TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 14, 2024
Greetings, and blessings beloved family. Happy Monday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time!
On this special Feast day, may our Blessed Mother Mary Intercede for all those in pain and sorrow. We particularly pray for those mourning the loss of a loved one. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary with all the Angels and Saints of God in Heaven, may we be comforted as we continue to pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away. We pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of 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 and souls of all the faithful departed 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 and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
On this feast day, we continue to pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally, physically and critically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏
A PRAYER FOR PEACE: Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true King of peace. In You alone is found freedom. Please free our world from conflict. Bring unity to troubled nations. Let Your glorious peace reign in every heart. Dispel all darkness and evil. Protect the dignity of every human life. Replace hatred with Your love. Give wisdom to world leaders. Free them from selfish ambition. Eliminate all violence and war. Glorious Virgin Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel, Every Angel and Saint: Please pray for peace. Pray for unity amongst nations. Pray for unity amongst all people. Pray for the most vulnerable. Pray for those suffering. Pray for the fearful. Pray for those most in need. Pray for us all. Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear our prayers. Jesus, I trust in You! Amen 🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | October 14, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | October 14, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary for Peace with Pope Francis” | LIVE Basilica of St. Mary Major | October 6, 2024 |
Pray Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes | October 14, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 14, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” oùn YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Reading: Monday, October 14, 2024
Reading 1, Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 113:1-2, 3-4, 5, 6-7
Gospel, Luke 11:29-32
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT CALLISTUS I, POPE, AND MARTYR ~ FEAST DAY: OCTOBER 14TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Callistus I, Pope, and Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families, and our world. We pray for the poor, the needy, and the most vulnerable. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for Cemetery Workers. 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…. Amen🙏
SAINT CALLISTUS I, POPE, AND MARTYR: Pope St. Callistus I (d. 222 A.D.) was a Roman by birth and a Christian slave who had a Christian master in second-century Rome. The saint caused a major controversy, including a schism that lasted almost two decades, by choosing to emphasize God’s mercy in his ministry. However, the early Pope’s model of leadership has endured, and his martyrdom in the year 222 confirmed his example of holiness. St. Callistus was the servant of a fellow Christian serving in the Roman imperial household. He was entrusted with the task of managing his master’s wealth, which he used to operate a bank into which many Christians invested their money. When the bank failed due to unpaid loans, St. Callistus fled the city in fear of retribution. He was soon caught, and in punishment was sentenced to the treadmill and then later, hard slave labor in the Sardinian tin mines. He eventually obtained his freedom when he and the other Christian slaves working in the mines were released, or perhaps ransomed, with special pardon from the Emperor. St. Callistus was later recalled to Rome by Pope Zephyrinus and ordained deacon. As a deacon he was hired by Pope Zephyrinus to administer the Church’s property, he served as the Pope’s deacon, top adviser, and the organizer and caretaker of the important Christian cemetery, organized the burial of martyrs in the catacombs along the Appian Way, This cemetary, which now bears St. Callistus’ name, the Cemetery of Saint Callistus, contains the relics of many martyrs.
