TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 12, 2024
Greetings, beloved family and Happy Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time!
On this special feast day, with special intention we pray for all families and for the safety and well-being of our children and children all over the world. We continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Cardinals, Bishops, all Priests, that they be sanctified in their ministry to God’s people. We pray for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world suffering from political and religious unrest. May God protect us all and keep united in peace, love and faith… Amen 🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | June 12, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 12, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |June 12, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 12, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 12, 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, Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Reading 1, First Kings 18:20-39
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 16:1-2, 4, 5, 8, 11
Gospel, Matthew 5:17-19
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF POPE SAINT LEO III; SAINT GUY (VIGNOTELLI) OF CORTONA, PRIEST AND SAINT JOHN OF SAHAGUN (OR SAINT FAGONDEZ), PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 12TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Pope Saint Leo III; Saint Guy (Vignotelli) of Cortona, Priest and Saint John of Sahagun (or St. Fagondez), Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this special feast of the Holy Trinity, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, the poor and the needy. We also 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.🙏
POPE SAINT LEO III: Pope St. Leo III (d. 816 A.D.) was a Roman cardinal who was unanimously elected pope on the same day his predecessor was buried. He lived during a time of tension between the popes and emperors and their respective rights, powers, and responsibilities. Unlike his predecessor, Leo recognized Charlemagne as the protector of the See of Rome, which won him many enemies among the Roman nobility. As a result, Pope St. Leo III was attacked by a mob who cut out his eyes and tongue so that he could no longer serve in his office. He survived the attack, but was imprisoned by his attackers and deposed from his office under false accusations. Leo’s eyes and tongue were miraculously restored, and he was able to escape his captivity and flee to Charlemagne for protection. Charlemagne in turn took up the Holy Father’s cause, escorted him back to Rome, and put his enemies on trial. A few days later, at the Christmas Mass of 800 A.D., Pope St. Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor. As the Roman Pontiff, Pope St. Leo III was known for being an effective administrator and for improving the Roman churches. He also paved the way for a more unified Europe, and for greater cooperation across national borders between the Church and the secular European nations to maintain their collective Christian identity. His feast day is June 12.
Pope Saint Leo III ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT GUY (VIGNOTELLI) OF CORTONA, PRIEST: St. Guy (Vignotelli) of Cortona was a Priest and nothing is known about his birth and early life. He was a devout young Christian of Cortona. He worked with his hands to supplement an inheritance and gave to the poor whatever he did not need for his own use. He provided hospitality in 1211 to St. Francis of Assisi and one of his companions on his first visit to Cortona. At the end of their common meal St. Guy asked to become a member of the followers of the Seraphic Saint. When told that he would have to abandon everything, rising from the table, he immediately arranged for the sale of his possessions; then together with his guests distributed all of his proceeds as alm. He became a Franciscan and occupied a small cell on a bridge over a stream. Since he was a well-educated man, he was ordained to the priesthood. He showed great holiness, powerful eloquence, and extraordinary gifts to his people. He performed miracles – one of which was raising back to life, a girl who had drowned. He died at the age of 60 about 1245, after receiving a vision of St. Francis coming once again to Cortona, this time to lead him to paradise!
PRAYER: Lord God, You alone are holy and no one is good without You. Through the intercession of St. Guy help us to live in such a way that we may not be deprived of a shame in Your glory. Amen. Saint Guy (Vignotelli) of Cortona, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT JOHN OF SAHAGUN (OR SAINT FAGONDEZ), PRIEST: Saint John of Sahagun (or St. Fagondez), Confessor, Augustinian (1430-1479), one of the greatest preachers Spain has ever known, Preacher, Social Reformer, Defender of workers. St. John was a peacemaker and worker for justice in society. A sincere and humble man, he was a noted preacher, whose devotion to the Eucharist marked all aspects of his life. He was born Juan González de Castrillo on 1419 at Sahagun (St. Fagondez), Léon, Spain and died on June 11, 1479 at Salamanca, Spain of natural causes. (However, there is a possible alternative cause of his death – he may have been poisoned by a woman whose lover, a nobleman, broke off their relationship after hearing Saint John preach. For this reason, he is sometimes listed as a Martyr.). From his early youth he gave signs of his future sanctity. He was the fruit of the ardent prayers of his pious and respected parents, John Gonzalez de Castrillo and Sancia Martinez after sixteen years of sterility; God blessed them afterwards with several children. St. John, the oldest of seven children. He was entrusted to the Benedictines of the monastery of St. Fagondez and he received his first education from the Benedictines of his native place. According to the custom of the times, his father procured for him the benefice of the neighbouring parish Dornillos, but this caused St. John many qualms of conscience. He was later introduced to Alfonso de Cartagena, Bishop of Burgos (1435-1456) who took a fancy to the bright, high-spirited boy, had him educated at his own residence, gave him several prebends, ordained him priest in 1445, and made him canon at the cathedral. As a young priest he was already regarded as a Saint, so ardent was his devotion at Holy Mass. He entered the Order of Saint Augustine soon after he had bestowed on a poor man half of his clothing, and the following night experienced so great an increase in the love of God, that he referred to this as his conversion. Out of conscientious respect for the laws of the Church, St. John resigned all and retained only the chaplaincy of St. Agatha, where he laboured zealously for the salvation of souls.
