THE EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 30, 2024
SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST [FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI] – JUNE 2, 2024
[Thursday after Holy Trinity or, where this is not a holy day of obligation, on the following Sunday. In the United States it is always transferred to the Sunday after the Most Holy Trinity. May 30, 2024 (Where celebrated Thursday). June 2, 2024 (Where transferred to Sunday)]
NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART: Novena dates: May 29 – June 6, 2024
June 7, 2024: Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (Novena link below)
Greetings beloved family and Happy Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time!
We pray for the safety and well-being of our children, youths, students and children all over the world. With special intention for all students graduating this year. May God continue to grant them all wisdom, knowledge and understanding and may He empower them as they walk into the future with faith, hope, and love guided by the Holy Spirit through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary. Amen🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary | EWTN on YouTube | May 30, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 30, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | May 30, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 30, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | May 30, 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: Thursday, May 30, 2024
Reading 1, 1 Peter 2:2-5, 9-12
Responsorial Psalm, Psalm, 100:2, 3, 4, 5
Gospel, Mark 10:46-52
NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART: Novena dates: May 29 – June 6, 2024
June 7, 2024: Solemnity of the Sacred Heart | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-prayer-to-the-sacred-heart-311
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOAN OF ARC, VIRGIN AND SAINT DYMPHNA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: MAY 30TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Joan of Arc, Virgin and Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of all those in the military, for captives and those in prison. We pray for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world. We also pray for the sick and dying especially those suffering from cancer and and those with mental illness. We pray for the poor and the needy 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 JOAN OF ARC, VIRGIN: St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431), nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans; La Pucelle,” was born in 1412, at the obscure village of Domrémy-la-Pucelle, France, near the province of Lorraine during the Hundred Years War between France and England. St. Joan was a daughter of poor pious tenant farmers Jacques d’ Arc and his wife, Isabelle Romée. St. Joan learned piety and domestic skills from her mother. Never venturing far from home, St. Joan took care of the animals and became quite skilled as a seamstress. She was a pious child, and from age 13 she received visions of saints, most notably St. Michael the Archangel, St. Margaret of Antioch, and St. Catherine of Alexandria, who became her special Patrons. Through these visions, voices, and other interior promptings, St. Joan understood that she was to go help the King of France regain his throne and reconquer his kingdom from the invading forces of England and Burgundy. In 1428, she traveled to Vaucouleurs and requested to be taken to Charles. Her request to see the king was rejected twice, but she was finally given an escort to meet Charles at Chinon. After their interview, overcoming her own reluctance, and oppositions and convincing members of the court, the military and the Church ecclesiastical authorities, Charles sent St. Joan to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief army, she was given a small army. She arrived at the city on April 29, 1429, and quickly gained prominence during the fighting. She heroically led the French army in battle. She charged into battle bearing a banner which bore the names “Jesus” and “Mary” as well as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. A national heroine of France, at age 17 Joan of Arc led the French army to victory over the English at Orléans. Due to her leadership and trust in God, she was able to raise the siege of Orleans on May 8, 1429. St. Joan and her army went on to win a series of battles, they fought to drive the English out of France and recaptured Orleans and Troyes. Because of her efforts, the king was able to enter Rheims, which allowed Charles VII to be restored to the throne of France, as the French king. He was crowned with St. Joan at his side. All the while she wore the dress of a soldier to protect her virtue and modesty.
The following year, as St. Joan was attempting to relieve Compiegne, she was eventually captured by the forces of Burgundy in May of 1430. When her own king and army did nothing to save her, she was sold to the English. She was imprisoned for a time and then placed on trial under accusation of heresy and witchcraft. Bishop Peter Cauchon of Beauvais presided over her trial. His hope was that in being harsh with St. Joan, the English would help him become archbishop. She was treated unjustly and illegally during her captivity, and her trial became a circus. On May 29, 1431, the tribunal announced St. Joan of Arc was guilty of heresy. On the morning of May 30th, under political pressure she was condemned to death on counts of heresy, witchcraft, and adultery, even though she proved herself to be blameless and fearless in character and faith. She was taken to the marketplace in Rouen, France and burned alive at the stake, before an estimated crowd of 10,000 people. As she burned she kept her eyes on a crucifix and repeatedly called on the name of Jesus. She was 19 years old when she died on May 30, 1431. One legend surrounding the event tells of how her heart survived the fire unaffected. Her ashes were gathered and scattered in the Seine. A second Church trial twenty-five years later nullified the earlier verdict and found her innocent of all charges, paving the way for her veneration as a saint. St. Joan of Arc was Beatified on April 18, 1909, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome by Pope Pius X and Canonized as a Roman Catholic saint more than 500 years after her death, on May 16, 1920, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome by Pope Benedict XV. In 1456, twenty five years after her death, Pope Callixtus III authorized an inquisitorial court to investigate the original trial. The court nullified the trial’s verdict, declaring it was tainted by deceit and procedural errors, and Joan was exonerated. Since her death, Joan has been popularly revered as a martyr. After the French Revolution she became a national symbol of France. St. Joan was declared a secondary patron saint of France in 1922. She is the Patron Saint of France; martyrs; captives; rape victims; military personnel; people ridiculed for their piety; prisoners; soldiers; women who have served in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service); and Women’s Army Corps. Her feast day is May 30th.
