Reading 1 Dt 4:32-40

Responsorial Psalm PS 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21

Gospel Mt 16:24-28

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

1 posted on 08/08/2013 7:24:01 PM PDT by Salvation

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2 posted on 08/08/2013 7:26:39 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

From: Deuteronomy 4:32-40

The Lord’s Special Providence Towards His People

(Moses said to the people,) [32] “For ask now of the days that are past, which
were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask
from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever
happened or was ever heard of. [33] Did any people ever hear the voice of a god
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? [34] 0r has
any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of ano-
ther nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and
an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your
God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? [35] To you it was shown, that you
might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. [36] 0ut of
heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you; and on earth he
let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
[37] And because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them,
and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, [38]
driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you
in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as at this day; [39] know therefore
this day, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on
the earth beneath; there is no other. [40] Therefore you shall keep his statutes
and his commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well
with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days
in the land which the LORD your God gives you for ever.”

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

4:32-40. The end of this first discourse carries an important theological message:
the profound notion of one God (monotheism); the election of Israel as God’s spe-
cific people; his special and kindly providence towards this people; the might of
God, as manifested in the prodigious works he does in favor of the chosen people;
and the consequence of all this—Israel’s duty to be faithful to the one and only
God, keeping his commandments and offering due cult only to him; by so doing,
Israel will continue to enjoy his protection.

Reading this and other passages in the sacred books shows the efforts the in-
spired writers made to update the teaching of religious traditions and apply it to
the situation and needs of Israelites in later periods; this is perhaps the reason
for the frequent calls to fidelity to the Covenant. “In the course of its history, Is-
rael was able to discover that God had only one reason to reveal himself to them,
a single motive for choosing them from among alt peoples as his special pos-
session: his sheer gratuitous love (cf. Deut 4:37; 7:8; 10:15). And thanks to the
prophets Israel understood that it was again out of love that God never stopped
saving them (cf. Is 43:1-7) and pardoning their unfaithfulness and sins (cf. Hos
2)” (”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 218).

The Deuterononiic formula of “the Lord is God [”ha-Elohim”, that is, the only
God] and there is no other besides him” (v. 35), which occurs often (cf. 4:39; 6:4;
32:39; etc.) is also the essence of the Prophets’ message (cf. Jer 2:11-33; Is 41:
2-29; 44:6; 46:9). The Prophets strove to draw Israel towards or maintain it in fi-
delity to the One and Only God who revealed himself to the patriarchs and to
Moses, and helped to develop and deepen an appreciation of monotheism, of the
universality of the power of Yahweh, of his moral demands, etc. But the core of
all this teaching is to be found expounded, profoundly and very specifically, in the
book of Deuteronomy. This teaching builds up the notion of the Lord as a jealous
God” (cf. Ex 20:5) who requires his adherents to be totally obedient to him; it is
a notion incompatible with worshipping the divinities adored by other peoples (cf.
Ex 20:3).

Being good, obeying the commandments of the Law of God, brings life (v. 40),
initially understood as longevity; whereas sin often brings with it misfortune or
death, as a punishment fro, God (cf. Ezek 18:10-13,19-20; etc.). The fact that
God is just in his treatment of man, rewarding him or punishing, sooner or later,
for the good or the evil he does, is a message that runs right through the Old
and New Testaments. In ancient texts, the accent is on reward or punishment
in this present life. In the New Testament more emphasis is put on divine retri-
bution in the future life. It is not surprising that there should be this line of deve-
lopment in the biblical ethic: God takes account of time and grace to lead men
to the fullness of truth.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

3 posted on 08/08/2013 7:33:14 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

From: Matthew 16:24-28

Jesus Foretells His Passion and Resurrection (Continuation)

[24] Then Jesus told His disciples, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow Me. [25] For whoever would save his life
will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26] For what will it
profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man
give in return for his life? [27] For the Son of Man is to come with His angels in
the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every man for what he has done.
[28] Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death
before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.”

*********************************************************************************************

Commentary:

24. “Divine love, `poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to
us’ (Romans 5:5), enables lay people to express concretely in their lives the spirit
of the Beatitudes. Following Jesus in His poverty, they feel no depression in want,
no pride in plenty; imitating the humble Christ, they are not greedy for vain show
(cf. Galatians 5:26). They strive to please God rather than men, always ready to
abandon everything for Christ (cf. Luke 14:26) and even to endure persecution in
the cause of right (cf. Matthew 5:10), having in mind the Lord’s saying? `If any
man wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and fol-
low Me’” (Matthew 16:24) (”Apostolicam Actuositatem”, 4).

25. A Christian cannot ignore these words of Jesus. He has to risk, to gamble,
this present life in order to attain eternal life: “How little a life is to offer to God!”
(St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 420).

Our Lord’s requirement means that we must renounce our own will in order to
identify with the will of God and so to ensure that, as St. John of the Cross com-
ments, we do not follow the way of those many people who “would have God will
that which they themselves will, and are fretful at having to will that which He wills,
and find it repugnant to accommodate their will to that of God. Hence it happens
to them that oftentimes they think that that wherein they find not their own will
and pleasure is not the will of God; and that, on the other hand, when they them-
selves find satisfaction, God is satisfied. Thus they measure God by themselves
and not themselves by God” (”Dark Night of the Soul”, Book 1, Chapter 7, 3).

26-27. Christ’s words are crystal-clear: every person has to bear in mind the Last
Judgment. Salvation, in other words, is something radically personal: “He will
repay every man for what he has done” (verse 27).

Man’s goal does not consist in accumulating worldly goods; these are only means
to an end; man’s last end, his ultimate goal, is God Himself; he possesses God
in advance, as it were, here on earth by means of grace, and possesses him fully
and forever in Heaven. Jesus shows the route to take to reach this destination—
denying oneself (that is, saying no to ease, comfort, selfishness and attachment
to temporal goods) and taking up the cross. For no earthly—impermanent—good
can compare with the soul’s eternal salvation. As St. Thomas expresses it with
theological precision, “the least good of grace is superior to the natural good of
the entire universe” (”Summa Theologiae”, I-II, q. 113, a. 9).

28. Here Jesus is referring not to His Last Coming (which He speaks about in the
preceding verse) but to other events which will occur prior to that and which will
be a sign of His glorification after death. The Coming He speaks of here may refer
firstly to His Resurrection and His appearance thereafter; it could also refer to His
Transfiguration, which is itself a manifestation of His glory. This coming of Christ
in His Kingdom might also be seen in the destruction of Jerusalem—a sign of the
end of the ancient people of Israel as a form of the Kingdom of God and its sub-
stitution by the Church, the new Kingdom.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

4 posted on 08/08/2013 7:33:44 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Readings at Mass

First reading

Deuteronomy 4:32-40 ©

Moses said to the people: ‘Put this question to the ages that are past, that went before you, from the time God created man on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Was anything ever heard? Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you heard it, and remain alive? Has any god ventured to take to himself one nation from the midst of another by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors – all this that the Lord your God did for you before your eyes in Egypt?

‘This he showed you so that you might know that the Lord is God indeed and that there is no other. He let you hear his voice out of heaven for your instruction; on earth he let you see his great fire, and from the heart of the fire you heard his word. Because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out from Egypt, openly showing his presence and his great power, driving out in front of you nations greater and more powerful than yourself, and brought you into their land to give it you for your heritage, as it is still today.

