FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 8, 2024

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we humbly pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We continue to 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 8, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 8, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |July 8, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 8, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 8, 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: Monday, July 8, 2024
Reading 1, Hosea 2:16, 17-18, 21-22
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Gospel, Matthew 9:18-26

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINTS PRISCILLA (PRISCA) AND AQUILA, MARTYRS; SAINT EDGAR THE PEACEMAKER; SAINT KILIAN ( ST. CILLIAN), BISHOP AND MARTYR AND BLESSED PETER VIGNE, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 8TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Priscilla and Aquila, Martyrs; Saint Edgar, the Peacemaker; Saint Kilian (St. Cillian), Bishop and Martyr and Blessed Peter Vigne. 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.🙏

SAINTS PRISCILLA (PRISCA) AND AQUILA, MARTYRS: Sts. Prisca and Aquila, were Coworkers of St. Paul. St. Aquila and his wife St. Priscilla (or Prisca) were 1st century  Jewish couple from Pontus who settled in Rome, where they worked as tent-makers. When the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49-50, they moved to Corinth. In Corinth they hosted the Apostle Paul, who lived and worked with them for awhile (Acts 18:1-3). They worked diligently with the Apostle, traveled with him, and were considered worthy to bring Apollos (December 8) to a full knowledge of the Faith (Acts 18:26). Sts. Priscilla and Aquila returned to Rome around 58, and later went to Ephesus; they were living there when St Paul asked his disciple Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, to greet them (2 Tim. 4:19).

All that is known of this converted Jewish couple is from the New Testament. Aquila, a Jew from Pontus, and his wife Pricsa (Priscilla) were expelled from Rome by the edict of Emperor Claudius in 50 A.D. (Acts 18:1-3). They went to Corinth and opened a tent-making business. When Paul the Apostle was returning from Athens, he called on Prisca and Aquila and learned that they had the same occupation he did as well as the same faith, they hospitably received the Apostle in their home, where he remained for a year a half, preaching the Gospel to Jews and Greeks (Acts 18:4). Sts. Aquila and Prisca followed St. Paul to Ephesus (Acts 18:19), where they then instructed the outstanding preacher Apollos who was proclaiming the teaching of Jesus although knowing only the baptism of John (Acts 18:24-28). They had a church in their house, and during his third missionary journey St. Paul made his headquarters there also (1 Cor 16:19). At the outbreak of Nero’s persecution, the saintly couple were again in Rome but left for Ephesus (2 Tim 4:19). Later, they returned to Rome and had a church in their home. St. Paul called them his “coworkers in Christ” and declared: “They have risked their lives for me, and to them not only I am grateful but also all the Churches of the Gentiles” (Rom 16:3-4). According to tradition, it was in Ephesus, Asia Minor that they were martyred by the pagans, although there is a tradition that they achieved martyrdom in Rome on their return, probably around the same time as St. Paul.

PRAYER: Lord God, You taught the Gentiles through St. Paul’s coworkers in Christ, Sts. Prisca and Aquila. As we celebrate their feast, grant that, following their example, we may be witness to Your truth in this world. Amen 🙏

SAINT EDGAR THE PEACEMAKER: St. Edgar the Peacemaker (AD 943-975) known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death. King Edgar was the youngest child of King Edmund the Magnificent and St. Aelfgith. His mother died the year after his birth and his father when he was only three. He was, therefore, fostered by Aethelstan Half-King, the Ealdorman of East Anglia, and his wife, Aelfwinn. The family were keen supporters of monastic reform and Edgar’s education was therefore placed in the hands of the movement’s mastermind, St. Aethelwold, Abbot of Abingdon. In AD 955, Edgar’s uncle, King Edred, died and his elder brother, the fourteen year old Edwig, became King. However, when Edgar reached the same age two years later, the kingdom was divided and he was given the Northern regions of Mercia and Northumbria, while Edwig retained Wessex. Edgar immediately recalled his uncle’s advisor, St. Dunstan, from exile and made him Bishop of Worcester, before his transfer to London. Edwig died in AD 959 and Edgar became King of all England. Dunstan was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and Edgar naturally associated himself with the prelate’s extension of monastic reforms. The establishment of English Benedictine monasteries across the country became the central policy of Edgar’s reign. Though hugely successful, it was not universally popular. Vast areas of land were arbitrarily put under Church control, provoking considerable resentment which was to destabilize his son’s reign.

