Posted on 07/13/2018 11:28:19 PM PDT by Salvation
St. Justin Martyr
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The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.
Amen. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28) "Blessed are you among women, |
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3616897/posts?page=5
Saint of the Day — Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
Feast Day: July 14
Born: 1550 at Bocchiavico, Abruzzi, kingdom of Naples, Italy
Died: 14 July 1614 at Genoa, Italy
Canonized: 1746 by Pope Benedict XIV
Major Shrine: Church of Mary Magdalene, Rome, Italy
Patron of: against illness, hospitals, hospital workers, nurses, sick people
Feast Day: July 14
Born: 1656, Ossernenon, Iroquois Confederacy (Modern Auriesville, New York)
Died: 17 April 1680 at Caughnawaga, Canada
Canonized: 21 Oct. 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
Major Shrine: St Francis Xavier Church, Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada
Patron of: ecology
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Saturday, July 14
Liturgical Color: Green
Today is the optional memorial of
Pope St. Callistus I (martyred 222 AD).
As pope he condemned the heresies
of his time, but welcomed repentant
heretics back to the Church.
» Enjoy our Liturgical Seasons series of e-books!
Old Calendar: St. Bonaventure, bishop and doctor; St. Francis Solano, priest (Hist)
Kateri was born in 1656 near the town of Auriesville, New York, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was baptized by Jesuit missionary Fr. Jacques de Lambertville on Easter of 1676 at the age of twenty. She devoted her life to prayer, penitential practices, and the care of the sick and aged in Caughnawaga near Montreal (where her relics are now enshrined). She incurred the hostility of her tribe because of her faith. She was devoted to the Eucharist, and to Jesus Crucified, and was called the "Lily of the Mohawks." She died in 1680 and was beatified June 22, 1980 the first native American to be declared "Blessed." She was canonized on October 21, 2012.
Excerpted from Magnificat, July 2003
According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Bonaventure. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on July 15.
Historically it is also the feast of St. Francis Solano, Franciscan missionary in Lima, Peru. He was born in Andalusia, Spain, in 1549, and became a Franciscan in 1569. Francis labored for two decades in Spain and sailed to Peru in 1589. He worked until his death in Lima and elsewhere in South America.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha
[Pronounce: Gah-deh-lee Deh-gah-quee-tah]
The blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Nine years after the Jesuits Isaac Jogues and John de Brebeuf were tortured to death by Huron and Iroquois Native American nations, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville, New York. She was to be the first person born in North America to be beatified. Her mother was a Christian Algonquin, taken captive by the Iroquois and given as wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five Nations. When she was four, Kateri lost her parents and little brother in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the Blackrobes (missionaries), but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian captives. She was moved by the words of three Blackrobes who lodged with her uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction. She refused to marry a Mohawk man and at nineteen finally got the courage to take the step of converting. She was baptized with the name Kateri (Catherine) on Easter Sunday.
Now she would be treated as a slave. Because she would not work on Sunday, she received no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully moved by God's love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people. She was always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On the advice of a priest, she stole away one night and began a two-hundred-mile walking journey to a Christian Native American village at Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.
For three years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in charity and in strenuous penance. At twenty three she took a vow of virginity, an unprecedented act for a Native American woman, whose future depended on being married. She found a place in the woods where she could pray an hour a day and was accused of meeting a man there! Her dedication to virginity was instinctive: She did not know about religious life for women until she visited Montreal. Inspired by this, she and two friends wanted to start a community, but the local priest dissuaded her. She humbly accepted an "ordinary" life. She practiced extremely severe fasting as penance for the conversion of her nation. She died the afternoon before Holy Thursday. Witnesses said that her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the touch of a smile came upon her lips. She was beatified in 1980.
Excerpted from Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.
Patron: Ecologists; ecology; environment; environmentalism; environmentalists; exiles; loss of parents; people in exile; people ridiculed for their piety; World Youth Day.
Symbols: lily (a symbol of her purity); a cross (a symbol of her love of Jesus Christ); or a turtle (a symbol of her clan).
Things to Do:
St. Francis Solano
The diocese of Cordova, in Spain, was the birthplace of this Saint, who won many thousands of souls to God. From his earliest years he was characterized by a modest behavior, prudent silence, and edifying meekness.
His education was entrusted to the Jesuit Fathers, and later he entered the Order of St. Francis. Soon he excelled every one in the house in humility, obedience, fervor in prayer, and self-denial.