‘Understand this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven above as on earth beneath, he and no other. Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children may prosper and live long in the land that the Lord your God gives you for ever.’

Psalm

Psalm 76:12-16,21 ©

I remember the deeds of the Lord.

I remember the deeds of the Lord,

I remember your wonders of old,

I muse on all your works

and ponder your mighty deeds.

I remember the deeds of the Lord.

Your ways, O God, are holy.

What god is great as our God?

You are the God who works wonders.

You showed your power among the peoples.

I remember the deeds of the Lord.

Your strong arm redeemed your people,

the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

You guided your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

I remember the deeds of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or	Mt5:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy those who are persecuted

in the cause of right,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 16:24-28 ©

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?

‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’

5 posted on 08/08/2013 7:38:08 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

6 posted on 08/08/2013 7:40:20 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

7 posted on 08/08/2013 7:45:00 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

8 posted on 08/08/2013 7:45:17 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Jesus, High Priest

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem. He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

9 posted on 08/08/2013 7:48:05 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Pray a Rosary each day for our nation.

Pray the Rosary

1. Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. The Apostles Creed: II BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

3. The Lord's Prayer: OUR Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

4. (3) Hail Mary: HAIL Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death. Amen. (Three times)

5. Glory Be: GLORY be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fatima Prayer: Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

Announce each mystery, then say 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be and 1 Fatima prayer. Repeat the process with each mystery.

End with the Hail Holy Queen:

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve! To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears! Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Final step -- The Sign of the Cross

The Mysteries of the Rosary

By tradition, Catholics meditate on these Mysteries during prayers of the Rosary.
The biblical references follow each of the Mysteries below.

The Sorrowful Mysteries
(Tuesdays and Fridays)
1. The Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26:36-46, Luke 22:39-46) [Spiritual fruit - God's will be done]
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:15, John 19:1) [Spiritual fruit - Mortification of the senses]
3. The Crowning with Thorns (Matthew 27:27-30, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:2) [Spiritual fruit - Reign of Christ in our heart]
4. The Carrying of the Cross (Matthew 27:31-32, Mark 15:21, Luke 23:26-32, John 19:17) [Spiritual fruit - Patient bearing of trials]
5. The Crucifixion (Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-39, Luke 23:33-49, John 19:17-37) [Spiritual fruit - Pardoning of Injuries]

10 posted on 08/08/2013 7:48:34 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

~ PRAYER ~

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our protection against the wickedness
and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen
+

11 posted on 08/08/2013 7:49:20 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

A Prayer for our Free Nation Under God
God Save Our Country web site (prayer warriors)
Prayer Chain Request for the United States of America
Pray for Nancy Pelosi
Prayer and fasting will help defeat health care reform (Freeper Prayer Thread)
Prayer Campaign Started to Convert Pro-Abortion Catholic Politicians to Pro-Life
[Catholic Caucus] One Million Rosaries
Non-stop Rosary vigil to defeat ObamaCare

From an Obama bumper sticker on a car:

"Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8"

PLEASE JOIN US -

Evening Prayer
Someone has said that if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.
Did you know that during WWII there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace?

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America. If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (7:00 PM Mountain) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know anyone else who would like to participate, please pass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Please forward this to your praying friends.

12 posted on 08/08/2013 7:49:51 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

August Devotion -- The Immaculate Heart [of Mary]

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The month of August is traditionally dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The physical heart of Mary is venerated (and not adored as the Sacred Heart of Jesus is) because it is united to her person: and as the seat of her love (especially for her divine Son), virtue, and inner life. Such devotion is an incentive to a similar love and virtue.

This devotion has received new emphasis in this century from the visions given to Lucy Dos Santos, oldest of the visionaries of Fatima, in her convent in Tuy, in Spain, in 1925 and 1926. In the visions Our Lady asked for the practice of the Five First Saturdays to help make amends for the offenses given to her heart by the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. The practice parallels the devotion of the Nine First Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart.

On October 31, 1942, Pope Pius XII made a solemn Act of Consecration of the Church and the whole world to the Immaculate Heart. Let us remember this devotion year-round, but particularly through the month of August.

INVOCATIONS

O heart most pure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, obtain for me from Jesus a pure and humble heart.

Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation.

ACT OF CONSECRATION
Queen of the most holy Rosary, help of Christians, refuge of the human race, victorious in all the battles of God, we prostrate ourselves in supplication before thy throne, in the sure hope of obtaining mercy and of receiving grace and timely aid in our present calamities, not through any merits of our own, on which we do not rely, but only through the immense goodness of thy mother's heart. In thee and in thy Immaculate Heart, at this grave hour of human history, do we put our trust; to thee we consecrate ourselves, not only with all of Holy Church, which is the mystical body of thy Son Jesus, and which is suffering in so many of her members, being subjected to manifold tribulations and persecutions, but also with the whole world, torn by discords, agitated with hatred, the victim of its own iniquities. Be thou moved by the sight of such material and moral degradation, such sorrows, such anguish, so many tormented souls in danger of eternal loss! Do thou, O Mother of mercy, obtain for us from God a Christ-like reconciliation of the nations, as well as those graces which can convert the souls of men in an instant, those graces which prepare the way and make certain the long desired coming of peace on earth. O Queen of peace, pray for us, and grant peace unto the world in the truth, the justice, and the charity of Christ.

Above all, give us peace in our hearts, so that the kingdom of God may spread its borders in the tranquillity of order. Accord thy protection to unbelievers and to all those who lie within the shadow of death; cause the Sun of Truth to rise upon them; may they be enabled to join with us in repeating before the Savior of the world: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will."

Give peace to the nations that are separated from us by error or discord, and in a special manner to those peoples who profess a singular devotion toward thee; bring them back to Christ's one fold, under the one true Shepherd. Obtain full freedom for the holy Church of God; defend her from her enemies; check the ever-increasing torrent of immorality; arouse in the faithful a love of purity, a practical Christian life, and an apostolic zeal, so that the multitude of those who serve God may increase in merit and in number.

Finally, even as the Church and all mankind were once consecrated to the Heart of thy Son Jesus, because He was for all those who put their hope in Him an inexhaustible source of victory and salvation, so in like manner do we consecrate ourselves forever to thee also and to thy Immaculate Heart, O Mother of us and Queen of the world; may thy love and patronage hasten the day when the kingdom of God shall be victorious and all the nations, at peace with God .and with one another, shall call thee blessed and intone with thee, from the rising of the sun to its going down, the everlasting "Magnificat" of glory, of love, of gratitude to the Heart of Jesus, in which alone we can find truth, life, and peace. — Pope Pius XII

IN HONOR OF THE IMMACULATE HEART
O heart of Mary, mother of God, and our mother; heart most worthy of love, in which the adorable Trinity is ever well-pleased, worthy of the veneration and love of all the angels and of all men; heart most like to the Heart of Jesus, of which thou art the perfect image; heart, full of goodness, ever compassionate toward our miseries; deign to melt our icy hearts and grant that they may be wholly changed into the likeness of the Heart of Jesus, our divine Savior. Pour into them the love of thy virtues, enkindle in them that divine fire with which thou thyself dost ever burn. In thee let Holy Church find a safe shelter; protect her and be her dearest refuge, her tower of strength, impregnable against every assault of her enemies. Be thou the way which leads to Jesus, and the channel, through which we receive all the graces needful for our salvation. Be our refuge in time of trouble, our solace in the midst of trial, our strength against temptation, our haven in persecution, our present help in every danger, and especially) at the hour of death, when all hell shall let loose against u its legions to snatch away our souls, at that dread moment; that hour so full of fear, whereon our eternity depends. An,; then most tender virgin, make us to feel the sweetness of thy motherly heart, and the might of thine intercession with Jesus, and open to us a safe refuge in that very fountain of mercy, whence we may come to praise Him with thee in paradise, world without end. Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

Sacred Heart Of Jesus

Sacred Heart Of Jesus image

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Immaculate Heart of Mary image

Blessed be the Most Loving Heart and Sweet Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the most glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother, in eternity and forever. Amen.

