Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 07-12-18

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 07-12-18 | Revised New American Bible

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'When we enter ornate and clean Basilicas, adorned with crosses, sacred images, altars and burning lamps, we most easily conceive devotion. But on the other hand, when we enter the temples of the heretics, where there is nothing except a chair for preaching and a table for making a meal, we feel ourselves to be entering a profane hall and not the House of God.'

St. Robert Bellarmine

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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.  "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28)   "Blessed are you among women,  and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Lk 1:42).

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3616891/posts?page=3

Saints of the Day — Saints John Jones and John Wall.

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Information: St. John Gualbert

Feast Day: July 12

Born: 985 at Florence, Italy

Died: July 11, 1073 at Passignano near Florence, Italy

Canonized: 1193 by Pope Celestine III

Patron of: forest workers; foresters; park rangers; parks

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Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. John Gaulbert

Feast Day: July 12
Born: (around) 985 :: Died: 1073

St. John was born into a rich non-Christian family in Florence, Italy, as Giovanni Gualberto. He and his father were terribly shocked when John's only brother, Hugh, was murdered. The man who did it was supposed to have been Hugh's friend. Supported by his father and fed by his own anger, John decided to track down his brother's killer and make him pay for his crime.

On Good Friday, John finally came face to face with the murderer in a narrow passageway. John drew his sword and began walking toward the man. Hugh's killer fell to his knees, with his arms crossed on his chest and begged forgiveness for love of Jesus who died on the cross.

With a great effort, John dropped his sword, embraced his enemy and continued down the road. Coming upon a monastery church, he went in and kneeling before the crucifix, he asked forgiveness for his sins. Then a miracle happened! Jesus bowed his head upon the cross. John felt peaceful and knew that by forgiving his enemy his own sins had been forgiven.

Such a change came over him that he immediately converted to Christianity and became a follower of Jesus. He asked the abbot of the San Miniato del Monte monastery if he could join the monks there. When John's father heard about it, he said he would burn the whole monastery if his son did not come out.

The Benedictine monks did not know what to do. John solved the problem by cutting off his hair and borrowing a habit from one of the monks. His father could not help being impressed and he let him remain. St. John later started his own community of monks and built a monastery by hand following a stricter life.

John became a model for imitating the poor lifestyle of Jesus. He also took wonderful care of all the poor people who came to the monastery gate. God granted him power to work miracles, to give wise guidance and tell the future. Even Pope St. Leo IX went to St. John to seek his advice. St. John died on July 12, 1073 at Passignano near Florence in Italy.

Reflection: "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us." -the Lord's Prayer

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CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Thursday, July 12

Liturgical Color: Green

Today the Church honors St.
Maximilian of Lorch, bishop. St.
Maximilian came from a wealthy
family, but gave away his inheritance
to serve God. He was beheaded in
284 A.D.

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Catholic Culture

Ordinary Time: July 12th

Thursday of the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time; Sts. Louis and Zelia Martin

MASS READINGS

July 12, 2018 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. 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.

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Activities (1)

• Time for God

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Prayers (2)

• Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• St. Veronica Prayer to the Sacred Image of Jesus Christ

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Library (1)

• The Holy Household of Louis and Zélie Martin | Christopher J. Lane

» Enjoy our Liturgical Seasons series of e-books!

Old Calendar: St. John Gualbert, abbot; Sts. Nabor and Felix, martyrs; St. Veronica of the Veil (Hist)

Sts. Louis and Zelia Martin are best known as the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux (the Little Flower), but they are models of holiness in their own right. They are only the second married couple to be canonized.

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. John Gualbert, a native of Florence, Italy. One Good Friday, accompanied by armed servants, he met his brother's murderer, unarmed and alone; he was about to slay him when the murderer fell at his feet begging forgiveness for the love of Christ crucified. John was touched by grace, recalling our Lord's command to love one's enemies and embraced him as a brother.

Soon afterwards he became a monk, and founded the new order of Vallombrosa under the Rule of St. Benedict. At this period simony and clerical immorality were rife in Italy. By his firmness and preaching St. John Gualbert successfully opposed these grave disorders. He died in 1073, having paved the way for the Gregorian reform.

This is also the feast of Sts. Nabor and Felix, Roman martyrs whose bodies were taken from Rome to Milan. St. Ambrose preached their panegyric (a formal public speech delivered in high praise of a person, and generally high studied or undiscriminating eulogy) at the solemn translation of their relics.

Historically it is the feast of St. Veronica of the Veil, the woman of Jerusalem who wiped the face of Christ while He was on the way to Calvary.

