SEVENTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 1, 2024

Greetings beloved family in Christ and Happy Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time! 

We thank God for the gift of life and for the gift of the new month of August. Praying for our safety and well-being🙏

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 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 | August 1, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 1, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 1, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 1, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 1, 2024 |

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

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

Today’s Bible Readings: Thursday, August 1, 2024
Reading 1, Jeremiah 18:1-6
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 146:1-2, 2-4, 5-6
Gospel, Matthew 13:47-53

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST OF SAINT PETER’S CHAINS; SAINT ALPHONSUS  LIGUORI, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND THE SEVEN HOLY MACCABEES, MARTYRS ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 1ST: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Peter’s Chains; Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church and The Seven Holy Machabees, Martyrs. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray for those going through difficulties especially during these challenging times, for the poor and the needy. And we continue to pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world.🙏

SAINT PETER’S CHAINS: St. Peter’s Chains is commonly referred to as Lammas Day (Loaf Mass). This was the festival of the first wheat harvest of the year, on which day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop. The feast celebrates the dedication of the basilica of St. Peter ad Vincula in Rome which was built in about 432 on the Esquiline Hill in Rome and consecrated on August 1. The church of St. Peter in Chains (or San Pietro in Vincoli) was originally dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. Also called the Eudoxian Basilica because it was built by order of the Empress Eudoxia, mother of Ventinian III, in 422, for the veneration of the chains which bound St. Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. Rebuilt by Sixtus IV in 1475.

There in some controversy as to whether St. Peter’s chains were brought from Jerusalem by Eudoxia in 439, or by some travelers sent to the East in search of them by the martyr St. Balbina and her father, St. Quirinus, in 116. Gerbet defends the latter opinion and says St. Balbina gave them to Theodora, sister of St. Hermes, martyr, Prefect of Rome, from whom they passed into the hands of Pope St. Alexander I (108-117). St. Bede the Venerable, writing in the seventh century, speaks of the chains in connection with St. Balbina and St. Alexander. Such was the reverence paid to these chains in the fifth and sixth centuries, that filings of them were considered precious relics suitable for kings and patriarchs, these filings being usually enclosed in a gold cross or key. Such a relic was sent by Pope St. Hormisdas to the Emperor Justinian; by St. Gregory to King Childebert, to Theoctista, sister of the Emperor Mauritius, to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch, and others; by Pope Vitalian to Oswy of Northumbria; by St. Leo III to Charlemagne; by St. Gregory VII to Alphonsus, King of Castile. These crosses and keys were often worn around the neck as a preservative against dangers, spiritual and temporal. St. John Chrysostom’s words on St. Paul’s chains apply equally to St. Peter’s: “No glittering diadem so adorns the head as a chain borne for Christ. Were the choice offered me either of heaven or of this chain (suffered for Christ), I would take the chain. If I might have stood with the angels above, near the throne of God, or have been bound with Paul, I should have preferred the dungeon. Had you rather have been the angel loosing Peter, or Peter in chains? I would rather have been Peter. This gift of chains is something greater than the power to stop the sun, to move the world, or to command the devils” (Homil. 8, in Ephes iii. I.). Patron: Saint Peter;  Andrate, Italy; diocese of Annecy, France; Donnas, Italy; diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio.

SAINT ALPHONSUS  LIGUORI, BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787) was also known as Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, a doctor of the Church who is widely known for his contribution to moral theology and his great kindness. He was born in 1696, was born near Naples, the eldest of eight children of a noble family. He was the son of an ancient Neapolitan family. His father was Don Joseph de’ Liguori, a naval officer and Captain of the Royal Galleys, and his mother came from Spanish descent. He was very intelligent, even as a young boy. As a boy of great aptitude, he picked up many things very quickly. St. Alphonsus did not attend school; rather, he was taught by tutors at home where his father kept a watchful eye. Moreover, he practiced the harpsichord for 3 hours a day at the heed of his father and soon became a virtuoso at the age of 13. For recreation, he was an equestrian, fencer, and card player. As grew into a young man, he developed an inclination for opera. He was much more interested in listening to the music than watching the performance. St. Alphonsus would often take his spectacles off, which aided his myopic eyes, in order to merely listen. While theatre in Naples was in a relatively good state, the young saint developed an ascetic aversion to perhaps what he viewed as gaudy displays. He had strongly refused participation in a parlor play.