....Only the Heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way ----From the Catechism. P:1439

From the depth of my nothingness, I prostrate myself before Thee, O Most Sacred, Divine and Adorable Heart of Jesus, to pay Thee all the homage of love, praise and adoration in my power.
Amen. - - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps.-- >From the Catechism. P: 2669

The Salutation to the Heart of Jesus and Mary

An Offering of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Novena Prayer to Sacred Heart of Jesus

Prayer to the Wounded Heart of Jesus

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart

Meditation & Novena Prayer on the Sacred Heart

Beads to the Sacred Heart

Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Daily Offering to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Exaltation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin

The Holy Heart of Mary Is, After the Heart of Jesus, the Most Exalted Throne of Divine Love
Let us recollect that God has given us the feast of the most pure Heart of the Blessed Virgin so that we may render on that day all the respect, honor and praise that we possibly can. To enkindle this spirit within us let us consider our motivating obligations.

The first is that we ought to love and honor whatever God loves and honors, and that by which He is loved and glorified. Now, after the adorable Heart of Jesus there has never been either in heaven or on earth, nor ever will be, a heart which has been so loved and honored by God, or which has given Him so much glory as that of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Never has there been, nor will there ever be a more exalted throne of divine love. In that Heart divine love possesses its fullest empire, for it ever reigns without hindrance or interruption, and with it reign likewise all the laws of God, all the Gospel maxims and every Christian virtue.

This incomparable Heart of the Mother of our Redeemer is a glorious heaven, a Paradise of delights for the Most Holy Trinity. According to St. Paul, the hearts of the faithful are the dwelling place of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ Himself assures us that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost take up Their abode in the hearts of those who love God. Who, therefore, can doubt that the Most Holy Trinity has always made His home and established the reign of His glory in an admirable and ineffable manner in the virginal Heart of her who is the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son, the Spouse of the Holy Ghost, who herself loves God more than all other creatures together?

How much then are we not obliged to love this exalted and most lovable Heart?

— St. John Eudes

Today: Immaculate Heart of Mary [DEVOTIONAL]

The Immaculate Heart of Mary [Devotional] Catholic/Orthodox Caucus
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Saturdays and the Immaculate Heart of Mary [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
The Brown Scapular (Catholic Caucus)
The History of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Catholic Caucus)
Homilies preached by Father Robert Altier on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Marian Associations Unite to Celebrate Immaculate Heart
Solemnity Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary
FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, AUGUST 22ND
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

13 posted on 08/08/2013 7:50:15 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

August 2013
Pope's Intentions

Parents and Teachers. That parents and teachers may help the new generation to grow in upright conscience and life.

The Church in Africa. That the local Church in Africa, faithfully proclaiming the Gospel, may promote peace and justice.

14 posted on 08/08/2013 7:50:48 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Daily Gospel Commentary

Friay of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day
Vatican Council II
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et Spes, § 37-38

Seeing the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom

Sacred Scripture teaches the human family what the experience of the ages confirms: that while human progress is a great advantage to man, it brings with it a strong temptation. For when the order of values is jumbled and bad is mixed with the good, individuals and groups pay heed solely to their own interests, and not to those of others. Thus it happens that the world ceases to be a place of true brotherhood. In our own day, the magnified power of humanity threatens to destroy the race itself…

Hence if anyone wants to know how this unhappy situation can be overcome, Christians will tell him that all human activity…must be purified and perfected by the power of Christ's cross and resurrection. For redeemed by Christ and made a new creature in the Holy Spirit, man is able to love the things themselves created by God, and ought to do so. He can receive them from God… Thus He entered the world's history as a perfect man, taking that history up into Himself and summarizing it.(11) He Himself revealed to us that "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and at the same time taught us that the new command of love was the basic law of human perfection and hence of to worlds transformation. To those, therefore, who believe in divine love, He gives assurance that the way of love lies open to men and that the effort to establish a universal brotherhood is not a hopeless one. He cautions them at the same time that this charity is not something to be reserved for important matters, but must be pursued chiefly in the ordinary circumstances of life. Undergoing death itself for all of us sinners,(12) He taught us by example that we too must shoulder that cross which the world and the flesh inflict upon those who search after peace and justice.

15 posted on 08/08/2013 7:54:15 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Friday, August 09, 2013
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr (Optional Memorial)

First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:

Deuteronomy 4:32-40
Psalm 77:12-16, 21
Matthew 16:24-28

I have found David My servant, with My holy oil I have anointed him; for My hand shall help him, and My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall have no advantage over him, and the son of iniquity shall not hurt him.

-- Psalm 88: 21-23

16 posted on 08/08/2013 7:56:03 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Just A Minute (Listen)
Some of EWTN's most popular hosts and guests in a collection of one minute inspirational messages. A different message each time you click.

17 posted on 08/08/2013 7:56:54 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

18 posted on 08/08/2013 7:58:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

One of Bill’s friends who was confirmed the same year as he took “Teresa Benedicta” for his Confirmation name.

19 posted on 08/09/2013 3:42:33 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Ask me about the Weiner Wager. Support Free Republic!)

Saint Edith Stein -- Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin & Martyr

Saint Edith Stein
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin & Martyr
Optional Memorial
August 9th
co-patroness of Europe

"I even believe that the deeper one is drawn into God, the more one must 'go out of oneself'; that is, one must go to the world in order to carry the divine life into it."

From The Collected Works of Edith Stein
Self Portrait In Letters 1916-1942
translated by Josephine Koeppe, O.C.D., quote page 54
letter #45 to Sr. Callista Kopf, OP ,presumably sent to Munich

History -- Collect -- Gospel Reading -- Homily Pope John Paul II at Canonization (1998) -- Homily Pope John Paul II at European Synod (1999) -- Edith Stein and the Contemplative Vocation -- Prayer from St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross -- Verses for a Pentecost Novena

History
Edith was born in Breslau, Germany, on October 12, 1891, the youngest of seven children in a prominent Jewish family. Edith abandoned Judaism as early as 1904, becoming a self-proclaimed atheist. Her brilliant intellect was seeking truth, and she entered the University of Gottingen, where she became a protégé of the famed philosopher of Edmund Husserl. She was also a proponent of the philosophical school of phenomenology both at Gottingen and Freiburg in Breisgau. She earned a doctorate in 1916 and emerged as one of Europe's brightest philosophers. One of her primary endeavors was to examine phenomenology from the perspective of Thomistic thought, part of her growing interest in Catholic teachings. Propelled by her reading of the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila, she was baptized on January 1, 1922. Giving up her university post, she became a teacher in the Dominican school at Speyer, receiving as well in 1932 the post of lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich, resigning under pressure from the Nazis, who were then in control of Germany.

