SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 27, 2024

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Saturday 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 “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | July 27, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 27, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |July 27, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 27, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 27, 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: Saturday, July 27, 2024
Reading 1, Jeremiah 7:1-11
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 84:3, 4, 5-6, 8, 11
Gospel, Matthew 13:24-30

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT CELESTINE  I, POPE; SAINTS NATHALIA, AURELIUS, LILIOSA, FELIX, AND GEORGE, MARTYRS AND SAINT PANTALEON OF NICOMEDIA, PHYSICIAN AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY – JULY 27TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Celestine I, Pope; Saints Nathalia, Aurelius, Liliosa, Felix, and George, Martyrs and Saint Pantaleon of Nicomedia, Physician and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for physicians and all Healthcare workers, 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 CELESTINE  I, POPE: Pope St. Celestine I (d. 432 A.D.) was a Roman deacon who was elected Supreme Pontiff in 422 A.D. He also lived with St. Ambrose in Milan prior to serving in Rome. Pope St. Celestine lead the Church for nine years during a troubled time of social upheaval. Within the Church there were multiple dangerous heresies spreading and corrupting the faith of the people, especially Nestorianism and Pelagianism, which he staunchly fought against, and for this he is known as a defender of orthodox doctrine. A major campaign of his pontificate was his vigorous attack on Nestorianism, the unorthodox teaching of Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople, which stressed that Christ’s human and divine natures were independent and which denounced the Virgin’s title Theotokos (God-bearer).⁵ Pope Celestine also challenged the doctrine of Pelagius, which minimized the role of divine grace in man’s salvation. In 429, Pope Celestine sent the French bishops Sts. Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes to combat Pelagianism in England. It was Pope Celestine who sent St. Palladius as the first bishop to Ireland in 431. The Holy Father also sent St. Patrick, who would be Palladius’ successor to evangelize Ireland. Also, during his papacy, Pope Celestine assigned Archbishop St. Cyril of Alexandria with Nestorius’ recantation at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Pope Celestine approved the council’s decision to condemn, depose and banish Nestorius, which caused a schism that remained unresolved for more than a century.

Outside the Church, barbarian hordes were invading the West, leading to the collapse of the Roman Empire. Pope St. Celestine I worked to restore the churches that were attacked when Alaric the Goth sacked Rome. He also established the papal diplomatic service to send ambassadors, known as nuncios, from the Vatican to other governments around the world. Pope Celestine was the one who introduced the responsorial psalm into the papal Mass at Rome. His feast day is July 27th.

Saint Celestine I, Pope ~ Pray for us 🙏

SAINTS NATHALIA, AURELIUS, LILIOSA, FELIX, AND GEORGE, MARTYRS: Saints Natalie & Aurelius were Christian martyrs who were put to death in AD 852 for practicing Christianity under Muslim rule, and are counted among the Martyrs of Córdoba. During the 8th century, Mohammedans ruled Cordoba, Spain, and initiated a persecution of the Chrisitans. St. Aurelius was the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. He was also secretly a follower of Christianity, as was his wife Natalie, who was also the child of a Muslim father. They decided to practice the faith openly. After setting aside enough money to take care of their daughter’s future, poor and practiced penance and devotion. One of Aurelius’s cousins, Felix, accepted Islam for a short time, but later converted back to Christianity and married a Christian woman, Liliosa. Sts. Aurelius and Natalie’s example proved to be an inspiration for the relative of Aurelius Felix and his wife Liliosa, who had been practicing her faith in secret. They joined Nathalia and Aurelius in visiting and ministering to the Christians in prison.

Under Sharia Law, all four of them were required to profess Islam. In time all four began to openly profess their Christianity, with the two women going about in public with their faces unveiled. They were all swiftly arrested as apostates from Islam. They were given four days to recant, but they refused and were beheaded. They were martyred with a local monk, George, who had openly spoken out against the Islamic prophet Mohamed. George, belonged to the monastery of St. Sabas in Jerusalem and had toured Egypt and Europe in search of alms for his house. He had been offered a pardon as a foreigner but chose instead to denounce Islam again and die with the others. They were all condemned to death—the first four giving up the Moslem religion and George for insulting Mohammed. On July 27, 852, these saintly followers of Christ achieved the martyrdom when Muslims ruled Spain, they so avidly sought.