As the Holy Father’s adviser, St. Callistus drew the ire of Tertullian and St. Hippolytus of Rome who were his constant theological opponents. Eighteen years later, in 217 St. Callistus succeeded Pope Zephyrinus as pontiff, elected to the Chair of St. Peter as the sixteenth Pope when Pope Zephyrinus died. St. Callistus was known for his leniency and forgiveness. He upheld the teaching of the Church that grave sins could be forgiven with true contrition and due penance, which was controversial at the time. Throughout his brief reign, which coincided with the rather peaceful reign of Emperor Alexander Severus during which Christians began to build churches for the public exercise of their religion, this Pope displayed the qualities of a wise, firm, and compassionate shepherd. He instituted the fast on Ember Days, decreed that ordinations should be held during the Ember Weeks, and established the practice of absolution of all sins, including those that rigorists considered irremissible. He also founded the Church of St. Mary Beyond the Tiber and provided for the burial of Martyrs. As pope, he regulated the discipline of the sacrament of penance, ruling that penitent sinners were welcome in church. He defended the faith against the Adoptionist and Modalist heresies regarding the Holy Trinity and the Person of Jesus Christ. While he vigorously opposed heresy, his charitable attitude toward repentant sinners incurred the wrath of contemporary rigorists. This led to a schism with his rival St. Hippolytus, an erudite Roman theologian, who became the first anti-pope. Hippolytus accused Pope Callistus of sympathizing with heretics. He also disagreed with Pope Callistus’ teaching about the power of Divine Mercy in the sacrament of confession. St. Hippolytus, resented the new Pope’s clarification that even the most serious sins could be absolved after sincere confession. The Pope’s assertion of Divine Mercy also scandalized the North African Christian polemicist Tertullian, alr from the Church in Carthage, who also erroneously held that certain sins were too serious to be forgiven through confession. Under the reign of Alexander Severus, Pope Callistus was thrown into prison, and then was tortured by starvation in prison and scourged daily. Finally Pope Callistus was thrown from a window of the house headlong into a well, where he drowned. Pope Callistus died a martyr in 222. His own burial place is on the Via Aurelia. Both Pope Callistus and Hippolytus were martyred during an uprising in Rome. They were both canonized as saints. It is believed that Hippolytus made peace with the church before his death. The relics of St. Callistus were transferred in the 9th century to Santa Maria in Trastevere. St. Callistus is the first pope after St. Peter to be honored as a martyr. He’s the Patron Saint of Cemetery workers.
PRAYER: Lord, graciously hear the prayers of Your people. Let us be aided by the merits of Pope St. Callistus, at whose passion we rejoice. Amen. 🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Monday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel (USA) Luke 11:29-32
“This generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah”
“While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is exasperated with His contemporaries because they fail to take Him seriously. They look for a sign from him, while being indifferent to all that He is offering them through His words and deeds. Jesus reminds His hearers that, in the Scriptures, the people of Nineveh took the prophet Jonah seriously and the Queen of the South took Solomon seriously. Yet, Jesus’ own contemporaries do not take Him seriously, even though, as Jesus says, ‘there is something greater than Solomon here… there is something greater than Jonah here’. Jesus is indeed greater than Jonah and all the other prophets of Israel; He is greater than Solomon and all the other wise people that appeared in Israel since Solomon. Jesus is the Son of God; He is God in human form. There is such a richness and depth to Jesus’ identity that we never fully grasp Him in this life. There is always more to Jesus than we can conceive. There is always something greater to Him that we have not yet come to appreciate. In his letter to the Ephesians St. Paul speaks about the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and yet he prays that we would come to know this love of Christ. This knowledge Paul prays for us to have is not just knowledge of the mind but of the heart. We are always on a journey towards this knowing the love of Christ because it is always greater than we imagine. Today’s Gospel invites us to keep growing in our appreciation for the gift that God has given us in His Son, Jesus. We shown our appreciation of this gift most of all when we respond to Jesus as generously as the Queen of Sheba responded to King Solomon and as the people of Nineveh responded to the prophet Jonah. We show that we treasure the gift that is Jesus by placing Him at the centre of our lives.
