TWENTIETH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 20, 2024
Greetings, beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Twentieth 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 20, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 20, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 20, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 20, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 20, 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: Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Reading 1, Ezekiel 28:1-10
Responsorial Psalm, Deuteronomy 32:26-27, 27-28, 30, 35-36
Gospel, Matthew 19:23-30
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. [Novena link – https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/novena-to-saint-monica/]
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 BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT BERNARD TOLOMEI, PRIEST ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 20TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot and Doctor of the Church and Saint Bernardo Tolomei, Priest. 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 we pray for 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 BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was a theologian, poet, orator, and writer and was the second founder of the Cistercians, the Mellifluous Doctor, the apostle of the Crusades, the miracle-worker, the reconciler of kings, the leader of peoples, the counselor of popes! St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a Doctor of the Church thanks to his writings and sermons which greatly influenced Europe during the 12th century, and his numerous efforts which helped to avoid a schism in the Church in 1130. His sermons, from which there are many excerpts in the Breviary, are conspicuous for genuine emotion and spiritual unction. The celebrated “Memorare” prayer is ascribed to him. He is one of the last Church Fathers. In August 2008, Pope Benedict spoke of the saint during his weekly general audience. He recalled that Pope Pius VIII labeled the “Honey-Sweet Doctor” for his eloquence and that he traveled throughout Europe defending the Christian faith. Pope Benedict XVI added, “He was also remembered as a Doctor of Mariology, not because he wrote extensively on Our Lady, but because he understood her essential role in the Church, presenting her as the perfect model of the monastic life and of every other form of the Christian life.”
St. Bernard of Clairvaux was the third son of seven children born to a noble, illustrious Burgundian family in Burgundy, France in 1090, near Dijon. All seven children, six sons and one daughter, were offered to the service of God by their devout mother. Before St. Bernard was born, a holy man foretold of his great sanctity. As a child Bernard was given an excellent education. He excelled at his studies, and also possessed a personal charm that attracted many people to him. He prayed about his vocation, and at the age of twenty-two left his worldly wealth to become a Cistercian monk. He entered the monastery of Citeaux (where the Cistercian Order had its beginning) and persuaded thirty other youths of noble rank to follow his example. Four of his brothers joined him at the monastery in Citeaux, along with many others belonging to the Burgundian nobility. He later founded and became abbot of the Abbey of Clairvaux (1115), which rapidly grew to over 700 monks and 160 daughter-houses. As abbot of Clairvaux, he erected numerous abbeys where his spirit flourished. To his disciple, Bernard of Pisa, who later became Pope Eugene III, he dedicated his work De Consideratione. St. Bernard’s influence upon the princes, the clergy, and the people of his age was most remarkable. The monastic rule which he perfected at Clairvaux became the model for 163 monasteries of the Cistercian reform.
St. Bernard, with his natural charisma, was also a skilled arbiter and counselor who proved to be instrumental in the support of the true pope of Rome against the schism of a rival anti-pope. Bernard’s reputation for holiness and piety was widely known. He traveled throughout Europe as a preacher and became one of the most famous and influential men of his century. He was a man of reform, and was effective in opposing the appointment of unworthy men to episcopal offices, while others reformed themselves at his censure. St. Bernard composed many theological works and wrote tenderly on devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. By penitential practices he so exhausted his body that it could hardly sustain his soul, ever eager to praise and honor God. He died on August 20, 1153 (aged 62-63) at Clairvaux Abbey, Clairvaux (modern day part of Ville-sous-la-Ferté), Champagne, Kingdom of France. St. Bernard was canonized just 21 years after his death on January 18, 1174 by Pope Alexander III. In 1830 Pope Pius VIII declared him a Doctor of the Church. He’s the Patron Saint of beekeepers; bees; candlemakers; chandlers; wax-melters; wax refiners; Gibraltar; Queens College, Cambridge. His feast day is August 20th.
