THE EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 28, 2024
Greetings beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time!
We pray for the safety and well-being of all those affected by the recent storms and extreme weather conditions. For the gentle repose of the souls of all those who lost their lives. May the good Lord grant them eternal rest and comfort their families. 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🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary | EWTN on YouTube | May 28, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 28, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | May 28, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 28, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 28, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Reading 1, First Peter 1:10-16
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
Gospel, Mark 10:28-31
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT GERMANUS, BISHOP OF PARIS, SAINT BERNARD OF MONTJOUX, PRIEST AND BLESSED MARGARET POLE, COUNTESS OF SALISBURY, MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 28TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Germanus, Bishop of Paris; Saint Bernard of Montjoux, Priest and Blessed Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this special feast, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, particularly pray for those who are terminally ill and for those going through difficulties especially during these incredibly challenging times, we pray for the poor and the needy and we also pray for the safety and well-being of all travelers. We pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏
SAINT GERMANUS, BISHOP OF PARIS: St. Germanus (Germain), one of the glories of France in the 6th century, was born about 496 near Autun in what is now France, to noble Gallo-Roman parents. He was known as Germain d’Autun, rendered in modern times as the “Father of the Poor”. He was renouned for his miracles which were recorded by Bishop Fortunatus. St. Germain studied at Avallon in Burgundy and at Luzy under the guidance of his cousin Scallion, who was a priest. At the age of 35, he was ordained by Agrippinus of Autun and subsequently chosen Abbot and administrator of the nearby Abbey of St. Symphorianus in one of the suburbs of Autun. He was known for his hardworking and austere nature; however, it was his generous alms-giving which caused his monks to fear that one day he would give away all the wealth of the abbey, resulting in their rebellion against him. While in Paris in 555, Sibelius, the bishop of Paris, died, and King Childebert had him consecrated as the bishop of Paris but he continued to lead his former austere life. His example and his preaching brought about the conversion of many sinners and careless Christians. The King himself abandoned his total absorption in worldly affairs, and became a benefactor of the poor and the founder of many religious establishments.
Throughout his episcopate St. Germanus remained unwearying and fearless in his endeavors to halt civil strife, curb the licentiousness of the nobles, and check the viciousness of the Frankish Kings—but to no avail. He founded a monastery in Paris in whose church he was buried after his death on May 28, 576; it went on to become very famous under the name of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. At his death, he was mourned by the people and King Chilperic, who composed the Bishop’s epitaph, extolling his virtues, miracles, and zeal for the salvation of souls.
PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Germanus as Bishop in Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Helps us through his intercession to keep the Faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen🙏
SAINT BERNARD OF MONTJOUX, PRIEST: St. Bernard of Montjoux (c. 923–1008 A.D.), also known as St. Bernard of Menthon, was born to a wealthy and noble family in the Kingdom of Arles (present day France and Switzerland) in 923, probably in the castle Menthon near Annecy, in Savoy. He received a thorough education. As an adult he refused an honorable marriage proposed by his father and decided to devote himself to the service of the Church. Placing himself under the direction of Peter, Archdeacon of Aosta, under whose guidance he rapidly progressed, St. Bernard was ordained priest in northern Italy and on account of his learning and virtue was made Archdeacon of Aosta (966), having charge of the government of the diocese under the bishop. Seeing the ignorance and idolatry still prevailing among the people of the Alps, he resolved to devote himself to their conversion. For forty two years he continued to preach the Gospel to these people and carried the light of faith even into many cantons of Lombardy, effecting numerous conversions and working many miracles.
St. Bernard spent more than four decades doing missionary work in the Alps and was the founder of the Alpine hospices of Saint Bernard. He built schools and churches, and is especially known for aiding travelers. The area where he ministered had an ancient, snowy, and dangerous pass winding through the mountains along which pilgrims traveled to and from Rome. To serve the pilgrims St. Bernard built a hospice at the highest point of the pass, 8,000 feet above sea level. Later he founded another hospice along another smaller pass. St. Bernard obtained papal approval for communities of priests to serve in the hospices, which have generously aided travnelers for more than a millennium. The priests and their well-trained dogs (the St. Bernard breed named after the saint) would seek and rescue lost pilgrims. St. Bernard is the Patron Saint of Alpinists; travelers in the mountains. mountaineers and was declared the Patron Saint of skiers and mountain climbers by Pope Pius XI in 1923.