QUOTES OF ST. JOAN OF ARC, VIRGIN
☆“About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know, that they are just one thing
and we shouldn’t complicate the matter.”
☆“If I be not in a state of grace, I pray God place me in it, if I be in it, I pray God keep me so.”
PRAYER: God, You chose St. Joan, Your virgin, to defend her country against its invader. Through her intercession enable us to work for justice and to live in peace… Amen🙏
Saint Joan of Arc, Virgin ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT DYMPHNA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR: St. Dymphna was born in the 7th or 9th century. Her father, Damon, an Irish chieftain of great wealth and power, was a pagan. Her mother was a very beautiful and devout Christian. St. Dymphna was raised as a Christian, and she consecrated her virginity to Christ at a young age. St. Dymphna was fourteen when her mother died. St. Dymphna’s father loved his wife deeply. When her mother died, Dymphna’s father was so overcome with grief that he became mentally unstable. He sent messengers throughout his own and other lands to find some woman of noble birth, resembling his wife, who would be willing to marry him. When none could be found with equal character and beauty to his first wife, his evil advisere told him to marry his own daughter. He attempted to marry Dymphna due to her close resemblance to her mother. Upon learning of her father’s wicked plan and incestuous interest, Dymphna fled across the sea into Belgium along with her tutor and confessor, Father Gerebernus and two companions. They then built an oratory at Gheel where they lived as hermits. Her father pursued them and eventually discovered their location by tracing the foreign money they used along the way. St. Dymphna’s father search led to Belgium. There an innkeeper refused to accept his money, knowing it was difficult to exchange. This told Damon that his daughter was close – it would be unusual for a village innkeeper to know a lot about foreign currency, and his knowledge indicated that had recently seen it. The king concentrated his search in the area. Tracked down by Dymphna’s father, he found them in Gheel, the two companions and the priest, Fr. Gerebernus were murdered by his men, and Dymphna was beheaded by her father when she refused his plea to return with him to Ireland to be his wife. He cut off her head in a mad rage. She was then only fifteen years of age. St. Dymphna received the crown of martyrdom in defense of her purity.
Many miracles have taken place at her shrine, the Church built on the spot where she was buried in Gheel, Belgium, near Antwerp. There have been numerous accounts of those afflicted with epilepsy and mental illness visiting her tomb and receiving miraculous cures through her intercession. Because of this, St. Dympha is the Patron Saint of those suffering from nervous and mental affections; neurological disorders and illnesses, as well as of mental health professionals; against sleepwalking; against epilepsy; against insanity; family happiness; incest victims; loss of parents; martyrs; mental asylums; mental health caregivers; mental hospitals; mentally ill people; nervous disorders; possessed people; princesses; psychiatrists; rape victims; runaways; sleepwalkers; therapists. There is now a well-known institution on the site, and her relics are reported to cure insanity and epilepsy.