Our first reading today from the beginning of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Ephesus, one of the great cities of Antiquity and an important early centre of Christian missions and evangelisation. There in that Epistle, St. Paul spoke of the story of Abraham and his two sons, which were born to him through two different women to highlight what he wanted to convey to them regarding the Christian faith which they had received and come to believe in. First was Ishmael, the son born to Abraham through Hagar, the slave owned by his wife, Sarah, which according to the rules and customs of his time, any children born to the slave of a woman, was considered to belong to the woman and was legally a son of Abraham. Then there was also Isaac, born from Sarah herself, who was at the time was already very old and long past childbearing age. This story from the Book of Genesis highlighted to us the importance of trusting in God and obeying His will and commandments, and not to believe or trust in worldly ways and methods. It was Sarah who suggested to Abraham that he should lay with her slave Hagar, that she would bear a son for him, despite the Lord having assured and then repeatedly reassured Abraham that he would be the father and progenitor of many nations and people through his wife Sarah. The impatience of Sarah and the lack of faith that happened at the time eventually led to the complications that came about because of the presence of both Ishmael and Isaac, both according to rules and customs, were legally sons and heirs of Abraham. Nonetheless, God told Abraham that He would still bless Ishmael as he was Abraham’s son, but reiterated that His blessings and grace would fully be with Isaac and his descendants, the ones whom God had intended them for. St. Paul spoke of how the sons and descendants of Ishmael were born out of slavery and hence were bound to the enslavement and were not free, while the sons and descendants of Isaac were born of their free woman, Sarah, and thus was not subject to enslavement anymore, and they were truly free. St. Paul was in fact not comparing about the status of whether the descendants of Ishmael or Isaac were free or enslaved, as the Israelites, the descendants of Isaac, were themselves enslaved in Egypt for some period of time. Rather, the Apostle was using the comparison to highlight, as mentioned, the difference between obeying the old, human-based and flawed laws and rules, customs and practices of the Jewish people as especially carried out and enforced by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, associated with this ‘enslavement’ to the worldly rules and ways, versus the true Law of God as revealed to them and all of us through Christ and His Church.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are called to heed the words of the Lord calling on each and every one of us to put our faith and trust in the Lord, keeping ourselves away from the temptations of worldly desires and pleasures, all of which had kept us away from truly being able to follow the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly. We should always strive to resist those temptations, pressures and coercions, all the things that have often become difficult and challenging stumbling blocks for many of us because they had played upon our desires and ambitions, touching upon the greed and ego in us, and threatening to keep us away from the Lord and His salvation, if we are not vigilant against them. Let us all therefore follow in the good examples and in the inspiring actions of the Saints and Holy men and women, especially Pope St. Callistus I, who we celebrate today. Let us walk ever more faithfully in the path which God has set before us, in all that He has shown and taught us to do. The Saints, including Pope St. Callistus I have shown all of us what it truly means for us to be good and devout Christians, as God’s followers and disciples. We must always do whatever we can, in all the opportunities given to us so that our every words, actions and deeds truly show this commitment and faith in the Lord. Therefore, let us all continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord rather than in the human wisdom and intellect, or be enslaved and be narrow-minded because of our attachments to the rules, regulations and customs of the world. May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey of faith, so that in everything that we do in each and every moments of our lives, we will continue to commit ourselves wholly and focus our every attention and efforts to walk in God’s path rather than to follow the whim of our own desires and ambitions in life. Let us all not harden our hearts and minds, and turn away from the darkness of this world, and instead, embrace wholeheartedly God’s path and ways, following in the examples of our holy predecessors, now and always. May God continue to bless us and guide us in our journey of faith, and may He help us to persevere through the many challenges of our faith and life, at all times. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to be true to what God wants for us and to entrust our lives to Him. May the Lord be with us always, and empower us to remain ever faithful to Him, forevermore. Amen 🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:
MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: The Catholic Church designates and dedicate October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. During this month the faithful venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary especially under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary, and make special effort to honor the Holy Rosary with group recitations and rosary processions. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571. St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is the Saint to whom Our Lady famously appeared and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one, true Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏
THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.
Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”
PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.
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 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, and 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 perfect Lord, every decision You made in life was made out of love and was in accord with the perfect will of the Father. Give me the grace I need to make every decision in life in imitation of Your perfect example. May my life imitate You as You laid down Your life for others. I choose You and Your glorious sacrificial life as the sign by which I am directed in 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Callistus I, Pope and Martyr ~ 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 and month of October 🙏🏽
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖
Daily Reflections | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com
Foundation | https://gliopiepehe.org
Sir G.L.I Opiepe’s Health and Education Foundation |