He distributed to the poor virtually all the wealth accruing to him from several benefices, while he himself lived in great poverty; but soon he renounced all of these and finding that a more thorough knowledge of theology would be beneficial, he obtained permission from his bishop to enter the University of Salamanca to study theology, he made a four years’ course, and merited his degree in divinity. During this time he exercised the sacred ministry at the chapel of the College of St. Bartholomew (parish of St. Sebastian), and held the position for nine years. He was then obliged to undergo an operation for stone, and during his illness vowed that if his life were spared, he would become a religious. On his recovery in 1463, he applied for admission to the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, at the church of St. Peter, at Salamanca, and on 28 Aug., 1464, he made his profession.
He made such progress in religious perfection that he was soon appointed master of novices, and in 1471 prior of the community. Great was his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and at Mass he frequently saw the Sacred Host resplendent in glory. He was gifted with special power to penetrate the secrets of conscience, so that it was not easy to deceive him, and sinners were almost forced to make good confessions; he obtained wonderful results in doing away with enmities and feuds. In his sermons he, like another St. John the Baptist, fearlessly preached the word of God and scourged the crimes and vices of the day, though thereby the rich and noble were offended. He soon made many enemies, who even hired assassins, but these, awed by the serenity and angelic sweetness of his countenance, lost courage. Some women of Salamanca, embittered by the saint’s strong sermon against extravagance in dress, openly insulted him in the streets and pelted him with stones until stopped by a patrol of guards. Saint John was also very zealous in denouncing the vices of impurity, and it was in defense of holy purity that he met his death. A lady of noble birth but evil life, whose companion in sin he had converted, her partner broke off their relationship after hearing Saint John preach (for this reason, he is sometimes listed as a Martyr) , contrived to administer a fatal poison to the Saint. After several months of terrible suffering, borne with unvarying patience, Saint John went to his reward on June 11, 1479. This painful death and the cause for which he suffered it, have caused several of his historians and panegyrists to say that he won a martyr’s crown. A great many striking miracles followed at his tomb and elsewhere, even by the simple invocation of his name. Soon after death his veneration spread in Spain. The process of beatification began in 1525, and in 1601 he was declared Blessed. New miracles were wrought at his intercession, and on October 16,1690, Alexander VIII entered his name in the list of canonized saints. Benedict XIII fixed his feast for 12 June. His relics are found in Spain, Belgium, and Peru. His life written by John of Seville towards the end of the fifteenth century with additions in 1605 and 1619, is used by the Bollandists in “Acta SS.”, Jun., III, 112. He’s Patron Saint of the city of Salamanca, Spain, the Diocese of Salamanca, Candon City, Phillipines, Toledo, Spain.
Reflection. All men desire peace, but only those enjoy it who, like Saint John, are completely dead to themselves, and bear all things with love for Christ.
Saint John of Sahagun (or St. Fagondez), Priest ~ Pray for us🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Bible Readings for today, Wednesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 5:17-19
“I have come not to abolish but to complete them”
“Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus declares that He has come not to abolish the Law and the prophets, the two most authoritative sections of the Jewish Scriptures, but to complete them. Jesus the Jew shows Himself to be respectful of His own Jewish tradition, ‘don’t imagine that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets’. However, He also declares that He has come to complete the Law and the Prophets, to bring their true intention to fulfilment. Jesus valued the good in His religious tradition, but was also open to the ways that God was working to enrich that tradition. We too are called to value the good in our own religious tradition, but also to critique the shadow side to that tradition and to be open and receptive to the ways that the Lord is constantly renewing and enriching that tradition. God is like the potter who takes what is there and reshapes it so that it serves His purposes more fully. This is true of our own personal lives as well as our religious traditions. God is always ahead of us in that sense; our task is to keep up with God’s work of renewal among us. Jesus fulfils the Law by pouring the Spirit of the Father into our hearts, empowering us to do God’s will in a more radical way than the Law commanded. We need the Spirit if we are to do God’s will. It is the Spirit at work in our lives who gives us the freedom to live as God desires us to live. According to our first reading, St. Paul immediately goes on to say, ‘where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’.