At the age of sixteen, Alphonsus received his doctorate in both canon and civil law and for nearly ten years practiced at the bar. After losing a case for the first time at the age of 27 after eight years of practicing the law, when he found that one of the legal cases he was defending was not based on justice but on political intrigue, he gave up the practice of law and dedicated his life to God. He discerned a call to enter the seminary and became a priest. Ordained to the priesthood in 1726, St. Alphonsus Liguori joined a group of secular priests dedicated to missionary activities. St. Alphonsus de Liguori was a great preacher of the Gospel to the poor. He spent the early years of his priesthood ministering to homeless and marginalized youth, and through this work eventually founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, in November 1732 to carry on this work which aimed to preach in city slums. He was known best for his sermons, especially his ability to convert those who were estranged from the faith, and for his great works in moral and spiritual theology. In 1762 he was appointed Bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti. He was a great moral theologian and one of the most widely read Catholic authors. Among his best known works are The Glories of Mary and The Way of the Cross, the latter still used in parishes during Lenten devotions. His famous book, “Moral Theology”, was published in 1748. He was a practical and prudent theologian, avoiding the extremes of being too rigid and legalistic on the one hand, and too lax on the other, despite the fact that he struggled with scrupulosity in his personal life. He suffered much from arthritis in his old age, his neck becoming so bent that his chin left an open sore on his chest. He retired in 1775 and  died just over 10 years later on August 1, 1787 at Nocera de Pagani. He was canonized in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1871. His most famous written works were on the Virgin Mary and the Blessed Sacrament. For his work in moral theology he was declared a Doctor of the Church. He’s Patron Saint of Confessors; Theologians and Moralist; final perseverance; vocations; moral theologians, vocations, arthritis sufferers, and those who struggle with scrupulosity. St. Alphonsus Ligouri’s feast day is August 1st.

Saint Alphonsus Liguori Quote: “Realize that you may gain more in a quarter of an hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament than in all other practices of the day.”

PRAYER: God, You constantly introduce new examples of virtue in Your Church. Walking in the footsteps of St. Alphonsus Your Bishop, may we be consumed with zeal for souls and attain the rewards he has won in heaven. Amen 🙏

THE SEVEN HOLY MACCABEES, MARTYRS: Seven brothers known as the Maccabees  (Machabees) were martyred together with their heroic mother during the second century B.C. under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes in about the year 150 before Christ. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes arrested the seven brothers along with their mother and forced them to prove their respect to him by consuming pig meat. When they refused, he tortured and killed the sons one by one in front of the unflinching and stout-hearted mother. There is an account of their wonderful death in the Old Testament. Their relics venerated at Antioch in the time of St. Jerome, were translated to Rome in the sixth century, to the church of St. Peter’s Chains.They are the only martyrs of the Old Testament honored by a feast of universal observance in the Church.

The mother in particular deserves to be admired for the heroic fortitude with which she encouraged her children to suffer and die. Their remains were venerated at Antioch. After the church which was built above their resting-place was destroyed, they were taken to Rome; during the renovation of the high altar of St. Peter in Chains (1876), a sarcophagus dating from the fourth or fifth century was found; lead tablets related the relics to those of the Maccabean martyrs and their mother. Seldom does it happen that the Roman Church venerates Old Testament saints in the Mass and Office; it is much more common in the Greek rite. Martyrdom before the advent of Christ was possible only through faith and hope in Christ. Today’s feast is among the oldest in the sanctoral cycle. In the Second Book of Machabees, sacred Scripture recounts the passion and death of the Machabees in a very edifying manner. St. Gregory Nazianz discusses why Christians honor these Old Testament saints: “They deserve to be universally venerated because they showed themselves courageous and steadfastly loyal to the laws and traditions of their fathers. For if already before the passion of Christ they suffered death as martyrs, what heroism would they have shown if they had suffered after Christ, and with the death of the Lord as a model? A further point. To me and to all who love God it is highly probable that according to a mystic and hidden logic no one who endured martyrdom before the advent of Christ was able to do so without faith in Christ.”

The Seven Holy Machabees, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 13:47-53

“They put what is good into buckets, what is bad they throw away”

“Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the Lord used the parable that is based on one of the standard ways of fishing in the Sea of Galilee at the time of Jesus to describe and proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God. He described it using the example of a great fishing net that gathered all kinds of fish, big and small, and where the Angels of God sort out the good from the bad ones. Two boats pull a very large dragnet between them. As a result, all sorts of fish are caught. Some of the fish would not be suitable for selling at the local fish market, and, so, when the catch is brought to land, these fish would have to be separated out from the fish that could be sold. These are reminders for us all that first of all, the Kingdom of God is open to everyone, to all of God’s children because God truly loves each and every one of us without exception. God wants all of us to come to Him, and He has extended this generously and freely to us. However, just as we have been reminded as well, how the bad and flawed fish are rejected and destroyed, we must remember that God calls us all to follow Him into the path of righteousness and virtue. Reflecting on this parable, in what way is the kingdom of heaven like that everyday reality by the Sea of Galilee? Perhaps Jesus is suggesting that as He goes about His ministry, He casts the net of God’s loving presence very broadly. The Gospel is preached to all and sundry; Jesus does not discriminate. Everyone needs to hear the Gospel of God’s unconditional love for all. No one is considered unworthy of the Gospel. As Jesus says elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel, using a different image, God makes His sun to shine and His rain to fall on good and bad alike. However, Jesus is aware that not everyone will respond to His proclamation of the reign of God’s merciful and faithful love. Just as the fishermen have to separate out fish which can be sold from fish that can’t, so there will come a moment, at the end of time, when God will separate out those who tried to respond to Jesus’ proclamation of God’s loving presence and those who refused to do so. In the meantime, the Lord continues to throw the net of God’s love over our lives and his grace at work within us continues to move us to respond. The Lord does not give up on us, even if our initial response leaves a lot to be desired. He is like the potter in the first reading who keeps shaping our lives, taking even what is wrong in our lives and making something new and good from it. We, of course, are not passive clay in the Lord’s hands. We can help the efforts of the potter by continuing to open ourselves to His loving work in our lives, or we can hinder His work. The parable of the dragnet cast into the sea suggests that at the end of time there will be a separation out of the good from the wicked. However, this is God’s work and it will happen at the end of time.

