MEMORIAL OF SAINT DWYNWEN, RELIGIOUS

THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ JANUARY 25, 2024

FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL, APOSTLE

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 2024: In the Northern Hemisphere, beginning Thursday, January 18, 2024 and ends Thursday, January 25, 2024. Link for prayers for the entire week below.

PRAY TO PROTECT HUMAN LIFE! 9 DAYS FOR LIFE NOVENA: JANUARY 19-27, 2024
Link for 9 Days for Life Novena below.

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time!

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on January 25, 2024 on EWTN” |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 25, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 25, 2024 |

Pray “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 25, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes” | January 25, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Today’s Bible Readings: Thursday, January 25, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 117:1, 2
Gospel, Mark 16:15-18

PRAY TO PROTECT HUMAN LIFE! 9 DAYS FOR LIFE NOVENA: JANUARY 19-27, 2024

9 Days for Life is a novena for the protection of human life. Each day’s intention is accompanied by a short reflection and suggested actions to help build a culture of life. Link for 9 Days for Life: January 19-27, 2024: https://www.respectlife.org/9-days-for-life

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 2024: In the Northern Hemisphere, Thursday, January 18, 2024 and ends Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Today is day Eight and the last day of the week of prayer for Christian Unity, which is celebrated around the world from January 18th – 25th. As we conclude this year’s week of prayer for Christian Unity with focus on Christians in the Northern Hemisphere, we join our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world as we continue to pray for peace, love, justice and unity in our divided and conflicted world so we can better build God’s Kingdom here on earth. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, look down with pity upon us and keep us all united in love and faith, so that we may all be truly one in Christ…Amen🙏

The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2024: “You shall love the Lord your God… and your neighbor as yourself” ~ Luke 10:27

WPCU 2024 Daily Readings: Link for prayers for the entire week: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024 | USCCB | https://www.usccb.org/committees/ecumenical-interreligious-affairs/week-prayer-christian-unity-2024

The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2024 was selected by the Pontifical Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, the World Council of Churches, and the Christian Churches in Burkina Faso, coordinated by the community of Chemin Neuf, a French Catholic and ecumenical community of vowed and lay people and its local community in Burkina Faso.

The theme, taken from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, reflects the connection between love of God and love of neighbor with a particular concern for challenging the boundaries of who is considered “neighbor”. In this pericope, Jesus is questioned as to the path to eternal life. His answer is not to only observe the commandments, but to also imitate the love of God in the giving of self for another. It is a call for charity, mercy, justice, and unity.

LET US PRAY: We pray, O gracious Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that we all may be one as you are one. In your community of complete unity, we have our beginning and our end. To you we pray, asking for the gift of visible unity among all who believe in your Christ. As we commemorate this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we are reminded by your Word that all human beings are our neighbors and that we are to love them like ourselves and in the same way we love you. Help us to overcome the barriers and divisions we have nurtured against your will. Grant to us, O Lord, a new Spirit of love and solidarity, that we may proclaim your good news to all of creation. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirt are one God, for ever and ever. Amen 🙏

DAY 8: “GO AND DO LIKEWISE”

Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Lk 10:37)

SCRIPTURE READINGS:
Romans 12:9-13
Psalm 41:1-2

MEDITATION: Through these words – “Go and do like- wise.” – Jesus sends each of us, and each of our churches, to live out his commandment to love. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, we are sent out to be “other Christs”, reaching out to suffering humanity in compassion and mercy. Like the Good Samaritan towards the injured man, we can choose not to reject those who are different, but instead cultivate a culture of proximity and goodwill. How does Jesus’ invitation to “Go and do likewise” speak to my life? What does this call of Christ imply for my relationships with members of other churches? How can we charitably bear witness together to God’s love? As ambassadors for Christ (cf. 2 Cor 5:20), we are called to be reconciled to God and to one another, for fellowship to take root and grow in our churches and in areas affected by inter-communal conflict, such as in Burkina Faso. As mutual trust and confidence increase, we will become more willing to reveal our wounds, including ecclesial wounds, that Christ’s love may visit and heal us through each other’s love and care.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, who makes us more open to each other, resolves conflict, and strengthens our bonds of communion. May we grow in mutual affection and in the desire to announce the Gospel message more faithfully, that the world may come together in unity and welcome the Prince of Peace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen 🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF JANUARY – MONTH OF THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS: The month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. After the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit, the Angel Gabriel appeared to St. Joseph and told him that the Child’s name should be called Jesus, meaning “God Saves.” According to Jewish law, on the 8th day after his birth a male child was to be circumcised, receive his name, and become a full member of God’s covenant people. According to the old Roman liturgical calendar, the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus was celebrated on January 1st, eight days after Christmas, the same day that He was given His sacred name. Currently we celebrate the Solemnity of the Mother of God on January 1st and honor the Holy Name of Jesus on January 3rd. For Catholics, Jesus’ sacred name is the object of a special devotion symbolized by the monogram “IHS,” (sometimes called a Christogram), which is the first three letters of the Greek spelling of His name.

