FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 19, 2024

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Friday of the Fifteenth 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 19, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 19, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |July 19, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 19, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 19, 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: Friday, July 19, 2024
Reading 1, Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8
Responsorial Psalm, Isaiah 38:10, 11, 12, 16
Gospel, Matthew 12:1-8

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT AUREA OF CÓRDOBA, MARTYR; SAINT EPAPHRAS OF COLOSSAE, MARTYR; SAINT SYMMACHUS, POPE AND SAINT MACRINA THE YOUNGER, RELIGIOUS ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 19TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Aurea of Córdoba, Martyr; Saint Epaphras of Colossae, Martyr; Saint Symmachus, Pope and St. Macrina the Younger, Religious. 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 those going through difficulties especially during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy, for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏 

SAINT AUREA OF CÓRDOBA, MARTYR: St. Aurea is one of the Córdoba Martyrs of Spain. She was a widow who was born in Cordova, Spain, in the ninth century into an Arab noble family; her father was a Muslim from Seville, and three members of her family were qadis, or Arab judges. She was also the sister of Sts. Aldolphus and John, who were martyred at Cordova. St. Aurea became a Christian after her husband died, and took the veil at a monastery in Cuteclara, Spain, where she remained for more than twenty years. She was ultimately denounced as a Christian by her parents, and received a martyr’s crown by beheading in 856.

According to history, the city of Córdoba had been Christian from apostolic times until the Islamic conquest came to southern Spain in the year 711. Soon Córdoba became the capital of this part of the original “Islamic State”, and would remain so until the 15th century. During this whole period the Church continued to exist, but she was subject to sharia (Islamic law) which forbade public witness and imposed jizya (a special tax).  Things became more complicated as Córdoba grew into a prestigious economic and cultural center in the Islamic world.  Catholic churches and monasteries remained, but the population — attracted by the many opportunities in the Muslim city — began converting to Islam.  Even prominent churchmen cooperated with the political regime in ways that compromised their integrity. By 800, few remained professing Catholics.  A significant portion of the population, however, conformed externally to Islamic laws and customs but tried in various ways to remain Christian privately or even secretly.  Though sharia law permitted Christians to exist, it forbade Muslims to convert to Christianity.  This was regarded as the crime of apostasy, punishable by death. The problem of “secret Christians” in Islamic Spain was especially complicated by the inevitable mixed marriages between Muslim men and Christian women. The latter were generally permitted to retain their faith, but the children of such marriages were considered Muslim by sharia law.  It is impossible to gauge the influence of these Christian mothers on their children, but it was not negligible. Thus, by the 9th century Córdoba was institutionally and legally Muslim and what was left of the Church was largely compliant.  But this period also documents the witness of forty-eight Córdoba Martyrs.  Many were Christians executed for blasphemy because, in seeking to reinvigorate the Church, they openly proclaimed Christ and denounced Islam.

But there were also apostates among them. SAINT AUREA illustrates what may have been the hidden truth for many others born of mixed marriages. She was one of several children of a prominent Muslim father and a Christian mother.  Her mother must have been an outstanding woman of faith who raised her children as believing Christians. When St. Aurea was young, two of her brothers were martyred.  Sometime after this (and after her marriage and widowhood, about which nothing is known) St. Aurea joined her mother in seclusion in a convent outside the city. A significant portion of the population, however, conformed externally to Islamic laws and customs but tried in various ways to remain Christian privately or even secretly. Open Christian witness was met by further Muslim persecution in 850, and it became increasingly unsafe for Christians like Aurea, who were legally Muslim by birth in spite of growing up as Christians and personally embracing the Christian Faith.  Relatives from her Muslim father’s family found St. Aurea after twenty years of undisturbed peace in the convent and brought her before the sharia court.  To avoid being condemned for apostasy, St. Aurea did what many other secret Christians did to escape: she declared adherence to Islam and its prophet. She repented, however, almost immediately after being released, and returned to practicing her Christian faith. Her Muslim relatives including her parents denounced her again, and this time she was executed by beheading on July 19, 856.  We have presented Aurea as a convert even though its possible that she was baptized a Christian at an early age.  Nevertheless, she was martyred because Islamic law regarded her as a convert — an apostate — simply because of her free adherence to Jesus Christ

