ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 17, 2024
Greetings beloved family and Happy Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time!
On this special feast day, we continue to pray for all families and for the safety and well-being of our children and children all over the world. We 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 17, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 17, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |June 17, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 17, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 17, 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, Monday June 17, 2024
Reading 1, First Kings 21:1-16
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 5:2-3, 5-6, 7
Gospel, Matthew 5:38-42
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT HARVEY, ABBOT, SAINT ALBERT CHMIELOWSKI; AND SAINT AVITUS, BISHOP AND SAINT EMILY DE VIALAR, RELIGIOUS ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 17TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Harvey, Abbot, Saint Albert Chmielowski, Priest; Saint Avitus, Bishop and Saint Emily de Vialar, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the poor and the needy. We also pray for the sick, particularly those who are sick and dying and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, with special intention for all Priests, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏
SAINT HARVEY, ABBOT: St. Harvey (c. 521 – 556 AD), also known Saint Hervé, Herveus Houarniaule, or Huva, was a sixth-century Breton saint. Along with Saint Ives, he is one of the most popular of the Breton Saints and makes up a considerable part of the folklore of that area. According to a biography dating from the late Middle Ages, St. Harvey was the son of a British bard Hyvarnion; born in Brittany during the 6th century, St. Harvey was blind from birth. His father died while the Saint was still an infant, and his mother, Rivanone, became an anchoress, she entrusted him at the age of seven to the care of his uncles and a renowned holy man called Arzian, with whom he stayed until his teenage years and herself retired to a monastery. He lived for a while as a hermit and after learning everything Arzian could teach him, St. Harvey joined his uncle Urzel who had founded a monastic school at Plouvien, France helping him out with the students and the farm. In time, he himself became Abbot of the community at Plouvien and it flourished under his leadership. He became an Abbot at Plouvien.
St. Harvey ultimately migrated with part of his community to found a new house in Lanhouarneau in Finistere and made it famous throughout the country. He was a Singer, Minstrel, Teacher, and Miracle worker. As one of the most popular saints in Brittany, he figures in the area’s folklore. St. Harvey is portrayed as a wandering monk and minstrel, and many popular tales are told about his person. Reported to have a special ministry of healing animals, and to have a domesticated wolf as a companion. Legend says that the wolf killed and ate the ox that Herve used to plow his fields; Herve then preached such a moving sermon the wolf repented his ways, moved to Herve’s hermitage, and ploughed Herve’s fields in place of the ox. He was joined by disciples and was never ordained, refused any ordination or earthly honour, accepting only to be ordained as an exorcist. he performed some of his most outstanding miracles as the result of his order of Exorcist. He also took part in the condemnation of the tyrant Conover in 550. He died in 556 AD and was buried at Lanhouarneau. He is invoked for eye-troubles of all types. He’s Patron Saint of the blind; bards; musicians; invoked against eye problems, eye disease; invoked to cure sick horses
PRAYER: Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection You have given us in St. Harvey the Abbot. Amen🙏
SAINT ALBERT CHMIELOWSKI, PRIEST: St. Albert was the Founder of the Albertine Brothers and Sisters, and one of the Saints who inspired the vocation of the young Karol Wojtyla, the future Saint Pope John Paul II. St. Albert was born on August 20, 1845 in (near Kraków) and Christened Adam Hilary Bernard Chmielowski. Born into a wealthy and aristocratic family, Adam was the oldest of four children. Actively involved in politics from his youth, Adam lost a leg fighting in an insurrection against Czar Alexander III at age 18 in 1864 revolt. Adam’s wounds forced the amputation of his left leg. His great talent for painting led to studies in Warsaw, Munich, and Paris and became a polar artist. A kind and compassionate person, Adam was always deeply aware of human suffering, and felt called to help those in need. Realizing that God was calling Him to a life of service, he returned to Krakow in 1874, determined to dedicate his talents to the glory of God. Instead of continuing his work as an artist, he decided to care for the poor and became a Secular Franciscan, taking the name Albert.
In 1887, Albert founded the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants of the Poor, known as the Albertines or the Gray Brothers. They worked primarily with the homeless, depending completely on alms while serving the needy regardless of age, religion, or politics. Then, in 1891, he founded a community of Albertine sisters, known as the Gray Sisters. The Albertines organized food and shelter for the poor and homeless of any age or religion. Albert preached on the great crisis that results from a refusal to see and aid the suffering individuals in society. In 1949, Pope John Paul II, who was at the time Father Karol Wojtyla, wrote a well-received play about Albert called Our God’s Brother. Pope John Paul II later said that he found great spiritual support for his own vocation in the life of St. Albert, whom he saw as an example of leaving behind a world of art, literature, and theater to make a radical choice for the priesthood. Brother Albert died on Christmas Day, 1916. Pope John Paul II beatified Albert in 1983, and canonized him six years later on November 12, 1989. He’s the Patron Saint of Painters, Servants of the Poor, Sisters Servants of the Poor, Franciscan tertiaries, Soldiers. The Church celebrates St. Albert’s feast day on June 17.
