TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 19, 2024
Greetings, beloved family and Happy Monday of the TwentIth Week in Ordinary Time!
On this feast day, as our children and children all over the world begin the new school year, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. May God grant them the courage to face new challenges and wisdom to make good choices. We pray for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and for God’s guidance and protection upon them during this school year and always. We pray for safe travels, to and from school. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. May the good Lord provide for those in need. And we continue to pray for peace, love, and unity in our families and our world. May God keep us all safe andh well. Amen 🙏
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” ~ Proverbs 3:5-6
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” ~ James 1:5
We continue to pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we 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 19, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 19, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 19, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 19, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 19, 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: Monday, August 19, 2024
Reading 1, Ezekiel 24:15-24
Responsorial Psalm, Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21
Gospel, Matthew 19:16-22
NOVENA TO SAINT MONICA: Traditionally prayed every day from August 18–26 (Or any time of year). Novena to Saint Monica is eqspecially prayed for wayward children.
Memorial of Saint Monica is August 27
Memorial of Saint Augustine is August 28
Saint Monica was the mother of Saint Augustine. She is credited for being a holy and faith-filled mother whose prayers brought about the conversion of her son, Augustine. This novena can be prayed for any intention, especially for wayward children.
Dear Saint Monica, you were once the mournful mother of a prodigal son. Your faithfulness to prayer brought you and your son so close to God that you are now with him in eternity. By your intercession and God’s grace, your son St. Augustine became a great and venerable Saint of the Church. Please take my request to God with the same fervor and persistence with which you prayed for your own son. (Mention your intentions here)
With your needs, worries and anxieties, you threw yourself on the mercy and providence of God. Through sorrow and pain, you constantly devoted yourself to God. Pray for me that I might join you in such a deep faith in God’s goodness and mercy. Above all, dear Saint Monica, pray for me that I may, like your son, turn from my sin and become a great Saint for the glory of God.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be… Amen 🙏
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT JOHN EUDES, PRIEST AND SAINT LOUIS, BISHOP OF TOULOUSE ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 19TH:Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint John Eudes, Priest and Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed and those who mourn. We pray for the poor and needy and for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏
SAINT JOHN EUDES, PRIEST: St. John Eudes (1601–1680) was a French missionary and the founder of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity, and was also the author of the liturgical worship of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. St. John was born in Ri, near Argentan, France, to a farming family, Isaac Eudes and Martha Eudes on November 14, 1601. Despite the prevailing rigors of Jansenism, his devout parents consecrated him to the Blessed Virgin Mary when he was a child. At the age of fourteen he took a vow of chastity, and studied under the Jesuits where he earned the reputation of being a brilliant student. He was an exemplary youth, he was extolled as one of the most brilliant students ever to attend the Jesuit College at Caen. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1625, at the age of 24, he ministered to his countrymen who were suffering from an outbreak of the plague. He later became a missionary priest, traveling throughout France and preaching strong sermons to large crowds in churches, open fields, and in the courts of the royalty and nobility. The force of his sermons was bolstered by his great sanctity; he was considered to be a prodigy and the greatest preacher of his age. He was instrumental in spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary throughout France during a time when religious fervor had grown cold. He was responsible for influencing the Church to establish these two devotions with liturgical feasts, himself composing their Mass and Office. He wrote the first book ever on the devotion to the Sacred Hearts, “Le Coeur Admirable de la Très Sainte Mère de Dieu”.
St. John Eudes founded several organizations including the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge, which provided a new life for repentant prostitutes, founded in 1641 and in 1643 he founded the Society of Jesus and Mary (the Eudist Fathers) for the education of priests and for missionary work, specialized in improving the training of seminarians by promoting greater virtue and dedication to the preaching of parish missions to the people, direct seminaries, and conduct retreats for the clergy. He was a great opponent of the Jansenistic heresy, and always showed an unchanging devotion to the Holy See. St. John Eudes is probably best known for the central theme of his writings: Jesus as the source of holiness; Mary as the model of the Christian life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart led Pope Pius XI to declare his virtues were declared heroic and he was declared father of the liturgical cult of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary on January 6th, 1903. The miracles proposed for his beatification were approved by Pius X, May 3, 1908, and he was beatified April 25th, 1909. He was canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. He’s the Patron Saint of Eudists; Order of Our Lady of Charity; Diocese of Baie-Comeau; Missionaries.
