TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 14, 2024

Greetings beloved family and Happy Friday 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 14, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 14, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |June 14, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 14, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 14, 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, Friday, June 14, 2024
Reading 1, First Kings 19:9, 11-16
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 27:7-8, 8-9, 13-14
Gospel, Matthew 5:27-32.

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT ELISHA, THE PROPHET; SAINT METHODIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 14 Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Elisha, The Prophet; Saint Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Saint Joseph, the Hymnographer, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray for the poor and the needy, 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 ELISHA, THE PROPHET: Saint Elisha, The Prophet (c 790 BC),  the successor of Elias also called Eliseus, whose name in Hebrew means “God is Salvation,” was an Old Testament Saint with many amazing miracles. St. Elisha was the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah, and you shall anoint as prophet in your place. (1 Kings 19:16). Elisha was to be anointed as prophet because he was Elijah’s God-appointed successor. Elisha was a prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel in the 800s BC. His moment of calling was rather mystical: Elisha was plowing his father’s field with twelve yoke of oxen when his predecessor, Elijah, came along and cast his mantle upon him, placing his mantle over Elisha’s shoulders―a symbol of a call to share in prophetic work, indicating thereby that Elisha was to succeed him. Elisha requested time to say farewell to his parents and then slew the oxen, gave the meat to the people, and joined Elijah.

Prophet Elisha was the messenger of God during the reigns of Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash in Israel. Before Elijah was taken up in a fiery chariot and into the whirlwind, Elisha asked to “inherit a double-portion” of Elijah’s spirit. After Elijah was taken up to Heaven, Elisha received a “double portion” of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9). This led to Elisha performing twice as many miracles as Elijah. Throughout the whole course of his life, the prophet, Elisha, accomplished a significant number of miracles. One of his first miracles was taking the mantle of Elijah and striking the water, making it part in two (2 Kings 2:14). Many of his miracles were similar to what Elijah performed, including the miraculous multiplication of a widow’s jar of oil. To relieve the widow importuned by a hard creditor, Elisha so multiplied a little oil as to enable her, not only to pay her indebtedness, but to provide for her family needs (2 Kgs 4:1-7). When he died, a man was cast into his grave and was miraculously revived after touching the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21). Prophet Elisha won the gratitude of the people of Jericho for healing its barren ground by adding salt to its waters. When the armies of Judah, Israel, and Edom, then allied against Mesa, the Moabite king, were being tortured by drought in the Idumæan desert, Elisha consented to intervene. His double prediction regarding relief from drought and victory over the Moabites was fulfilled on the following morning (2 Kgs 3:4-24). To reward the rich lady of Shunam for her hospitality, he restored to life her son (2 Kgs 4:18-37). To nourish the sons of the prophets pressed by famine, Elisha changed into wholesome food the pottage made from poisonous gourds (2 Kgs 4:38-41).

During the military incursions of Syria into Israel, Elisha cured Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy by simply sending him word that he was to bathe in the Jordan seven times. At first reluctant, Naaman obeyed the Prophet, and after washed seven times in the Jordan, he was healed. Jesus referred to this when he said: “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet: and none of them was cleansed but Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:27). Elisha’s life and activities are found in 1 and 2 Kings, and he is commemorated on this date in the 2004 Roman Martyrology. His feast day is observed by the Carmelites who claim descent from Elias and Elisha, who lived on Mount Carmel.

PRAYER: O God, protector and redeemer of the human family, whose wonders have been proclaimed through the wonders accomplished by your chosen prophets, you have bestowed the spirit of Elijah on your prophet Elisha: in your kindness grant us too an increase in the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that, living as prophets, we will bear constant witness to your abiding presence and providence. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen🙏