Saint Aurea of Córdoba, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏
 
SAINT EPAPHRAS OF COLOSSAE, MARTYR: St. Epaphras, Coworker of St. Paul, a first century missionary to Colossae, Laodicea And Hierapolis. Bishop of Colossae and a martyr. St. Paul makes reference to him. St. Epaphras was called by St. Paul his “dear fellow servant” and a “trusty minister in Christ” (Col 1:7). He is regarded as the founder of the Christian Church at Colossae and apparently also at the neighboring cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis. He embraced Christianity and promoted it in Colossae as well as the neighboring towns of Laodicea and Hierapolis, in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). He also visited St. Paul in prison, giving the great missionary wonderful comfort, no doubt. When  St. Paul wrote his “Letter to the Colossians,” (written while Paul was in prison) he mentioned that Epaphras was with him. “Epaphras sends you greetings; he is one of you, a slave of Christ [Jesus], always striving for you in his prayers so that you may be perfect and fully assured in all the will of God.” ~ Colossians 4:12

The Saint brought St. Paul a glowing report of the state of the Colossian Christian (Col 1:4,8) and sent back greeting to them from Rome (Col 4:12). St. Epaphras is commended by St. Paul for his ministry of intercession, for he showed true pastoral concern that extended to other Churches in the Lycus River Vallex (Col 4:13). He also seems to have shared to some extent St. Paul’s imprisonment in Rome for the Apostle calls him “my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus” (Philem 23). Saint Epaphras can remind us to cling to truth … even if it means being associated with a prisoner or outcast. There is a tradition that Epaphras was martyred in Colossae.

PRAYER: Lord God, You taught the Gentiles through St. Paul’s coworker in Christ, St. Epaphras. As we celebrate his feast, grant that, following his example, we may be witnesses to Your truth in this world. Amen 🙏
 
SAINT SYMMACHUS, POPE: St. Symmachus was Pope from 498 to 514. He was born on Sardinia and was baptized in Rome, where he became archdeacon under Pope Anastasius II. At the latter’s death, St. Symmachus was elected Pope in 498. St. Symmachus was active during the Acacian schism, a period of intense friction between the churches of Constantinople and Rome over the issue of Monophysitism. He thus faced a serious rival claimant to the throne of Saint Peter. A splinter group at Rome, in league with Emperor Anastasius of Constantinople, elected a rival Pope, Laurentius (Lawrence). The archpriest Laurentius, led a faction less opposed to Constantinople at the same time. Both claimants to the Holy See appealed to the Gothic King Theodoric at Ravenna. King Theodoric the Great eventually decided against Laurentius and in favor of St. Symmachus. King Theodoric chose St. Symmachus as the rightful Pontiff because he had been elected first and by the great number of votes. Most important of all, the King characterized St. Symmachus as one who was good, prudent, kindly, gracious, and a lover of the clergy and the poor. Nevertheless, the Saint had many troubles because of the Schismatics during the first half of his pontificate. When he learned that the Arian King Thrasimund had exiled many African Bishops to Sardinia, he was quick to send them a letter to comfort them as well as clothes, money, and relics of Martyrs for them and their flocks. Among other good works, St. Symmachus built three hospices for the poor, came to the aid of those who underwent raids by the Barbarians in northern Italy, and redeemed a multitude of captives. The Pope also restored several churches in Rome and built three new basilicas—to St. Andrew, St. Pancras, and St. Agnes. He died on July 19, 514, and was buried in St. Peter’s Basilica.

PRAYER: Almighty and eternal God, You willed to set St. Symmachus over Your entire people and to go before them in word and example. By his intercession keep the pastors of Your Church together with their flocks and guide them in the way of eternal salvation. Amen 🙏

SAINT MACRINA THE YOUNGER, RELIGIOUS: St. Macrina the Younger (d. 380 A.D.) was born in Cappadocia to a family of saints. Her mother was St. Emelia, and her father was St. Basil the Elder. Her grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder, after whom she was named. Her holy parents had ten children. St. Macrina was one of the oldest, and received an excellent religious education from her holy mother. Her parents betrothed her to a pious youth, but he died before the marriage took place. St. Macrina then consecrated her virginity to God and lived a life of great asceticism. She remained living with her parents, helping to raise her younger siblings, directing the household servants, and supporting the family with her domestic skills. Among her siblings were St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nyssa (who both became Cappadocian Fathers and Doctors of the Church) St. Peter of Sebaste, and St. Theosevia. When their father died, St. Macrina became the main support for the family. It was St. Macrina who profoundly influenced the spiritual discipline of her younger brothers. When all her siblings were grown, St. Macrina convinced her mother to give up their family belongings, set their servants free, and convert their home into a monastery. Many of their servants joined them in this spiritual pursuit; they all lived together as a family, sharing all things in common. When her mother died, St. Macrina led the religious community. The biography of St. Macrina’s life was written by her brother, St. Gregory. Her feast day is July 19th.

