he says, from me, O Lord. Fear not then also to ascribe what is your own to the Lord, for what was His He has given to us.

AUG. Or, Peter speaks in the character of A the Church full of carnal men, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. As if the Church, crowded with carnal men, and almost sunk by their vices, throws off from it, as it were, the rule in spiritual things, wherein the character of Christ chiefly shines forth. For not with the tongue do men tell the good servants of God that they should depart from them, but with the utterance of their deeds and actions they persuade them to go away, that they may not be governed by the good. And yet all the more anxiously do they hasten to pay honors to them, just as Peter testified his respect by falling at the feet of our Lord, but his conduct in saying, Depart from me.

THEOPHYL; But the Lord allays the fears of carnal men, that no one trembling at the consciousness of his guilt, or astonished at the innocence of others, might be afraid to undertake the journey of holiness.

AUG. But the Lord did not depart from them, showing thereby that good and spiritual men, when they ere troubled by the wickedness of the many, ought not to wish to abandon their ecclesiastical duties, that they might live as it were a more secure and tranquil life. But the bringing their ships to land, and forsaking all to follow Jesus, may represent the end of time, when those who have clung to Christ shall altogether depart from the storms of this world.

Catena Aurea Luke 5

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Calling of Peter and Andrew

Duccio di Buoninsegna

1308-11
Tempera on wood, 43,5 x 46 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

[Salvation]

Information: St. Donatian

Feast Day:

September 6

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Interactive Saints for Kids

Blessed Bertrand

 
Feast Day: September 6
Born: 1195 :: Died: 1230

Bertrand was born in the diocese of Nimes in southern France. At that time France was troubled by religious wars and there was great confusion about the Church's teaching. But Bertrand's parents managed to live a peaceful life and they taught the true faith to their son. He lived a good and holy life, praying constantly even as a young person.

He became a priest at a very early age and joined the missionaries to bring back to the Church the Albigenses who had no respect for authority or life, burned churches and convents and believed in false teachings.

St. Dominic and Blessed Bertrand met as missionaries and became very close friends, traveling, praying and fasting together, offering sufferings for the good of others.

Bertrand saw the holiness of St. Dominic, and the miracles he performed and told people about them. This was God's invitation for him to begin a very important ministry. When he was just 20 years old, he and five other men joined Dominic to form a new religious congregation, the Order of Preachers. They are also called "Dominicans".

Blessed Bertrand was sent to Paris to start the order there. Then St. Dominic called asked Bertrand to go to Bologna and start the order there. Bertrand obeyed happily.

Meanwhile, the Order of Preachers was growing. They preached the Gospel message in the towns and countryside. They wanted people to know and love Jesus.

Bertrand was made the superior of the province in southern France. He lived a simple life and spent his days preaching and helping people grow closer to God. He died while giving a sermon to some at the convent of Notre Dame in 1230. Many miracles still take place when people pray to Blessed Bertrand.

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Catholic

Almanac:

Thursday, September 6
Liturgical Color: Green
Today the Church honors St. Bega, a 7th century religious and abbess. She was born into Irish nobility and angered her family by fleeing an arranged marriage. She gave her life to the Lord and was known for her generosity to the poor.

[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: September 06, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

ACTIVITIES

• Religion in the Home for Elementary School: September
• Religion in the Home for Preschool: September

PRAYERS

• September Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows

Ordinary Time: September 6th

Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: St. Eleutherius, priest (Hist)

Mary suffered because of her intimate union with Christ, on account of our sins, and on behalf of her spiritual children. Devotion to the Mother of Sorrows and the Seven Sorrows of Mary encourages us to flee from sin and inflames our desire to do penance and make reparation so as to console the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

— The Catholic Faith, John O'Connell

Historically today is the feast of St. Eleutherius, abbot of St. Mark's monastery near Spoleto in the Italian province of Perugia, he was the friend of St. Gregory who mentions him several times in his Dialogues.

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Meditation
The liturgy puts on the lips of Our Lady of Sorrows these touching words: "O you who pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." Yes, her grief was immeasurable, and was surpassed only by her love, a love so great that it could encompass that vast sea of sorrow. It can be said of Mary, as of no other creature, that her love was stronger than death; in fact, it made her able to support the cruel death of Jesus.