SAINT METHODIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE: Saint Methodius worked for unity and reconciliation in the Eastern Church and served as the Patriarch of Constantinople the last five years of his life. St. Methodius was born in Syracuse into a rich family. The son of rich and distinguished Sicilian, St. Methodius received an excellent education in his native Syracuse. Having a vocation to serve God, he went while still in his youth off to Constantinople to obtain a position at court, but instead decided to enter the religious life. He first felt the call to enter religious life while in Constantinople, where he had gone to seek a position at court. He left for the island of Chios, where he built a monastery and started a monastic community on the island of Chios with his means. However, his time at the monastery was short-lived since he was summoned by the Patriarch of Constantinople, St. Nicephorus to help govern the diocese and create unity after a debate broke out on the use of icons in worship. When the second Iconoclastic persecution erupted, under Leo the Armenian. St. Methodius fearlessly defended the cult of sacred images. After the deposition and exile of St. Nicephorus, however, St. Methodius was commanded to bring Pope paschal I an account of the state of things in the Near East. So he made his way to Rome and remained there until Leo’s death. In 821, he returned under the new Emperor Michael the Stammerer but was flogged, deported, and confined on the island of Antigoni in the Propontus for seven years. He returned as patriarch in 842 and continued to work for unity.

Upon the death of the Emperor in 842, his widow Theodora became Regent for her infant son Michael III, and she appointed St. Methodius Patriarch of Constantinople. The holy man—rendered a scarecrow of his former self by his suffering and provations—immediately convoked a Council, which reaffirmed the lawfulness of venerating sacred images. To stress this fact, an annual Feast of Orthodoxy was instituted, and it continues to be observed on the First Sunday of Lent in all Byzantine Churches. This heroic Patriarch, who went to his heavenly reward on June 14, 847, was a prolofoc writer but we possess only fragments of his many poetical, theological, and controversial works, and a complete Life of St. Theophanes.

PRAYER: God, Light and Shepherd of souls, You established St. Methodius as Bishop in Your Church to feed Your flock by his word and form it by his example. Help us through his intercession to keep the faith he taught by his word and follow the way he showed by his example. Amen🙏

SAINT JOSEPH THE HYMNOGRAPHER, PRIEST: St. Joseph the Hymnographer (816-883 A.D.), “the sweet-voiced nightingale of the Church,” was a tireless servant of the Lord, glorifying Him in life, in works, and through writing countless hymns and canons to the saints. Despite a lifetime of struggle, suffering, and imprisonment, Saint Joseph produced a catalog of writings which remain today, as well as over 1,000 hymns, many of which are still sung by modern congregations. Through his legacy of writings and song, Saint Joseph preserved a priceless record of the history of our faith—a faith which continues, unchanged and unabated, today.

St. Joseph of Hymnographer was born in 816 at Sicily to a pious Christian family around the turn of the 9th century into a pious Christian family. When Muslims invaded the island, his parents, Plotinos and Agatha, moved to the Peloponnesos, Greece to escape persecution and save themselves from barbarian invasions. When he was fifteen, Saint Joseph went to Thessalonica and entered the monastery of Latomos and grew in holiness and virtue. He was distinguished by his piety, his love for work, and his meekness; and he gained the good will of all the brethren of the monastery. He was later ordained as a priest. St. Gregory the Dekapolite took Joseph with him to Constantinople to defend the traditional reverence of icons in opposition to the iconoclast heresy. St. Joseph was then chosen by the local clergy to be a messenger to Pope Leo III to obtain the Holy Father’s assistance in battling the iconoclast heretics, who were gaining power and influence. On his way to Rome, St. Joseph was captured by Muslims who delivered him into the hands of the iconoclast heretics. While held a prisoner, St. Nicholas appeared to Joseph and asked him to sing in the name of God. After six years St. Joseph was freed from prison and returned to Constantinople, where he founded a monastery dedicated to his friend St. Gregory. He also dedicated a church in the name of St. Bartholomew, to whom he had a devotion. St. Bartholomew then appeared to Joseph in a dream and encouraged him to write hymns for the Church. After writing his first hymn in honor of St. Bartholomew, St. Joseph dedicated other hymns to St. Nicholas, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. During his life he composed nearly 1,000 hymns. When another wave of iconoclasm arose, he again stood steadfast against it and was exiled for eleven years as a result; he was later exiled a second time for defending orthodox Christian doctrine. He finally died on April 3, 886 A.D.in Constantinople. The following is a selection of Hymns by St. Joseph: Let Us Now Our Voices Raise; Stars of the Morning; And Wilt Thou Pardon, Lord; O Happy Band of Pilgrims (by John M. Neale, based on words by Joseph the Hymnographer). His feast day is June 14.

Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 5:27-32

“Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart”

“Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

In today’s Gospel reading, our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to His disciples on the matter of true obedience to the Lord, to His Law and commandments, reminding each and every one of them that they should all be truly faithful to God, and to do whatever they can so that they would not fall into the temptations to sin and to disobey God. He mentioned without mincing His words, that should any of them were tempted and swayed to sin by any of their body parts, they should cut them off without hesitation, to remind them figuratively that sin is truly dangerous and if we do not keep vigilant against all the temptations to sin, we can indeed fall into eternal damnation and destruction, out of which there is no way out. Essentially, the Lord was telling His disciples and all of us that we must truly understand and appreciate His Law, His way and His path. We cannot be those who merely carry on living our lives day after day and then not understanding what it is that He is calling all of us to do. Each and every one of us need to grow ever stronger in our relationship with God, to find out more what He wants us to be, to be holy and worthy of Him in all things. He has called us all to do His will just like how He had called the prophet Elijah to do His will. Are we willing to commit ourselves to path that the Lord has shown us? And are we willing to devote our time and attention to be ever more dedicated to God in all things, so that our every good works, efforts, and endeavours will always proclaim God’s glory?

Our first reading today from the First Book of Kings, the prophet Elijah was called by God to the holy mountain, Mount Sinai, the same place which the Israelites had once gone to during the time of their Exodus and journey from Egypt towards the Promised Land of Canaan. At that occasion, the prophet Elijah was journeying from the land of Israel after being persecuted by the king of Israel, Ahab, and the king’s wife, Jezebel, all of whom had been wicked and refused to believe in the Lord as they should have. The prophets and messengers of God had been persecuted and killed, and Elijah himself had to flee for his life, and at the same time, the transgressions committed by the Israelite king and his people became worse and worse. God called Elijah to follow Him, and to go where He called him to go. He protected and provided Elijah with food and nourishment in the wilderness, and eventually with that strength, he went on a long journey to Mount Sinai, which we heard about today. Elijah witnessed God coming towards him at Mount Sinai, first manifesting His coming through a great windstorm, an earthquake and a great fire, but God was not in all of them. Instead, God came with the sign of a gentle breeze, which was in fact a reminder to Elijah and to all the Israelites that while He is a truly mighty, all-powerful and fearsome God, Who destroyed His enemies and punished the sinners and the wicked ones, but at the same time, He is also always full of love, compassion and mercy.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all presented with the calling of God which He called on all of us to follow Him and to do what He has entrusted to us and what He has taught us all to do in our respective lives. Each and every one of us as Christians have been entrusted with the various responsibilities and missions in our diverse commitments and vocations, in each and every parts of our lives. As God’s people and disciples, as His beloved and holy ones, we must indeed strive to be truly worthy of Him, to do whatever we must so that by our exemplary deeds and actions, by our virtues and obedience to God we may indeed become the shining beacons of His light and truth at all times. Today, let us all discern carefully our path in life, and how we should live our lives so that we may grow ever stronger and more committed to our Christian faith and life. We have been entrusted with various commitments and missions in life, in our different areas and various communities, that in our own distinct and unique way of living our Christian lives in the most authentic way possible, we may continue to profess our faith in the Lord and proclaim Him ever more courageously and faithfully in each and every moments of our lives. All of us are the missionaries of the Lord and in our own respective lives, we should continue to be evangelising, missionary and being vibrant in the living of our faith. May the Lord continue to bless us all and be with His Church, so that we may continue to be strengthened and encouraged to overcome whatever challenges and difficulties that may come our way. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace, a d may He continue to empower us so that we may truly be ever closer to Him and be ever more willing to dedicate ourselves to His cause, for the salvation of the whole world, like that of the prophet Elijah and those holy predecessors, the holy Saints, holy men and women of God who had gone before us. 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 Lord and true Friend, I thank You for loving me with a perfect love. I pray that I will always be open to that love so that my unity with You will ever deepen. I also pray that I will be an instrument of Your love to others. Please give me the grace to love everyone in my life in the way that You love them, nothing less and nothing more. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Most Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Elisha, The Prophet and Saint Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople and Saint Joseph the Hymnographer ~ Pray Pray 🙏

Thanking God for the gift of the Holy Spirit  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 relaxing weekend🙏

Blessings and love always, Philomena 💖