PRAYER IN HONOR OF ST. DYMPHNA: Lord Jesus Christ, You have willed that St. Dymphna should be invoked by thousands of clients as the patroness of nervous and mental disease and have brought it about that her interest in these patients should be an inspiration to and an ideal of charity throughout the world. Grant that, through the prayers of this youthful martyr of purity, those who suffer from nervous and mental illness everywhere on earth may be helped and consoled. I recommend to You in particular, (name). Be pleased to hear the prayer of St. Dymphna and of your Blessed Mother. Give those whom I recommend the patience to bear their affliction and resignation to do Your divine will. Give them the consolation they need and especially the cure they so much desire, if it be Your will. Through Christ, our Lord… Amen🙏
PRAYER: Hear us, O God, our Savior, as we honor St. Dymphna, Patroness of those afflicted with mental and emotional illness. Help us to be inspired by her example and comforted by her merciful help. Amen🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Thursday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Mark 10:46-52
“Master, I want to see”
“As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.” He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Bartimaeus, a blind man of Jericho after hearing that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me’. When some of the crowd around Jesus gave out to him and told him to be quiet, he only shouted out his prayer all the louder. He was determined to make contact with Jesus and would not succumb to the pressure of others to hold his tongue. It is not always easy to bear witness to our faith in Jesus in today’s world. Like the blind man by the roadside in today’s Gospel reading, we can feel a certain pressure to keep quiet, to become invisible with regard to our faith in the Lord. Yet, this tenacious man encourages us to keep the Lord in view, regardless of the pressure to do otherwise. In the gospel reading, Jesus’ response to the man was very different to the crowd’s response to him. They wanted to silence him. In contrast, Jesus asked the very people who were trying to silence the man to call him over. In the midst of the hostility towards him, the Lord called him. In a similar way, the Lord keeps calling out to us even in those contexts that are not supportive of our relationship with Him. If we try to respond to the Lord’s call as generously as Bartimaeus did, the Lord will be as generous with us as He was with him.
Our first reading today is the continuation of the exhortations of St. Peter the Apostle in his Epistle to the faithful people of God in which he reminded each and every one of them that they are all God’s holy and chosen people, and therefore, every one of them ought to live their lives worthily in accordance with the way and path of the Lord, because He has given us all His beloved Son, to be our Saviour, to deliver us all from the destruction because we truly belong to the Lord, as His holy people, consecrated and dedicated to Him. Through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, we have been reconciled with God our loving Father and Creator, and through this, we have been called and chosen to be His flock and people. Because of this, as we have all been made to be God’s people, His possessions and belongings, therefore, we must truly be holy just as He is all holy and perfect. Once we have been sundered and separated from God because of our sins, born of our disobedience and disregard for God’s Law and His ways, as we followed instead the whims and the temptations of our desires, and the pleasures of the world. This was why we have been lost to God and had to suffer and wander in this world because of our rebelliousness and stubborn disobedience. But God has always loved us and He wanted us all to follow Him regardless, reaching out to us with His ever patient and enduring love. He wants us all to be healed and fully reconciled with Him, to be holy and worthy once again, to be worthy in His Presence once again. We must always endeavour and put the effort to resist the temptations of sin and evil, and to do what is right and just in all things.
As we reflect on the words from the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that we have been so fortunate to have been called and chosen by God, to be so beloved by Him that we receive such great graces and love that He had made manifest to us through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Through Him we have all received the assurance of God’s salvation and grace, the light of His hope and truth, which He has revealed to us all. All of us as the holy people of God are called and expected to live a life that is truly righteous, full of virtue and worthy of the Lord, so that we are not merely just believers in the name only but also in our every words, actions and deeds, in our whole lives and in our way of interacting with one another. Let us all therefore as Christians, as God’s holy, chosen and beloved people continue to follow the Lord and His path, doing whatever we can in each and every moments so that our whole lives may truly be righteous, just and worthy of the Lord. Each and every one of us should always continue to strive for the kingdom of God, in doing what we can for the greater glory of God. We should not be idle in the living of our faith, but we must instead commit ourselves ever more, each day, to do what God has called us to do, to be ever more faithful in all things, to be holy just as He is all holy and perfect, and to rid ourselves of the sins and wickedness of our past. May the Lord continue to watch over us all in our respective journeys and paths in life, so that in everything that we say and do, we will continue to focus ourselves and our attention on the Lord, and that we will always do whatever we can so that we may be good role models and examples, inspiration and strength for each other. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and bless us all in our every endeavours, our efforts and works, in each and every moments of our lives. 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 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
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 merciful Jesus, You are constantly passing by, drawing me to Yourself by Your divine presence. Give me the grace I need in order to see my need and to call out to You with all my heart. May I never be deterred from this fervent prayer, dear Lord, and when temptation sets in, may I call out all the more. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Joan of Arc, Virgin and Saint Dymphna, Virgin and Martyr ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of this day 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 and for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful week🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