"Who could be unfeeling in contemplating the Mother of Christ suffering with her Son?" chants the Stabat Mater; and immediately it adds, "O Mother... make me feel the depth of your sorrow, so that I may weep with you. May I bear in my heart the wounds of Christ; make me share in His Passion and become inebriated by the Cross and Blood of your Son." In response to the Church's invitation, let us contemplate Mary's sorrows, sympathize with her, and ask her for the invaluable grace of sharing with her in the Passion of Jesus. Let us remember that this participation is not to be merely sentimental—even though this sentiment is good and holy—but it must lead us to real compassion, that is, to suffering with Jesus and Mary. The sufferings God sends us have no other purpose.

The sight of Mary at the foot of the Cross makes the lesson of the Cross less hard and less bitter; her maternal example encourages us to suffer and makes the road to Calvary easier. Let us go, then, with Mary, to join Jesus on Golgotha; let us go with her to meet our cross; and sustained by her, let us embrace it willingly, uniting it with her Son's.

—Excerpted from Divine Intimacy, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.

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St. Eleutherius
A wonderful simplicity and spirit of compunction were the distinguishing virtues of this holy sixth century abbot. He was elected to preside Saint Mark’s monastery near Spoleto, and favored by God with the gift of miracles.

A child who was confided to the monastery, to be educated there after having been delivered by the Abbot from a diabolical possession, appeared to everyone to be entirely exempt from further molestations. And Saint Eleutherius chanced to say one day: “Since the child is among the servants of God, the devil dares not approach him.” These words seemed to savor of vanity, and thereupon the devil again entered into and tormented the child. The Abbot humbly confessed his fault and undertook a fast, in which the entire community joined, until the child was again freed from the tyranny of the fiend.

Saint Gregory the Great, finding himself unable to fast on Holy Saturday on account of extreme weakness, called for this Saint, who was in Rome at the time, to offer up prayers to God for him that he might join the faithful in the solemn practice of that day’s penances. Saint Eleutherius prayed with many tears, and the Pope, when they came out of the church, felt suddenly strengthened and able to accomplish the fast as he desired. The same Pope, remarking that the Abbot was said to have raised a dead man to life, added: “He was so simple a man, one of such great penance, that we must not doubt that Almighty God granted much to his tears and his humility!” After resigning his abbacy, Saint Eleutherius died in Rome in Saint Andrew’s monastery, about the year 585.

—Excerpted from Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l’année, by Abbé L. Jaud (Mame: Tours, 1950); Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler’s Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Luke 5:1-11

“They left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:11)

Does it ever feel as if there are obstacles that make it hard for you to accept Jesus’ call to follow him? If so, the Lord has these words of encouragement for you right now: “Whatever you think is holding you back from following me, whatever is oppressing or bothering you, just bring it along with you. Trust me; I can handle it! The most important thing is that you know how much I love you and how much I long to spend time with you each day. So if you think something is holding you back, just bring it along!”

Me: “Even my work, Lord? My job is so demanding. My hours are so long, and I come home so tired and stressed. I appreciate your invita­tion and I want to come, but I’m just overwhelmed.”

Jesus: “Bring your job with you, and I’ll help you work it out. I love the fact that you’re a hard worker and dedicated to providing for your family. You don’t have to fight this battle alone. I’m here with you. Just try your best to stay close to me as you go through your workday.”

Me: “But Lord, I also have this financial burden that is weighing so heavily on me. I’ve gotten into debt, and I can’t seem to get out. I’m ashamed of myself and embar­rassed by my situation. I can just imagine how displeased you must be with me.”

Jesus: “Just bring it along. Let me help you through this financial situa­tion. Sure, things may be tough right now. Maybe you’ve made some bad choices. But I still love you, and I want to help you.”

Me: “Lord, I want to follow, but I have this sin pattern that I just can’t get rid of. How can I follow you with this millstone around my neck?”

Jesus: “Just bring this area along, and we’ll work on it together. Let my Spirit teach you how to get free. It may not be easy, and it may not be immediate. But I can help.”

“Lord, I will follow you! I will trust your promises to me. I will believe that you can help me overcome my burdens and obstacles. Thank you, Jesus. I feel lighter already!”

1 Corinthians 3:18-23; Psalm 24:1-6

[Salvation]

 

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for September 6, 2012:

An ache or a pain, an angst or an annoyance. What to do? Offer it up. This traditional spiritual practice of offering up our troubles as a prayer can redirect our energy from our own gloom to the good of another. For whom can you offer up today’s problems?