Our first reading today is the continuation of the discourse from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which God spoke to His people in the kingdom of Judah, to whom Jeremiah had been sent to be minister and guide. Prophet Jeremiah had faced a lot of difficulties, challenges and hardships throughout his years of ministry and work among the people of Judah, as he had to face the stubborn attitude of all those who refused to believe in God and His truth. Yet, the Lord continued to support and strengthen Jeremiah in his ministry, and continued to send His words of reassurance and love for His people in the midst of all the warnings and premonitions He had told them all, of the consequences of their wickedness and sins. God was essentially telling His people and reminding them that while they had to be responsible for the wickedness and evil deeds that they had committed, and while they had to realise that their sins and wickedness could tear them away from God’s love and kindness, His mercy and love, but if they remember God’s love and the great and loving mercy and compassion that the Lord has for them, and if they repent from their sinful ways, there would be path for them to enter into God’s glorious inheritance and receive the bountiful blessings that He has prepared for all of them. God does not desire the destruction and doom of any of those whom He loves, and He truly loves each and every one of us, brothers and sisters. Through the example of a potter moulding his pottery that the prophet Jeremiah mentioned, we are reminded that we should allow the Lord to mould us all and our lives so that our lives henceforth may truly be pleasing to God.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all again reminded as ever of God’s ever bountiful and generous love and mercy, which He has always extended to us all without exception. Each and every one of us are truly precious to God and He has loved us all patiently and wonderfully despite our frequent disobedience and stubborn attitudes, in refusing to listen to Him and in choosing to follow the path of the evil one instead of His path. God has always been kind, loving and merciful towards us, but ultimately, the choice is ours whether we want to embrace God’s mercy and forgiveness, or whether we continue to walk down the path towards ruin and damnation, as sin will lead us surely to those. We are called to emulate the lives and examples of the Saints, and Holy men and women, particularly, St. Alphonsus Liguori, who we celebrate today. Let us all therefore strive to be ever more faithful and committed to God in all things. Let us all first be reminded of God’s ever wonderful love and compassion for us, and then let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Alphonsus Liguori in always doing our very best to show God’s love and truth in the midst of our communities, by living our whole lives worthily and faithfully as Christians, in being good role models and examples to our fellow brothers and sisters around us. May the Lord, our ever loving and merciful God continue to bless us with His love and grace, and may He continue to empower us all to live ever more worthily in His Presence, now and always. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to work for food that endures to eternal life and may the Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey, and may He empower us all to carry on with our lives with great zeal and obedience to God, now and always, forevermore. St. Alphonsus Liguori, holy servant of God, pray for us all sinners, that the Lord, the Most Holy Redeemer, may always show His mercy and compassion towards us all. Amen 🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST:

MONTH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary! The Church dedicates the month of August to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that Mary is the Immaculate Conception; that is, in preparation for the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity in her womb, she was conceived without the corruption of sin through the foreseen and infinite merits of her Son, Jesus Christ. Over the centuries, as saints and theologians reflected on how Mary pondered and treasured the sacred events from the life of Christ in her holy heart, as attested in Scripture, her pure heart was recognized as something to be imitated. Devotion to Our Lady’s purity of heart began to flower—so much so that in the 17th century, St. John Eudes promoted it alongside the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion rose to a new level after the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, when Mary revealed an image of her Immaculate Heart to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco.

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST – FOR POLITICAL LEADERS: We pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and for the common good, especially caring for the poor and those who have lost their jobs.

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:

My revealing Lord, You speak to me day and night, continuously revealing Your love and mercy to me. May I learn to become more attentive to Your voice speaking within the depths of my soul. As I hear You speak, please give me the gift of understanding to know Your will and to embrace it with all my heart. 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 Peter’s Chains; Saint Alphonsus Liguori and The Seven Holy Machabees ~ 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 fruitful month of
August🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