PRAYER: God, You blessed Your Church with St. Bernard, a man full of zeal for Your house, radiating brightness and ardent love. Through his intercession, grant that we may be animated by the same spirit and always walk as children of light. Amen 🙏
SAINT BERNARD TOLOMEI, PRIEST: St. Bernard Tolomei (1272-1348), was an Italian Roman Catholic theologian, Mystic, Hermit, Lawyer, Soldier, Politician, government official and the founder of the Archabbey of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto, Maggiore, Italy (Olivetan Congregation of Benedictines). St Bernardo Tolomei was born on May 10, 1272 at Siena, Tuscany as Giovanni Tolomei. Giovannni early changed his name to Bernard from admiration for Bernard of Clairvaux. He was educated by his Dominican uncle. Educated as a nobleman of the Tolomei family and had a distinguished career as a lawyer. His father prevented St. Bernard from entering religious life. Struck blind, St. Bernard recovered his sight through the intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary, after which he gave up worldly life to become a hermit. At around the age of forty, he felt called to a radical living out of his Christian vocation. With some companions, he retired to a remote place to the Southeast of Siena, known as the “Desert of Accona”. The first monks lived an eremetical lifestyle in the caves of the hillside. Gradually they evolved into a more organised community. When later a monastery was founded on the site, it was given the name of Saint Mary of Monte Oliveto (Benedictine Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto; Olivetan Congregation; Olivetans). According to the tradition, “one day, while Bernard was praying in the place where the church was later to be built, he saw a silver stairway rising eastwards, to Heaven.Jesus Christ and his Holy Mother, dressed in white, were standing at the top. A group of monks, all dressed in white, were climbing the stairs helped by angels.” (Chron. by Antonio da Barga). St. Bernard and his companions received the Benedictine habit and the Rule of the Father of western monasticism. Since the time of their founder Olivetans have been clothed in white. A special characteristic of the Olivetan reform is its emphasis upon the spirit of communion uniting all its houses, called to form unum corpus – one body. Accused of heresy, St. Bernard soon cleared his name.
When, in 1348, the plague was spreading in Siena, St. Bernard returned to the town to care for his fellow monks at the monastery of St Benedict. During the bout of the plague, St. Bernard and his monks cared for any who needed it; none of the brothers became sick. According to tradition, St. Bernard died – a victim of the plague on the 20th of August, 1348 – among his spiritual sons. (However, according to legend, St. Bernard died on August 20, 1348 in Siena, Italy of natural causes). He was subsequently venerated as a Saint. He was Beatified on November 24, 1644 by Pope Innocent X (cultus confirmed) and Canonised on April 26, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. He’s the Patron Saint of the Order he founded, the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto, known as the Olivetans. His Feast Day: August 19th (Benedictines); August 20th
To foster the monastic movement which spontaneously developed around the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Clement VI canonically erected the Benedictine Congregation of St. Mary of Monte Oliveto on January 21, 1344. Although it was confined to Italy, the Congregation quickly developed and flourished particularly during the 14th and 17th centuries. Suppression began in the late 18th century. However, the Congregation did not disappear. It developed again in the late 19th century (1875), in a small monastery at Settignano (Florence). At present, the Congregation has a variety of abbeys and prioral churches in Italy, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Israel, Korea, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil.
Saint Bernard Tolomei, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 19:23-30
“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God”
“Jesus said to His disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus said to His disciples, ‘it is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. This statement is following yesterday’s Gospel reading when the rich young man found it impossible to follow Jesus because of his attachment to his possessions, in spite of his great desire to inherit eternal life. The Lord’s answer after the young man told Him that he had obeyed all the laws and commandments of God, that he should sell his possessions and material wealth, and then distributing them to the poor, and follow Him wholeheartedly. The young man left Him in sorrow, and this was the impetus for what the Lord mentioned at the start of today’s Gospel of how difficult it is for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. This stark statement of Jesus left the disciples astonished and led them to ask the almost despairing question, ‘Who then can be saved?’ They seem to be saying, ‘it must be nearly impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom of heaven, not just that rich, good man who approached you’. Jesus cuts across their negative thinking with a very hopeful statement, ‘for men this is impossible; for God everything is possible’. Jesus is saying that arriving at our ultimate destiny is more of God’s doing than our doing; it is due more to God’s grace than to our efforts. In the language of the letter to the Ephesians, God’s ‘power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine’. It is above all when we are low in ourselves and feel the journey is too much for us that we need to remind ourselves of this great truth. Saint Paul declared in a letter from prison, ‘I can do all things in Him who gives me strength’. There are no hopeless cases from God’s perspective; God is always at work to create in us that poverty of spirit which creates the necessary opening for God to give us the riches of the Gospel. We need to keep putting our trust in the resources the Lord is always giving us and which we need so much for our spiritual growth.