[Salvation]

Vultus Christi

On the Solemnity of Thursday

By

Father Mark

 on September 5, 2012 9:24 PM |

 

For a long time I have wanted to translate this text of Mother Mectilde de Bar entitled "On the Solemnity of Thursday." In it, she pours out her soul in a torrent of amazement and thanksgiving and adoration. She sets forth why, in her particular Benedictine observance, Thursday is celebrated as a weekly return to the Cenacle where Our Lord instituted the Sacrament of His Love, and as a weekly festival of Corpus Christi. Catherine-Mectilde de Bar is, without any doubt, the most Eucharistic soul in what was a Eucharistic century par excellence, and a century of saints surpassing all others, le grand siècle, the great century of France's mystic invasion, and the full flowering of the Council of Trent's renewal of the Church in holiness.

O Precious Day!

Thursday: one can name it the day of the magnificences and profusions of divine love. It is on this day that Jesus Christ unfurls all the grandeurs of His munificence and gives to men the most incomprehensible proof of His charity, by instituting the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. O precious day! Day that we shall never know how to celebrate enough! Holy day, happy day, of which every instant must be infinitely precious to us who have the honour of being wholly consecrated to this august mystery.

Thursday: a Day of Pascha

For the victims* of the Holy Sacrament, Thursday must be a day of Pascha, a day of solemnity and of rejoicing. This day is so abundant in graces that one can say that it exhausts all that Our Lord Jesus Christ is and can do. What more can He do after the institution of the divine Eucharist? What is there that is not [contained] in this august mystery?

*The Meaning of Victim in the Writings of Mother Mectilde

The word victim frightens some people; it exercises an unhealthy attraction over others; and for still others has an unplesasantly melodramatic ring about it. When Mother Mectilde de Bar uses the word victim, what exactly does she mean?

First of all, she uses it as the proper title of those who are vowed to adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament under the Rule of Saint Benedict in her Institute. While others, she says, may enter religious life to save their own souls and gain eternal glory in heaven, the Benedictine of the Most Holy Sacrament must so forget herself, and even the needs of her own soul, that she sacrifices all self-interest and enters the monastery for one reason only: to adore and glorify the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and to make up by this sacrifice of all spiritual self-interest for those who never adore Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love or, even worse, offend Him by unspeakable sins of irreverence and sacrilege.

Secondly, she uses the word victim in the same way the texts of the sacred liturgy use it. I could cite here any number of Secrets and Postcommunions from both the Temporal and Sanctoral Masses. A victim is a living being made over to God alone in so radical and irrevocable way that she no longer has any life outside of life in God, for God, and by God. The liturgical use of the term victim makes it very clear that this is the ordinary state of anyone who receives Holy Communion consciously and devoutly. By being at-oned [joined] to the Divine Victim, the Lamb of God, one becomes a single victim with Him, that is, an offering made over to the Father in a holocaust of love.

Thirdly, she uses the word to express the profound communion of the soul with Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love, where He is forever the Christus passus, Christ in the very act of His immolation and self-offering to the Father. Our Lord present in the tabernacle is not there in a state of suspended animation or divine inertia; He is present in the Most Blessed Sacrament as He is in the sanctuary of Heaven: the pure victim, the holy victim, the spotless victim, offered at every moment to the Father, in the Holy Spirit. One who adores the Blessed Sacrament will be, sooner or later, drawn into a mystic participation in the victimhood of the Lamb.

Sunday and Thursday

Sunday is held in singular veneration among all christians, because it is dedicated and consecrated in a special manner to the Most Holy Trinity. One author has said that so abundant in blessings is this day that all creatures participate in them, each according to his nature and capacity. If this is so of Sunday, what then must be said of Thursday? The same God whom we adore on Sunday in Himself, gives Himself entirely to us on Thursday. Thursday is the day of God's great communications to His creatures. Oh! who is not ravished by the infinite goodness of the King of kings! He gives us all that He has, all that He is, all -- without reservation.

The Excessive Charity of God

Jesus, says Saint John, having loved his own, loved them to the end. And, in effect, what greater mark of love could He give them than to institute the Holy Eucharist? How great is the marvel that He works for us on this day, and who shall be able to understand it? It is here that all must remain in the silence of admiration. A God makes himself our food! O astonishing prodigy! What are all the miracles worked by Jesus Christ during the course of his earthly life in comparison to this one? What a spectacle! What bounty! What charity! A God who gives Himself to us! O love! He who with three fingers sustains the universe is held by the priest. He who commands all of nature obeys a being who is nothing. He who is all-powerful makes Himself so dependent that he is in the power of His creatures; they carry Him, they bring Him wherever they choose. This is too much. Your charity, my Saviour, goes even to excess! O incomprehensible miracle! Mystery forever inconceivable! No, the thought of man would not know how to attain it.