Saint Albert Chmielowski, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏
SAINT AVITUS, BISHOP: St. Avitus was bishop and confessor, whose faith, labors and admirable learning protected France against the ravages of the Arian heresy. St. Avitus was the child of a poor family of Orleans, France. From his youth he desired to consecrate himself to God, and he received the monastic habit at the abbey of Micy or Saint-Maximin in the diocese of Orleans, at that time still very small. Its first Superior, Saint Maximin, remarked the young monk’s virtue when he observed that he deprived himself of a great portion of his food each day in order to nourish the poor. After serving as steward for the monastery, Saint Avitus decided to leave in secret to go and live in solitude in a deserted place. Saint Maximin recognized in this flight a secret design of God and made no attempt to have him return. But when the holy Abbot died, Saint Avitus was chosen to succeed him by the unanimous consent of the religious. He was brought back despite his protestations of unworthiness, and was obliged to receive the episcopal consecration and his investiture from the bishop of Orleans.
He labored at his new duties with great assiduity, but saw with sorrow that the religious were becoming lax. He again thought of flight, considering himself the cause of the difficulties, and did indeed find a solitude in the diocese of Chartres, far from all village life, where he lived several years on fruits growing wild in the forest. One day a poor mute herdsman lost a pig in the forest, and when a severe storm broke out, lost his way until he saw a light in the distance. When he approached, he found himself facing the Saint. The latter not only lit his torch again for him and showed him the way to go, but made the sign of the cross on his mouth and restored to him the use of speech, which he had not had for long years. When this miracle was divulged, the hermit became known everywhere in the region, and the desert was soon transformed, as it were, into a city. The monastery which Saint Avitus built there and governed later bore his name. He left it from time to time to go to the city of Orleans for his works of mercy; his prayers cured many sick and handicapped persons. When he failed to persuade the cruel king Clodomir to liberate Saint Sigismond, king of Burgundy, with his wife and children whom he had captured and held prisoner and was intending to put to death, Saint Avitus told him that if he committed that crime, he himself would perish miserably in the first battle he would undertake. This indeed is what occurred. Saint Avitus one day resurrected one of his brethren who had died during his absence; all the monks saw the dead religious rise from his coffin and begin to sing with the others the infinite mercies of Our Lord. Saint Lubin or Leobin, bishop of Chartres, assured his people in a sermon that he had learned of this fact from the very monk who had been resurrected. Three famous religious, one of them the same Saint Leobin, who at that time was a simple monk, attended our Saint at his blessed death, which happened about the year 530. His body was carried to the church of Saint George in Orleans and interred there with great pomp. Afterwards king Childebert built a magnificent temple over this tomb, out of gratitude for the prayers of Saint Avitus.
Saint Avitus, Bishop ~ Pray for us🙏
SAINT EMILY DE VIALAR, RELIGIOUS: St. Emily de Vialar (1797–1856) was born in Gaillac, France in 1797 to the physician of Louis XVIII, an aristocratic family in the years following the French Revolution. Because the Catholic faith was under severe persecution, she was baptized in secret by her parents and her religious instruction was given at home. She was a devout child who displayed an aptitude for prayer, and she shunned the luxuries of her state in life. After the death of her mother, her father arranged to find her a suitable husband when she reached 15 years of age. Emily, who desired to lead the religious life in service to the poor, resisted her father’s attempts and endured his anger at her refusal. She desired also to repair the harm caused by the Revolution by catechizing the local children. She cared for the children and sick of the town, trying to repair the harm done by the French Revolution, while also caring for her widowed father. Emily remained a virgin and privately consecrated herself to God while living in her father’s home.
When she was 21 she met a priest who helped her set up an out-patient service for the sick in her own home, which heightened her tense relationship with her father. When her grandfather died, Emily inherited a large fortune which allowed her independence in the service of God. She bought a large home in her town and began a religious order in service to the sick and poor, and to the education of children, which quickly flourished. In 1835, St. Emily and 26 women took religious vows, calling themselves the sisters of St. Joseph “of the Apparition.” (referring to The angel Gabriels’ telling St. Joseph to flee to Egypt). By the time Emily died in 1856, in about 40 years her order, called the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, established 40 houses throughout the world, in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Four years after her death her body was found incorrupt. She’s the Patron Saint of Single women. Saint Emily de Vialar’s feast day is June 17th.