PRAYER: Almighty, ever-living God, You conferred on Sts. Nathalia, Aurelius, Liliosa, Felix, and George the grace to suffer for Christ. Extend Your Divine help also to our weakness, so that just as they never shrank from dying for You we may remain steadfast in our confession of You. Amen 🙏

SAINT PANTALEON OF NICOMEDIA, PHYSICIAN AND MARTYR: Saint Pantaleon, (c. 275-305) whose name in Greek means “mercy for everyone,” or “all-compassionate one” was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is one of the patron saints of physicians. He was born near the Black Sea in Asia to a wealthy pagan father and Christian mother. His father, Eustorgius of Nicomedia, and had been instructed in Christianity by his Christian mother, Eubula, who taught him the faith. He was a celebrated “fee-less physician” from Nicomedia who placed his skill in the service of God’s kingdom! As a physician to Emperor Maximianus, St. Pantaleon became estranged from Christianity through the influences of being in his service. With the help of a holy priest named Hermolaus, St. Pantaleon reverted back to the faith and gave his fortune and services to the poor, he distributed his goods among the poor and devoted his talents for healing to the most wretched and poor among the sick. Upon the death of his father he came into possession of a large fortune. Envious colleagues denounced him to the emperor during the Diocletian persecution. The emperor wished to save him and sought to persuade him to apostasy. Pantaleon, however, openly confessed his faith, and as proof that Christ is the true God, he healed a paralytic. Notwithstanding this, he was condemned to death by the emperor, who regarded the miracle as an exhibition of magic. He was martyred during the Diocletian persecution after he implored heaven to forgive his persecutors.

According to legend, Pantaleon’s flesh was first burned with torches; upon this Christ appeared to all in the form of Hermolaus to strengthen and heal Pantaleon. The torches were extinguished. After this, when a bath of liquid lead was prepared, Christ in the same form stepped into the cauldron with him, the fire went out and the lead became cold. He was now thrown into the sea, but the stone with which he was loaded floated. He was thrown to the wild beasts but these fawned upon him and could not be forced away until he had blessed them. He was bound on the wheel, but the ropes snapped, and the wheel broke. An attempt was made to behead him, but the sword bent, and the executioners were converted. Pantaleon implored heaven to forgive them, for which reason he also received the name of Panteleemon (the all- compassionate). It was not until he himself desired it that it was possible to behead him. St. Pantaleon is known as the “Great Martyr”, a “Wonder-Worker” and “Pantaleon the Healer”. In the Middle Ages he came to be regarded as the patron saint of physicians and midwives, and became one of the fourteen guardian martyrs. From early times a phial containing some of his blood has been preserved at Constantinople. On the feast day of the saint the blood is said to become fluid and to bubble. Relics of the saint are to be found at St. Denis at Paris; his head is venerated at Lyons. St. Pantaleon is the Patron Saint of physicians; bachelors; consumption; doctors; midwives; torture victims; tuberculosis; protection of domestic animals; Apothecaries, lottery winners and victories, invoked against headaches, consumption, locusts, witchcraft, accidents and loneliness; helper for crying children. His feast day is July 27th, alsoJuly 28th, and  February 18th.