In 1934, Edith entered the Carmelite Order. Smuggled out of Germany into the Netherlands in 1938 to escape the mounting Nazi oppression, she fell into the hands of the Third Reich with the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1940. Arrested in 1942 with her sister Rosa (also a convert) as part of the order by Hitler to liquidate all non-Aryan Catholics, she was taken to Auschwitz, and, on August 9 or 10, 1942, she died in the gas chamber there.

Pope John Paul II canonized Edith on October 11, 1998.

[taken from John Paul II's Book of Saints, published by OSV 1999]

Collect and Readings: From the Common of Virgins or Martyrs

Collect:
God of our Fathers,
who brought the Martyr Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
to know your crucified Son
and to imitate him even until death,
grant, through her intercession,
that the whole human race may acknowledge Christ as its Savior
and through him come to behold you for eternity.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

Gospel Readings -- John 4:19-24
The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship". Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

[Prayer and readings from a Carmelite web site: http://www.carmelites.ie/Saints/edithstein.htm]

HOMILY
Canonization of Edith Stein
Sunday, October 11, 1998
John Paul II

1. "Far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14).

Saint Paul's words to the Galatians, which we have just heard, are well suited to the human and spiritual experience of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who has been solemnly enrolled among the saints today. She too can repeat with the Apostle: Far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Cross of Christ! Ever blossoming, the tree the Cross continues to bear new fruits of salvation. This is why believers look with confidence to the Cross, drawing from its mystery of love the courage and strength to walk faithfully in the footsteps of the crucified and risen Christ. Thus the message of the Cross has entered the hearts of so many men and women and changed their lives.

The spiritual experience of Edith Stein is an eloquent example of this extraordinary interior renewal. A young woman in search of the truth has become a saint and martyr through the silent workings of divine grace: Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who from heaven repeats to us today all the words that marked her life: "Far be it from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ".

2. On May 1, 1987, during my Pastoral Visit to Germany, I had the joy of beatifying this generous witness to the faith in the city of Cologne. Today, 11 years later, here in Rome, in Saint Peter's Square, I am able solemnly to present this eminent daughter of Israel and faithful daughter of the Church as a saint to the whole world.

Today, as then, we bow to the memory of Edith Stein, proclaiming the indomitable witness she bore during her life and especially by her death. Now alongside Teresa of Avila and Thérèse of Lisieux, another Teresa takes her place among the host of saints who do honour to the Carmelite Order.

Dear brothers and sisters who have gathered for this solemn celebration, let us give glory to God for what he has accomplished in Edith Stein.

3. I greet the many pilgrims who have come to Rome, particularly the members of the Stein family who have wanted to be with us on this joyful occasion. I also extend a cordial greeting to the representatives of the Carmelite community, which became a "second family" for Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

I also welcome the official delegation from the Federal Republic of Germany, led by Helmut Kohl, the outgoing Federal Chancellor, whom I greet with heartfelt respect. Moreover, I greet the representatives of the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate and the Mayor of Cologne.

An official delegation has also come from my country, led by Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. I extend a cordial greeting to them.

I would particularly like to mention the pilgrims from the Dioceses of Wroclaw (Breslau), Cologne, Münster, Speyer, Kraków and Bielsko-Zywiec who have come with their Cardinals, Bishops and pastors. They join the numerous groups of the faithful from Germany, the United States of America and my homeland, Poland.

4. Dear brothers and sisters! Because she was Jewish, Edith Stein was taken with her sister Rosa and many other Catholic Jews from the Netherlands to the concentration camp in Auschwitz, where she died with them in the gas chambers. Today we remember them all with deep respect. A few days before her deportation, the woman religious had dismissed the question about a possible rescue: "Do not do it! Why should I be spared? Is it not right that I should gain no advantage from my Baptism? If I cannot share the lot of my brothers and sisters, my life, in a certain sense, is destroyed".

From now on, as we celebrate the memory of this new saint from year to year, we must also remember the Shoah, that cruel plan to exterminate a people -- a plan to which millions of our Jewish brothers and sisters fell victim. May the Lord let His face shine upon them and grant them peace (cf. Nm 6:25f.).

For the love of God and man, once again I raise an anguished cry: May such criminal deeds never be repeated against any ethnic group, against any race, in any corner of this world! It is a cry to everyone: to all people of goodwill; to all who believe in the Just and Eternal God; to all who know they are joined to Christ, the Word of God made man. We must all stand together: human dignity is at stake. There is only one human family. The new saint also insisted on this: "Our love of neighbor is the measure of our love of God. For Christians -- and not only for them -- no one is a 'stranger'. The love of Christ knows no borders".

5. Dear brothers and sisters! The love of Christ was the fire that inflamed the life of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Long before she realized it, she was caught by this fire. At the beginning she devoted herself to freedom. For a long time Edith Stein was a seeker. Her mind never tired of searching and her heart always yearned for hope. She traveled the arduous path of philosophy with passionate enthusiasm. Eventually she was rewarded: she seized the truth. Or better: she was seized by it. Then she discovered that truth had a name: Jesus Christ. From that moment on, the incarnate Word was her One and All. Looking back as a Carmelite on this period of her life, she wrote to a Benedictine nun: "Whoever seeks the truth is seeking God, whether consciously or unconsciously".

Although Edith Stein had been brought up religiously by her Jewish mother, at the age of 14 she "had consciously and deliberately stopped praying". She wanted to rely exclusively on herself and was concerned to assert her freedom in making decisions about her life. At the end of a long journey, she came to the surprising realization: only those who commit themselves to the love of Christ become truly free.

This woman had to face the challenges of such a radically changing century as our own. Her experience is an example to us. The modern world boasts of the enticing door which says: everything is permitted. It ignores the narrow gate of discernment and renunciation. I am speaking especially to you, young Christians, particularly to the many altar servers who have come to Rome these days on pilgrimage: Pay attention! Your life is not an endless series of open doors! Listen to your heart! Do not stay on the surface, but go to the heart of things! And when the time is right, have the courage to decide! The Lord is waiting for you to put your freedom in his good hands.

6. Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was able to understand that the love of Christ and human freedom are intertwined, because love and truth have an intrinsic relationship. The quest for truth and its expression in love did not seem at odds to her; on the contrary she realized that they call for one another.

In our time, truth is often mistaken for the opinion of the majority. In addition, there is a widespread belief that one should use the truth even against love or vice versa. But truth and love need each other. Saint Teresa Benedicta is a witness to this. The "martyr for love", who gave her life for her friends, let no one surpass her in love. At the same time, with her whole being she sought the truth, of which she wrote: "No spiritual work comes into the world without great suffering. It always challenges the whole person".

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross says to us all: Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth! One without the other becomes a destructive lie.

7. Finally, the new saint teaches us that love for Christ undergoes suffering. Whoever truly loves does not stop at the prospect of suffering: he accepts communion in suffering with the one he loves.

Aware of what her Jewish origins implied, Edith Stein spoke eloquently about them: "Beneath the Cross I understood the destiny of God's People.... Indeed, today I know far better what it means to be the Lord's bride under the sign of the Cross. But since it is a mystery, it can never be understood by reason alone".