Man Can Love, Man Can Adore

Man cannot understand; but man can love, man can adore. We, especially, who by a special favour see the Most Holy Sacrament exposed on our altars every Thursday,** with what fervour should we not be animated? The solemnity of Thursday must be or us a solemnity forever new; it must also set our hearts ablaze with a love that is new. Let us not settle for drawing people to the feet of Jesus the Host by the outward worship that we render Him more particularly on this day. Let us redouble our readiness to attend to His holy presence. Let the whole Community, if possible, remain in adoration to recognize the gift that the Eternal Father has made to the world in Jesus Christ, His Son, in this God whose love constrains Him to stay among men even unto the consummation of the ages.

**As I have written elsewhere, adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament must not be confused with exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Among the Benedictines of the Most Holy Sacrament, exposition was limited to Thursdays and the following feasts: Christmas, Circumcision, Epiphany, Easter, Pentecost, Annunciation, Assumption, Saint Benedict on 21 March and on 11 July, and Saint Scholastica. On all the other days the perpetual adoration was carried out before the closed tabernacle.

Paradise on Earth

In the Eucharist, our adorable Saviour has a love that surpasses all other loves; His heart is open to all as a wellspring abounding in graces and in mercies. How hard one would have to be not to be touched by so excessive a kindness, not to be burned by this most ardent charity! How obliged we are to Jesus Christ for having readily willed to set, in this way, Paradise on earth! A God makes Himself captive for us! He is in our new arks like a prisoner in his jail cell! How happy we are to possess in this way our most lovable Saviour in the Most Holy Sacrament, since we have in this august mystery the One whom the angels and the saints love and adore in heaven, the One who is the object of their eternal beatitude. What marvels! Can one contemplate them without falling into an eternal ravishment? Oh! the prodigious invention of divine charity! What is it, my God, what is the creature that You fill it so with the abundance of your graces? Man is but a nothing, and you are not satisfied with having created him, redeemed him, shed even the last drop of your blood for him, dying for his salvation. You yourself still give yourself to him . . . O ineffable grace! O inestimable gift!

Thanksgiving

If we but had a little faith, what meditations, what sublime contemplations would the sight of a God giving Himself to man not inspire us! But no, we are blind and know not how to appreciate so great a happiness; we are insensible and Jesus the Host does not touch us; we are so miserable that the least trifle occupies us entirely, and we remain closed to heaven's most precious graces, to the infinite benefits of our God. Have we ever duly given thanks for the ineffable gift of the Eucharist? What thanksgivings have we made for it? Alas!, one must say in groaning that the greater number of men never even think of Jesus present among them.

Of All Marvels the Most Prodigious

A God -- greatness, power, richness itself -- reduces Himself to nothing for us in the Host, and we think no more of it than one would of something commonplace and ordinary. O stupidity! Oh, the ingratitude of men! One does not think of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and, yet, is this not this of all mysteries the most divine, of all marvels the most prodigious, the most inconceivable? What has one said of this divine mystery up until the present that in any way approaches the reality of it? What are the most learned men's discourses next to what is in truth? No, no, there is not a tongue that would know how to express the grandeurs, the riches hidden in our tabernacles. It is an abyss impenetrable to the human spirit. You Yourself, O God, reveal to some privileged soul the secret of this mystery, and put your spirit within her, that she might speak of it worthily for, in truth, we know nothing of it.

If Thou but Knew the Gift of God

No, no, we do not know what the Eucharist is. We believe in this mystery, but it is with a faith that is languishing and unrefined; we are content to believe in the presence of Jesus Christ on the altar, without deepening anything, without penetrating ourselves through with the wonders that He works there. What is this, then, O my God, what is this great Sacrament, so incomprehensible, so admirable, so miraculous? What is Jesus the Host, and what does He do when He descends into His creature, when He loses Himself in her by Holy Communion? O my soul, if thou but knew the gift of God! Si scires donum Dei! If thou but understood something of this mystery of faith, mysterium fidei! If thou but knew the One who hides Himself, who buries Himself, who annihilates Himself in thee? I thou couldst but plumb the depths of His love! Wouldst thou be able to live a single instant without giving thyself to Him? A God who visits us, a God who gives Himself to us; He comes to raise us up from our woes and to deliver us from the tyranny of sin, and we do not die of love for Him? Ah, I pray You, lift the veil that conceals You from our eyes; let the torch of faith illumine us, that we might penetrate all that You are, all that You do for us on the altar and in our hearts.

