SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 21, 2024

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Sunday of the Sixteenth 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 “Closing Mass of National Eucharistic Congress | Sunday, July 21, 2024 | EWTN |

Watch “Holy Mass from Knock on EWTN on YouTube | July 21, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 21, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |July 21, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 21, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 21, 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: Sunday, July 21, 2024
Reading 1, Jeremiah 23:1-16
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6
Gospel, Mark 6:30-34
Reading 2, Ephesians 2:13-18

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

Bible Readings for today, Sunday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Year B) | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Mark 6:30–34

“They were like sheep without a shepherd”

“The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going. in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus affirms that value of finding a restful time with those who are significant for us. The apostles had been out on mission; it was the first time they had been sent out on their own, without Jesus being with them. They came back full of enthusiasm, wanting to share all they had done and taught. Yet, Jesus knew they needed to rest – as Mark says in that gospel reading, ‘there were so many coming and going that they had no time even to eat’. Jesus intended to take them off to a lonely place where they could be by themselves, with just Jesus for company. This would have been an opportunity to reflect on what had been going on and to recharge the batteries. The words of Jesus, ‘you must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest awhile’ affirms the value of rest, the value of finding space amid the business of life, the value of slowing down and finding a different, less hectic, rhythm. The pressures of modern living can work against these values, as we know. There are times when we need to be more than to do. It can be good to find a space and a time when we have no targets, no goals, to reach. Jesus and His disciples worked hard, but Jesus understood that work, not even the work of the Lord, was an absolute value. There comes a time when it must give way to other values, the value of rest, relaxation, quietness, reflection. Yet, according to the Gospel reading, the values of rest, relaxation, quietness and reflection that Jesus was trying to promote for His disciples did not materialize on this particular occasion. The lonely place where Jesus had intended taking His disciples turned out to be a very crowded place. The work that Jesus was trying to take His disciples away from arrived in the lonely place ahead of them, in the form of a needy crowd of people. The plans Jesus had for Himself and His disciples did not materialize. The situation St. Mark describes in the Gospel reading is not an unusual human experience. We have all had similar experiences. Something pleasant we had planned is suddenly blown out of the water for one reason or another. The urgent need of others can cut across our own need for rest and quietness. The temptation in such situations is to react with irritation and annoyance and to respond to the need of the other that has suddenly come before us with a degree of bad grace. That was not the reaction of Jesus. The Gospel of St. Mark says of Him, ‘As He stepped ashore He saw a large crowd; and He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He set Himself to teach them at some length’. Jesus’ response was shaped by compassion rather than by irritation. The value of rest gave way before the higher value of serving the needy, feeding the hungry. That second part of the Gospel reading tells us something about Jesus, about the kind of person He was. A little later in St. Mark’s Gospel Jesus would go on to speak of Himself as the Son of Man who ‘came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many’. Jesus came to serve others, and He turned down no opportunity to do so, even at times when the demands of others would probably be considered unreasonable by most people, as in the case of today’s Gospel reading.

Jesus gave everything in the service of others, including His life. Saint Paul says of Jesus that He emptied Himself taking the form of a servant, a slave. St. Paul goes on to say that, having taken the form of a servant, Jesus was given the title Lord by God the Father. Therein lies the paradox, one of the many paradoxes, of Jesus. He is Lord but He exercises His Lordship by becoming a servant. The risen Lord continues to exercise His Lordship today by becoming our servant. He lives forever to serve us. He is the Shepherd who continues to serve the flock; He serves us by giving us His teaching, just as He taught the crowds in the Gospel reading; He serves us by giving us His body and blood. He feeds us with His word and with the Eucharist. The Lord does not have times when He is at our service and times when He is not. The Gospel reading indicates that He is there to serve us whenever we go looking for Him. The Lord is not less available to us at some times than at others. That realization gives us the confidence to seek the Lord, regardless of the hour or of the circumstances of our lives.