Saint Macrina the Younger ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Reading for today, Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB |
https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 12:1-8

“What I want is mercy, not sacrifice”

“Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry, how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat? Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Pharisees criticize Jesus’ disciples for satisfying their hunger in a way they considered inappropriate on the Sabbath, by eating some of the grain as they walk through a cornfield. However, Jesus defends what His disciples are doing. He gives priority to human need over a strict interpretation of a religious law, even a law as important as the Sabbath law. This exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees shows us something of Jesus’ priorities. He was concerned for human well-being. He wanted the hungry to be fed, the thirsty to have clean water, the homeless to be housed, the sick to be cared for, the rejected to be welcomed. These were the values that He lived by and religious law was at the service of those values. Jesus lived by these values because he knew that they were God’s values. This is why he goes on to quote from the prophet Hosea, ‘What I want is mercy, not sacrifice’. God gives greater priority to people showing mercy to others than to people offering Him sacrifice in the Temple. Showing mercy to others entails providing for people’s basic needs, such as ensuring that the hungry are fed. Jesus could speak as God’s representative. As he says in the Gospel reading, ‘here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple’. The Temple was traditionally understood to be the privileged place of God’s presence in the world. Jesus, however, is now the privileged place of God’s presence in the world. He speaks and acts as God would speak and act. Jesus shows that God’s highest value is mercy, the loving care of others in their need. Jesus wants us, His followers, to make God’s highest value our own in the way we relate to others.

Our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah presents the story of the illness of King Hezekiah of Judah. This ailing King sought for God’s mercy and compassion, and hoped that God could heal him and extend his life for all the faithful actions and obedience which he had shown to Him in his years ruling the people and kingdom of Judah as a virtuous and righteous King, as well as a faithful servant of God. King Hezekiah himself was one of the few kings of Judah who had been faithful to God unlike many of his predecessors, obeying the Law of God and following His Law and commandments faithfully. Thus, in today’s first reading, King Hezekiah begged the Lord to remember all of his good deeds and to have pity on him. God listened to Hezekiah’s prayers and extended his life by another fifteen years. The prophet Isaiah brought the good tidings upon the king, who was informed therefore that God had listened to his prayers and that he would live another fifteen years just as God had said. This shows us that God truly loves us all, His beloved ones, and He is also the Lord and Master of all things, including the matters of life and death, as the One Lord and Master of all things.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded once again that God truly loves each one of us as His beloved children and people, those to whom God has been willing to show all of His attention, love and care. God has never sought our destruction and damnation, and He has always loved us all since the very beginning, when He decided to create us all. Through His love, He has given us so many great and wonderful things, first and foremost is the love that He has manifested to us through His beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, through Whom He has assured us all of eternal life. This is why we all need to rediscover that love that we have for the Lord, our God and Master, each and every one of us should make good use of the opportunities that He has given to us to find our path to Him. All of us have been lost to Him because of our sins and disobedience, all the evil things and wickedness which we had committed. Yet, the love of God for us, His compassion and mercy are far greater than our sins and wickedness, and His light and love illuminate the path for us to follow in our lives, directing us towards Him and His salvation, that we may be fully reunited and reconciled with Him as He wants us to. Let us all therefore abandon our sinful and wicked ways, and put our trust and faith once again in God, in all and everything that we have done and committed in our whole lives. May the Lord, our ever loving and compassionate God be with us always, and may He continue to empower and strengthen us all in our every good works and efforts, to do His will and to bring forth God’s salvation to all the people of all the nations. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to trust and believe in Him as He comes to us in every moment of our lives, giving each moment eternal significance. May all of us and our lives be good inspiration for one another, and may we draw ever closer to God, 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 divine Judge of All, You and You alone know the heart, and You and You alone are capable of acting as Judge. Please exercise Your authority in my life so that I can perceive my own sin. As You do, please also free me from the tendency to judge and condemn. Fill me, instead, with a heart full of mercy and truth toward all. 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 Aurea of Cordoba, Saint Epaphras of Colossae, Saint Symmachus and Saint Macrina the Younger ~ Pray for us🙏

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 relaxing weekend🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