A God Who Wants to Be Our Happiness

Let us try to recognize the excess of divine charity, and let this be the measure of our gratitude and of our love. What shall we give to God to pay Him for giving HImself to us? Let us not search outside of ourselves; it ourselves that He asks for, it is our love that He purchases with His own. He gives Himself to us only so that we might give ourselves to Him. He asks for ourselves, not that we should be His happiness, but that He should be ours; because the felicity of the creature is found only in the possession of God. Oh! Far too greedy is the soul for whom Jesus Christ is not enough! All of us, let us find our contentment in Him and leave to Him all the rest! He wants to be our unique possession, to the exclusion of ourselves and of all that is created. My God, what more can we desire after having received You in our hearts? In giving Yourself to us, do You not give all things with Yourself? No, no, the Holy Sacrament alone is enough for a true victim*; she finds all in Him; she has no need of anything else to sanctify herself, to perfect herself; for her, all is contained in the sacred Eucharistic Bread. Jesus Christ sacrificed in all her science, all her love, all her treasure. She finds in Him the lights and the knowledge she needs.

The Wisdom of the Father Remains in Silence

Let us draw near to Him and we shall be enlightened! Accedite ad eum et illuminamini. Jesus Christ, silent in the Host, carries out, as He did during HIs mortal life, the office of Master and of Doctor. A saint said that the cross was, as it were, a pulpit for this Man-God. One can say the same thing of our tabernacles: the different states that he there assumes are so many lessons that He is giving us: He wants us to live by His eucharistic life, His life sacrificed, His life annihilated, His life of absolute death to all created things. Let us deepen this divine mystery; we shall see that the Author of Life is there in a state of death, that the Wisdom of the Father remains in silence, that Infinite Beng encloses Himself in an imperceptible particle, that the Sovereign and All-Powerful obeys a weak mortal.

Let Your Sanctity Purify Us

Truly, it is in the Holy Eucharist that Jesus Christ is, according to the language of Scripture, the hidden God, the self-emptied God. . . . And what reduces him to this profound exinanition? Why, but little satisfied with having become a mortal man capable of suffering, does He make Himself, in this way, His creature's most ordinary food? Always the same answer: Jesus Christ has loved us. When will it be given us to render love for love? Let us love, O my sisters, let us love without delay this lovable Saviour who hides the brightness of His glory that we might have a way to draw near to Him, who empties Himself of His grandeurs to honour His Father in our place, who ceaselessly sacrifices Himself to deflect from our heads the rigors of divine justice. Let us employ all our care to adore Him well; let us put all our glory in rendering Him the homage that we owe Him. Really let us be victims, according to the commitment we have made. Are we not very happy that God has chosen us to belong to Him in so particular a manner, and to keep Him company in His sacred mystery? For whom does He put Himself more specially in the Host, if not for us? One can say that Jesus Christ Himself produced us at the altar for Himself; because the Work He accomplished in establishing this Institute immolate us and sacrifices us altogether to His self-emptied greatness in the adorable Eucharist. Let us deepen the holiness of this Work and, seized with astonishment at the sight of our unworthiness, we shall cry out in transport: "O God, is it possible that you willed to suffer such poor and wretched creatures in Your temple and in the place of Your perpetual adorations?" Let us cast overselves low, let us empty ourselves out, in considering God's bounties for us. O my Saviour! Let Your sanctity purify us! Let it render us worthy of adoring eternally Your divine Sacrament! Let us live henceforth only to glorify you, as so many hosts consecrated to Your august Majesty, and who, consequently, have no right at all over themselves!

Victimhood: Identification with Jesus Christ

By the vow of victimhood, in no way do we belong any more to ourselves; Jesus Christ claims all His rights over us. Our life, our movements, our thoughts, our operations both inward and outward, all belongs to Him; we are, in a word, daughters of the Holy Sacrament. How august and mysterious this name is! We are daughters of the Holy Sacrament, that is to say that we must be altogether entered and passed over into Jesus Christ, with crosses for our heritage with Him, with disgraces, humiliations, rejections, contradictions, sufferings, temptations, and whatsoever crucifies our nature. There is all our portion, there our heritage. We would be mistaken to expect anything else; we cannot be victims without the sword, without the cord, without torment, without sorrow, without death.