Our first reading today from the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah details the story of the ministry of the prophet Elijah in the northern kingdom of Israel. We heard how the prophet Elijah, like the other prophets of God before him had faced a lot of hardships, challenges and trials in the midst of their ministry and works among the people of God. Many of the prophets of God had been persecuted and they had to suffer amidst their work and ministry among the Israelites, many of whom had wandered off from the path of God and from His teachings, and by the reign of king Ahab, the people of God had forgotten their Lord and Master, and most of them including the king himself worshipped many pagan idols and abominations of their neighbours. King Ahab himself was infamous for his many wicked actions and exploits, and he did not live his life or acted in the manner that the Lord had entrusted to him to do, as he sought worldly glory and pleasures, and in one of the accounts of the Book of Kings, plotted with the help and accomplices of his wife, the wicked queen Jezebel, to have an innocent man named Naboth condemned to death on false accusations and charges just because he desired Naboth’s vineyard, which stood upon the latter’s ancestral lands. All these had led to the great anger of God against Ahab and the people of Israel, and yet, at the same time, He still wanted them to come back to Him and be reconciled to Him, and hence He sent Elijah to them. Prophet Elijah had to contend alone against all the many prophets and priests of Baal, one against four hundred and fifty of the latter, in front of many of the Israelites and the king himself at Mount Carmel. The prophet Elijah issued the challenges against those who worshipped and served Baal to see which among God and Baal was indeed the one and only True God, and from the Book of Kings in today’s reading, Baal did not even respond to the prayers and requests of his many priests and prophets. On the other hand, God responded to the prayers of Elijah, sending down a great fire from Heaven to consume all of the offerings and sacrifices that Elijah had placed on the altar he built on Mount Carmel. Through that occasion, the people could clearly see who was indeed the one and only True God, that is the Lord Himself, and not the false god Baal. God wanted to show and remind His people that He was their Lord and Master, as the One Who had been with them throughout time and history, and Who had saved them again and again from their oppressors and from everyone who had troubled them. He rescued them from their slavery in Egypt, brought them to the Promised Land and helped them to settle down, to live in peace, harmony and prosperity, and yet, those people still disobeyed Him and betrayed Him, choosing to follow pagan idols and gods instead of obeying and worshipping the one and only True God.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are told of the story of the confrontation between the Lord’s prophet and the many prophets of Baal at Mount Moriah, and then from the New Testament where the Lord told His disciples after He was likely confronted by the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees who often criticised Him about not following the Law and commandments of God in the manner that they had preferred and enforced among the people of God. The Lord essentially reiterated that He came not to eradicate or annul the Law, but to restore the Law’s true intention, meaning and purpose before it had been twisted and misunderstood by the people over the past many centuries of its application and practice. All of us are reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to remain truly and firmly faithful in the Lord, in doing whatever is right and just, and in accordance to the Law of God at every available opportunities that have been granted to us. Each and every one of us should do our best to obey God’s will, His Law and commandments so that in everything that we say and do, in how we interact with one another, all of us will always be exemplary and good in our Christian life and actions, and it is in doing so that we truly live a worthy life that all of us as Christians are expected to live. That is the essence of what we have been reminded to do today and henceforth, to be the inspiration and role model for others around us in how we ought to live our lives. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the Lord, our most loving God and Saviour, continue to strengthen and guide us in our journey of faith and life, and may He empower all of us so that we may be great and most faithful beacons of His light and truth, at all times and at every opportunities, now and always, forevermore. Amen 🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF JUNE: The month of June is set apart for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “From among all the proofs of the infinite goodness of our Savior none stands out more prominently than the fact that, as the love of the faithful grew cold, He, Divine Love Itself, gave Himself to us to be honored by a very special devotion and that the rich treasury of the Church was thrown wide open in the interests of that devotion.” These words of Pope Pius XI refer to the Sacred Heart Devotion, which in its present form dates from the revelations given to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673-75.
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE – FOR MIGRANTS FLEEING THEIR HOMES: We pray that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys full of danger and violence, find welcome and new opportunities in the countries that receive them.
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 & the Holy Spirit forever & ever. Amen🙏
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
PRAYER INTENTIONS: During 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 most glorious Lord, You came to bring our lives to the fullness of grace and holiness. You call us to the heights of Heaven. Help me to see my high calling, dear Lord, and to work diligently to embrace all that You now command by Your New Law of grace and mercy. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Most Blessed Mother Mary and Pope Saint Leo III; Saint Guy (Vignotelli) of Cortona, Priest and Saint John of Sahagun, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit on this special feast 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. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful week 🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