QUOTES OF SAINT JOHN EUDES: ☆”A man is no true Christian if he has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ.” ☆“Faith is a beam radiating from the face of God.” ☆“Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desire, and his disposition live and reign there.”
PRAYER: God, You wonderfully chose St. John, Your Priest, to announce the unsearchable riches of Christ. Help us to grow in the knowledge of You through his example and counsels and so to live faithfully according to the light of the Gospel. Amen 🙏
SAINT LOUIS, BISHOP OF TOULOUSE: St. Louis was born to the nobility, the son of Charles II of Anjou, king of Naple, Great-nephew of Saint Louis IX, and of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Grew up in Provence (in modern France). St. Louis showed early signs of attachment to prayer and to the corporal works of mercy. As a child he used to take food from the castle to feed the poor. When he was 14, Louis and two of his brothers were taken as hostages to the king of Aragon’s court as part of a political deal involving Louis’s father. St. Louis’s father, King Charles, then a prince, was imprisoned by the King of Aragon; as a condition of Charles’ release in 1288, Louis and two brothers were sent to Barcelona as hostages. Spent seven years as a hostage for his father at Barcelona and Tarragona in Spain. There Louis was cheerful and took part in sports with other prisoners. At the court Louis was tutored by Franciscan friars under whom he made great progress both in his studies and in the spiritual life. He was influenced by the Franciscans, and he prayed with them at night. St. Louis was given his freedom after seven years when a treaty was concluded with King James II of Aragon. It was proposed that Louis marry King James’ sister, but he refused both marriage and the crown of Naples. He received a papal dispensation to be ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop at the age of 23. St. Louis went to Rome in 1296, and five days after being professed among the Franciscans, he was consecrated Bishop of Toulouse.
At Toulouse, St. Louis was modest, wearing an old Franciscan habit, and his devotion was an inspiration to his flock. Like St. Francis he developed a special love for those afflicted with leprosy. St. Louis’s service to the Diocese of Toulouse was richly blessed. He set aside 75 percent of his income as bishop to feed the poor and maintain churches. Each day he fed 25 poor people at his table. Within a few months, however, he asked for permission to resign his office, which he had accepted out of obedience, since he felt that its duties were more than he could handle. He was a reluctant bishop of Toulouse, France for the last six months of his life. St. Louis died in 1297, not yet 24 years of age. In no time he was considered a saint. When he died at the age of 23, St. Louis was already a Franciscan, a Bishop and a Saint! St. Louis was canonized on April 7, 1317 by Pope John XXII, one of his former teachers. He’s the Patron Saint of Valencia, Spain and Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, California.
Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse ~ Pray for us 🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 19:16-22
“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and you will have treasure in heaven”
“A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.”
In today’s Gospel reading, our Lord was speaking to a very religious young man who approached Him and asked Him about how he could attain eternal life, and the young man also mentioned how he had been obeying and following the Law, the commandments of the Lord, in all of its many precepts and rules. The young man had kept all the commandments of the Jewish Law since his youth. Yet, his spiritual yearning was not satisfied. He almost put it up to Jesus to give him a bigger challenge. However, when Jesus did make a call on him, the young man couldn’t respond to it. When the Lord asked the young man to sell everything that he possessed, leaving behind all worldly matters and glory, the young man left in sadness. This showed how despite everything that the young man had done in obeying the Law and commandments of God, he has not yet put the Lord at the very centre and as the first priority of his life. His love and attachment for those wealth and possessions was preventing him from truly being able to commit himself thoroughly as a disciple of the Lord.