The mystery of the Cross gradually enveloped her whole life, spurring her to the point of making the supreme sacrifice. As a bride on the Cross, Sister Teresa Benedicta did not only write profound pages about the "science of the Cross", but was thoroughly trained in the school of the Cross. Many of our contemporaries would like to silence the Cross. But nothing is more eloquent than the Cross when silenced! The true message of suffering is a lesson of love. Love makes suffering fruitful and suffering deepens love.

Through the experience of the Cross, Edith Stein was able to open the way to a new encounter with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith and the Cross proved inseparable to her. Having matured in the school of the Cross, she found the roots to which the tree of her own life was attached. She understood that it was very important for her "to be a daughter of the chosen people and to belong to Christ not only spiritually, but also through blood".

8. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth" (Jn 4:24).

Dear brothers and sisters, the divine Teacher spoke these words to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. What He gave His chance but attentive listener we also find in the life of Edith Stein, in her "ascent of Mount Carmel". The depth of the divine mystery became perceptible to her in the silence of contemplation. Gradually, throughout her life, as she grew in the knowledge of God, worshipping Him in spirit and truth, she experienced ever more clearly her specific vocation to ascend the Cross with Christ, to embrace it with serenity and trust, to love it by following in the footsteps of her beloved Spouse: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross is offered to us today as a model to inspire us and a protectress to call upon.

We give thanks to God for this gift. May the new saint be an example to us in our commitment to serve freedom, in our search for the truth. May her witness constantly strengthen the bridge of mutual understanding between Jews and Christians.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us! Amen.

Source: Vatican web site

Co-Patroness of Europe

HOMILY OF JOHN PAUL II AT INAUGURATION OF EUROPEAN SYNOD

Three new Co-patronesses of the European Continent:
Saint Edith Stein, Saint Brigid of Sweden and Saint Catherine of Siena.
October 1999

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dearest Brothers and Sisters!

1. "Jesus Himself came up and walked by their side" (Lk 24:15).

The Gospel story about the disciples of Emmaus, which we have just listened to, is the biblical icon that is the backdrop of this second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops. We begin with this solemn Eucharistic concelebration whose theme is: "Jesus Christ, alive in His Church, source of hope for Europe". We begin by entrusting to the Lord the expectations and hopes that lie in the hearts of all of us. We find ourselves gathered around the altar, representing the Nations of the Continent, united by the desire to make the announcement and the witness of the living Christ ever more incisive and concrete in every corner of Europe, yesterday, today and forever.

With great joy and affection I offer my fraternal embrace of peace to each of you. The Spirit has convoked us here for this important ecclesial event that, going back to the Assembly for Europe of 1991, ends the series of continental Synods in preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. Through you, I express my most cordial salutation to the local Churches you come from.

2. "Jesus Christ is the same today as He was yesterday and as He will be forever" (Heb 13:8). This, as is well known, is the constant calling that resounds in the Church on the path towards the great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

Jesus Christ lives in His Church and, from generation to generation, continues to "be next to" man and "to walk" with him. Especially in moments of trial, when delusions might make one's faith and hope waver, the Resurrected One crosses the paths of human loss and, even when unknown, becomes our walking companion.

Thus, in Christ and in His Church, God never ceases listening to the joys and the hopes, the sadness and the anguish of humanity (cf. Cost. past. Gaudium et spes, 1), whom He tries to reach with His loving solicitude even today. This is what happened during Vatican Council II; this is also the meaning of the different continental Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops: Christ risen, living in His Church, walking with the man living in Africa, in America, in Asia, in Oceania, in Europe to arouse or awaken faith, hope and charity in his soul.

3. With the Synodal Assembly that begins today, the Lord wishes to turn a forceful invitation to hope to the Christian people, pilgrims in the countries comprised between the Atlantic and the Urals. It is an invitation that, today, has found a singular expression in the words of the Prophet: Shout for joy ... rejoice ... exult!" (Zp 3:14). The God of the Covenant knows the hearts of His sons; He knows about the many painful trials, which the European nations have undergone during this last belabored and difficult century that is coming to a close.

He, the Emanuel, the God-with-us, was crucified in lagers and gulags, He has known suffering under the bombings, in the trenches, He has endured wherever man, every human being, has been humiliated, oppressed and violated in His inalienable dignity. Christ endured the passion of the many innocent victims of wars and conflicts that have bloodied the regions of Europe. He knows the serious temptations of the generations, readying to cross the threshold of the third millennium: the enthusiasm aroused by the fall of the ideological barriers and the peaceful revolutions of 1989, unfortunately, seems to have rapidly diminished with its impact with political and economic egotism, and the disconsolate words of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus well up on the lips of many persons in Europe: "Our own hope had been..." (Lk 24:21).

In this particular social and cultural context, the Church feels the duty to renew with vigor the message of hope entrusted to her by God. With this Assembly she repeats to Europe: "Yahweh your God is there with you, the warrior-Savior" (Zp 3:17). His invitation to hope is not based on a utopistic ideology, like the ones during the last two centuries that have ended up by undermining human rights, and especially of the weakest. It is, on the other hand, the unceasing message of salvation proclaimed by Christ: the Kingdom of God is among you, convert and believe in the Gospel! (cf. Mk 1:15). With the authority given to Her by the Lord, the Church repeats to Europe today: Europe of the third millennium "do not let your hands fall limp" (Zp 3:16); do not give in to discouragement, do not resign yourself to ways of thinking and living that have no future, because they are not based on the firm certitude of the Word of God!

Europe of the third millennium, the Church re-proposes Christ to you and your children, only Mediator of salvation yesterday, today and forever (cf. Heb 13:8). She proposes Christ, true hope of mankind and history. She proposes Him not only and not so much in words, but especially with the eloquent testimony of holiness. The saints, with their existence following the Beatitudes of the Gospel, are the most efficacious and credible vanguard of the Church's mission.

4. For this reason, dearest Brothers and Sisters, on the threshold of the Year 2000, while the entire Church in Europe is most worthily represented here, I have the joy today of proclaiming three new Co-patronesses of the European Continent. They are: Saint Edith Stein, Saint Brigid of Sweden and Saint Catherine of Siena.

Europe has already been placed under the heavenly protection of three great saints: Benedict of Norcia, father of Western monasticism, and the two brothers Cyril and Methodius, apostles of the Slavs. Alongside these noteworthy witnesses of Christ, I wished to include the same number of feminine saints, in order to highlight the important role that women had and still have in the ecclesiastical and lay history of the Continent up to our day.

From her origins, the Church, though being conditioned by the cultures in which she finds herself, has always acknowledged the full spiritual dignity of women, starting from the unique vocation and mission of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer. Since the beginning, Christians have turned to women like Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Cecilia and Anastasia with no less fervor than that reserved to saintly men.

5. The three saints, chosen as Co-patronesses of Europe, are all linked in a special way to the history of the continent. Edith Stein, who, coming from a Jewish family, left a brilliant career as a researcher to become a Carmelite nun with the name of Theresa Blessed by the Cross, and died in the Auschwitz extermination camp, is the symbol of the dramas of Europe this century. Brigid of Sweden and Catherine of Siena, who both lived in the 14th century, worked tirelessly for the Church, concerned for her destiny on a European scale. Thus Brigid, consecrated to God after fully living her vocation as wife and mother, traveled in Europe from North to South, working unceasingly for the unity of Christians, and died in Rome. Catherine, humble and fearless member of the Dominican Third Order, brought peace to her own Siena, to Italy and to Europe in the 14th century. She worked unsparingly for the Church, achieving the return of the pope from Avignon to Rome.