Though a good king, Edgar was not overly religious. His sexual appetite was legendary and gave rise to a number of stories. Soon after ascending the throne, he is said to have fallen for the beautiful daughter of a nobleman of Andover (Hampshire). While visiting the town, he demanded that she enter his bed that night. Her parents were, understandably, shocked and sent a maidservant to join the King in her place. After a long night of unbridled passion, Edgar was disappointed to find that his new conquest hurried from his bed early the next morning. The deception was thus revealed, as the girl explained that she must start work before the rest of the household arose. In a mad fury, the King confiscated all his hosts’ lands and made his bed-fellow their mistress. About AD 960, he married Ethelflaed Eneda (White-Duck), the daughter of a Hertfordshire nobleman named Ordmaer. She seems to have been some relation of Edgar’s foster-father, Aethelstan of East Anglia. They had one son, Edward, before the lady died, around AD 963. During this marriage, the King was by no means monogamous and seduced a young nun, named Wulfthrith, from Wilton Abbey (Wiltshire), carrying her off to Kemsing in Kent where their extended affair led to the birth of a daughter. The following year, Edgar heard of another great beauty, Aelfthrith the daughter of the Devonshire Thegn, Ordgar. He sent his foster-brother, Ealdorman Aethelwold of East Anglia to check her out; but the young man found her so stunning that he secretly married her and settled in distant Devon. Hearing that his foster-brother had married, but not to whom, the King insisted the newly-weds visit him at Court. Discovering Aethelwold’s duplicitous nature, Edgar took him out hunting in Harewood Forest (Hampshire) and thrust a javelin through his back! After Ethelflaed’s death, Edgar tried to persuade his lover, Wulfthrith, to marry him but the relationship seems to have been somewhat one-sided and she fled back to the safety of the confines of Wilton. He turned to Aethelwold’s widow instead and the two were married in AD 964.

Though Edgar had almost certainly been crowned King of Wessex at Kingston-upon-Thames, early in his reign, by AD 973, he wished to mark a new stage in the development of Anglo-Saxon kingship with a great coronation ceremony on the Mercian-Wessex border at Bath. In this ancient Imperial city, he was officially declared King of the English. Then he showed his extensive and effective military power, by marching his army north – swelled with Viking warriors – in a great show of strength. His navy joined him in Chester where the kings of the north assembled to submit to his overlordship: King Kenneth of Scots, King Malcolm of the Cumbrians, King Magnus of Man and the Isles, King Donald of Strathclyde, King Hywel Dda of Deheubrath, King Iago of Gwynedd, King Idwallon of Morgannwg and King Sigefrith (possibly a deputy in Norse York). According to tradition, originating with Florence of Worcester, they rowed King Edgar up River Dee, from the Royal palace to the monastery of St. John the Baptist. King Edgar died on 8th July AD 975 and was buried in St. Dunstan’s abbey at Glastonbury (Somerset) where he was revered as a saint, presumably for his monastic reforms and the stability he brought to the country, rather than his sexual conquests. After his death he was succeeded by his son Edward, although the succession was disputed. He’s Patron Saint of kings and widows and widower.

Saint Edgar the Peacemaker ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT KILIAN ( ST. CILLIAN), BISHOP AND MARTYR: ) St. Kilian (c. 640-689 A.D.), also known as St. Cillian, was born to a noble family in Ireland. As a child he was known for his piety and love of study, which led him to the priesthood. He became a traveling bishop on the island, and in 686 A.D. left Ireland with eleven companions to travel throughout Gaul (present day France and parts of Germany) to preach the Gospel. From there he traveled to Rome to get official sanction from the Pope to become a missionary. Once obtained, St. Kilian returned north and settled in Würzburg as his base of activity along with two of his original companions. He began his work evangelizing the pagans in large parts of Franconia and Thuringia (north and central Germany), earning the name ‘Apostle of Franconia.’ Saint Kilian converted the Duke of Würzburg and convinced him to end his unlawful marriage. This greatly angered the Duke’s wife, who resisted St. Kilian’s attempts to convert her. While her husband was away, she had St. Kilian and his two missionary companions beheaded as they were preaching. A cathedral was built on the spot of their martyrdom by the first bishop of Würzburg. On St. Kilian’s feast his relics, along with those of his two companions, are paraded through the streets and put on display in the Würzburg Cathedral, which is dedicated to him. St. Kilian’s feast day is July 8th.  