According to the Gospel, this religious young man was clearly striving for the ideal of a good life when he asked Jesus, ‘What good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ It is clear from his exchange with Jesus that he was already living a good living. He had kept the four commandments that Jesus quoted that had to do with relating to others, including the commandment found outside the ten commandments to love one’s neighbour as oneself. Yet, there was a longing in him for more, ‘What more do I need to do?’ We all experience something of that ‘more’ deep within us. We have a longing for God that moves us to live in ways that bring us ever closer to God. Jesus responded to the young man’s longer for more by calling him to become His close disciple, following Him in the way that Peter, Andrew and others had done. That would have meant moving on from his great wealth, giving it to the poor, and this was a step too far for him. His inability to respond to the call of Jesus, to the deepest longing of his heart, left him sad. The Lord is always calling on us to take a further step that will bring us closer to His will for our lives, whether we are young or not so young. That step will be different for each one of us. We find our deepest joy in responding to the Lord’s call to grow in our relationship with Him and in the living out of that relationship. The more generously we answer the Lord’s personal call, the happier we will be. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to give us the freedom to take the path the Lord may be calling us to take in response to that longing for ‘more’ in our lives.
In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord told His prophet to speak to the community of the Israelite exiles in Babylon and elsewhere, telling them how each and every one of them should always put their faith and trust in the Lord, and sin against Him no more, for all the sins which they and their ancestors had committed would lead them all to ruin and destruction, because of the many temptations that this world has offered them, and which kept them away from the path towards God and His grace. At that time, the remnants of Israel in the kingdom of Judah where Ezekiel hailed from was in the last days of its existence, as the Babylonians were about to conquer them and eradicate them from existence, destroying their city of Jerusalem and its Temple. We are reminded that if we choose to walk the path of sin and evil, through our disobedience against God and by embracing the temptations of worldly desires and greed, we are likely to end up in ultimate defeat, regret and destruction, just as the Israelites themselves had suffered, and just as how the Lord showed it through the examples of the misfortunes faced by His prophet Ezekiel. We must not allow the temptations and wickedness of this world from swaying us down the wrong path, and as Christians, we should remind ourselves that we have to follow what the Lord Himself has revealed and taught to us, His Law and commandments, through His Church, and because we are His people, it is important that we should live in accordance to God’s ways, at all times.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are reminded that in following God, we have to be truly sincere in doing so, and that we may have to encounter a lot of challenges, hardships and difficulties amidst our journey towards the Lord, and we may have to make sacrifices and persevere through whatever it is that we may have to endure in our journey towards God’s grace and salvation. The Lord has always been kind towards us and He has always shown His great patience, in continuing to love us all despite the stubborn attitudes that we had shown Him all these while. God has loved us from the beginning, and He has always helped us throughout the way, showing us the means through which we may find the surest path to His salvation, by entrusting to us His Law and commandments. Let us all therefore reflect upon the lives of the Saints and Holy men and women, particularly the life and missions of St. John Eudes, the holy man of God and the other Saints who we celebrate today. Let us all do our own part in living our lives worthily of the Lord, by doing whatever we can in each and every moments of our lives to carry out what God had told us to do, and to follow Him wholeheartedly in all things just as we have heard from our Scripture readings today. We should always put the Lord at the centre and at the very heart of our every actions and works, in every moments of our lives and in our every interactions with one another. It is by doing all these that we are truly able to live a worthy, Christ-like life, and we can do what God has called us to do. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and let our lives be truly filled with God’s grace and love in all things, and may we all be the worthy bearers of His light and truth, and may we inspire many others to walk in the same path that we have walked ourselves in our journey towards God. 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, Nigeria, 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 loving Lord, You invited the rich young man to strive for perfection. You also invite me and all Your children to this holy and high calling. Give me the grace I need to detach from all that hinders this goal so that I can make You and Your holy will the central and only goal of my life. 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 John Eudes, Priest and Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse ~ 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 fruitful week 🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