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Sts. Louis and Zélia Martin
Louis Martin was born in Bordeaux in 1823 and baptised Louis-Joseph-Aloys-Stanislaus. He grew up in Alençon and after school learned clock-making eventually opening his own watch-making and jewellery business on the rue du Pont-Neuf in Alençon. As a young man he wished to become a priest but it was not to be. Prayer was an important part of his life. He liked reading, fishing and walking in the countryside. His travels included his well-known pilgrimage to Rome in 1887 with his daughters Thérèse and Céline on the occasion of which Thérèse - still not fifteen years old - asked Pope Leo XIII for permission to enter Carmel.

Zélie Guérin (christened Marie-Azélie) was born in 1831 near Alençon. She had a strong faith. She too wished to embrace the religious life and again it was not to be. Much is written of her great energy and capacity for work. She became a professional and talented maker of Alençon point lace and she also started her own business in Alençon.

When Zélie was 26 years old she encountered Louis Martin on the Bridge of St Leonard over the Sarthe River in Alençon and had a premonition that they would marry. Three months later on 13 July 1858 the wedding took place in the Church of Notre-Dame now the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Alençon.

The couple lived in Alençon, initially at 15 rue du Pont-Neuf and later at 35 rue Saint-Blaise, where St Thérèse was born. They had nine children only five of whom survived infancy and early childhood. The surviving children were Marie, Pauline, Léonie, Céline and Thérèse all of whom embraced the religious life. Marie, Pauline, Céline and Thérèse became Carmelite Sisters in Lisieux and were known respectively as Sr Marie of the Sacred Heart, Mother Agnes of Jesus, Sr Geneviève of the Holy Face and Sr Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Léonie became a Visitantine Sister, in Caen, and was known as Sr Françoise Thérèse.

Thérèse, their youngest daughter, was only four-year-old when Zélie died in 1877. After this Louis and his five daughters moved to Les Buissonnets in Lisieux. In 1887 Thérèse asked for and received her father’s permission to enter Carmel which she did in 1888.

Excerpted from St. Therese of Lisieux

Things to Do:

• Learn more about St. Louis and Zelia Martin here.

• Read The Holy Household of Louis and Zélie Martin and The miracle behind the canonization of the parents of St Therese of Lisieux

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St. John Gualbert
Our saint was born of a noble Florentine family about the year 995. His father was arranging for him to become a soldier when Hugo, the only other child, was murdered by a relative. It was Good Friday, and Gualbert, accompanied by an armed escort, met the murderer in a narrow pass. There was no way to avoid one another. They met, and the murderer, with arms crossed on his breast, threw himself at Gualbert's feet. Moved by his plea for mercy and the remembrance of Christ's dying act of forgiveness, he spared the murderer's life and lifted him up as a brother.

Gualbert continued his journey. Arriving at the Church of St. Minias, he prayed before a picture of the Crucified which appeared to move its head toward him. Thereupon he determined to dedicate his life to God in spite of his father's opposition. He cut off his hair, took the habit of a monk, and in a short time attained such perfection that his life and work were a model for others. He became the founder of the Vallombrosian monks, a branch of the Benedictine family.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: forest workers; foresters; park services; parks.

Symbols: Tau staff; crucifix; church in his hand; devil under his feet.

Things to Do:

• The life of St. John Gualbert offers a vivid and unusual example of heroic love of enemy. Let us seriously examine our conscience on this point. Let us recall that the Church places the kiss of peace before holy Communion; it is her way of teaching us that the Prince of Peace cannot come to our heart unless we are at peace with our fellowmen. Love of enemy is our Offertory gift; it is also the divine Gift received in return.

• Visit this website for more details about St. John Gualbert.

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Sts. Nabor and Felix
The holy martyrs, Nabor and Felix, suffered in the persecution of Maximian. "They were Christian soldiers in the army of Emperor Maximian Hercules. Because of their Christian faith they were tried in Milan and beheaded in Lodi, Italy, (303 or 304). Their bodies were interred in Milan" (Martyrology). When Emperor Frederic Barbarossa captured Milan in the twelfth century, he gave the sacred relics to Reinald, archbishop of Cologne. Soon after, Reinald transferred the bodies of the holy martyrs to his episcopal see, where they are still venerated in one of the cathedral's magnificent chapels.

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Symbols: Armour; in secular or classical costumes.

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St. Veronica
According to Tradition, when St. Veronica saw Jesus fall beneath the weight of the cross He carried to his pending crucifixion, she was so moved with pity she pushed through the crowd past the Roman Soldiers to reach Jesus. She used her veil to wipe the blood and sweat from His face. The soldiers forced her away from Jesus even as He peered at her with gratitude. She bundled her veil and did not look at it again until she returned home. When she finally unfolded the veil--history does not clarify exactly what kind of material the veil was made from--it was imprinted with an image of Christ's face.

Some stories have alluded to St. Veronica being present at the beheading of St. John the Baptist. Others claim Veronica (Bernice) was a woman whom Jesus cured from a blood issue before His arrest in Jerusalem.

