THE MEMORIAL OF SAINT ANGELA MERICI, VIRGIN

THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ JANUARY 27, 2024

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

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

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 27, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on January 27, 2024 on EWTN” |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 27, 2024 |

Pray “Chaplet of the Divine Mercy from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | January 27, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes” | January 27, 2024 |

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Saturday, January 27, 2024
Reading 1, Second Samuel 12:1-7, 10-17
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 51:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Gospel, Mark 4:35-41

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

Today concludes our 9 Days 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. May civic leaders work for the protection of all human life, in every stage and circumstance. Amen🙏
Link for 9 Days for Life: January 19-27, 2024 – https://www.respectlife.org/9-days-for-life
9 Days for Life Novena: http://www.9daysforlife.com/ Every life is a gift!

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 and 9
Days Novena for the protection of human life, 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 Memorial of Saint Angela Merici, Virgin.

SAINT ANGELA MERICI, VIRGIN: St Angela (1474 – 1540) was an Italian religious educator, born on March 21, 1474 at Desenzano on the shore of Lake Garda, Italy, Province of Brescia. Early in life she dedicated herself to Christ as His bride. Her parents died when she was ten, and soon afterwards she lost her sister with whom she was very close. St. Angela went to live with her uncle, and, despite lacking a formal education, she grew in wisdom and virtue. St. Angela was worried because her sister had died without receiving the last sacraments. She was consoled by a vision in which she saw her sister radiantly happy in the company of the Blessed Virgin and the other saints. In gratitude, Angela consecrated herself more completely to God. She committed herself to prayer, penance, and serving the poor, eventually joining the Third Order of St. Francis at the age of fifteen. When her uncle died she returned to her home, and, seeing a great need for the education of young girls in the Christian faith, began a school for girls in her house. She daily gathered all the little girls of her village and taught them the faith. St. Angela became known for her holiness, and soon she was invited to establish another school in a neighboring town.

St. Angela visited many shrines in Italy, but the great ambition of her life was to visit the Holy Land. St. Angela Merici was happy in 1524 when she was able to join a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The travelers stopped at Canea on the island of Crete. Here Angela suddenly became blind. She insisted on continuing the pilgrimage and visited the holy places with great devotion, “seeing” through the eyes of the others. She was happy to bear her cross along the way made holy by the cross of her Redeemer. On the return voyage the pilgrims again visited Crete. Angela suddenly recovered her sight at the very place where she had lost it. The year 1525 was a Holy Year, and Angela went to Rome to gain the special indulgences. She had an interview with Pope Clement VII who wished her to stay in Rome and do her work there. But Angela preferred to return to Brescia where she had established herself in two small rooms attached to the church of St. Afra, and the pope respected her wishes.

One day while in prayer she received a vision, in the vision God revealed to her that she would establish a “company” to promote the welfare of souls. That vision was realized when at Desenzano she established a school for the instruction of young girls and a second school at Brescia. She gathered around her twelve religious companions and founded the Order of Ursulines in 1535 at Brescia, under the protection and patronage of St. Ursula, the first teaching order for women approved by the Church. From this organisation later sprang the monastic Order of Ursulines, whose nuns established places of prayer and learning throughout Europe and, later, worldwide, most notably in North America. St. Angela was of a reflective bent and possibly the first to grasp the changed role of women in the society transformed by the Renaissance. She envisaged that those who joined her would remain in the world but devote themselves to every type of corporal and spiritual work of mercy, with special emphasis on education. However, St. Angela’s idea of education was very different from that of a convent school. She preferred to send her followers to teach girls in their own families. Through this she hoped to effect an improvement in social conditions. For it was her belief that “disorder in society is the result of disorder of the family.” Her idea of a religious order of women without distinctive habit and without solemn vows and enclosure was also in advance of her times—although her Order was obliged to adopt the canonical safeguards then required of all nuns. On November 25, 1535, the solemn canonical institution of the company of St. Ursula took place in the Oratory of the Piazza del Duomo. As a patron, St. Angela chose St. Ursula because ever since her martyrdom St. Ursula was regarded as the ideal type of Christian virginity.

St. Angela died on January 27, 1540 at the age of 65 at Brescia, Republic of Venice; her body remained incorrupt for thirty days. Remarkable phenomena occurred at her burial in the Church of St. Afra. In the year of Angela’s death in1540, it was estimated that at least half the town of Brescia was Lutheran of Calvinist. However, the schools of the Ursulines did their share in strengthening and extending Catholicism and in safeguarding Italy from what is now termed “modern unbelief.” She was Beatified on April 30, 1768, Rome, Papal States by Pope Clement XIII and Canonized on May 24, 1807, Rome, Papal States by Pope Pius VII. St. Angela is the Patron Saint of: Bodily ills; disabled people; handicapped people; illness; loss of parents; physically challenged people; sick people; sickness, courage, strength and determination. Her feast day is January 27.

“Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.” ~ St. Angela Merici

PRAYER: Lord, let St. Angela never cease commending us to Your kindness. By always imitating her charity and prudence may we succeed in keeping Your teaching and preserving good morals. 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, Saturday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel R eading ~ Mark 4:35-41

“‘ Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm”

“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

“On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to His disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as He was. And other boats were with Him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet!  Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then He asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

In our Gospel reading today, our Lord Jesus miraculously calmed the storm and the waves before His disciples at the Lake of Galilee. At that time, He and His disciples were travelling on a boat at the lake, and they were all struck by a great storm that threatened to sink the whole boat. In that occasion, the Lord was sleeping while the disciples were panicking and worried that those waves would crush and destroy their boat, which would have likely caused them to drown to their deaths in the middle of the stormy seas. They desperately begged the Lord for help and asked Him to help them, and the Lord rebuked them for their lack of faith and trust in Him. The Lord Jesus then showed His power and authority by commanding the wind and the waves to be still, and immediately the entire storm vanished miraculously to the total astonishment of all the disciples who witnessed it. According to the Gospel reading, the boat represented the Church of God, while the disciples all represented all the faithful people of God, all of us who are part of God’s Church. The Lord Himself is at the Head of the Church, guiding the boat to its safe destination, just as He has always led us through the many difficulties and challenges facing us in our journey throughout life. Those storms and waves represented the many challenges, trials and obstacles that we will have to face as members and parts of God’s Church, which may indeed tempt us to abandon everything and the Church, seeking for other sources of help rather than to trust in the Lord. As we are all travelling through that stormy seas, which represents the turbulent world that we are living in today. God is with us, journeying with us and leading us to the right path. We have nothing to fear if only we can trust in Him wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, more often than not, we do not trust in God enough, and we put our trust more in our own power, abilities, strength and manner of dealing with situations we encounter. We are all reminded that no matter how tough or difficult our battles and challenges may be, we must not be easily swayed, dissuaded or forced to abandon our path walking with faith in God. We must entrust ourselves in God’s love and guidance, which He has always faithfully given to us all these while, from the examples that we have heard from our Scripture reading today. 

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Samuel, King David of Israel, the legendary and great king of Israel who managed to win many victories for God’s people and make the kingdom truly prosperous, who was faithful to God, but in this case, he lapsed into the path of sin. That was because of his lust for the wife of his own army commander, Uriah, whose wife, Bathsheba, was truly beautiful and attractive. David saw Bathsheba and was tempted by the temptation of lust and worldly desires, and hence, he ended up plotting the death of Uriah by his machinations, and took Bathsheba as his own wife. This was a truly wicked action on David’s part, and was a grievous sin against God. For in order to obtain for himself a beautiful woman as a wife, and despite the fact that this woman was already married, David caused the death of another person, and seized that woman for himself. Therefore, God punished David and told him of the consequences of his actions through the prophet Nathan, who guided David at that time. God chastised David for the wicked deeds he had done, reminding him that while he may be king, but it is not right for him to take what did not belong to him for himself as what he had done in taking Bathsheba as his own wife. David’s lust and desire for the beauty of Bathsheba became the source of his undoing. But David was repentant, and unlike Saul, his predecessor, who continued to disobey God and followed the whim of his own desires, David continued to follow the path of the Lord, and he genuinely repented and regretted his sinful ways, such as the one he experienced with Bathsheba. God forgave David and continued to bless and guide him as the King of Israel, and not only that, but one of David’s sons by Bathsheba, Solomon, was made the rightful heir and King after David, as a clear sign that God has forgiven David and blessed his reign and that of his house. This is in fact a good reminder that the Lord did not hate any one of us or despise us, but rather, what He despises is our disobedience, wickedness and sins. By his repentance and genuine regret of his sins, David had been redeemed and returned to the state of grace.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us must always put our faith and trust in the Lord at all times, and we should not allow the pressures, trials and temptations of this world from leading us astray into the path towards our damnation. As we heard in our Scripture readings today, it is easy for us to end up in the wrong path, and to be swayed by the various storms, trials and hardships of life, if we do not have that firm anchor of faith in the Lord, and if we do not centre and focus our lives upon Him. Let us all therefore do our best in each and every moments of our lives so that by our commitment and efforts, in each and every moments of our lives, we may come ever closer to the Lord and to His salvation and grace. Let us all remind ourselves to place our focus ever more on Him, and resist the many temptations present all around us. Let us all not be easily swayed by the worldly pressures, coercions and temptations, and stay faithful to God at all times. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace and bless our every good works and efforts, and may He grant us His grace in all things, in all that we do and act at every moment, now and forevermore. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My sleeping Lord, help me to always place all my trust in You, no matter what the circumstances are in my life at every moment. Strengthen my faith, especially during those times when I face challenges and temptations. May I never doubt that You are there with me, leading me and keeping me close to Your merciful Heart. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Mother Mary, Saint Angela Merici ~ 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 and relaxing weekend ~ Amen🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