In 1589 he sailed for South America to preach the Gospel to the Indians in Peru. While near shore the ship struck rocks, and there was danger of drowning.
The captain hurried the officers and principal passengers into the only boat there was, and tried to induce the missionary to accompany them; but he refused to do so. Consoling the remaining passengers, he prayed fervently and alone kept up his hope in God's mercy. At last rescuers arrived and all were taken off in safety.
The missionary did not confine his ministry to Lima. He visited the forests and deserts inhabited by the Indians, and by degrees he won their trust and in this way baptized nine thousand Indians. He was then recalled to Lima, which at that time was like a godless Ninive. Francis preached to the hardened sinners, and the whole city became converted.
Finally after a painful sickness his last words being, "God be praised!" his soul departed this earth on 14 July 1610. He was declared Blessed by Pope Clement X in 1675, and canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. Saint Francis' feast is held July 24th.
Excerpted from Butler's Lives of the Saints
Patron: Argentina; Bolivia; Chile; Paraguay; Peru
Things to Do:
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin (Memorial)
Do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:31)
As he prepares to send his disciples out on their first missionary journey, Jesus breaks the news to them that they will face some hefty challenges. But he also reassures them that God is bigger than their troubles, so they dont have to be afraid. He is their Father, and like any Father, he is watching over them.
Jesus words here make it clear that God is involved with all of his creatures, even to the point of feeding birds and dressing lilies. He doesnt even mind counting hairs! So shouldnt it follow that he is intimately involved in your life as well?
When Jesus talks about counting the hairs on our heads, hes not talking about taking inventory. This is not a cold and businesslike action taken by some celestial clerk with a clipboard. Its more like a mother stroking her babys head as she cradles him. Its more like a father taking note of every one of his sons features as he follows the boys growth into manhood. So if, in the back of your mind, you are hesitant to approach God, remember how precious you are to him. You are his pride and joy, and he has wonderful plans for you.
This is the undeniable, at times unbelievable, truth at the foundation of our Christian faith: God treasures you. He cares about what keeps you up at night. He cares about the concerns in your heart. He rejoices in your successes, and he grieves over your sorrows.
So dont be afraid of the challenges or the challengers that this day will bring. Dont let fear cloud your faith. Draw near to God instead, and have faith in his care for you. If you are hurting, show him your wounds. Remember, his Son, Jesus, has wounds as well—wounds he received in order to rescue you from sin. God is your Father. He is your provider and your protector, and he is involved in your life. He may work in ways you least expect, but he will always act with your best interest at heart.
Father, nothing is too small that it escapes your notice or too big that it is beyond your power. With you at my side, what is there to fear?
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 93:1-2, 5
Odes of Solomon (Hebrew Christian text from the beginning of the 2nd century)
, No.5 (trans. J.H. Charlesworth)
"Fear not... do not be afraid"
I praise you, O Lord because I love you. O Most High, abandon me not, for you are my hope. Freely did I receive your grace, may I live by it.
My persecutors will come, but let them not see me. Let a cloud of darkness fall upon their eyes; and let an air of thick darkness obscure them. And let them have no light to see, so that they cannot seize me...
For they have devised a counsel, but it was not for them. They prepared themselves maliciously, but they were found to be impotent.
Indeed my hope is upon the Lord and I shall not fear. And because the Lord is my salvation I shall not fear. And he is as a crown upon my head, and I shall not be disturbed.
Even if everything should be shaken, I shall stand firm. And though all things visible should perish, I shall not die; Because the Lord is with me, and I with him. Hallelujah!
Daily Marriage Tip for July 14, 2018:
Even though married couples share an intimate life together, sometimes talking directly about sex can feel awkward. Learning Natural Family Planning gives you language and a daily routine to prompt those sensitive discussions.
Father Edward McIlmail, LC [Matthew 10:24-33]
Jesus said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! Therefore, do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So, do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”
Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the one constant in my life. You are my beginning and my end. I love you as my savior. I trust you as my closest companion. I hope in you as the one who will welcome me into eternal joy.
Petition: Grant me, Lord, the courage to face persecutions, great and small, for the faith.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, following you isn’t easy. Attacks can come on all sides: from family, friends, the media. I almost wish Christianity was easier, but then, it wasn’t easy for you, either. So, help me avoid complaining. Grant me strength to be daring for you.
Resolution: I will raise a delicate point with someone who needs to hear my Christian witness.
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