All three of them admirably express the synthesis between contemplation and action. Their life and their works testify with great eloquence to the power of the Risen Christ, living in His Church; power of generous love for God and for man, power of authentic moral and civil renewal. Christians and ecclesial communities of every confession, as well as European citizens and states, sincerely committed to the search for truth and common good, can find inspiration in these new Patronesses, so rich in gifts from the supernatural and human point of view.

6. "Did not our hearts burn within us...as he explained the scriptures to us?" (Lk 24:32).

I sincerely hope that the synodal works will allow us to relive the experience of the disciples of Emmaus who, full of hope and joy for having recognized the Lord, "at the breaking of bread", without hesitation returned to Jerusalem to tell their brethren what had happened along the way (cf. Lk 24:33-35).

May Jesus Christ also allow us to meet and recognize Him, together with Him at the Eucharistic table, in the communion of hearts and of faith. May He grant us to live these weeks of reflection, profoundly attuned to the Spirit who speaks to the Churches in Europe. May He make us humble and courageous apostles of His Cross, as were Saints Benedict, Cyril, Methodius, and the Saints Edith Stein, Brigid and Catherine.

Let us beseech their help together with the heavenly intercession of Mary, Queen of all the Saints and Mother of Europe. May the guidelines for evangelizing action, concerned for the challenges and expectations of the young generations, emerge from this Second Special Assembly for Europe.

And may Christ be the renewed source of hope for the inhabitants of the "old" continent, where the Gospel has reaped an incomparable harvest of faith, active love and civilization over the centuries!
Amen!

[Zenit.org]

Edith Stein and the Contemplative Vocation -- by Sister Joan Gormley Pentecost 2003 Vocation Issue

Prayer from St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

"When night comes, and retrospect shows that everything was patchwork and much that one had planned left undone, when so many things rouse shame and regret, then take all as is, lay it in God's hands, and offer it up to Him. In this way we will be able to rest in Him, actually to rest and to begin the new day like a new life."

Verses for a Pentecost Novena: By Saint Edith Stein

Meditation: Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr

“Did anything so great ever happen before? (Deuteronomy 4:32)”

Standing on the verge of the Promised Land, Moses urged the people of Israel to commit themselves to obeying the commandments of the Lord. But while Moses spoke urgently, he did so with a note of excitement and joy, not one of fear and threat. He spent the majority of this passage recounting all the wondrous things God had done for them. “Did a people ever hear the voice of God?” Did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself?” “He personally led you out of Egypt by his great power.” Therefore, follow him!

This is a God worth trusting and obeying, Moses said, because of all he has done for you already. He’s not a God of punishment and wrath but a God of mercy and miracles.

Moses could say the same thing to us today. So many of us are motivated by fear of punishment. So many of us obey God simply because it’s the right thing to do. But our heavenly Father wants something else. He wants us to know that the One who created the heavens and the earth lives in our hearts. He wants to remind us that he has invited us to be his own special people. Just as he delivered the Israelites from slavery by parting the Red Sea for them, he has rescued us from slavery to sin by baptizing us in his own life and love.

So follow him! Follow the One who sent his only Son to give his life for your redemption. Follow the One who gave everything so that he could win you back to his side. Follow the One who has filled you with his own Spirit and who never stops offering you his grace, his power, and his presence.

In your prayer today, make a list of things God has done in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember specific moments and situations. Let these miracles—both great and small—help move you in times of temptation and doubt. You belong to the Lord of the universe. You are precious in his eyes. Why would you ever want to follow someone else!

“Thank you, Father, for drawing me to your side. I will gladly follow you because of all you have done for me.”

Psalm 77:12-16, 21; Matthew 16:24-28

26 posted on 08/09/2013 5:04:04 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Marriage = One Man and One Woman Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for August 9, 2013:

Even if you’re newly married, try fantasizing about what it will be like to grow old together. As Robbie Hart sings in the “The Wedding Singer”, I’ll “carry you around when your arthritis is bad…get your medicine when your tummy aches…even let ya hold the remote control.”

27 posted on 08/09/2013 5:38:02 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Regnum Christi

Selling Your Soul

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Father Jason Brooks, LC

Matthew 16:24-28

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father´s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom."

Introductory Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to seek the things that are above. Help me to seek the things that last forever, so that all the things that I do may give you glory and help my brothers and sisters to grow closer to you, who live and reign with Christ, your Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Petition: Father, give me the courage to take up my cross and follow in the footsteps of your Son.

1. Friends of the Cross: There are many Christians that are willing to be friends with Jesus in good times. However, there are very few Christians that are true friends of Jesus, who embrace the cross at all times, even in the bad. Of course, it is never easy to be a friend of the cross, but who wants to be a fair-weather fan of Jesus and his Gospel? Our Christian lives are a constant battle. We should never forget that. We all are tempted to escape from the reality of our situation from time to time. Nevertheless, whoever perseveres until the end will be saved and have a fruitful life. We can’t expect to have a glorious eternity full of celebration and joy if we don’t shed some blood, sweat and tears here on earth for the sake of Christ and the good of our brothers and sisters.

2. Money Can’t Buy You Love: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?” In other words, Jesus is saying that it doesn’t matter how much money you make, or what kind of car you drive, or what kind of clothes you wear, or what kind of degree you have. You might spend your whole life trying to earn millions of dollars and amass all sorts of luxuries and securities, but you will have done all this in vain. You will have missed out on the true meaning of life and the true treasure of love. Don’t make the mistake of constantly trying to make life easier and more comfortable for yourself. You will only end up being hopelessly miserable and extremely lonely.

3. Paybacks Are Tough: “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father´s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.” It is clear that Jesus will not let us into heaven just because we say we believe in him. He also makes this clear in other teachings throughout the Gospels. Faith alone is not sufficient to be saved. Even Satan and his devils believe — and shudder (cf. James 2:19). Let us reflect on the words of Saint James for further insight: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:14-17).

Conversation with Christ: I pledge allegiance to the cross and to the holy, Catholic Church; and to the Kingdom for which it stands: One Body in Jesus Christ, everlasting life, with forgiveness and freedom from sin.

Resolution: I will perform some corporal work of mercy today. (“The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God” [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2447]).<

28 posted on 08/09/2013 5:57:49 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Rising to God’s Challenge

by Food For Thought on August 9, 2013 ·

In today’s Gospel, Jesus spells out the demands of discipleship.
Anyone who wishes to follow Jesus must “renounce himself and take up
his cross.” Jesus continues, “For anyone who wants to save his life
will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his
soul?”

Those words of Jesus encapsulate the central paradox of Christianity.
To lose one’s life-for the sake of Jesus- is to gain it. And to
gain the whole world at the expense of losing one’s soul is, to put it
quite simply, nothing. To use another translation, what does it profit
a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul in the process?
This is the question that St. Ignatius Loyola quoted to St. Francis
Xavier at the University of Paris, and it ultimately led to the
conversion of St. Francis from a man of the world to a man of God.

If we reflect on the life of a priest or a nun or any person that gave
his or her life to the service of Our Lord, we find plenty of rewards
… spiritual rewards. Some of these individuals may have made their
commitments very early in their lives or some later in their lives. At
what point in life the commitment was made does not matter; it is the
wholeheartedness of that commitment that matters.