There is no reference to the biography of St. Veronica in the canonical Gospels. Her act of kindness and charity is represented in the Sixth of the Fourteen Stations of the Cross.

St. Veronica is believed to be buried in the tomb in Soulac or in the church of St. Seurin at Bordeaux, France. Her veil (the Veronica) is kept at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican at Rome.

Things to Do:

• Visit this website for more about St. Veronica.

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The Word Among Us

Meditation: Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9

14th Week in Ordinary Time

My heart is overwhelmed. (Hosea 11:8)

Tradition has it that as St. John neared the end of his life, people flocked to the Island of Patmos to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist with him. John was old and frail, and he had to be carried out to the people each Sunday, but it never stopped him from giving them the same message week after week: “Little children, God loves you. Love him and love one another.” That’s all John ever said, but the people still came. When asked why he kept repeating the same words, he answered, “Because that’s what the Master kept saying.”

Today’s first reading shows us that the prophet Hosea might well have said the same thing! Speaking in the name of the Lord, the prophet recounts Israel’s infidelity and sins—and yet he insists that God has never stopped loving them. In a moving poem, he shows that God’s love is eternal, intimate, unconditional, and immutable. And when this love is poured out on his people, it’s called mercy.

Just like St. John, Hosea wanted his people to experience this mercy, not just hear about it. It sounds so attractive, doesn’t it? But to quote Pope Francis, “It is not easy to entrust oneself to God’s mercy, because it is an abyss beyond comprehension. But we must! ‘Oh, Father, if you knew my life, you would not say that to me!’ Why, what have you done? ‘Oh, I am a great sinner!’ All the better! Go to Jesus: he likes you to tell him these things. . . . He forgets, he kisses you, he embraces you, and he simply says to you, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’ That is the only advice he gives you.”

Or consider God’s revelation to St. Faustina, a Polish sister who lived just prior to World War II: “I am love itself. My heart overflows with great mercy for souls, especially poor sinners. Let no one fear to draw near to me, even though their sins be as scarlet. My mercy is greater than all your sins.”

God loves you. Believe it! No matter what you have done, no matter what anyone has done to you, he hasn’t rejected you. Let him show you his love and his mercy. Let him tell you over and over again, “I love you. Love me and love one another. I love you!”

“Father, fill me with your love!”

Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16
Matthew 10:7-15

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Daily Gospel Commentary

Saint Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Franciscan, Doctor of the Church
Life of Saint François, Legenda major, ch. 3 (trans. ©Franciscan Institute of Saint Bonaventure University, 2000)

"As you go, make this proclamation: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "

One day while he was devoutly hearing a Mass of the Apostles, the Gospel was read in which Christ sends out his disciples to preach and gives them the Gospel form of life, that they may not keep “gold or silver or money in their belts, nor have a wallet for their journey, nor may they have two tunics, nor shoes, nor staff." Hearing, understanding and committing this to memory, this friend of apostolic poverty was then overwhelmed with an indescribable joy. "This is what I want," he said, "this is what I desire with all my heart!" Immediately, he took off the shoes from his feet. put down his staff, denounced his wallet and money, and, satisfied with one tunic, threw away his leather belt and put on a piece of rope for a belt. He directed all his heart's desire to carry out what he had heard and to conform in every way to the rule of right living given to the apostles.

Through divine prompting the man of God began to become a model of evangelical perfection and to invite others to penance. His statements were... filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, they penetrated the marrow of the heart, so that they moved those hearing them in stunned amazement. In all his preaching, he announced peace by saying: "May/he Lordgiveyou peace." Thus he greeted the people at the beginning of his talk. As he later testified, he had learned this greeting by the Lord revealing it to him...

Therefore, as the truth of the man of God's simple teaching and life became known to many, some men began to be moved to penance and, abandoning all things, joined him in habit and life.

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Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for July 12, 2018:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant…finding a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” (Mt 13:45-46) In your vocation of marriage, your spouse is like that pearl. God has called you together. Don’t let work, or projects, or hobbies, or even your children, bump him or her from first place. He or she is priceless.

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Regnum Christi

July 12th, 2018 – Go, Spread the Kingdom

11 Jul 2018

Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

[Matthew 10:7-15]

Jesus sent out the Twelve with the following instructions, “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words — go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord, in your presence I break away from the spiritual laziness and indifference that deprives me of the fruit of this prayer which I need so much. I know my poverty, and you are immensely rich in all that I need. I am so slow to give, whereas you are prompt and total in your gifts to me. I offer you this unruly heart of mine to do all that you wish of me today.

Petition: Lord, please grant me the grace to be a better apostle today than I was yesterday.

