Posted on 09/17/2014 8:16:57 PM PDT by Salvation
Feast Day: September 18
Born: June 17, 1603, Copertino, Puglia, Kingdom of Naples
Died: September 18, 1663, Osimo, Marche, Papal States
Canonized: July 16, 1767, Rome by Pope Clement XIII
Patron of: Aviation, astronauts, mental handicaps, test taking, students
St. Joseph of Cupertino
Feast Day: September 18
Born: 1603 :: Died: 1663
Joseph was born in a small Italian village to poor parents. He was very unhappy as a boy and a teenager. His mother thought he was a big nuisance so she shouted at him often and was very strict with him.
Joseph soon became very slow and absent-minded. He would wander around as if he were going nowhere. But he had a bad temper, too, and so not many people liked him.
He tried to learn the trade of shoe-making, but failed. He asked if he could become a Franciscan priest, but they did not want him. He then managed to join the Capuchin order, but eight months later he was asked to leave.
He could not seem to do anything right. He dropped piles of dishes and kept forgetting to do what he was told. His mother was not at all pleased to have the eighteen-year-old Joseph back home again.
She finally convinced the Franciscan monastery to take him on as a helper. He was given the Franciscan habit to wear and was assigned to care for the horses.
About this time, Joseph began to change. He grew more humble and gentle. He became more careful and successful at his work. He also began to do more penance.
The Franciscans finally decided to let him become a member of the order and he started studying to become a priest. Although he was very good, he still had a hard time with studies. But Joseph trusted in God's help and he did become a priest.
God began to work miracles through Father Joseph. Over seventy times people saw him rise from the ground while saying Mass or praying. He would balance near the ceiling like a star at the top of a Christmas tree.
Often he went into ecstasy (where you do not see or hear the people around you) and would be completely wrapped up in talking with God. He became very holy. Everything he saw made him think of God.
Father Joseph became so famous for his miracles that he was kept hidden. This made him happy for the chance to be alone with his beloved Jesus who always stayed close to him until he died in 1663.
The life of this saint can help us to understand that to be holy or close to God we do not need people to praise us for our talents and abilities which are a free gift from God.
Thursday, September 18
Liturgical Color: Green
Today the Church honors St. Joseph of
Cupertino, priest. Because he possessed
the gift of levitation, St. Joseph is the
patron saint of pilots and air travelers. He
is also patron saint of students. He died
in 1663.
Day 280 - Why is Abraham a model of prayer? // How did Moses pray?
Why is Abraham a model of prayer?
Abraham listened to God. He was willing to set out for wherever God commanded and to do what God willed. By his listening and his readiness to make a new start, he is a model for our prayer. Not many prayers of Abraham have been handed down. But wherever he went, he set up altars, places of prayer, to God. And so along the journey of his life he had many sorts of experiences with God, including some that tried and unsettled him. When Abraham saw that God was going to destroy the sinful city of Sodom, he pleaded for it. He even wrestled stubbornly with God. His plea for Sodom is the first great intercessory prayer in the history of the People of God.
How did Moses pray?
From Moses we learn that "praying" means "speaking with God". At the burning bush God entered into a real conversation with Moses and gave him an assignment. Moses raised objections and asked questions. Finally God revealed to him his holy name. Just as Moses then came to trust God and enlisted wholeheartedly in his service, so we too should pray and thus go to God's school. The bible mentions Moses' name 767 timesso central is he as the liberator and lawgiver of the people of Israel. At the same time Moses was also a great intercessor for his people. In prayer he received his commission; from prayer he drew his strength. Moses had an intimate, personal relationship with God: "The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (Ex 33:11a). Before Moses acted or instructed the people, he withdrew to the mountain to pray. Thus he is the original example of contemplative prayer. (YOUCAT questions 471-472)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (2574-2577) and other references here.