Even today, we can find many role models … priests, nuns, lay
religious, some people as common as you and me. Their genuine care for
the well being of other people drives them to dedicate their time and
talent to help others and their communities. In fulfilling their tasks,
in a way, they deny their own freedoms, their free time, but in doing
so they welcome Our Lord into their lives and allow Him to freely
direct their ideas and actions.

Perhaps what Our Lord is reminding us today through the Gospel is that
“sacrifice and service for others” need not be negative. Rather, if we
give our time and ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord’s will, to serve
others, we can find fulfillment, happiness and peace in our lives.

Are we ready to rise to God’s challenge?

PRAYER
“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my
understanding, and all my will, all that I have and possess. You have
given them to me; to you, O Lord, I restore them; all things are yours,
dispose of them according to your will. Give me your love and your
grace, for this is enough for me.” (Prayer of Ignatius of Loyola,
1491-1556)

29 posted on 08/09/2013 6:08:16 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 29, Issue 5

<< Friday, August 9, 2013 >>

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Deuteronomy 4:32-40
View Readings

Psalm 77:12-16, 21

Matthew 16:24-28
Similar Reflections

RAGS TO RUINS?

"What profit would a man show if he were to gain the whole world and destroy himself in the process?" —Matthew 16:26

When Jesus spoke the above words, He was not simply speaking rhetorically. Jesus actually had an opportunity to gain the whole world for Himself when Satan tempted Him in the desert (see Mt 4:8-9). Jesus knew the lure of gaining the whole world, yet He overcame the world (see Jn 16:33).

Today's ubiquitous lotteries make it possible for even the poorest person to potentially "gain the whole world." A person doesn't have to win the lottery to "destroy himself." He or she only has to want to gain it. "Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and a trap. They are letting themselves be captured by foolish and harmful desires which drag men down to ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evil. Some men in their passion for it have strayed from the faith, and have come to grief amid great pain" (1 Tm 6:9-10).

That's why the cross is the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:21ff). Carrying your cross is totally incompatible with gaining the whole world (see Mt 6:24). Taking up your cross involves self-denial. Without dying to self, you'll run from the cross as did the apostles on Good Friday (see Mk 14:50). Follow in Jesus' footsteps (Mt 16:24) and overcome the temptations of the devil and the glamour of evil.

Prayer: Father, may I not even accommodate thoughts of riches, power, or comfort. Grant that I would desire the cross of Christ. May I never be complacent towards the lure of riches and power.

Promise: power. "All this you were allowed to see that you might know the Lord is God and there is no other." —Dt 4:35

Praise: St. Teresa carried her cross all the way to martyrdom as she was put to death in the Nazi gas chambers.

30 posted on 08/09/2013 7:18:37 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

31 posted on 08/09/2013 7:43:23 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 16
24.	Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.	Tunc Jesus dixit discipulis suis : Si quis vult post me venire, abneget semetipsum, et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me.	τοτε ο ιησους ειπεν τοις μαθηταις αυτου ει τις θελει οπισω μου ελθειν απαρνησασθω εαυτον και αρατω τον σταυρον αυτου και ακολουθειτω μοι
25.	For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.	Qui enim voluerit animam suam salvam facere, perdet eam : qui autem perdiderit animam suam propter me, inveniet eam.	ος γαρ αν θελη την ψυχην αυτου σωσαι απολεσει αυτην ος δ αν απολεση την ψυχην αυτου ενεκεν εμου ευρησει αυτην
26.	For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?	Quid enim prodest homini, si mundum universum lucretur, animæ vero suæ detrimentum patiatur ? aut quam dabit homo commutationem pro anima sua ?	τι γαρ ωφελειται ανθρωπος εαν τον κοσμον ολον κερδηση την δε ψυχην αυτου ζημιωθη η τι δωσει ανθρωπος ανταλλαγμα της ψυχης αυτου
27.	For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then will he render to every man according to his works.	Filius enim hominis venturus est in gloria Patris sui cum angelis suis : et tunc reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus.	μελλει γαρ ο υιος του ανθρωπου ερχεσθαι εν τη δοξη του πατρος αυτου μετα των αγγελων αυτου και τοτε αποδωσει εκαστω κατα την πραξιν αυτου
28.	Amen I say to you, there are some of them that stand here, that shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.	Amen dico vobis, sunt quidam de hic stantibus, qui non gustabunt mortem, donec videant Filium hominis venientem in regno suo.	αμην λεγω υμιν εισιν τινες ωδε εστωτες οιτινες ου μη γευσωνται θανατου εως αν ιδωσιν τον υιον του ανθρωπου ερχομενον εν τη βασιλεια αυτου

32 posted on 08/10/2013 2:09:20 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

24. Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me
25. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

CHRYS; Peter had said, Be it far from you, Lord; this shall not be to you; and had been answered, Get you behind, me, Satan; but the Lord was not satisfied with this rebuke, but over and above desired to show the impropriety of those things which Peter had said, and the fruit of His own passion; whence it is added, Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me; as much as to say, You say to me, Be it far from you; but I say to you, that not only is it harmful for you to hinder Me from My Passion, but yourself will not be able to be saved unless you suffer and die, and renounce your life always.

And note, that He does not speak of it as compulsory, for He does not say, though you will not yet must you suffer this, but, If any man will. By saying this He rather attracted them ; for he who leaves his auditor at liberty, attracts him the more; whereas he that uses violence oftentimes hinders him. And He proposes this doctrine, not to His disciples only, but in common to the whole world, saying, any man will that is, if woman, if man, if king, if free, if slave; there are three things mentioned; let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

GREGORY; For unless a man departs from himself, he does not draw near to Him who is above him. But if we leave ourselves, whither shall we go out of ourselves? Or if we have forsaken ourselves, who is it then that goes? indeed, we are one thing when fallen by sin, another thing as we were made by nature. It is therefore then that we leave and deny ourselves, when we avoid that which w e were of old, and strive towards that to which we are called in newness.

ID; He denies himself whosoever is changed for the better, and begins to be what he was not, and ceases to be what he was.

ID; He also denies himself, who having bode under foot the rising of pride, shows himself in the eyes of God to be estranged from himself.

ORIGEN; But though, a man may seem to keep from sin, yet if he does not believe in the cross of Christ, he cannot be said to be crucified with Christ; whence it follows, And take up his cross.

CHRYS; Otherwise; He that disowns another, whether a brother, or a servant, or whosoever it be, he may see him beaten, or suffering ought else, and neither succors nor befriends him; thus it is He would have us deny our body, and whether it be beaten or afflicted in any other way, not to spare it. For this is to spare. So parents do then most spare their children when they hand them over to tutors, bidding them not to spare them. And that you should not think that this denial of self extends only to words or affronts, he shows to what degree we should deny ourselves, namely, to death the most shameful, even that of the cross; this He signifies when He says, And take up his cross, and follow me.

HILARY; We are to follow our Lord by taking up the cross of His passion; and if not in deed, yet in will, bear Him company.

CHRYS; And because malefactors often suffer grievous things, that you should not suppose that simply to suffer evil is enough, He adds the reason of suffering, when He says, And follow me. For His sake you are to endure all, and to learn His other virtues; for this is to follow Christ aright, to be diligent in the practice of virtues, and to suffer all things for His sake.