On this special feast day, as we complete the week of prayer for Christian Unity, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we particularly pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the first memorial anniversary of his death. We pray for the repose of his gentle soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May the gentle soul of Pope Benedict XVI and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

Please let us continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏

A PRAYER FOR PEACE: Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true King of peace. In You alone is found freedom. Please free our world from conflict. Bring unity to troubled nations. Let Your glorious peace reign in every heart. Dispel all darkness and evil. Protect the dignity of every human life. Replace hatred with Your love. Give wisdom to world leaders. Free them from selfish ambition. Eliminate all violence and war. Glorious Virgin Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel, Every Angel and Saint: Please pray for peace. Pray for unity amongst nations. Pray for unity amongst all people. Pray for the most vulnerable. Pray for those suffering. Pray for the fearful. Pray for those most in need. Pray for us all. Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear our prayers. Jesus, I trust in You! Amen 🙏

Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

SAINTS OF THE DAY: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle. We celebrate that extraordinary moment in the life of St. Paul when he was transformed from a fierce persecutor of the church to its great Apostle to the Gentiles. On this day, we also celebrate the Memorial of Saint Dwynwen, Religious.

THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL, APOSTLE: St. Paul, originally named Saul at his circumcision, a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, was born at Tarsus, the capitol of Cilicia. He was a Roman citizen from birth. He was brought up as a strict Jew, and later became a violent persecutor of the Christians. As he was “a young man” at the stoning of St. Stephen and “an old man” when writing to Philemon, about the year 63, he was probably born around the beginning of the Christian era. To complete his schooling, St. Paul was sent to  Jerusalem, where he sat at the feet of the learned Gamaliel and was educated in the strict observance of the ancestral Law. Here he also acquired a good knowledge of exegesis and was trained in the practice of disputation. As a zealous Pharisee, he returned to Tarsus before the Public Life of Christ opened in Palestine. Some time after the death of our Lord, St. Paul returned to Palestine. His profound conviction and emotional character made his zeal develop into a religious fanaticism against the infant Church. He took part in the stoning of the First Martyr, St. Stephen, and in the fierce persecution of the Christian that followed.

In the fury of his zeal, he appealed to the high priest and Sanhedrin for a commission to take up all Jews at Damascus who confessed Jesus Christ, and bring them bound to Jerusalem, that they might serve as public examples to incite terror into others. But God was pleased to show forth in Saul his patience and mercy: Saul was almost at the end of his journey to Damascus, when, around noon, he and his company were surrounded by a great light from heaven, and fell to the ground and was struck blind. Then Saul heard a voice, which to him was articulate and distinct, but not understood by the rest: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul answered: “Who art thou, Lord?” Christ said: “Jesus of Nazarene whom you are persecuting.(Acts 22:7-8). There was a Christian of distinction in Damascus, Ananias, greatly respected by the Jews for his irreproachable life and great virtue. Christ appeared to this holy disciple, and commanded him to go to Saul, who was at that moment in the house of Judas at prayer. Ananias trembled at the name of Saul, being familiar with the misdeeds he had done in Jerusalem and the errand for which he set out to Damascus. But our Redeemer overruled his fears, and charged him a second time to go, saying: “Go, for he is a vessel of election to carry my name before Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: and I will show him how much he has to suffer for my name. For tribulation is the test and portion of all the true servants of Christ.” Thus a blasphemer and a fierce persecutor was immediately transformed and converted to the Christian Faith. He was baptized, changed his name from Saul to Paul, and became an Apostle. God then used St. Paul and his zeal to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially to the Gentiles. He began travelling and preaching the Faith. He was chosen to be one of the principal instruments of God in the conversion of the world. He made three missionary journeys which brought him to the great centers of Asia Minor and southern Europe, and made many converts. Fourteen of his Epistles are found in the New Testament.