In our first reading this Sunday, from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord first began by chiding His faithless and wicked people, especially all those who have misled them all into the wrong and wicked paths, namely the ‘shepherds’ and guides of the people, referring to the wicked and unfaithful kings of Judah who have disobeyed the Lord and established the worship of pagan gods and idols on the holy sites and places of worship of the Lord, as well as those false prophets who were aplenty, claiming to represent God’s will and speak His words, when they in fact advanced their own ideas, preferences and agenda, desiring to gain things and benefits for themselves rather than to do what is right to the people of God and to truly do God’s will. The prophet Jeremiah had often spoken against those false prophets and all the wicked practices of the people of Judah and their kings, prophesying about the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, which would indeed happen very soon at that time, when the Babylonians came to conquer the kingdom of Judah, destroying Jerusalem and its Temple. And everything that the prophet Jeremiah had said would indeed come to pass with the Babylonians bringing many of the people of Judah into exile in distant lands away from the lands that they and their ancestors had lived in, a consequence of the rebelliousness and wickedness of their lives and actions before God and men alike. But at the same time, the Lord also reassured His people of His continued love and generous mercy and forgiveness, as He told them that He would gather them all back and then appoint over them shepherds and guides who would take good care of them all, referring first of all to how they would eventually return to their homeland after many years and decades in exile, and how the Lord would allow and help them to rebuild their lives once again, as they would reestablish their homes and cities, rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem which would once again be the centre of the proper and worthy worship of the Lord. All these things would indeed come to be just as the Lord had decreed and willed them all to be.

In our second reading this Sunday, from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus, the Apostle spoke of this great love and salvation which God had made available to all of us, His beloved ones, through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has come into our midst, to all of us, the beloved children of God, so that by His coming into this world, and by everything that He has willingly done for us, all of us may receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and true happiness with Him. And He did all these by the willing and most selfless sacrifice, all the sufferings that He endured from His Cross, which He brought and carried with Him all the way to Calvary. Yes, indeed, God had saved us all and shown us all the most perfect and worthy example of His ever enduring love for us by His Son’s Passion, the suffering and all that He experienced, as He offered for us, on our behalf, the most worthy offering and sacrifice of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, the Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, persecuted and slain at the Altar of the Cross at Calvary, on the day of our salvation, that is Good Friday, so that through His offering and sacrifice, all of us may receive the full assurance and guarantee of eternal life and salvation through Him. This is truly the perfect example of God’s ever enduring and generous love for us, which we ought to remember at each and every moments of our lives.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded that as His holy and beloved people, that is as those who profess our Christian faith and truth, our obedience and commitment to Him, each and every one of us must always live our lives worthily and commit ourselves to follow the Lord in all things, to do what He has taught us to do, to follow His own examples in everything we do. Each and every one of us as Christians are called to fulfil our respective missions in life, to do what the Lord has entrusted to us to do, He, Who is the Chief and Good Shepherd, so that in all the things that we say and do, we will help to ensure that we inspire and are good role models for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, thus helping and inspiring each other to come ever closer to God. We are all reminded that as God’s most beloved ones, we must always realise just how beloved and precious each and every one of us by God, Who has done everything for us so that we may have the path towards eternal life. Let us all therefore reject all sorts of wickedness and evils in our lives and strive from now on to be ever more committed to God, in all the things that we say and do, in our every interactions with one another. May the Lord be with us always and may He continue to empower and strengthen us all so that we will continue to follow Him and be faithful to Him, ever reminded of the great and ever enduring, most wonderful love that He has for each one of us, now and always. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the Lord continue to guide us in our journey, and may He continue to strengthen each one of us so that we may always walk faithfully in His presence, inspired by the examples of His Saints and Martyrs that of innumerable other holy men and women, Saints of God. Amen 🙏

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH; SAINT VICTOR OF MARSEILLES, SOLDIER AND MARTYR AND SAINT PRAXEDES, VIRGIN ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 21ST: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church; Saint Victor of Marseilles, Soldier and Martyr and Saint Praxedes, Virgin. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the 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 LAWRENCE OF BRINDISI, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Lawrence’s name was Julius Caesar, and he was born Caesar de Rossi at Brindisi, in the kingdom of Naples, Italy, on July 22, 1559. As a boy, he studied with the Conventual Franciscans and later went to study in Venice. There he discerned a call to enter the Capuchin Franciscans at Verona at the age of 16 and took the name Lawrence. Educated in Venice at the College of St. Mark and finishing his studies at the University of Padua, he showed a flair for languages, mastering Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish, and French, and showed an extraordinary knowledge of the text of the Bible. Fluent in Hebrew and expertly versed in the Bible, he worked as a diplomat for the secular powers in Europe and as a missionary. While a deacon, St. Lawrence became well-known for his powerful preaching of the Word of God, and after his ordination to the priesthood startled the whole of northern Italy with his sermons. 