Saint Pantaleon of Nicomedia, Physician and Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 13:24-30

“Let them grow together until harvest”

“Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Lord spoke to His disciples and the people using the parable of the good seeds and the weeds, in which the Lord spoke of the sower of the seeds, representing God Himself, and the enemy who sowed the seeds of weeds, which represents the devil, the evil one. In the parable, the seeds of the good seeds grew into good and fruitful plants that grew along the weeds that were competing with them for the nutrients, the space and all the resources needed for them to grow well. Weeds here often refer to those plants that are not useful or beneficial to us, and as competitors to the crop plants are therefore undesirable as they can make the good plants and crops unhealthy and lacking the resources they need to grow well. Jesus in parable was warning us against a premature separation of wheat from weed, of the good from the bad. He was saying that this kind of separation is really God’s work, not our work, and that it will happen at the end of time rather than in the course of time. Just as the servants in the parable would have been unable to distinguish the wheat from the weeds if they had been let loose, we do not always have the necessary insight to distinguish who is good and who is evil. We can get it terribly wrong; we only have to think of those innocent people who have been wrongly imprisoned. How often in our own personal lives have we judged someone harshly only to discover in time that we were very wide of the mark. The church itself has not always heeded the warning of Jesus about the dangers of premature separation. The inquisition was not in the spirit of the parable that Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel reading. Too great a zeal to purify the wheat field risks doing more harm than good. A weed-free garden may be highly desirable, but the Gospel today suggests that we may have to learn to live with weeds. We need to be patient with imperfection, in ourselves and in others. As we know only too well, life is not tidy. It is not like a well-manicured garden, in which order and harmony prevail. Each of us is a mixture of wheat and weed; we are each tainted by sin and yet touched by grace. Our calling is to grow in grace before God and others, as Jesus did. We look to Him to help us to keep on turning from sin and growing in grace.

In our first reading today, from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, the prophet of God told the people the words of the Lord at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, which had long been profaned and corrupted by the wicked practices and actions of the people of the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. As the Lord Himself said to His people, telling them through Jeremiah how wicked their actions and deeds had been, in their lack of genuine faith in Him and in their many hypocritical actions and deeds, which angered the Lord and would lead them to their doom and downfall. They were to suffer the consequences of their actions, all their deeds in manipulating and persecuting their fellow brothers and sisters for their own selfish ambitions and desires. God wanted His people at that time in the kingdom of Judah and hence all of us to realise that as His disciples and followers, all of us must realise that each and every one of our actions, words and deeds in life, our interactions and all our dealings with one another have to be accounted for, and we must understand that while God loves us all and does not despise us, all kinds of sins and wickedness are abhorrent to Him, and no sin and evil can stand before God’s Presence, or else we will be condemned and judged by those same sins which we have committed in our lives. That is why we need to turn away from all the wickedness that we ourselves had done in our lives, and embrace once again God’s love and mercy, seeking His forgiveness for our many sins.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us as those who believe in the Lord to contemplate our path in life, our actions and whatever it is that we have done, in all that we carry out in our lives so that our whole lives may always be truly exemplary and be faithful to God, and that we will strive to avoid falling into the temptations to sin, to disobey God and His Law and commandments. We must not allow the evil ones to persuade us otherwise and to mislead us down the path of darkness and ruin, by strengthening our own relationships with God, our Lord and Master, He Who has always loved us all these while. Let us all therefore no longer be ignorant of what we need to urgently do in order to seek God’s forgiveness for our many sins, and for us to reorientate our lives so that we may once again live them in accordance with God’s will. Let us all be good role models, examples and inspiration for our fellow brothers and sisters, that in all the things we do and carry out in each and every moments, we will always strive to cultivate a life that is truly holy and worthy of God. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the Lord continue to strengthen and empower us all so that we may always be faithful to Him at all times, and may He grant us the strength and the courage to carry on living our lives ever more courageously and worthily as good and devout Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, 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 been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! 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. We pray for all mothers, wives, those going through challenges in their marriages, Victims of verbal and spousal abuse, we pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. 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 holy Word of God, You are the living Word who sows seed upon the fertile ground of our Hearts. You plant Yourself in the hearts of those who believe so that Your life can bear good fruit in the faithful. Please sow the seed of Your Word in my own heart, dear Lord, and protect me from the deceptions of the evil one. As You do, I pray that You bring forth an abundance of good fruit through me. 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 Celestine I, Pope; Saints Nathalia, Aurelius, Liliosa, Felix, and George and Saint Pantaleon of Nicomedia ~ 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💖