TWENTY-EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 18, 2024

NOVENA TO SAINT JUDE: Starting tomorrow, October 19th. Novena to Saint Jude is prayed for Desperate Situations and Desperate Cases—especially for an end to war and terrorism. Prayed anytime of year, especially October 19–27th | Novena link below

Greetings, and blessings beloved family. Happy Friday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special Feast day of Saint Luke, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Luke, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for physicians and all healthcare workers, we pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are sick with throat diseases, 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 🙏

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🙏

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 18, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | October 18, 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 18, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 18, 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: Friday, October 18, 2024
Reading 1, Second Timothy 4:9-17
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18
Gospel, Luke 10:1-9

NOVENA TO SAINT JUDE: Starting October 19th. Novena to Saint Jude is prayed for Desperate Situations and Desperate Cases—especially for an end to war and terrorism. Prayed anytime of year, especially October 19–27 | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-to-st-jude–desperate-situations-and-hopeless-cases-305

NOVENA TO SAINT JUDE: Desperate Situations and Hopeless Cases

Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Intercede with God for me that He bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly – (make your request here) – and that I may praise God with you and all the saints forever. I promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor granted me by God and to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.
Amen 🙏

PRAYER: May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen 🙏

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen 🙏

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen 🙏

Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Blessed be St. Jude Thaddeus, in all the world and for all Eternity. (say this prayer, followed by the Our Father and the Hail Mary)

Dear Apostle and Martyr for Christ, you left us an Epistle in the New Testament. With good reason many invoke you when illness is at a desperate stage. We now recommend to your kindness (name of patient) who is in a critical condition. May the cure of this patient increase his/her faith and love for the Lord of Life, for the glory of our merciful God. Amen 🙏

SAINT OF THE DAY: FEAST OF SAINT LUKE, EVANGELIST – FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 18TH: Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Luke, Evangelist. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Luke on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for physicians and all healthcare workers, we pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are sick with throat diseases, mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. 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 souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for Artists, Painters and Sculptors. 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 LUKE, EVANGELIST: St. Luke the Evangelist (1st c.), whose name means “bringer of light” (Luke) was one of the four evangelists, the inspired author of the third Gospel and of the Acts of the Apostles. He is the only evangelist to have written a second work, the Acts of the Apostles. Between his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke is responsible for one quarter of the New Testament. St. Luke was born at Antioch, Syria. He was a Gentile by birth and a well educated practicing Greek physician by profession. According to a legend of the 6th century he was also a painter. He was one of the earliest converts from paganism to Christianity, believed to have been one of Jesus’ seventy-two disciples. St. Luke was an early convert to the Faith and became the missionary companion of St. Paul, whom he accompanied on part of his second and third missionary journeys.
He spent most of his life evangelizing with St. Paul in Asia Minor, he was also his companion while in prison at Rome on two different occasions until the time of St. Paul’s martyrdom in Rome. St. Luke was among the only companions of St. Paul who did not abandon him during his final imprisonment and death in Rome. After the martyrdom of St. Paul in the year 67, St. Luke is said to have preached elsewhere throughout the Mediterranean, and possibly died as a martyr. However, even tradition is unclear on this point. St. Luke wrote a canonical account of his apostolic journeys with St. Paul (the Book of Acts) as well as a biography on the life of Christ (the Gospel of Luke). The two books of Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles were originally a single work. Fittingly, the evangelist whose travels and erudition could have filled volumes, wrote just enough to proclaim the gospel and apostolic preaching to the world. St. Luke’s Gospel preserved the most extensive biography of Jesus Christ. He tells us the greater part of what we know about our Lord’s childhood. St. Luke’s Gospel is principally concerned with salvation and mercy; it emphasizes the fact that Christ is the salvation of all men, especially of the repentant sinner and of the lowly. The intimate accounts contained in Luke’s gospel of the early years of Christ’s life (the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation, etc.) lead many scholars to believe that one of the eyewitnesses he interviewed was the Blessed Virgin Mary herself.

