TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JUNE 24, 2024

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to 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🙏

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | June 24, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 24, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |June 24, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 24, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | June 24, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Bible Readings: Monday June 24, 2024
Reading 1, Isaiah 49:1-6
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 139:1-3, 13-14, 14-15
Reading 2, Acts 13:22-26
Gospel, Luke 1:57-66, 80

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint John the Baptist and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, especially those who are sick with throat diseases, seizures and convulsive disorders and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases, we pray for their divine healing. We also pray for all expectant mothers and those seeking for the fruit of the womb. We pray for all those who recently received the Sacrament of Baptism. We pray for the poor and needy, for justice, peace 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.🙏

SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST: Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the one whom the Lord had sent to be His own Herald, in proclaiming His coming into this world, and to prepare the path and everything for His entry and appearance in our midst. Only Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother also have feast days celebrating their birthdays. So why does the Church give such special reverence to the birth of St. John the Baptist?

Today’s feast anticipates the feast of Christmas. We celebrate the birth of John the Baptist on June 24th, six months before we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th. A family relation of Jesus, St. John the Baptist is called “the Forerunner” because he was sent by God to “prepare the way of the Lord” ahead of Jesus’ public ministry. The birth of St. John the Baptist to his elderly and previously barren parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, is recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel. His birth was announced to his father Zechariah by the Archangel Gabriel, who also brought the news of Christ’s birth to the Blessed Virgin Mary. John the Baptist’s nativity is one of only three birthdays celebrated by the Church, along with the nativities of Jesus and Mary. Though not an official dogma, according to ancient tradition St. John the Baptist was freed from original sin at the moment his mother heard the greeting of the Blessed Virgin at the Visitation, causing John to leap in his mother’s womb through the action of the Holy Spirit. So, like Jesus and Mary, St. John would have been born without sin, and therefore his birthday is also worthy of special honor. Because Christ praised John the Baptist so highly by saying “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist,” he was one of the most highly venerated saints in the ancient and medieval Church. Before Christ’s public life began, a divine impulse sent Saint John into the desert; there, with locusts for his food and wearing haircloth, in silence and in prayer, he chastened his soul. In his youth he remained hidden, because He for whom he waited was also hidden. St. John the Baptist is the Patron Saint of Baptism; bird dealers; converts; convulsions; convulsive children; cutters; epilepsy; epileptics; farriers; hailstorms; Knights Hospitaller; Knights of Malta; lambs; Maltese Knights; lovers; monastic life; motorways; printers, spasms; tailors; builders. St. John also serves as the patron saint of a variety of places throughout the world. St. John the Baptist has two feasts: his nativity on June 24th and his passion on August 29th.

In the breviary St. Augustine explains the reason for today’s observance in the following words: “Apart from the most holy solemnity commemorating our Savior’s birth, the Church keeps the birthday of no other person except that of John the Baptist. [The feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin had not yet been introduced]. In the case of other Saints or of God’s chosen ones, the Church, as you know, solemnizes the day on which they were reborn to everlasting beatitude after ending the trials of this life and gloriously triumphing over the world. “For all these the final day of their lives, the day on which they completed their earthly service is honored. But for John the day of his birth, the day on which he began this mortal life is likewise sacred. The reason for this is, of course, that the Lord willed to announce to men His own coming through the Baptist, lest if He appeared suddenly, they would fail to recognize Him. John represented the Old Covenant and the Law. Therefore he preceded the Redeemer, even as the Law preceded and heralded the new dispensation of grace.”

Today we mark the moment when the Lord brought forth into this world the news and revelation of His salvation, of the long awaited salvation and Saviour that He has always promised and spoken about to His people. The Lord has reassured all of us that His love for us has always endured, and He will deliver unto us His providence and strength.

PRAYER: O God, who raised up Saint John the Baptist to make ready a nation fit for Christ the Lord, give your people, we pray, the grace of spiritual joys and direct the hearts of all the faithful into the way of salvation and peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever… Amen🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Luke 1:57-66, 80

“He asked for a tablet and wrote, John is his name”

“When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.”

In today’s Gospel reading, there was something special about John the Baptist. It suggests that his being given the name ‘John’ was itself special or unusual. The neighbours and relations seem to have decided that Elizabeth’s child would be called Zechariah after his father. However, the child’s mother stood up against this consensus, declaring that he would be called John, after the name given to him by the angel Gabriel at the annunciation of the child’s birth to Zechariah. The wider family and community were stunned and objected to this name. ‘No one in your family has that name’, they said. Yet, John’s parents understood that God wanted their child to be called ‘John’. Zechariah, who had been rendered dumb for doubting the promise made by Gabriel, confirmed in writing that his child would be called John. A new beginning in God’s dealings with his people called for a new name, a name that conveyed the nature of this new beginning. Most Hebrew names have a religious meaning and the name ‘John’ means ‘God is gracious’ or ‘the Lord has shown favour’. The child of Elizabeth and Zechariah would announce the coming of someone who would reveal God’s gracious love in a powerfully new way and God was inaugurating a new era of favour through this child. According to the Gospel reading, people were asking, ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ He turned out to be the adult God wanted him to be, the one who witnessed to the arrival of God’s special messenger to humanity and who prepared people to welcome him by calling on them to be baptized. John would lead people to Jesus, God’s gracious gift to all. John reveals the essence of our baptismal calling, which is to witness to Jesus by opening our lives to Jesus’ presence and allowing him to grow in us. On this feast of his birthday, we might give thanks for all those people in our lives who have led us to Jesus and have helped us to see Him more clearly.