Part 4: Christian Prayer (2558 - 2865)
Section 1: Prayer in the Christian Life (2558 - 2758)
Chapter 1: The Revelation of Prayer (2566 - 2649)
Article 1: In the Old Testament (2568 - 2597)
Moses and the prayer of the mediator ⇡
Once the promise begins to be fulfilled (Passover, the Exodus, the gift of the Law, and the ratification of the covenant), the prayer of Moses becomes the most striking example of intercessory prayer, which will be fulfilled in "the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."19
19.
Here again the initiative is God's. From the midst of the burning bush he calls Moses.20 This event will remain one of the primordial images of prayer in the spiritual tradition of Jews and Christians alike. When "the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob" calls Moses to be his servant, it is because he is the living God who wants men to live. God reveals himself in order to save them, though he does not do this alone or despite them: he calls Moses to be his messenger, an associate in his compassion, his work of salvation. There is something of a divine plea in this mission, and only after long debate does Moses attune his own will to that of the Savior God. But in the dialogue in which God confides in him, Moses also learns how to pray: he balks, makes excuses, above all questions: and it is in response to his question that the Lord confides his ineffable name, which will be revealed through his mighty deeds.
20.
"Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."21 Moses' prayer is characteristic of contemplative prayer by which God's servant remains faithful to his mission. Moses converses with God often and at length, climbing the mountain to hear and entreat him and coming down to the people to repeat the words of his God for their guidance. Moses "is entrusted with all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly, not in riddles," for "Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth."22
21.
22.
From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,23 Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession. He does not pray for himself but for the people whom God made his own. Moses already intercedes for them during the battle with the Amalekites and prays to obtain healing for Miriam.24 But it is chiefly after their apostasy that Moses "stands in the breach" before God in order to save the people.25 The arguments of his prayer for intercession is also a mysterious battle will inspire the boldness of the great intercessors among the Jewish people and in the Church: God is love; he is therefore righteous and faithful; he cannot contradict himself; he must remember his marvelous deeds, since his glory is at stake, and he cannot forsake this people that bears his name.
23.
Cf. Ex 34:6.
24.
Cf. Ex 17:8-12; Num 12:13-14.
25.
Ps 106:23; cf. Ex 32:1-34:9.
Daily Readings for:September 18, 2014
(Readings on USCCB website)
Collect: Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the working of your mercy, grant that we may serve you with all our heart. 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.
RECIPES
ACTIVITIES
o Religion in the Home for Elementary School: September
o Religion in the Home for Preschool: September
PRAYERS
o September Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows
o Collect for St. Joseph of Cupertino
· Ordinary Time: September 18th
· Thursday of the Twenty-Fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Old Calendar: St. Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor
St. Joseph of Cupertino (1603-1663) was born at Cupertino, Italy, and died in Osimo. He was of lowly origin and had little formal education. In his youth he was employed as an apprentice to a shoemaker. He joined the Conventual Franciscans as a lay brother but was later ordained a priest. He was noted for his great austerities, his angelic purity, his great devotion to Our Lady and especially for his ardent love of God. According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is his feast.
St. Joseph of Cupertino
Joseph of Cupertino was such an extraordinary saint that his fellow-Christians could scarcely cope with him. First of all he was forgetful, even as a child, often not turning up for the scanty meals his impoverished widowed mother prepared. He would wander about the village of Cupertino, Italy, where he was born, gazing open-mouthed at everything. He found it hard to learn. And he was clumsy.
When he was seventeen he decided he wanted to become a monk or friar. The Franciscans would not take him because, they said, he was too stupid. The Capuchins threw him out after eight months because he broke everything. Eventually a Franciscan house at La Grotella accepted him as a stableboy.
He prayed and fasted and did his best to perform every task to perfection. Eventually the delighted brothers decided to accept him as one of their equals, and in 1628 he was ordained priest. From that time onwards Joseph of Cupertino was continually passing into ecstatic trances, sometimes even appearing to float above the ground. No meals could be taken in the monastery without some extraordinary interruption because of Joseph's miraculous behaviour. For thirty-five years the community decided that he should be kept out of the choir and refectory.