According to tradition, St. Luke was a skilled artist, as well as a man of letters; and with a soul alive to all the most delicate inspirations, he consecrated his pencil to the holiest use, and handed down to us the features of the Mother of God. It was an illustration worthy of the Gospel which relates to the divine Infancy; and it won for the artist a new title to the gratitude of those who never saw Jesus and Mary in the flesh. Hence St. Luke is the patron of Christian art.” According to tradition, St. Luke painted the first icons of Our Lady with the Child Jesus. He was the only evangelist to incorporate the personal testimony of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose role in Christ’s life emerges most clearly in his gospel. Tradition credits him with painting several icons of Christ’s mother which are still venerated today, and one of the most famous sacred portraits ascribed to him – known by the title “Salvation of the Roman People”– survives to this day and hangs in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. In St. Luke’s Gospel are preserved some of our Lord’s most moving parables, like those of the lost sheep and the prodigal son. Dante calls St. Luke the “historian of the meekness of Christ.” According to St. Jerome, St. Luke died in Achaia (Greece) at the age of 84, the Church venerates him as a Martyr. However, it is unknown whether or not he died a martyr’s death. St. Luke is the Patron Saint of physicians, artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, glass makers, gold workers, goldsmiths, lace workers, notaries, painters, sculptors, stained glass workers, doctors, surgeons and bachelors. His feast day is October 18th.

QUOTES OF SAINT LUKE, EVANGELIST
☆”What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
☆”Remember the past, plan for the future, but live for today, because yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.”
☆”Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you”
☆”To whom much is given, from him much will be required.”
☆”And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

PHYSICIAN’S PRAYER TO SAINT LUKE: Most charming and saintly Physician, you were animated by the heavenly Spirit of love. In faithfully detailing the humanity of Jesus, you also showed his divinity and his genuine compassion for all human beings. Inspire our physicians with your professionalism and with the divine compassion for their patients. Enable them to cure the ills of both body and spirit that afflict so many in our day… Amen.🙏

PRAYER TO SAINT LUKE: O St. Luke, you were chosen to reveal in preaching and writing God’s love for the poor. Moved by the heavenly Spirit of Love, you detailed the life of Jesus, showing His divinity and His genuine compassion for all human beings. Help those who already glory in God’s name to persevere in one heart and one mind, and inspire all people that they may hear the Good News of Salvation… Amen.🙏

PRAYER: God, You chose St. Luke to reveal in preaching and writing Your love for the poor. Grant that those who already glory in Your Name may persevere in one heart and one mind, and that all people may hear Your Good News of salvation. Amen 🙏
 
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

Bible Readings for today, Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading: Luke 10:1-9

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few”

“The Lord Jesus appointed seventy-two disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.”‘

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus sends out seventy-two of His disciples as His messengers and representatives. They are to proclaim the same message as Jesus, ‘the kingdom of God is very near to you’; they are to cure the sick as Jesus did. The Lord wanted to be present to others through them. We can all think of ourselves as among that group whom the Lord sends out to make Him present in a tangible way to others, just as Luke made the Lord’s faithful presence present to Paul in a very tangible way. Jesus who sent out seventy-two others ahead of Him in pairs, continues to send out His followers today and, as in the Gospel reading, He doesn’t send us out as lone rangers but in pairs. The ministry to which He calls us is a shared ministry, one in which we give to and receive from each other. The harvest remains as great today as it was in the time of Jesus. It can only be brought in by laborers who work together. The source of our working together is the Holy Spirit. At the first Pentecost, according to the Acts of the Apostles, the Spirit brought together people of different races and languages. There were several Pentecosts or comings of the Holy Spirit in Luke’s story of the early church. In our Gospel reading as Jesus sends out seventy two as His labourers, He keeps sending us out as labourers in God’s harvest, empowering us with the Holy Spirit as He sends us out. The work Jesus did in Galilee, Samaria, Judea, He continues to do in and through all of us who are the Spirit filled community of His disciples. This is our calling and our privilege. We are all called to be labourers in the Lord’s harvest and part of our labour is to make tangible the Lord’s faithful presence to all who are struggling in any way. The Lord’s harvest remains rich and we are all needed as His laborers. We need to keep calling for a fresh outpouring of the Spirit upon us, so that we can work together as the Lord’s laborers in God’s harvest.