1. Go Out: The command is “Go.” The Kingdom cannot be spread while sitting in an easy chair. We cannot wait for the world that needs Christ to come to our door. Letting opportunities where we can serve pass by, hoping someone else will take the initiative, is simply a “no” to Christ’s command. “Go” means sensitizing our heart and eyes to those who are hungry for Christ, seeing in the faces of our family members and co-workers a hunger for his power and grace. In this culture that is sick and waning, “go” means reaching out to those who need to know Christ, so that his Kingdom will expand. We cannot take the easy route of preaching to the choir; we must reach out to those professions and fields of study that have lost all sense of the dignity of the human person – especially medicine, law, politics and education. This is what the King is asking. What is the response which I am giving to my King?

2. “Nobody Gives What He Doesn’t Possess”: Christ’s command is to give from what we have received. If every day we make ourselves more aware of the gifts we have been given through Christ’s power, we will be better at giving Christ to others. As apostles, we go not with our own power; rather, we carry Christ’s power to heal, save and conquer evil. It is he who drives the mission, who makes the apostles a team. How often do I calculate what I can contribute to the mission based only on the strength of my human qualities? How often do I give only from what is just me, rather than from the graces I have received from the Holy Spirit? Moreover, do I measure my effectiveness solely from an individual perspective, rather than from that of the whole body of the Church, in which other apostles are locked arm-in-arm with me for the cause of Christ? God’s saving power is found where obedience and unity are, not where only natural talents, gifts and abilities are at play.

3. Failures and Disappointments: Christ affirms that when we reach an impasse in our lives, this is, in and of itself, no sign of the lack of the authenticity of our mission. Its results are tied to the free-will choices of others, as well as to a plan where apparent barrenness is part of God’s economy of salvation. A period of few fruits in the mission can be a period of consolidation of our commitment to follow him in season and out of season. Take this time to repel all discouragement and doubt and to prove how authentic our “yes” is. A pure “yes” will seek God’s will and the mission at hand simply because he wants it, not for any easy or short-term results.

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, I wish to ignite my own zeal for your Kingdom from the furnace of divine love which burns in your heart. I offer you the promise of a soldier in combat: to be courageous, honorable, persevering, and worthy of the name I bear – “Apostle of the Kingdom of Christ.” I work aware of the fact that I have only one life to live on this earth. Not one minute must be wasted in comfort-seeking and selfishness. My heart is ready for the mission, Lord; please sustain it today with the strength of your own.

Resolution: Today I will review my daily and weekly time commitments before Christ, and I will ensure that I am using my time as fruitfully as I can to expand his Kingdom in the world.

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Homily of the Day

July 12, 2018

In the first reading the prophet Hosea speaks of God’s love for Israel despite Israel’s infidelities.

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus sends off the Twelve on mission without expecting any return; he gives them the gift of healing, of raising the dead back to life, of cleansing lepers and driving out demons. He tells them to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom.

While we have not been given the same miraculous powers to share with others, we too are missioned to preach the Good News and to do what we can to make people happier and more peaceful and the world brighter and more loving.

Jesus tells the Twelve not to bring gold or an extra shirt but to trust in other people. He reminds us to travel light and to be aware of what is really important in our life’s journey. He tells us to trust in the goodness of people and to believe in the benevolence of God’s creation.

Are we ready to return God’s love for us by loving others?

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One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Espa�ol

All Issues > Volume 34, Issue 4

<< Thursday, July 12, 2018 >>

Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9
View Readings

Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16

Matthew 10:7-15
Similar Reflections

"THE FATHER OF MERCIES"

"My heart is overwhelmed; My pity is stirred." �Hosea 11:8

God is so personally involved with each human being that His heart is overwhelmed with love for each person. He is a loving Father (see Hos 11:4). Although the message of the prophet Hosea has, to this point, generally been to convict us to repent of sin, today's passage reveals that God loves each of us as a father, tenderly.

Some of you may not have experienced merciful love from your earthly father and thus perceive God as stern, angry, and distant. Others feel so unloved by their earthly fathers that they project this uncaring coldness upon God. However, God's fatherly love is gentle and tender, like a father who lifts his infant child to his cheeks for a kiss (Hos 11:4).

Today, throughout the day, keep this image of God, the tender and loving Father, front and center in your mind. Can you picture God picking you up and raising you to His cheeks for a kiss? (Hos 11:4) Can you imagine God's heart being overwhelmed with love for you? (Hos 11:8) He has revealed to us that this is exactly how He loves us. Therefore, today allow Him to love you.

Prayer: Father, I am Yours; do with me as You will. I will even let You love me as You will.

Promise: "I drew them with human cords, with bands of love; I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks." —Hos 11:4

Praise: Fr. Ralph still tends to the Lord's flock ten years after his "retirement."

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Keep praying. Your prayers WILL close down abortion centers!