Naturally enough his miracles and above all the reports of his supernatural levitations attracted countless curious visitors. In 1653 the church authorities transferred him to a Capuchin friary in the hills of Pietarossa and kept him completely out of sight. Finally Saint Joseph was allowed to join his own order at a place called Osima, but he was still kept out of sight until his death in 1663. All this he bore without the remotest complaint. Fittingly the twentieth century has made the saint patron of pilots and airline passengers.
Excerpted from A Calendar of Saints by James Bentley
Patron: air travellers; astronauts; aviators; paratroopers; pilots; students; test takers.
Symbol: airplane.
Things To Do:
24th Week in Ordinary Time
By the grace of God I am what I am. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
Have you ever been at a party or social gathering where you felt way out of your element? Perhaps you were surrounded by very sophisticated, highly educated people. Maybe everyone seemed to have the trappings of success: nice clothes, fine jewelry, new cars. Or you might have felt that everyone there was better looking than you. Whatever the case, did you notice that when you began comparing yourself to the people around you, it probably didn’t end well?
The apostle Paul was in a similar situation. He was in close contact with the other apostles, and it would have been easy for him to feel inadequate compared to them. They had spent years living and working with Jesus, while Paul had just one brief encounter with the Lord. The other apostles hadn’t followed Jesus perfectly, but Paul had persecuted the Church! How could he ever live that down?
Actually, he didn’t try. Here’s how he put it: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective” (1 Corinthians 15:10). Paul recognized that God had a plan for his life, and this plan was different than what God was doing with the other apostles. Sure, he had made some very big mistakes, but God’s grace was at work in him, and that was enough.
God has a plan for your life as well, and it may not look like what he’s doing with other people. Meaning in your life will come from how God sees you, not how you see yourself, and certainly not how you think you stack up against other people! In fact, comparing yourself like this can keep you from Jesus. Consider today’s Gospel reading. If this woman had been concerned with what people thought about her, she never would have come to Jesus!
Try to watch yourself this week. Listen to your thoughts. Are you critical of yourself? Or maybe you tend to look down on others. Memorize Paul’s words, and repeat them to yourself: by the grace of God I am what I am. And then offer this blessing to everyone else: by the grace of God you are what you are.
“Father, thank you for working in my life, for loving me, and for accepting me.”
Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 28; Luke 7:36-50
Daily Marriage Tip for September 18, 2014:
Just as our public persona does not always reflect our true self, spouses are privy to the hidden truth/weaknesses of each other. What do you know about your beloved that perhaps no one else does? Honor this privileged information.
The Healing Power of Love | ||
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September 18, 2014. Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
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Luke 7:36-50 A Pharisee invited him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee´s house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner." Jesus said to him in reply, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. "Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days´ wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?" Simon said in reply, "The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven." He said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The others at table said to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" But he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Introductory Prayer: Holy Trinity, I cannot see you, but you are with me. I cannot touch you, but I am in your hands. I cannot fully comprehend you, but I love you with all my heart. Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to be humble and open to interior growth. 