THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 2, 2024

Greetings beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time!

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 | July 2, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 2, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |July 2, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 2, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 2, 2024 |

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

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

NOVENA TO THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS | https://novenaprayer.com/novena-to-the-precious-blood-of-jesus/ (When to begin: Any time – The whole month of July)

Today’s Bible Readings: Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Reading 1, Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 5:4-6, 6-7, 8
Gospel, Matthew 8:23-27

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT BERNARDINO REALINO, PRIEST; SAINTS PROCESSUS AND MARTINIAN, MARTYRS; SAINT SWITHIN (SWITHUN), BISHOP AND SAINT OTTO OF BAMBERG, BISHOP: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Bernardino Realino, Priest; Saints Processus & Martinian, Martyrs; Saint Swithin (Swithun), Bishop and Saint Otto of Bamberg, Bishop. 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 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, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏

SAINT BERNARDINO REALINO, PRIEST: St. Bernardino Realino (1530–1616) was born in Capri, Italy to a noble family in 1530. After receiving a thorough and devout Christian education at the hands of his mother, he went on to study medicine at the University of Bologna, but after three years he switched to law and received his doctorate in 1563. He grew into an accomplished “Renaissance Man” of his day. He had a successful career as an attorney and judge, and served as the mayor of three cities. Word of his learning, dedication, and legal brilliance spread rapidly, and in 1554 he was summoned to Naples to assume the position of auditor and lieutenant general.

At the age of 34 he completed an eight-day retreat with Jesuit priests, and during this time he discerned a call to the religious life. He entered the Jesuit order and was ordained a priest in 1567. As a priest he preached, taught, and visited the sick and poor in the areas of Naples and Lecce. He was much loved and venerated by the people he ministered to, especially because of the miracles he performed. It was commonly believed among the people that he was a living saint. Even public scandal and civil strife were calmed due to his holy influence. While he was on his death bed, the city leaders of Lecce came to request of him that he become the official patron saint of their city once he entered heaven. He is often referred to as the “Apostle of Lecce” for his commitment to the poor, the sick and for his preaching abilities. He died in 1616 with the names of Jesus and Mary on his lips. After St. Bernardino’s death, vials of his blood were kept for veneration, which were observed to liquefy and exhibit unusual phenomena for more than a century. St. Bernardino Realino’s feast day is July 2nd. 

Saint Bernardino Realino, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINTS PROCESSUS AND MARTINIAN, MARTYRS: Sts. Processus and Martinian were imperial soldiers, pagans and they served as guards at the Mamertine prison in Rome. State criminals were held in this prison, among them some Christians. Watching the Christian prisoners and listening to their preaching, Sts. Processus and Martinian gradually came to the knowledge of the Savior. According to legend, the Holy Martyrs Processus and Martinian, having been assigned the task of guarding St. Peter and St. Paul in the Mamertine prison in Rome, when they were arrested by the Romans, fell under the spell of his preaching and were converted. The apostles converted their jailers after a spring flowed miraculously in the prison. St. Peter then baptized them in the miraculous waters. After they accepted holy Baptism from the apostle, they released the Apostle from prison.

After being baptized, the jailer Paulinus learned about this, and he demanded that Sts. Processus and Martinian renounce Christ. But they fearlessly confessed Christ, and they spat at the golden statue of Jupiter. Paulinus ordered that they be slapped on the face, and then seeing the resolute stance of the holy martyrs, he subjected them to torture. The martyrs were beaten with iron rods, scorched with fire, and finally, thrown into prison. A certain illustrious and pious woman by the name of Lucina visited them in prison and gave them help and encouragement. The torturer Paulinus was soon punished by God. He fell blind and died three days later. The son of Paulinus went to the city ruler demanding that the martyrs be put to death. Saints Processus and Martinian were finally beheaded by order of the emperor Nero (+ ca. 67). After their martyrdom with St. Paul, a sympathizer called Lucina buried them in her own cemetery. Their bodies were buried in the catacombs of St. Agatha, on the Via Aurelia, where they remained until Paschal I (817-824) removed them for safekeeping to the Vatican basilica. Transplanted to St. Peter’s, the cult of Processus and Martinian flourished. Today their tomb is in the south transept of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Reflection: Wherever you find yourself, even at the end of your life, you can still convert and save a soul. May God’s grace sustain us. Amen.