In our first reading today from Second Timothy, St. Paul, at a time of great personal vulnerability laments the fact that all his companions have deserted him, with the exception of Luke. ‘Only Luke is with me’, St. Paul says. St. Luke is portrayed in today’s reading as the faithful companion to St. Paul. Towards the end of the reading St. Paul repeats that ‘everyone of them deserted me’, but then goes on to declare that ‘the Lord stood by me and gave me power’. ‘Only Luke is with me’; ‘the Lord stood by me’. St. Paul seems to be saying that the Lord stood by him in the person of St. Luke, that St. Luke revealed the Lord’s faithfulness to him. That is the calling we have all received from the time of our baptism, to reveal something of the Lord’s faithfulness to each other. The Lord stands by us in and through those who are faithful to us when we feel vulnerable and weak.

According to our first reading today, St. Paul the Apostle spoke to St. Timothy about the matter of his experiences with the other disciples around him, including with St. Luke the Evangelist, who was one of St. Paul’s companions during his numerous missionary journeys. St. Paul spoke of how some of them including St. Luke had been good companions and were faithful to God and to their mission, while there were also others who were not helpful or even detrimental in how they had probably hindered the works of St. Paul and his other fellow missionaries. Through this conversation and exchanges, coupled with historical evidence and Church tradition, it shows how the early Church grew through the dedicated efforts of the early missionaries, including the Apostles and their companions like St. Luke the Evangelist. St. Luke the Evangelist himself was a known physician who was a follower of St. Paul the Apostle, and journeyed with the latter in some of his missionary journeys as mentioned earlier. He was of Greek origin from the city and region of Antioch in Syria, and became a disciple of the Lord. Some Church tradition and accounts numbered St. Luke among the seventy-two disciples that was mentioned in our Gospel passage today. Regardless of the fact, whether St. Luke followed the Lord from during the time of His ministry or afterwards, it was clear that he was closely intertwined with the efforts of the early Church missionaries, the Apostles and the other disciples in proclaiming the Good News of God to many people and communities throughout the region.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures on this special feast of Saint Luke, the Evangelist, we are reminded that God did not call the great and the mighty to do His will and works. On the contrary, He called and empowered the ordinary ones to become the instruments of His will in this world. God gave the ordinary people the strength and the chance to become His great servants. The Church is ultimately not a shrine for the elites and the self-righteous, but rather the hospital for sinners, who have been called to leave behind their old lives of sin and wickedness. All the Saints and great servants of God like St. Luke, St. Paul and the others have all been called and transformed from their ordinary existence to be extraordinary servants of God. Before we think that we are inadequate or unworthy of such an accomplishment, let us all therefore strive to follow in the footsteps of the Holy Saints and Martyrs particularly that of St. Luke the Evangelist, who we celebrate today, the great servant of God who has dedicated his life to glorify the Lord and to proclaim Him through his writings and works, and through his efforts in evangelisation. Let us all therefore recognise our own mission and calling in life to be truly missionary and evangelising in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions with one another. All of us as Christians should always be full of courage and zeal to proclaim the Lord and His Good News at all times and in all the opportunities provided for us by the Lord. We should not be ignorant of all the things which we can do by making good use of everything that we have been blessed with by the Lord, in all the blessings and graces that He has provided to us, and by utilising all the opportunities that He has given us that we may glorify Him by each and every moments of our lives. May our lives be truly holy and worthy of God, so that God’s light, truth, love and hope may be shown to others just as St. Luke and the many other holy men and women of God have been our inspiration and role model. Let us do whatever we can, at every opportunities presented to us, to be the role models for one another and to help each other in our respective journeys of faith in life. May the Lord, our loving and ever compassionate God, continue to guide us all in our journey of faith, and may He help us to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, and may He continue to empower us all in our efforts and endeavours of faith. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to be channels of His faithful love to others. May the Lord bless us always in all things, now and 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 saving Lord, You sent Your disciples on a mission to share Your saving message with all. Today I especially thank You for the life and ministry of Saint Luke. Please use me, dear Lord, to imitate his wonderful example and to share Your glorious life with others. Please lead me and inspire me to especially reach out to those whom You have put into 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 Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Luke, Evangelist ~ 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 |