The Cross

Associated to Jesus Christ in HIs quality of pledge for sinners, let us ever have before our eyes the obligations that this title confers and let us not forget that we are victims of the divine justice. By our profession, we only began our sacrifice; it must be consummated and brought to its final perfection. For that crosses are needed, agonies, and annihilations. Let us, then, run towards all that crucifies our nature. This is the example given us by Jesus Christ. This is what He expects of us. This is what we engaged ourselves to do in entering the Institute. Without crosses we would not truly be daughters of the Holy Sacrament; without crosses, Jesus Christ would not be able to take His delights in us. He gave Himself and still gives Himself to us entirely. He wills that, in the same way, we should give ourselves entirely to Him to become victim-hosts of His justice.

Participation in the Passion of Christ

By the sacrifice of ourselves, we shall yet arrive at establishing the life of Jesus Christ in us. This is His desire: He wills that we should live for Him as He lives for His Father, and so be able, all of us, to say with the Apostle: I live, no longer I, but it is Jesus Christ who lives in me. In this way, God will be uniquely and sovereignly glorified in us, for time and for eternity. Live no longer, then, except for our Victim; let us convert ourselves totally in Him ; He expects this of our fidelity, and we owe it to our precious title of daughters of the Holy Sacrament. Let us work at renouncing ourselves, at mortification and, as Saint Paul says, let us accomplish in us what is lacking to the passion of Jesus Christ.

Strength from His Weakness

To strengthen our weakness, have recourse to Our Lord. Let us raise up our courage and our confidence: Jesus Christ suffers and dies for us; let us draw our strength from His weakness, and our life from His death. Pray Him to come into us, to show that He is our God and our absolute Sovereign. In spite of all the opposition and the repugnances of our nature, let Him bring us entirely into subjection to His empire, to His power, and to His laws. Let us make to Him as perfect a sacrifice of ourselves as He desires.

Emptying-Out of Self in His Presence

When we are before the Most Holy Sacrament, we must not be content merely to adore Him with lip-service; we need to lower ourselves into a profound emptying out of self, and recognize that we are nothing, that we are less than nothing and, in this disposition, offer to the spotless Lamb who immolates Himself for the salvation of the world not only a sacrifice of adoration and of thanksgiving, but again a sacrifice of submission, of abandonment, and of consecration. Let us adhere to His divine will, detach ourselves from creatures, and renounce all human consolation, so as to life in Jesus only and only for Jesus.

At the Feet of Our Divine Master

We must never lose sight of our holy tabernacles: it is there that we find our strength and our virtue. If human infirmity and affairs allowed, we should pass our whole life at the feet of our divine Master; at least let us go there as often as possible, and quit so many futile occupations that rob us of precious time claimed for what we owe the love of a God.

To Live with Jesus

Far from us be disgust, negligence, and frivolity. Alas! Is it possible that it should be burdensome for us to converse with our Sovereign Lord? Where is one better than close to one's Father, to one's Spouse, to one's all? To live with Jesus, is this not to begin to live on earth the life that we are called to live in heaven? Ah! Can we say that we have faith if we complain of the length of time that we spend before the Most Holy Sacrament?

Imitate the Saints

What, however, does one see in the world, and perhaps even among us? Poor creatures, fragile nothings, worms of the earth to whom it costs to spend a half hour with the King of heaven and of earth. People consecrate days and nights to vain conversations, to futile entertainments, and always find too long the moments given to a God who forgets Himself for love of us. O heavens, be astonished! My Saviour, pardon them, or they know not what they do. Happy, says the Prophet, are those who dwell in Your house, O Lord, and who praise you unceasingly. The saints understand this truth; also, how many there are who spent their days and nights with God, and who complained all the same of the rapid passage of time. So do the saints act and think, because they are quickened by a lively faith: let us have their faith, and we will think and act as they did.

Pure Faith

All Christians ought to be in perpetual adoration before the Son of God in the Sacrament of the Altar. It is to make up for their coldness and indifference that the Institute was established. Let us carry out fervently so glorious a function and make of the altar our delights. Let our spirit and our body be bound thereto like two victims under the mastery of a pure and simple faith. If we are without taste for it, without light, without sensible consolation, we can, by the obscurity of our senses, render homage to this God who is hidden and brought to nothing. Let us abide before Him with patience, humility, and abandonment. Always it is for us a great honour to be able to keep watch with Jesus Christ.