Sts. Processus and Martinian, Martyrs ~ Pray for us. Amen🙏

SAINT SWITHIN (SWITHUN), BISHOP: St. Swithin (also known as St. Swithun) was born in Wessex, England and was educated at the old monastery, Winchester, where he was ordained. St Swithun died in 862 as bishop of Winchester. He was a secular clerk with something of a reputation for virtue and learning. He was attached to the West Saxon court and was one of King Egbert’s principal advisers. He became Chaplain to King Egbert of the West Saxons, who appointed him tutor of his son, Ethelwulf,  the father of Alfred the Great, to educate; and to him must go some of the credit for the strongly religious tone of the West Saxon court under Ethelwulf and his sons.

St. Swithun was consecrated bishop of Winchester, England in 852, when Ethelwulf succeeded his father as king. As bishop was something of a builder, Swithun built several churches and was known for his humility and his aid to the poor and needy. He may also have been one of the first contributors to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A number of agreeably humble miracles were attributed to him – he was said to have restored a basket of eggs dropped by an old market woman when crossing a bridge. His great reputation for sanctity is, however, largely owing to the cult which sprang up at Winchester a hundred years after his death, in the time of St Ethelwold and the monastic reformation, when his body was translated. His shrine was splendid, but when it was looted by Henry VIII in 1538 its gold and jewels were found to be false. When he died he was buried at his own request in the churchyard, in order that the passers-by would walk over his grave and the rain fall upon it. It is always said that if it rains on his feast day, it will rain for forty days after, but it is not known how St. Swithun came to be associated with the weather. Similar stories are told of SS Medard, Gervase and Protase in France.

His holiness was made known by miracles. He died on July 2, but “St. Swithin’s Day” is held on July 15 in England, the day his relics were transferred. He is another of the “weather saints” — if it rains on July 15, it will rain forty more days. If no rain, it will be fair for forty more days, as the old rhyme says: St. Swithin’s day if thou dost rain, For forty days it will remain, St. Swithin’s day if thou be fair, For forty days ‘twill rain nae mair. This weather patronage traces back to July 15, 871 when the monks were translating his body (relics) from the outdoor grave to an indoor shrine in the Cathedral. The saint apparently did not approve, as it rained for 40 days afterward. St. Swithin is the Patron Saint of drought relief; Stavenger, England; Winchester, England.

St. Swithin (St. Swithun), Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT OTTO OF BAMBERG, BISHOP: St. Otto of Bamberg (1060 – 1139) was German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death, an indefatigable evengelizer, and the apostle of the Pomeranians. He was born in 1060 in Swabia, Mistelbach, Germany of noble rank and ordained a priest sometime before the age of 30. He joined the service of Emperor Henry IV in  1090 and became his chancellor in 1101. He served Henry IV and his successor, Henry V, loyally, but he disaproved of the latter’s disgraceful treatment of Pope Paschal.

Otto was consecrated a bishop on May 13, 1106, and set to work founding new monasteries, reforming existing ones, building schools and churches, and completing the construction of the cathedral.  He lived a poor and simple life, and was called the “Father of the monks” for the concern he showed toward religious orders. In 1122 Otto was commissioned by the Polish Duke Boleslaw III to convert Pomerania to Christianity, and he set about this mission in 1124. He traveled across Pomerania twice, and won over the people with his holiness, quiet generosity, and gentle, inspiring sermons. The conversion of Pomerania was his greatest apostolic work. He baptized over 22,000 people and established 11 churches. Many miracles were attributed to him throughout his two journeys, and many more after his death. He died on June 30, 1139, Bamberg, Germany and was Canonized in 1189, Rome by  Pope Clement III.

Saint Otto of Bamberg, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today,Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070224.cfm

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 8:23-27

“Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm”

“As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”