St. Paul was martyred in Rome by beheading in about the year 65 A.D., and his relics are in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls near the Ostian Way. Pope Innocent III commanded this feast  to be observed with great solemnity. He’s Patron Saint: Against snakes; authors; Cursillo movement; evangelists; hailstorms; hospital public relations; journalists; lay people; missionary bishops; musicians; poisonous snakes; public relations personnel; public relations work; publishers; reporters; rope braiders; rope makers; saddlemakers; saddlers; snake bites; tent makers; writers; Malta; Rome; Poznan, Poland; newspaper editorial staff Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Diocese of Covington, Kentucky; Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama; Diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada; Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island; Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts.

PRAYER: Lord God, You taught the whole world through the preaching of the Apostle St. Paul. As we celebrate his Conversion grant that, following his example, we may be witnesses to Your truth in this world. Amen🙏

SAINT DWYNWEN, RELIGIOUS: St. Dwynwen translated means ‘she who leads a blessed life’. St. Dwynwen lived during the 5th century and was a princess from Anglesey in Wales, the beautiful and virtuous daughter of King Brychan Brycheiniog. Legend has it that she was one of the prettiest of Brychan Brycheiniog’s 24 daughters. According to legend she fell in love with a young Prince called Maelon Dafodrill, but unfortunately her father had already arranged that she should marry someone else. St. Dwynwen was so upset that she could not marry Maelon that she begged God to make her forget him. She refused to marry due to her piety and desire for the religious life. She prayed that her desire for marriage would be removed, and that God would give happiness to all lovers. After falling asleep, St. Dwynwen was visited by an angel, who appeared carrying a sweet potion designed to erase all memory of Maelon and turn him into a block of ice. God then gave three wishes to St. Dwynwen. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed; her second that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers; and third, that she should never marry. All three were fulfilled, and as a mark of her thanks, St. Dwynwen devoted herself to God’s service for the rest of her life.

St. Dwynwen became consecrated to God as a nun and founded a convent on Llanddwyn Island, off the west coast of Anglesey. Her church and its ‘holy well’ named after her became a pilgrimage shrine after her death in 465AD from the Middle Ages down to today, especially for lovers. Visitors to the well believed that the sacred fish or eels that lived in the well could foretell whether or not their relationship would be happy and whether love and happiness would be theirs. Remains of Dwynwen’s church can still be seen today. The popularity and celebration of St Dwynwen’s Day has increased considerably in recent years. St Dwynwen is the Welsh Patron Saint of lovers, which makes her the Welsh equivalent of St Valentine.

PRAYER TO SAINT DWYNWEN: Oh Blessed St. Dwynwen, you who knew pain and peace, division and reconciliation. You have promised to aid lovers and you watch over those whose hearts have been broken. As you received three boons from an Angel, intercede for me to receive 3 blessings to obtain my heart’s desire (state request) and if that is not God’s will, a speedy healing from my pain; your guidance and assistance that I may find love with the right person, at the right time, and in a right way; and an unshakeable faith in the boundless kindness and wisdom of God and this I ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 🙏

St. Dwynwen, we beseech thee, comfort lovers whose vision is unclear. Send mending to those with love lost. Protect companions. In your name we seek to do the same. In your name we choose love first. With the love of you, Mary and of Jesus Christ. Amen🙏

PRAYER INTENTIONS: We thank God for blessing us all with the gift of His precious son, may we be saved by the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! May the Lord grant us His grace as we continue to serve Him in spirit and in truth. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady Queen of Peace and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for peace, love and unity in our families, our marriages and our divided and conflicted world. We continue to pray for the safety and protection of all Unborn Children from conception to natural death and all expectant mothers. Every life is a gift. We continue to pray for the sick and dying, especially sick children, those who are mentally and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. May God restore them to good health and grant them His Divine healing and intervention. May our Mother Mary comfort them, may the Angels and Saints watch over them and may the Holy Spirit guide them in peace and comfort during this challenging time. We pray for an end to wars, political and religious unrest. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for torture victims, the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable in our communities and around the world. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and for all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. We pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world… Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Mark 16:15-18

“Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation”

“Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Our Lord Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples to go forth to the world and proclaim the Good News, He has called on many to follow Him and to be His witnesses, so that many more people may come to believe in Him as well. He calls on all of us to embrace His truth and to show that same truth to others by our own life and dedication. Just as in today’s first reading, St. Paul had committed himself and his life to follow the Lord in this way, in giving his life to serve the Lord and abandoning all the prospects and good life he once had earlier on. He became one of the Lord’s greatest champions and defenders instead of a persecutor. This Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul marks that moment when even such a great sinner and enemy of the Lord and His people could turn away from his wrong path and walk in the path of God’s righteousness. The example of St. Paul the Apostle and his conversion is a classic and very good example that no sinner is truly beyond God’s help and grace, as long as the sinner is willing to make amends and listen to the Lord calling on him or her, and turn back towards Him.

St. Paul in our first reading today, says that before Christ appeared to him he was zealous for God, ‘full of duty towards God’. Yet, this duty towards God expressed itself in a very destructive way. He persecuted a new movement within Judaism that had come to be called the ‘Way’ and, eventually, came to be known as Christianity. It was the appearance of the risen Lord to St. Paul and the Lord’s question, ‘Why do you persecute me?’ that stopped St. Paul in his tracks. From that moment on, he remained full of duty towards the God of Israel, but it found expression in a very different way. Rather than persecuting those whose beliefs were different to his, he proclaimed the good news of God’s unconditional love for all humanity, revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. In the words of today’s Gospel reading, he went on to proclaim this good news to all creation. As he would write in his letter to the church in Rome, the heart of this good news is nothing ‘in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’. St. Paul speaks in the first reading of this encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus as an experience of light, ‘a bright light from heaven suddenly shone round me’. He came to see God in a new way. His eyes were opened to the good news that the love in God’s heart was boundless, and in the light of that love he came to see that the love in his own heart had been very narrowly focused, restricted to those who thought and lived like himself. St. Paul’s relationship with God deepened as a result of what happened near Damascus and, as a result, he began to relate to others in the way God relates to them, in the way Jesus related to others during His public ministry and continues to relate to us as risen Lord. St. Paul’s experience teaches us that the more we grow in our relationship with God the Father and His Son Jesus, the more expansive our heart will become and the broader our horizon will become. As we open ourselves more fully to God as God really is, to God as Love, then we will relate to others in ways that bring people together in all their diversity. We will no longer feel threatened by those who are different from us but we will open ourselves to what God can teach us through them, while sharing with them the treasure of the Gospel that brings joy to our lives.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures on this special Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle all of us are reminded that we are all also called by the Lord for the same purpose and mission in our own lives. Each and every one of us as members of the Church are parts of the Church’s works and missions in proclaiming the truth of God and evangelising the whole world. All of us are successors of the works entrusted by the Lord to His Apostles and disciples, the missions that the Lord entrusted to His Church. The works of St. Paul and the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord are still aplenty and ongoing, as there are ever more people out there who have not yet known the Lord and His truth. St. Paul the Apostle showed us the way forward in life, in how we should commit ourselves to God’s mission and works. Let us all therefore strive to renew our faith and lives by our humble obedience to the Lord and the willingness to change ourselves by listening to God’s will and words. Let us all be growing ever stronger in our faith and relationship with the Lord in the way that St. Paul had done himself. Let us be converted in life and draw ever closer to the Lord, and be good role models in our lives and actions, that we may inspire many others to live worthily of the Lord. Let us trust in God’s love that is so great that not even the greatest of sinners are beyond God’s mercy and forgiveness. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to grow in our understanding of God and God’s will for our lives, so that our own zeal for God is directed in a way that really does serve God’s purpose for our world. May God continue to strengthen our faith and may He bless us in our everyday lives and actions. May God bless us in our every endeavours, efforts and good works for His greater glory, now and always. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

Lord, I do love You and desire to be used by You in the way that You choose. Help me to convert my heart more fully to You so that I can be led by Your gentle and powerful hand. I accept whatever mission You give to me and pray that my life will give You true glory and further Your glorious Kingdom on earth. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Mother Mary, Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Dwynwen ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this new year and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all as we begin this Ordinary Time. Wishing all of us a most blessed, safe, healthy, prosperous and grace-filled New Year. Have a blessed and fruitful week~ Amen🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