Reparation

If nearly all Christians are ungrateful towards this mystery of love, we, at least, will not be and we will recognize the gift of God. One can say that the Eternal Father gives us, in our Institute, all that is most august of what He has; that He makes us the depositors and guardians of His most precious treasures. He gives us His divine Son, in whom He has placed all His good pleasure. This infinite gift, He gave first of all to men, and they failed to recognize it. He sought souls who would know how to appreciate its value, and He chose us. May Jesus find abundantly in us the glory and the delight that others refuse Him elsewhere! May we, by our ardour, worthily repair for the coldness and impiety of so many others. Weep without ceasing over their ingratitude, and ask our heavenly Father to take pity on those who profane His divine Son. Even if the humiliations He endures in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist had occurred but one time, we should want to groan all our life long to make reparation for them. They are renewed every day; yes, every day, and in an infinity of places, Jesus Christ is the object of the most cutting outrages, of the most horrible sacrileges. What shall we do at the sight of so many crimes? My God, we ought to die of sorrow.. Ah, at least, I will consecrate to You the rest of my life to repair, as best I can, Your glory, and to obtain of You that these cruel indignities to which You are exposed, at last come to an end.

Humble and Contrite of Heart Before Him

We must be ready at all times to die for the interests of Jesus the Host, and as we would never have the courage to sustain His interests at the price of our own blood if we do not begin to sustain them by death to ourselves, let us hold ourselves like victims always ready and die ceaselessly to ourselves in all the occasions of sacrifice that present themselves. Let us begin by repairing in us the glory of our Saviour by establishing His reign within us, and let us abandon ourselves to the justice of God so that He may make of us true daughters of the Holy Sacrament. Let us keep ourselves from putting obstacles in the way of His designs, and that we might begin to enter into them, let us break our hearts with a sincere contrition at the sight of our past infidelities, and cast ourselves into a profound abasement before the infinite Majesty of God.

Fidelity to the Vocation

All our life, let us thank Him for having chosen us to consecrate us to His Son in so special a manner. Let us not forget the obligations that this favour imposes, and let us fear that our grace be taken away from us to pass into more faithful hands.

Before the altar, let us often examine if we are corresponding to our vocation. What a sad thing it would be if the Institute were to come to nothing by our fault and if Our Lord were deprived of the glory that He rightly expects of us.

Humility

Let us make haste to enter into the usages of the precious quality of victimhood by a great simplicity of spirit, by a perfect obedience of heart and, above all, by a profound humility. Without humility, all our reparations would be no more than illusions.

Vigilance

Since Our Lord has made the Institute for us, since He has entrusted it to us, and since its progress and perfection depend on us, let us keep watch and pray. Take care lest we profane it rather than sanctify it. An exact account will be required of all our failings, of the graces of which we will have drawn no profit, and also of those which were destined for us, and of which we

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

The Great Navigator

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Thursday of Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, as we begin this meditation, I feel you have stepped into my boat. I put out a short distance from shore, away from all my daily concerns, to listen to you alone. It is just you and I, and I sense that you are going to ask something of me. I am truly humbled and grateful that you would spend so much personal time with me.

Petition: Christ, help me to understand and embrace your call to holiness for me.

1. Teacher: Jesus taught by the lake. We know that he taught in many other places too: in the Temple, in synagogues, on mountains, among children. Today he had a great crowd around him by the lake. For these people, the lake was everything: water, food, transportation, an object of beauty and contemplation. Yet beneath its usually still and deep blue surface, there was a whole other world unknown to them. How appropriate that next to it, Christ, who could probe its depths, uncovered for them the many mysteries of faith and the divine plan! He can help us understand so many things that are a part of our daily lives, yet in many ways remain unfamiliar or unintelligible to us.

2. Leader: It is one thing to get the curious crowds to give you a moment of their attention, but quite another to motivate people to give you their dedication and their life. Christ knew that to get someone to commit, directing an interesting story to the general public would not be enough. Personal attention was in order. Christ stepped into Peter’s boat and asked him for a favor, a simple task: “Put out a short distance from the shore.” Christ’s first tasks are usually not that hard for us to execute: simply material compliance and a little generosity. But if we let him ride with us long enough, he will eventually ask us for something that demands faith and may go against our reason or personal comfort. We want Christ to win us over for good, but how can he do so if we don’t let him take us for a ride “out into the deep?”