In the Gospel, the Lord’s statement to the young man about selling his possessions doesn’t mean He’s asking us to sell everything that we have, or to literally abandon everything that we have in this world. Rather, what He wants us to know is that we must not allow all these worldly things and distractions to tempt us away from the path of God’s righteousness. We must not allow all these worldly glory, fame, possessions and material wealth to lead us into obsession and attachment, which led to us losing our sight and focus on what we should be doing in our lives, that is to follow the Lord and to serve Him wholeheartedly in all things. They are means for us to put them into good use so that we may use them for the benefit of everyone around us, to help the less fortunate and all those who are not as blessed as we all are. The more we have been blessed, the more generous we should be in sharing and giving our many gifts and blessings to one another.
In our first reading from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord spoke of His judgments against the great city of Tyre, which by the time of Ezekiel had been the great mother-city of the Phoenician and their vast colonial territories. The city of Tyre was located just off the mainland of what is Lebanon today, and is a great island city and fortress which was very rich and powerful, with its many trade connections and riches just as detailed in our first reading today. Its many connections to the various Phoenician colonies and cities, as well as other important trading cities and realms further strengthened its position and power as a great and rich city, powerful and mighty in all of its dealings and actions. However, all those things tend to lead its people and leaders astray, filling them up with pride, ambition, ego and hubris by their greatness, power and glory, all the things that can lead anyone into their downfall. No matter how great or powerful anyone or anything in this world is, in the end, none of this power and glory will last forever. For Tyre itself, the Lord prophesied its downfall and destruction, through Ezekiel, which would indeed happen about two centuries or so after the Lord Himself spoke it. During the reign of Alexander the Great, Great King of Macedon and his conquest of the Persian Empire, the city of Tyre refused to surrender, thinking that it was impregnable and secure behind its walls and navy, but eventually, Tyre was conquered and destroyed, and while it would be rebuilt, it would never be as glorious as it once was. This proved again the fleeting nature of worldly power and glory.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, each and every one of us is reminded that we must always be humble in all things, and we must not let the temptations of our human pride, ego, ambition, greed and all the things that often afflict us, be stumbling blocks that prevent us from reaching towards the Lord and His salvation. We should always remind ourselves that all the glory and riches of this world are ultimately fleeting in nature, and there is nothing that is in this world which will truly satisfy us, no matter what. This world itself will not last forever, and therefore, as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, we should always strive to do what is right and just according to His will, and to what He has taught us to do. We should always commit ourselves to the Lord, and put Him at the centre of our lives and existence. We are reminded to emulate the great lives of the Saints and Holy men and women, particularly the great life and examples showed to us by St. Bernard of Clairvaux and the other Saints who we celebrate today. Their dedication and efforts to serve the Lord should encourage us to strive to live our lives worthily at all times, putting Him as the focus and centre of all of our lives and not the many distractions and temptations of worldly matters, wealth, possessions and all the other things that often distract us from the path towards God and His salvation. Let us all reorientate our lives so that we may focus them once more towards the Lord and reject the excesses of the world around us. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and be with us always and may He empower us to be ever more faithful and committed in following Him, now and always. 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:
Lord of true riches, You desire that each of us be filled with spiritual wealth that is infinitely greater than anything we could obtain in this world. Please free me from my attachment to material wealth so that I can live free from that burden. Help me to see the value of the treasures of Your grace and mercy and to make this true wealth the single focus 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 Bernard of Clairvaux, and Saint Bernard Tolomei ~ 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💖