Saint Emily de Vialar, Religious ~ Pray for us🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 5:38-42
“But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil”
“Jesus said to His disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
In today’s Gospel reading, our Lord told His disciples about what is expected for them all as His followers and disciples, how each and every one of them should not oppose evil with evil, quoting the examples from the old Jewish customs and laws, which prescribed equivalent consequence and punishment as a just consequence and result of an evil action committed by a person, summarised as ‘eye for an eye’ and ‘tooth for a tooth’. If we understand the reason why such harsh laws and practices were included in the old Jewish laws and customs, that was because of the stubbornness of the people of Israel, who often disobeyed the Lord and allowed themselves to be tempted by worldly desires into sin. That was not what the Lord actually wanted from His people, but those laws and rules were put in place initially because it was meant as a deterrence for them to keep away from all sorts of wickedness and evils, from doing what the Lord had told them not to do. What He wants to tell them and expects them to do is that He wants all of them to be just, holy, good and loving just as He has been doing, and He wants to show them, lead them and teach them to do what is right, and not to allow the evils and temptations of this world to mislead them down the wrong path which may lead to eternal damnation and total separation from Him.
Our Lord Jesus calls on His disciples not to repay evil with evil, but to respond to evil with goodness. St Paul says something similar in his letter to the Romans, ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’. The worst instinct in human nature is to respond to human goodness in an evil way; the crucifixion of Jesus was an example of that instinct. The best instinct of human nature is to overcome evil with good. This in fact could be termed the divine instinct, God’s instinct. It was the way of Jesus. He overcame the evil that was done to Him with good. In the very moment when He was being violently rejected He revealed His love most fully. He lived and died to overcome evil with good. It is not easy to remain good in the face of evil, to remain loving in the face of hostility, to be faithful in the face of unfaithfulness, to be peacemakers in the face of violence done to us. We cannot live in this way drawing on our own strength and resources alone. We need God’s strength, God’s resources, God’s Spirit, because such a way of life is the fruit of God’s Spirit at work within us. Today, we are reminded that as Christians, as God’s followers and holy people, all of us are called to be loving, compassionate and forgiving, and to do whatever we can for the good of others, to go the ‘extra mile’ in loving and caring for one another if necessary. This is what Christian charity and love is all about, and what we are all reminded of, so that each and every one of us strive to resist the temptations of this world, the temptations of sin and evil, and at the same time also strive to do whatever is good, holy, worthy and just, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, all of us will be truly good and worthy of the Lord our God.
Our first reading today from the first Book of Kings of Israel and Judah details the story of the wickedness of king Ahab of Israel. King Ahab treated the man named Naboth, who owned a vineyard at the land which Ahab desired for himself, king Ahab, spurred on by his own wife, queen Jezebel, plotted against Naboth and managed to seize his property after having made false accusations against the man, and this led to Naboth being condemned to death for something that he was innocent and blameless for, and such was the wickedness of mankind, as exemplified by the actions of Ahab and Jezebel. This is why God sent Elijah to Ahab, warning and reminding him of the wickedness of his actions, through which he had led the people ever deeper into the path of evil and sin. God does not want any one of us to be lost to Him through the darkness and wickedness of this world, through the many temptations present all around us. We must always be vigilant and be ready to resist all the things which may result in us losing sight and focus on the Lord’s path, and end up giving in to the temptations of our pride, ego and desires as Ahab had experienced. He allowed his ego and desires to give in to the temptations and thus, leading him to carry out the wicked deed as he had done to Naboth. St. Paul in our first reading today, calls on us ‘not to neglect the grace of God you have received’. God is always gracing us and if we rely on His grace we will be able to keep giving expression to that divine instinct of overcoming evil with good.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded what each and every one of us must do as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord and belong to Him. All of us have been shown both the actions of the wicked people in the first reading today, and then we have also been told of the actions and way of life which the Lord had called us all as Christians to do in our own lives. If our lives are not in accordance to the path which the Lord has shown us, then how can we call ourselves as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people. All of us are therefore reminded today to recall our Christian calling and missions in life. Each and every one of us have to contribute to the good efforts and works of the Church of God, which the Lord had entrusted to all of us, in the evangelisation of the whole world, of all the people whom we have been sent to, so that by our exemplary way of life, actions, words and deeds, we may inspire more and more of the people around us to follow our examples and to have faith in the Lord as well. Unless we ourselves have done as the Lord had told us to, and live our lives sincerely in the manner that all of us as Christians had been expected to live, then we cannot truly call ourselves as Christians, and we cannot inspire others to follow our path. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the Lord continue to strengthen us all in our ways, and may He empower us all in our every efforts, in our every contributions and deeds, so that by our every actions in life, we may continue to glorify the Lord and that we may always proclaim Him, His truth and love all throughout our whole lives, now and always, in our every words, actions and deeds, in how we interact with one another, with our fellow brothers and sisters. 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 generous Lord, You offer Your mercy in superabundance. You not only forgive when we repent, You also restore us to far greater heights of holiness than we could ever deserve. Give me the grace I need, dear Lord, to offer this same level of mercy and love to those who have sinned against me. I forgive all who have hurt me. Please help me to also love them with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Most Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Harvey; Saint Albert Chmielowski; Saint Avitus and Saint Emily de Vialar ~ Pray for us🙏
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 fruitful week 🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