3. Motivator: Do I get surprised when Christ does something marvelous in my life? Does astonishment seize me? Maybe I’m not surprised. Maybe I am thinking what is good or successful in me originates from myself. Proud is the person who thinks so. Proud, too, is the person who recognizes the hand of God and nevertheless responds, “Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Christ just performed a miracle through the obedience of a sinful man; why can’t he do it again? Why do I respond, “Leave me, Lord,” unless I’m not ready to obey? When I call my partners to come over and check it out, do I do so to allow this experience of Christ to touch others? Or do I do so to help them see how greatly endowed I am? If I am to become a fisher of men like Peter, I, too, must purify myself from these all-too-human reactions. Don’t worry, my pettiness doesn’t faze Christ. Listen to him: “Do not be afraid. You will become…”

Conversation with Christ: So many souls are hustling through this world without knowing where they are going and without enjoying your friendship as I do. I do not know if you want to reach many or few of them through me, but I think they are many. My heart is ready, O Lord. Fill me with apostolic zeal.

Resolution: I will work on being a good and positive motivator today.

[Salvation]

Following Christ in Our Daily Vocation

• Homily of the Day
• September 6th, 2012
• Food For Thought

Thursday, September 6, 2012 by Food for Thought

FirstReading: 1 Cor 3:18-23
Psalm: Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Gospel: Lk 5:1-11

As we reflect on the experience of Simon Peter, we notice that Jesus gets involved in the situation before he commits to the mission he presents. Our Lord helped these fishermen get a good catch so that they could provide a good meal for their families. They are astounded by the bounty of fish in their nets. Yet, being simple fisher folk, they recognize their inadequacies in the presence of the Master. Still, Jesus invites them to build his kingdom here on earth because He knows the bigger fish to catch are the souls, searching for meaning in their lives.

As we go about our daily concerns, Jesus asks us if we’ll allow him to assist us in attaining what we need. Jesus answers our petitions in spite of our lack of faith and belief in his power.

The invitation to the same mission remains – to bring more souls into his embrace. We might look into ourselves and discover shortcomings. Jesus only looks into our hearts. If we have the capacity to love our neighbor, that fish is as good as caught. Let us pray to be always “fishing” for those who seek his consoling love and Divine Providence. May we always stay true to this mission.

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 

<< Thursday, September 6, 2012 >>

1 Corinthians 3:18-23
View Readings

Psalm 24:1-6

Luke 5:1-11

FRESH FISH

"Amazement at the catch...seized him." —Luke 5:9

 

Jesus gave Peter a preview of the great harvest of souls in the huge catch of fish. Peter was amazed at the size of the catch and at Jesus (Lk 5:9). Peter's personal encounter with Jesus was the critical beginning of his ministry. Each of us desperately needs an "encounter with the living Jesus Christ" (Church in America, Pope John Paul II, 3). A personal relationship with Jesus is the foundation of our Christian life (see 1 Cor 3:11). Everything we do flows from this encounter with the crucified and risen Jesus.

However, Peter's amazement wasn't strong enough to endure the cross. He denied Jesus three times. Even when Jesus appeared personally to Him after He rose from the dead, Peter still wavered. Not long after meeting the risen Jesus, Peter decided to go back to catching fish instead of men (see Jn 21:3). Peter went stale. He lost his freshness. In His mercy, Jesus gave Peter a repeat of their first encounter, right down to the huge catch of fish (Jn 21:6). Finally, Peter received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and stayed fresh till the end of his life.

Have you personally encountered the living Jesus? That's one goal of this Scriptural booklet (see Lk 24:32). If not, ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you. Then "receive the Holy Spirit" (Jn 20:22), Who keeps you fresh and new in Jesus. Receive the Eucharist daily or as often as possible. If you ask Him, Jesus will give you a "Eucharistic amazement" to keep you fresh (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope John Paul II, 6). Lead others to be caught up into an eternity of amazement with Jesus.

 

Prayer: Father, may I, and all I meet, encounter Jesus, know Him personally (Phil 3:10), and remain in Him (Jn 15:4).

Promise: "Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men." —Lk 5:10

Praise: Katie prays the rosary as she walks to work.

[Salvation]

 

Pray for an end to abortion and a return to a culture of life in our nation.