BLESSED PETER VIGNE, PRIEST: Blessed Peter Vigne (1670-1740), was a French Roman Catholic Priest, who established the Blessed Sacrament Sisters of Valence. He born on August 20, 1670. He grew up in a united family. He was a bright child and already at the age of eleven, he undertook some small tasks in St. Thomas Parish. On the 18th of September 1694 he was ordained priest by the bishop of Viviers (Ardeche). At 24 he is appointed to St Agreve Parish. From the beginning of his priestly life, meditation on the Word of God and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament were the driving force of his life. He undertook his ministry with generosity and worked tirelessly to draw people to GOD and help them in any way he could. He truly was a missionary. He left St Agreve in 1700 and joined the Vincentian Fathers, missionaries in Lyon, acting as a missionary and a preacher. This congregation preached missions in parishes. After a period of in initiation, Bl. Peter Vigne was sent with other priests to many different places around Lyons. His preaching was much appreciated and people flocked to hear him. His talent was being applauded by many because he preached with such conviction. Bl. Peter left the Vincentians in 1706 and became known as a travelling priest for the next three decades. He would preach and celebrate Mass at the places he visited and also visited the sick and carried out confessions. In 1712, he first came to hear of Boucieu, which was later to become the place of two great achievements for him. The Way of the Cross which he erected and the foundation of the Blessed Sacrement Sisters of Valence on November 30th 1715 and following this established schools for children.

A long-standing tradition relates that as a teenager, Peter Vigne, of Privas, France, abandoned the Catholic faith and set out for Geneva, Switzerland with the intent of becoming a Protestant minister. Along the way, he passed a priest carrying Viaticum to an invalid. Peter’s refusal to acknowledge the Blessed Sacrament with any act of reverence did not sit well with his horse, for it reared itself and threw him to the ground. The young man suddenly found himself on his knees before the Eucharist. The remarkable incident brought about an immediate conversion, prompting Peter to re-direct his steps to the Catholic seminary of Viviers. After becoming a priest and a Vincentian religious, he obtained permission from his superiors to serve as an itinerant preacher in the French countryside. In and around the village of Boucieu-le-Roi, he erected a series of thirty-nine Stations of the Cross, for which he recruited several young women to assist pilgrims in praying at the outdoor shrines. From this apostolate arose a new congregation, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, devoted to perpetual Eucharistic adoration. Bl. Peter Vigne died on July 8, 1740. He was beatified on October 3, 2004 by Pope John Paul II and proposed to the universal Church as an example of a tireless missionary and apostle of the Most Holy Sacrament.

“Lord, give me a love which is ever eager to live as You would have me live. May I always wish to glorify You and never forget Your Presence.” ~ Blessed Peter Vigne

Blessed Peter Vigne, Priest ~ Pray for us🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 9:18-26

“My daughter has just died, but come and she will live; Courage, daughter! Your faith has restored you to health”