In 1598, St. Lawrence was sent with eleven other Capuchins to establish Capuchin community throughout Germany and Austria which were threatened by Lutheranism at that time. While in the imperial realm, the fame of his holiness, wisdom, and administrative ability led the Emperor Rudolf II, to appoint him to organize the Catholic princes against the invading Turks. At the Battle of Stuhlweissenburg, though the Christians were outnumbered four to one, St. Lawrence roused the low spirits of the soldiers with a powerful oration, mounted a horse and rode before the army with a crucifix held high. The Turks repulsed and Europe was saved. In 1596, he became a Superior in his order, he was commissioned by Pope Clement VIII to work for the conversion of the Jewish people and to combat the spread of Protestantism. He was a great preacher and refused a second term as minister general of his order in favor of preaching. Five years later went to Germany with Benedict of Urbino. They founded several priories throughout Europe. At the successful conclusion of his other German projects, the Saint returned to seek seclusion in Italy, only to find that he had been elected the Minister General of the Order in 1602. He worked, preached and wrote to spread the Gospel. He also went on important peace missions to Munich and Madrid. The rulers of those places listened to him and his missions were successful. Eventually St. Lawrence was worn out by constant travel in difficult conditions and by strain of his ministry. He became ill and died in 1619 at Lisbon, Portugal, while on mission to present the grievances of the people of Naples to their sovereign, King Philip III of Spain. Though he was a very active person, St. Lawrence was also a man of prayer as well as of deep learning. He lived and died for the Lord, and through his faithfulness many embraced the saving Gospel. Saint Lawrence was canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1881 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII in 1959. He was canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII, and in 1960 he was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope John XXIII.

PRAYER: God, for the glory of Your Name and the salvation of souls, You favored St. Lawrence, Your Priest, with the spirit of wisdom and fortitude. Grant that the same spirit we may recognize our obligations and with his help carry them our. Amen 🙏

SAINT VICTOR OF MARSEILLES, SOLDIER AND MARTYR: St. Victor of Marseilles (d. 290 A.D.) was a Christian soldier serving in the Roman imperial army in Marseilles, France. Christianity was thriving there, until Emperor Maximian arrived with the intention of putting the Christians to death. This caused the Christians to fear, and St. Victor would go from house to house under the cover of night to admonish them to stand strong in their faith. This behavior drew attention, and during one of his nightly rounds he was arrested. The Roman prefects tried to dissuade him from following a “dead man” (Jesus), but St. Victor testified boldly for the truth of the Christian faith. Enraged, the prefects had him bound and dragged through the streets. Victor was undeterred and continued to denounce the Roman gods.

His tortures were renewed until his torturers grew tired, after which he was thrown into a dungeon. That night he was visited by angels, and his three guards were converted and baptized that same night. The next morning the Emperor had the guards beheaded, while St. Victor was kept alive for fresh torments. After three days of abuse, the Emperor commanded Victor to burn incense to the gods. Instead, St. Victor walked up to the altar and kicked it over with his foot. In retaliation, his foot was cut off. Seeing that his efforts to cause Victor to apostatize were useless, the Emperor finally had him crushed to death on a grindstone. His body was thrown into the sea before being recovered and buried by Christians. His tomb became a place where many miracles occurred and became one of the most popular pilgrimage centers in Gaul. He is the Patron Saint of cabinetmakers, millers, torture victims, sick children; invoked against lightning. St. Victor of Marseilles’ feast day is July 21st.

Saint Victor of Marseilles, Soldier and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINT PRAXEDES, VIRGIN: St. Praxedes was daughter of Pudens, a Roman senator, and sister to Saint Pudentiana, and in the days of Pope Pius I and the emperor Antoninus Pius, edified the church of Rome by the bright lustre of her virtues. All her great riches she employed in relieving the poor and the necessities of the church. By the comfort and succours which she afforded the martyrs she endeavoured to make herself partaker of their crowns, and she lived in the assiduous exercise of prayer, watching, and fasting. She died in peace and was buried near her sister on the Salarian road. Bede and other martyrologists style her a virgin. An old title or parish church in Rome bearing her name is mentioned in the life of Pope Symmachus. It was repaired by Adrian I and Paschal I and lastly by Saint Charles Borromeo, who took from it his title of cardinal.

The primitive Christians lived only for heaven, and in every step looked up to God, regardless of all lower pursuits or meaner advantages that could interfere with their great design of knowing and loving him. This constant attention to God awed them in their retirements; this gave life and wings to their devotions, and animated them to fervour in all their actions; this carried them through the greatest difficulties and temptations, and supported them under all troubles and afflictions.

Saint Praxedes, Virgin ~ Pray for us 🙏

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 compassionate Lord, the vast crowds sought You out to listen to You and to be fed by Your holy Word. They burned with a desire to be with You, and You responded to them with great mercy. Please fill my heart with the same zeal and desire for You. Teach me, Lord, feed me and draw me close to 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 Lawrence of Brindisi; Saint Victor of Marseilles and Saint Praxedes ~ 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 and grace-filled Sunday and week 🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