1. Ostensible Openness and Spiritual Pride: Simon the Pharisee has an apparent openness to the Lord. He invites him to dine. He observes him. And he engages him in cordial dialogue. Nonetheless, we see that Simon interiorly judges the Lord, dismisses him as a farce, and ultimately rejects him. The Pharisaical attitude consists essentially in trying to force God into our own preconceived notions of how he should operate. The Pharisees had the correct view of moral precepts (both Simon and Jesus agree that this woman is a sinner). But they fail in recognizing their own sins, which are rooted in pride. This pride manifested itself in that unspoken attitude that God must adjust himself to our way of being and acting. 2. Redemption: The Pharisee thinks he is sinless and does not admit that he needs a savior. His prideful attitude of “assessing” the Lord proceeds from a deeper pride that blinds him to who he really is before God: a simple creature in need of divine help and grace. Simon wants God to conform to his preconceptions, and winds up rejecting Christ. This is the paradigm of pride. It distorts reality and forges its own self-centered world that Christ cannot penetrate. The woman knows she is a sinner and recognizes the path to her salvation in the words and example of Jesus. She painfully realizes who she is and keenly longs for salvation. The words and example of mercy of Christ resonate deeply in her heart and invite her to repentance. This is the paradigm of humility. Its strength lies in a knowledge and serene acceptance of the truth and makes redemption possible. 3. Christ’s Goodness: Our Lord’s loving treatment of both the woman and Simon displays a remarkable balance of kindness. He carefully avoids the opposite extremes of condemnation and indifference to others’ sins. The reason Our Lord is able to offer hope and consolation to the repentant sinner as well as to invite the proud with a gentle call to repentance is that Christ will die for both. In this we see Christ’s goodness. He comes to save us all, but we must choose to accept his goodness. Conversation with Christ: Jesus, help me to realize who I am and who you are. Teach me gratitude for your goodness and hope in your mercy. Help me to recognize my pride and strive to overcome it so that you can fill my life with your goodness. Resolution: I will avoid judging others today. Father Robert Presutti |
Language: English | Español
All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 5
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September 18, 2014
Forgiveness is probably the most difficult part of being a Christian. If I’m hurt deeply, I’m ashamed to say that it takes me years to completely forgive someone. There are people in my life I have yet to forgive totally. The key to forgiveness however is realizing how we have been forgiven by Jesus. The more sinful we are, the greater the healing required. Once we realize this, and humbled by our own circumstance, our attitude towards others will be different because we know how it was like.
As Christians, we must be forgiving as Jesus was forgiving. Of course, that’s easier said than done, especially if the hurt is deep. It takes prayer, commitment, humility, and most of all love, to forgive the persons who hurt us. And even if we do forgive, we can never forget. The scar will always be there and will render the relationship changed forever. What we can do as Christians, is to treat the battle scar as a lesson learned, something that helped us become better persons. If we have this attitude towards forgiveness, rest assured, we’re one step closer to heaven.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus shows us by example that he forgives even the greatest sinners. If he who is perfect can forgive so willingly, who are we to bear a grudge against our offenders?
Luke | |||
English: Douay-Rheims | Latin: Vulgata Clementina | Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000) | |
Luke 7 |
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36. | And one of the Pharisees desired him to eat with him. And he went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. | Rogabat autem illum quidam de pharisæis ut manducaret cum illo. Et ingressus domum pharisæi discubuit. | ηρωτα δε τις αυτον των φαρισαιων ινα φαγη μετ αυτου και εισελθων εις την οικιαν του φαρισαιου ανεκλιθη |