“While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus rose and followed him, and so did His disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the tassel on His cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, He said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. When the crowd was put out, He came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is approached by two members of God’s people who were very different. They came to Jesus in their need. One was a synagogue official, who would have had a certain status in the community, he had a recognized and important religious role within the community. He approaches Jesus in a public and confident way, as befits his status, and asked Jesus to lay hands on his seriously ill daughter so that her life will be saved. The other was a woman who suffered from a flow of blood, a condition that would have left her somewhat isolated in her community at that time and who, in virtue of that condition, would have been considered ritually unclean, and, therefore, excluded from the synagogue. She approaches Jesus in a very secret, hidden, way. She only wanted to touch Jesus’ cloak, without making herself known to anybody. However, Jesus refused to treat her as if she were invisible. As the synagogue official spoke directly to Jesus, Jesus wanted to speak directly to the woman. He wanted to speak to her heart, as God wanted to speak to the heart of His people in the first reading. In spite of their different standing within the community and their different approaches to Jesus, what they had in common was their great faith in Jesus and in His saving power. Jesus saw no essential difference between the synagogue official and this woman. They were both in need and both had the faith to approach Him for help, even if in very different ways. Jesus responded equally generously to both of these people, healing the official’s daughter and healing the woman of her condition. We all have our own way of approaching the Lord. We do so in a way that is unique to us and that reflects the circumstances of our lives. However, the Lord relates to all of us equally. The Gospel reading suggests that what matters to the Lord is not our standing in the community or how we approach Him, how we pray, but the strength of our faith in Him, the quality of our relationship with Him. According to the opening line of today’s first reading, the Lord lured the people of Israel into the wilderness to speak to their heart. The Lord speaks to the heart of all of us who approach Him and He always responds to our plea for help. In the words of the first reading, He wants to speak to the heart of each of us, drawing us to Himself with tenderness and love. Regardless of how we are seen by others, the Lord looks upon us in a way that recognizes our dignity. In the words of today’s psalm, the Lord is ‘kind and full of compassion… abounding in love’ towards all.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Hosea, the Lord spoke to His people, the people of God in the northern kingdom also known as Israel, of what He had intended for all of them, reminding them all of His ever enduring love and kindness, His desire to see them reconciled and reunited with Him. The prophet Hosea was sent to the Israelites of the northern kingdom, who had long disobeyed God and disregarded His Law and commandments, refusing to listen to the many prophets and messengers that God had sent to them to help and guide them to the right path. They persecuted those prophets and messengers, silencing and killing them because they refused to turn away from the path of sin and evil, from their wickedness and disobedience. But the prophet Hosea, while delivering God’s displeasure and warnings to His people, the premonition of the destruction and sufferings that they would have to endure because of their sins and wickedness, which was imminent, at the same time, and according to our first reading, God reassured and encouraged His people of His continued providence and love. He reminded them of all of His wonderful deeds in protecting and providing for their ancestors since the time He had brought them out of the land of Egypt out of their slavery, and how He had guided them safely and well throughout the way, loving them patiently all throughout their journey. He was patient with them even when they repeatedly disobeyed Him, chastising and punishing them to help them see the error of their ways and that they might return to Him with repentance and sincerity of heart.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are called to always put our faith and trust in the Lord, our God and Saviour. All of us are reminded that God truly loves each and every one of us, and we are all precious to Him. He has also done a lot to reach out to us, to embrace us all with His love and kindness, showing us all His mercy. Through everything that He had done and shown us, we are all reminded that as Christians, that is as those whom He had called and chosen, and we who have answered His call, and taken Him as our Lord and Saviour, our Master and King, we must always put God as the centre and as the very focus of our lives and existence. We must always have faith in Him and commit ourselves and every moments of our lives to serve and glorify Him. May the Lord therefore continue to bless us and love us at all times, and may He continue to empower and strengthen us in our journey of faith and life so that we may continue to persevere in faith despite the many challenges and difficulties, trials and obstacles that we may encounter in our lives. Let us all renew our commitment and conviction to serve the Lord ever more faithfully and to do His will in all that we do in our lives, to do His Law and commandments and to entrust ourselves to His love and kindness. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to reveal the loving presence of God, regardless of how we are received by others. May God be with us always and bless our every good works and endeavours, for His greater glory, 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:

My gentle Lord, You speak to me day and night, calling me to the healing I need. Help me to hear Your Voice and to respond to You in faith. May my faith and confidence in You grow strong and become the source of Your glorious action in my life. Jesus, I do 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, Saints Priscilla and Aquila; Saint Edgar, the Peacemaker; Saint Kilian (St. Cillian) and Blessed Peter Vigne ~ 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 day and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Have a blessed, safe, grace-filled and fruitful week 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