Saint Bernard reminds us of the epistle of Saint Peter: “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever… Amen”🙏 ~1 Peter 4: 7-11
Saint Bernard of Montjoux, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏
BLESSED MARGARET POLE, COUNTESS OF SALISBURY, MARTYR: Bl. Margaret Pole (1473-1541) was born Margaret Plantagenet on August 14, 1473, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Farleigh Hungerford in Somerset, United Kingdom into the ruling dynasty. She was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence. Her father, the Duke of Clarence, was brother to both Edward IV and Richard III. This meant that all her life she was seen as a threat to the ruling monarchs, as she had a legitimate claim to the throne and was therefore a potential figurehead in any revolt against the crown. Indeed as soon as the Tudors came to power they imprisoned Bl. Margaret’s brother, the Earl of Warwick, and eventually executed him. The Tudors sought to defuse her potential threat by keeping her close to them, marrying her to Sir Richard Pole, who was related to Henry VII, and keeping her close at court. She married Sir Reginald Pole about 1487–1504 and bore five sons, including Reginald Cardinal Pole.
Bl. Margaret was widowed, named countess of Salisbury, and appointed governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII and lady in waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon, Spain, beginning a lifelong friendship. At first Henry favoured Margaret, restoring to her lost family lands and titles, but this came to an end at the time of his divorce from Catherine. Her loyalty to Catherine, and to Mary, as well as to her Catholic faith, brought her into conflict with the King at the time of his divorce and remarriage to Anne Boleyn. She opposed Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, and the king exiled her from the court, although he called her “the holiest woman in England.” If her own opposition to Henry’s behaviour, and her position as a possible contender for the throne when the Tudor dynasty was looking shaky were not enough, her son Reginald Pole was needling the King from overseas and encouraging opposition to him. When Reginald Pole, denied Henry’s Act of Supremacy, this made Bl. Margaret’s position very dangerous indeed. Although the King described her as ‘the holiest woman in England’ she was arrested on the grounds of treason, and imprisoned for some time at Cowdray in the Tower of London, United Kingdom for two years in 1538-9, although she never faced trial and there was no credible evidence against her. In spite of this she was executed by beheadinimmg on May 28, 1541, at the age of about 70. Reportedly the inexperienced executioner took ten blows to sever her head. In 1538, her oI oll her son Reginald Pole, now a cardinal, heard of his mother’s death, he is reported to have said: “Hitherto I have thought myself indebted to the divine goodness for having received my birth from one of the most noble and virtuous women in England; but from henceforth my obligation will be much greater, for I understand that I am now the son of a martyr. May God be thanked and praised. We must rejoice, because now we have one more patron to intercede for us in Heaven.” Bl. Margaret was one of just two women in 16th-century England to be a peeress in her own right without a husband in the House of Lords. Blessed Margaret Pole was beatified with other martyrs of penal times in 1886.
Blessed Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052824.cfm
Gospel Reading ~ Mark 10:28-31
“You will receive a hundred times as much persecution in this present age, and eternal life in the age to come”
“Peter began to say to Jesus, ‘We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Peter declares to Jesus, ‘We have left everything and followed you’. He spoke the truth. He and his companions had left their family and their fishing business to follow Jesus. Jesus goes on to acknowledge that Peter and the others did indeed leave their household, family and possessions for his sake. He assures them that their leaving family will open them up to an experience of a new kind of family, brothers, sisters, mothers, children in the here and now. Jesus is talking here of the family of disciples, what we have come to call the church. Most of us have not been asked by the Lord to leave our families and livelihood in order to follow Him. Yet, our following the Lord will often require some form of letting go on our part. By the standards of this age, there may appear to be a loss involved in our remaining faithful to the way of the Lord. Yet, Jesus assures us in the Gospel reading that in losing our lives for His sake we will gain something new. Our faithful follower of the Lord, even at a cost to ourselves, will open us up to an experience of a new spiritual family, the family of the church. In giving our lives to the Lord we will receive abundantly from Him in and through the community of His followers, the church. This is a community that extends beyond this life into eternal life.