37. | And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; | Et ecce mulier, quæ erat in civitate peccatrix, ut cognovit quod accubuisset in domo pharisæi, attulit alabastrum unguenti : | και ιδου γυνη εν τη πολει ητις ην αμαρτωλος [και] επιγνουσα οτι ανακειται εν τη οικια του φαρισαιου κομισασα αλαβαστρον μυρου |
38. | And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. | et stans retro secus pedes ejus, lacrimis cpit rigare pedes ejus, et capillis capitis sui tergebat, et osculabatur pedes ejus, et unguento ungebat. | και στασα παρα τους ποδας αυτου οπισω κλαιουσα ηρξατο βρεχειν τους ποδας αυτου τοις δακρυσιν και ταις θριξιν της κεφαλης αυτης εξεμασσεν και κατεφιλει τους ποδας αυτου και ηλειφεν τω μυρω |
39. | And the Pharisee, who had invited him, seeing it, spoke within himself, saying: This man, if he were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. | Videns autem pharisæus, qui vocaverat eum, ait intra se dicens : Hic si esset propheta, sciret utique quæ et qualis est mulier, quæ tangit eum : quia peccatrix est. | ιδων δε ο φαρισαιος ο καλεσας αυτον ειπεν εν εαυτω λεγων ουτος ει ην προφητης εγινωσκεν αν τις και ποταπη η γυνη ητις απτεται αυτου οτι αμαρτωλος εστιν |
40. | And Jesus answering, said to him: Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. But he said: Master, say it. | Et respondens Jesus, dixit ad illum : Simon, habeo tibi aliquid dicere. At ille ait : Magister, dic. | και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν προς αυτον σιμων εχω σοι τι ειπειν ο δε φησιν διδασκαλε ειπε |
41. | A certain creditor had two debtors, the one who owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. | Duo debitores erant cuidam fneratori : unus debebat denarios quingentos, et alius quinquaginta. | δυο χρεωφειλεται ησαν δανειστη τινι ο εις ωφειλεν δηναρια πεντακοσια ο δε ετερος πεντηκοντα |
42. | And whereas they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which therefore of the two loveth him most? | Non habentibus illis unde redderent, donavit utrisque. Quis ergo eum plus diligit ? | μη εχοντων δε αυτων αποδουναι αμφοτεροις εχαρισατο τις ουν αυτων ειπε πλειον αυτον αγαπησει |
43. | Simon answering, said: I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said to him: Thou hast judged rightly. | Respondens Simon dixit : Æstimo quia is cui plus donavit. At ille dixit : Recte judicasti. | αποκριθεις δε ο σιμων ειπεν υπολαμβανω οτι ω το πλειον εχαρισατο ο δε ειπεν αυτω ορθως εκρινας |
44. | And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon: Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she with tears hath washed my feet, and with her hairs hath wiped them. | Et conversus ad mulierem, dixit Simoni : Vides hanc mulierem ? Intravi in domum tuam, aquam pedibus meis non dedisti : hæc autem lacrimis rigavit pedes meos, et capillis suis tersit. | και στραφεις προς την γυναικα τω σιμωνι εφη βλεπεις ταυτην την γυναικα εισηλθον σου εις την οικιαν υδωρ επι τους ποδας μου ουκ εδωκας αυτη δε τοις δακρυσιν εβρεξεν μου τους ποδας και ταις θριξιν της κεφαλης αυτης εξεμαξεν |
45. | Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. | Osculum mihi non dedisti : hæc autem ex quo intravit, non cessavit osculari pedes meos. | φιλημα μοι ουκ εδωκας αυτη δε αφ ης εισηλθον ου διελιπεν καταφιλουσα μου τους ποδας |
46. | My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she with ointment hath anointed my feet. | Oleo caput meum non unxisti : hæc autem unguento unxit pedes meos. | ελαιω την κεφαλην μου ουκ ηλειψας αυτη δε μυρω ηλειψεν μου τους ποδας |
47. | Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less. | Propter quod dico tibi : remittuntur ei peccata multa, quoniam dilexit multum. Cui autem minus dimittitur, minus diligit. | ου χαριν λεγω σοι αφεωνται αι αμαρτιαι αυτης αι πολλαι οτι ηγαπησεν πολυ ω δε ολιγον αφιεται ολιγον αγαπα |
48. | And he said to her: Thy sins are forgiven thee. | Dixit autem ad illam : Remittuntur tibi peccata. | ειπεν δε αυτη αφεωνται σου αι αμαρτιαι |
49. | And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves: Who is this that forgiveth sins also? | Et cperunt qui simul accumbebant, dicere intra se : Quis est hic qui etiam peccata dimittit ? | και ηρξαντο οι συνανακειμενοι λεγειν εν εαυτοις τις ουτος εστιν ος και αμαρτιας αφιησιν |
50. | And he said to the woman: Thy faith hath made thee safe, go in peace. | Dixit autem ad mulierem : Fides tua te salvam fecit : vade in pace. | ειπεν δε προς την γυναικα η πιστις σου σεσωκεν σε πορευου εις ειρηνην |
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