In today’s Gospel reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Lord calmed a great storm that threatened the boat in which He and His disciples were travelling in. The disciples of the Lord were terrified by the great waves and winds battering their boat, and they cried out to the Lord for help, which the Lord answered with a rebuke to them for their lack of faith and trust in Him. The Lord told them they should not be afraid and believe in Him, and showed them that He is truly in control over all things by calming the great storm with His mere words. According to the Gospel reading, Jesus was asleep during the storm on the Sea of Galilee. He was in a small fishing boat in the midst of the storm with the waves breaking into the boat, and, yet, He was asleep. The disciples reacted more as we all would. Not only were they awake, but they were in a state of panic, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ The evangelist is depicting Jesus as at peace in the storm, suggesting that such was His trust in God His Father’s providential care that the storm did not trouble Him. The disciples lacked that trust in God; Jesus rebuked them as ‘men of little faith’. Jesus was like that house He spoke about that was battered by a storm but did not collapse because it was built on rock. Jesus’ life was built on God and so He was secure even in the heart of life’s storms. We are all called to share in Jesus’ own relationship with God. We can call God ‘Abba, Father’, as Jesus did. Like Jesus, we too can know the peace and security which that relationship gives us, even when the storms of life threaten to engulf us. We can easily identify with the prayer of the man in the Gospels, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief’. Jesus, who had been asleep in the storm, brought the fragile boat with its fearful disciples through the storm into a place of calm. In stormy times that expose our vulnerability and frailty, the Lord remains with the church and with each of us as individuals, keeping us steady and guiding us to our destination. This passage would have reassured Matthew’s church and can reassure us today that the Lord is always stronger than the storm which threatens to overwhelm us. Like that of the words of the prophet Amos in our first reading today, we heard how God showed through His Son, before the eyes of His disciples, that He is truly the Lord and Master over all things. He calls on us to have faith in Him especially when the storms threaten to engulf us.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Amos, the Lord speaks to His people, the Israelites in the northern kingdom of Israel, of His words of displeasure and disappointment with them because of their constant and persistent disobedience against Him, in them having continued to commit sin after sin, indulging in worldly wickedness and all the temptations of worldly pleasures which distracted and pulled them away from the path of God towards the path of worldliness and sin. They have profaned His temples and sanctuaries, worshipped pagan idols and gods in violation of God’s commandments and laws, trusting in their own human ways and instincts rather than to trust in God, their Lord and Master. This is why the Lord reminded them all through His prophet Amos of the power that He has over all things, and how everything that had happened, is happening and will happen all came to be because of Him and what He had willed to happen. He also spoke of the moment of reckoning and punishment that the disobedient ones would have to endure as a just consequence for their many sins and wickedness, reminding them all of what had happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each and every one of these were highlighted to the people through the prophet Amos, who went to the land of the northern kingdom of Israel from Judah to proclaim God’s judgment on the people who have repeatedly refused to embrace God’s path, persecuting those messengers and prophets, including that of Amos himself, whom God had sent to them to remind and help them.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that we must always have faith and trust in the Lord at all times. We must always remain steadfast in our commitment to God and be exemplary in our way of life, in our every actions and deeds so that by our good role model and examples, by our courageous commitment to the path of the Lord, we will always exude the shining light of God’s truth and grace in our everyday moments in life, that everyone who witness our works and interact with us may come to realise God’s Presence through us, His works and love being made manifest through our own lives and actions. Each and every one of us are called to be these shining beacons of God’s light and love at all times. May the Lord continue to guide us all, strengthening us in faith and give us His protection and power, so that amidst all the hardships, trials and challenges that we may encounter in our paths through life, we may always be firm in our conviction and desire to follow the Lord ever more wholeheartedly and so that we may continue to walk ever more worthily in the path that God has shown us, that our lives may be great role models and examples for all those whom we meet and encounter in life. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and bless us always, and be with us in all circumstances, throughout our lives, now and always. Amen 🙏🏾

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF JULY:

THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS: The month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood. The feast of the Precious Blood of our Lord was instituted in 1849 by Pius IX, but the devotion is as old as Christianity. The early Fathers say that the Church was born from the pierced side of Christ, and that the sacraments were brought forth through His Blood.

“The Precious Blood which we worship is the Blood which the Savior shed for us on Calvary and reassumed at His glorious Resurrection; it is the Blood which courses through the veins of His risen, glorified, living body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven; it is the Blood made present on our altars by the words of Consecration; it is the Blood which merited sanctifying grace for us and through it washes and beautifies our soul and inaugurates the beginning of eternal life in it.”

PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYER: Almighty, and everlasting God, who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast been pleased to be reconciled unto us by His Blood, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate with solemn worship the price of our salvation, that the power thereof may here on earth keep us from all things hurtful, and the fruit of the same may gladden us for ever hereafter in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen 🙏🏾

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF JULY – FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF THE SICK: We pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick confer to those who receive it and their loved ones the power of the Lord and become ever more a visible sign of compassion and hope for all.

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:

Most powerful Lord, I am amazed at Your divine power and ability to perfectly calm the storms that afflict Your people. Please fill me with hope and humility so that I will never hesitate to turn to You in my need and to also cry out to You for Your continuous intervention in the lives of others. Awake, oh Lord, and save Your people, for we will truly perish without You! Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Most Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Bernardino Realino; Saints Processus & Martinian; Saint Swithin (Swithun) and Saint Otto of Bamberg ~  Pray for us🙏

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us. Amen🙏

Thanking God for the gift of this special  feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and we continue to pray 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 grace-filled and fruitful month of July 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena 💖