In our first reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, God revealed to His people, to all of us through Isaiah, of everything that He had done for us, in sending us His servants, whom He had called and chosen, like Isaiah himself, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, and earlier on still, Moses, and other leaders and elders of the people, and like St. John the Baptist himself, all of whom had been entrusted with the particular missions and vocations, with purpose and commitments for them to help lead the people of God, us mankind, back to the Lord, our most loving God and Saviour. The Lord had prepared St. John the Baptist to be His servant, from before he was even born, telling that to his parents, revealing to them just how important his role would be. That is what we have also heard in our Gospel passage today, as God foretold the great deeds that St. John the Baptist would do. As Christians, all of us should be inspired by the great examples set by St. John the Baptist, whose contributions are not limited only just by what he had done in baptising the countless thousands and more at the River Jordan. It was his faithfulness and his dedication to the Lord which should inspire us all to follow his good examples and faith as well. Not only that, but St. John the Baptist also showed us great courage and steadfastness in faith, in courageously opposing even the powerful ones at his time, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests, whom he scolded and criticised as the band of vipers for their lack of faith, hypocrisy and mismanagement of the people, and also King Herod, whom St. John the Baptist criticised for his immoral and adulterous behaviour with his brother’s wife, Herodias.

St. John the Baptist, who did not fear persecution and oppression, and who gave his whole life and efforts to the service of God, is a paragon of virtue and Christian discipleship, and all of us as Christians should be inspired to walk in the same path that St. John the Baptist had traversed, and be inspired by his great courage and commitment to God. He is a great role model for us all, in how each and every one of us should be living our lives as well, with great virtue and commitment to God, and in doing whatever it is that we have been entrusted by God to do with our lives, in our respective areas of responsibilities, and in our various vocations in the Church and in this world, in doing our best to glorify God by our lives. In addition, there is also one more great virtue that St. John the Baptist had, which all of us should very well emulate as well in our own lives, and that is one of obedience and humility. In his commitment to God, St. John the Baptist was thoroughly committed to his mission and he did not do anything for himself or for his own selfish purposes and desires. Like what St. Paul said in the second reading today in his Epistle, in which the Apostle directly quoted St. John the Baptist himself saying that he himself was not the Messiah, and he was not even worthy to untie the straps of His sandals. This was the response that St. John the Baptist gave to all those who asked him and wondered if he was the Messiah long awaited by the people of God. Given how popular St. John the Baptist had been, he could have claimed that he was the Messiah that the people awaited for, but he did not do that, and he was even also glad when he heard that the Lord was gaining more and more followers, saying that it was just right that while He increased, that he decreased. Such was the virtue and the humility that St. John the Baptist has shown, and which we all should emulate in our own lives.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures on this special feast day as we rejoice in this celebration of the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, rejoicing in the memory of the birth of this great saint and servant of God, let us also therefore remember everything that he had done for the sake of God’s people, the dedication and zeal with which he had carried out his mission, in embracing the call and the mission that God had entrusted to him, and which he carried out fervently and humbly, as when he was asked if he was the Messiah, he immediately told them that he was not the Messiah, but rather merely the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Saviour. Let us all discern our own path in life, and see how each one of us can be inspired to follow in the footsteps of St. John the Baptist, in all that he had done as a faithful disciple of the Lord. Each and every one of us as Christians have been called to various missions and ministries, given the opportunities and the talents, the gifts of abilities and other means to reach out to one another, and to proclaim God’s truth, love and hope to our world today. Every one of us should be inspired by the examples that St. John the Baptist has shown us, and we should walk in his footsteps as faithful disciples of the Lord. May the Lord continue to guide each and every one of us to be ever more faithful and committed to Him, and may He continue to bless us and strengthen us with faith, such that we may continue to serve Him in our own various capacities and opportunities with zeal and dedication, inspired by what His saints, especially that of St. John the Baptist, had shown us. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to remain faithful to our baptismal calling and may St. John the Baptist, Holy Herald of the Lord and His faithful servant, continue to pray and intercede for us all, that God may continue to guide and strengthen each and every one of us in our lives and in our works, so that we may truly be worthy of Him, and be committed in living our lives most worthily and faithfully in all things, in our every words, actions and deeds, at all times. May God bless us all, in our every good efforts and endeavours, 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 🙏

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:

Lord of all greatness, You sanctified Saint John the Baptist in the womb, and You continued to pour forth Your grace upon him throughout his life. He responded to You and fulfilled his glorious mission. I thank You for the sanctification given to me by my Baptism and strengthened through Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. Help me to be open to all the graces You wish to bestow so that I may fulfill the unique mission given to me. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Most Blessed Mother Mary and Saint John the Baptist ~ Pray for us🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this day and 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, and fruitful week 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