In our first reading today, from the First Epistle of St. Peter, the Apostle continued with his exhortation to all the faithful people of God in the Church to remind them all of everything which God had done through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit that He had sent into the world, to strengthen all of His beloved people despite the trials and challenges that they might have to face. St. Peter also quoted the prophets of the days past, who had foretold of the coming of the Lord and His salvation in Christ, who did not know of the full details and truth, and yet longed to see the salvation and light of God. Those prophets themselves also faced a lot of hardships and struggles as we all will know well if we read through the Old Testament. St. Peter was preparing the faithful for the trials and tribulations that they might have to face and endure amidst those challenging moments, when their faith would be tested by those who seek the destruction of the Church and the Christian faith. He was telling them all not to give up on their faith and to remain true to their commitment and dedication to God, so that in everything that they say and do, they would continue to obey the Lord, following His path and being true to their Christian faith despite the challenges and trials that they might have to suffer from. This would indeed come true as the Church would face lots of hardships, persecutions and trials from not only the Jewish authorities, but also the Roman government and other organisations and figures that refused to believe in the Lord and His truth.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded of the need for us all as Christians to be always committed to God at all times, so that by our every efforts and endeavours, in our every words, actions and deeds throughout our lives, we will always be faithful to God. We are all also called to be holy as our Lord is Holy, and to be exemplary in all that we do that despite the challenges we may be facing in life, we will always inspire one another and strengthen our fellow brothers and sisters to persevere through those many challenges that we may have to face amidst those difficult moments. We are reminded that as Christians we may have to bear through difficulties and sufferings in our journey just as the Lord Himself had suffered. Let us all therefore continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord despite the difficulties and challenges that we may be facing now in our lives. Let us all remember that God Himself has sent to us His only begotten Son, Our Lord and Saviour Himself, to be with us and to suffer for our sake. He has suffered the most grievous and most painful death for our salvation, to journey together with all of us and to carry His Cross together with the crosses that we carry in our own respective lives. Let us all be ever grateful and appreciative of everything that He had done for our sake, for the salvation of our souls and the liberation from the power of sin and death. And let us all be generous in helping one another to endure these various sufferings and burdens that each one of us have to endure as well. May the Lord our most loving God and Master continue to be with us in our every efforts and endeavours, in all of our journeys and works, in everything that we do for the sake of His greater glory and for the salvation of many souls, our fellow brothers and sisters. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may He continue to strengthen us all that we may continue to be good and worthy role models in every moments of our lives, that we may truly be the worthy beacons of God’s light, truth and Good News to all the people. Amen 🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF MAY: MONTH OF OUR LADY: In addition to the myriad feast days honoring Our Lady under her many titles and virtues, the entire month of May is especially given to her praise. In the words of Pope Paul VI, May is “a month which the piety of the faithful has long dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God … For this is the month during which Christians, in their churches and their homes, offer the Virgin Mother more fervent and loving acts of homage and veneration; and it is the month in which a greater abundance of God’s merciful gifts comes down to us from our Mother’s throne.”
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF MAY – FOR THE FORMATION OF RELIGIOUS AND SEMINARIANS: We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.🙏
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have beķķen in vain. Now, Lord, come to our ajnid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏
During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, 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 🙏
On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls 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 their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… 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🙏
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
PRAYER INTENTIONS: As we begin this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, we pray for their health, safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those who have no one to care for them and those who are terminally ill, we pray for God’s Divine healing upon them. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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 Vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life. We particularly pray for all Youths and all Seminarians, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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🙏
Let us pray:
My generous Lord, You ask everything of me. You ask me to abandon everything in my pursuit of Your perfect will. Give me the grace I need to answer Your call and to live sacrificially for You without counting the cost. You are generous beyond description, dear Lord, and I trust that following You will produce an abundance of good fruit. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Germanus, Bishop of Paris; Saint Bernard of Montjoux and Blessed Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit on this special feast day of the Holy Trinity 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. Have a blessed, safe, and grace-filled and fruitful week🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