GREG; There are two ways of taking our cross; when the body is afflicted by abstinence, or when the heart is pained by compassion for another. Forasmuch as our very virtues are beset with faults, we must declare that vainglory sometimes attends abstinence of flesh, for the emaciated body and pale countenance betray this high virtue to the praise of the world. Compassion again is sometimes attended by a false affection which is hereby led to be consenting to sin; to shut out these, He adds, and follow me.

JEROME; Otherwise; He takes up his cross who is crucified to the world; and he to whom the world is crucified, follows his crucified Lord.

CHRYS; And then because this seemed severe, He softens it by showing the abundant rewards of our pains, and the punishment of evil, He that will save his life shall lose it.

ORIGEN; This may be understood in two ways. First thus; if any lover of this present life spares his life, fearing to die, and supposing that his life is ended with this death; he seeking in this way to save his life, shall lose it, estranging it from life eternal. But if any, despising the present life, shall contend for the truth to death, he shall lose his life as far as this present life is concerned, but forasmuch as he loses it for Christ, he shall the more save it for life eternal.

Otherwise thus; if any understand what is true salvation, and desire to obtain it for the salvation of his own life, he by denying himself loses his life as to the enjoyments of the flesh, but saves it by works of piety. He shows by saying, For he that will, that this passage must be connected in sense with that which went before. If then we understand the first, Let him deny himself, of the death of the body, we must take this that follows of death only; but if we understand the first of mortifying the propensities of the flesh, then, to lose life, signifies to give up carnal pleasures.

26. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27. For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
28. I say to you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

CHRYS; Because He had said, Who will save, shall lose and who will lose shall save, opposing saving to losing, that none should hence conclude that there was any equality between the losing on one side, and the saving on the other, He adds, What does it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his soul? As though He had said, Say not that he who escapes the dangers which threaten him for Christ's sake, saves his soul, that is, his temporal life, but acid to his temporal life the whole world, and what of all these things will profit a man if his soul perishes for ever? Suppose you should see all your servants in joy, and yourself placed in the greatest evils, what profit would you reap from being their master? Think over this within your own soul, when by the indulgence of the flesh that soul looks for its own destruction.

ORIGEN; I suppose also that he gains the world who does not deny himself, nor loses his own life as to carnal pleasures, and thence suffers the loss of his soul. These two things being set before us, we must rather choose to lose the world, and gain our souls.

CHRYS; But if you should reign over the whole world, you would not be able to buy your soul; whence it follows, Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? As much as to say, if you lose goods, you may have it in your power to give other goods to recover them; but if you lose your soul, you can neither give another soul, nor any thing else in ransom for it. And what marvel is it if this happen in the soul, when we see the same happen in the body; for if you should surround a body afflicted with an incurable disease with ten thousand diadems, they would not heal it.

ORIGEN; And at first sight indeed the ransom of the soul might be supposed to be in his substance, that a man should give his substance to the poor, and so should save his soul. But I suppose that a man has nothing that giving as a ransom for his soul he should deliver it from death. God gave the ransom for the souls of men, namely the precious blood of His Son.

GREG; Or the connection may be thus; The Holy Church has a period of persecution, and a period of peace; and our Redeemer accordingly distinguishes between these periods in His commands; in time of persecution the life is to be laid down; but in time of peace, those earthly lusts which might gain too great power over us are to be broken through; whence He says, What does it profit a man?

JEROME; Having thus called upon His disciples to deny themselves and take up their cross, the hearers were filled with great terror, therefore these severe tidings are followed by more joyful; For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels. Do you fear death? Hear the glory of the triumph. Do you dread the cross? Hear the attendance of the Angels.

ORIGEN; As much as to say; The Son of Man is now come, but not in glory; for He ought not to have been ordained in His glory to bear our sins; but then He shall come in His glory, when He shall first have made ready His disciples, being made as they are, that He might make them as He is Himself, in the likeness of His glory.

CHRYS. He said not in such glory as is that of the Father, that you might not suppose a difference of glory, but He says, The glory of the Father, that it might be shown to be the same glory. But if the glory is one, it is evident that the substance is one. What then fear you, Peter, hearing of death? For then shall you see Me in glory. But if I be in glory, so also shall you be. But in making mention of His glory, He mingles there with things terrible, bringing forward the judgment, as it follows, And then shall he render to each man according to his works.

JEROME; For there is no difference of Jew or Gentile, man or woman, poor or rich, where not persons but works are accepted.

CHRYS; This He said to call to their minds not only the punishment of sinners, but the prizes and crowns of the righteous.

JEROME; But the secret thought of the Apostles might have suffered an offense of this sort; The killings and deaths you speak of as to be now, but the promise of your coming in glory is put off to a long distant time. He that knows secret things therefore, seeing that they might object this, requites a present fear with a present reward, saying, I say to you, There be some of those standing here that shall not taste death until the Son of Man come in his is kingdom.

CHRYS; Willing to show what is that glory in which He shall come hereafter, He revealed it to them in this present life, so far as it was possible for them to receive it, that they might not have sorrow in their Lord's death.

REMIG; What is here said, therefore, was fulfilled in the three disciples to whom the Lord, when transfigured in the mount, showed the joys of the eternal inheritance; these saw Him coming in His kingdom that is, shining in His effulgent radiance, in which, after the judgment passed, He shall be beheld by all the saints.

CHRYS; Therefore He does not reveal the names of those who should ascend into the mount, because the rest would be very desirous to accompany them whither they might look upon the pattern of His glory, and would be grieved as though they were passed over.

GREG; Or, by the kingdom of God is meant the present Church, and because some I of His disciples were to live so long in the body as to behold the Church of God built up and raised against the glory of this world, this comfortable promise is given them, there be some of them standing here.

ORIGEN; Morally; To those who are nearly brought to the faith, the Word of God wears the form of a servant; but to those that are perfect, He comes in the glory of the Father. His angels are the words of the Prophets, which it is not possible to comprehend spiritually, until the word of Christ has been first spiritually comprehended, and then will their words be seen in like majesty with His. Then will He give of His own glory to every man according to his deeds; for the better each man is in his deeds, so much the more spiritually does he understand Christ and His Prophets. They that stand where Jesus stands, are they that have the foundations of their souls rested upon Jesus; of whom such as stood firmest are said not to taste death till they see the Word of God; which comes in His kingdom when they see that excellence of God which they cannot see while they are involved in divers sins, which is to taste death, forasmuch as the soul that sins, dies. For as life, and the living bread, is He that came down from heaven, so His enemy death is the bread of death. And of these breads there are some that eat but a little, just tasting them, while some eat more abundantly. They that sin neither often, nor greatly, these only taste death; they that have partaken more perfectly of spiritual virtue do not taste it only, but feed ever on the living bread. That He says, Until they see, does not fix any time at which shall be done what had not been done before, but mentions just what is necessary; for he that once sees Him in His glory, shall after that by no means taste death.

RABAN; It is of the saints He speaks as tasting death, by whom the death of the body is tasted just as it were sipping, while the life of the soul is held fast in possession.

Catena Aurea Matthew 16

33 posted on 08/10/2013 2:09:43 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

Carrying the Cross

Hans Memling

Oil on oak, 58,2 x 27,5 cm
Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest

34 posted on 08/10/2013 2:10:06 PM PDT by annalex (fear them not)

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