THIRTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ NOVEMBER 19, 2024
NOVENA TO CHRIST THE KING [Traditionally Nine Days Prior to the Solemnity of Christ the King. Novena prayed daily from November 15–23, 2024. Please see Novena link below]
THE SAINTS: WHO ARE THEY AND HOW ARE THEY CANONISED? [Please see link to the article below]
PURGATORY: WHAT IS PURGATORY? [Please see link to this article below]
KIND REMINDER: Please remember to continue to pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory throughout the month of November
Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time!
On this special Feast day, as we continue to remember the faithful departed, please let us remember to pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory this month of November. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints, we humbly pray for the souls of our faithful departed loved ones, for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed. May God grant our departed loved ones eternal rest, may they reach their full stature. We pray for all those who mourn, for widows and widowers. 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 who recently passed away and the souls in Purgatory. 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 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
“Blessed are those who have died in the Lord; let them rest from their labors for their good deeds go with them.” ~ Rev 14:13
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🙏
We continue to pray for the safety and well-being of our children and for peace in our family and the whole world. 🙏
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” | November 19, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | November 19, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary for Peace with Pope Francis” | LIVE Basilica of St. Mary Major | October 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes” | November 19, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| November 19, 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 Readings: Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Reading 1, Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 15:2-3, 3-4, 5
Gospel, Luke 19:1-10
NOVENA TO CHRIST THE KING [Traditionally Nine Days Prior to the Solemnity of Christ the King. Novena prayed daily from November 15–23, 2024 |https://www.usccb.org/Christ-the-King-2024-novena
THE SAINTS: WHO ARE THEY AND HOW ARE THEY CANONISED? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/01/the-saints-who-are-they-and-how-are-they-canonised/
PURGATORY: WHAT IS PURGATORY? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/15/purgatory-and-limbo/
PURGATORY: The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified” (CCC 1030). It notes that “this final purification of the elect . . . is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC 1031). The purification is necessary because, as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter the presence of God in heaven (Rev. 21:27) and, while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven.
What Happens in Purgatory?: When we die, we undergo what is called the particular, or individual, judgment. Scripture says that “it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). We are judged instantly and receive our reward, for good or ill. We know at once what our final destiny will be. At the end of time, when Jesus returns, there will come the general judgment to which the Bible refers, for example, in Matthew 25:31-32: “When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels with him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. In this general judgment all our sins will be publicly revealed (Luke 12:2–5).
November is a month when we remember our dead in a special way. It is a month when we are prone to reflecting on death, not in a morbid way but in the hopeful way that is rooted in our faith. Please let us remember to pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory this month of November and always.
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT MECHTILDIS (MATHILDA) OF HACKEBORN, VIRGIN AND SAINT BARLAAM OF ANTIOCH, MARTYR – FEAST DAY ~ NOVEMBER 19TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Mechtilde (Mathilda) of Hackeborn, Virgin and Saint Barlaam of Antioch, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, World day of the poor, we humbly pray for the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable in our communities and around the world. We pray for abuse victims, immigrants, orphans, children, students and Healthcare workers. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases 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 and we pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for peace, love, justice and unity in our marriages, our families and our world.
SAINT MECHTILDIS (MATHILDA) OF HACKEBORN, VIRGIN: Saint Mechtildis (1240-1298), born in 1240 in Saxony, she belonged to one of the noblest and most powerful Thuringian families; she was the younger sister of the illustrious Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn. She was so attracted to religious life at the age of seven, after a visit to her sister in the monastery of Rodardsdoft, that she begged to be allowed to enter the monastic school there. Her gifts caused her to make great progress both in virtue and learning. Ten years later, when her sister had transferred the monastery to an estate at Helfta offered by their brothers, St. Mechtildis went with her. She was already distinguished for her virtues, and while still very young became the valuable Assistant to Abbess Gertrude. One of the children who in the monastic school were committed to her care, it became St. Mechtilde’s lot to train the five-year-old who entered the monastery in 1261 and went on to become St. Gertrude the Great. The pupil wrote of her mistress: “There has never been anyone like her in our monastery, and I am afraid there will never be again.” In collaboration with another nun St. Gertrude wrote an account of Mechtilde’s spiritual teaching and mystical experiences entitled The Book of Special Grace, which was made public after Mechtilde’s death on November 19, 1298.
Saint Mechtildis was gifted with a beautiful voice, and was choir mistress of the nuns all her life. Divine praise, it has been said, was the keynote of her life, as also of her famous book, The Book of Special Grace. When she learned, at the age of fifty, that two of her nuns had written down all the favors and words of their Abbess, which she had become, she was troubled, but Our Lord in a vision assured her that all this has been committed to writing by My will and inspiration, and therefore you have no cause to be troubled over it. He added that the diffusion of the revelations He had given her would cause many to increase in His love. She immediately accepted the Lord’s bidding, and the book became extremely popular in Italy after her death. Its influence on the poet Dante’s Purgatorio is undeniable, for she had described the place of purification after death under the same figure of a seven-terraced mountain. The Donna Matelda of his Purgatorio, who guides him at one point in his vision, is Saint Mechtildis as she represents mystical theology. She died in 1298 at the monastery of Helfta. She’s Patron Saint against blindness.
PRAYER: God, You prepared a pleasing abode for Yourself in the heart of St. Mechtilde the Virgin. Through her intercession mercifully lighten the darkness of our heart so that we may rejoice in the knowledge that You are present and working within us. Amen 🙏
SAINT BARLAAM OF ANTIOCH, MARTYR: St. Barlaam of Antioch (d. 304 A.D.) was an elderly, uneducated peasant laborer from a village near Antioch. He was arrested for his Christian faith under the persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian. He was detained for a long time in a dungeon before being brought before his judge. At his trial he was severely scourged, his bones dislocated on the rack, and tortured in other ways in an attempt to force him to renounce his faith in Christ and sacrifice to idols. Instead of crying out, there was joy in his countenance. His meekness, answers, and resolute will confounded his persecutors. The judge, determined to not be humiliated by a peasant, then devised a plan that would force Barlaam to offer sacrifice to the gods despite his constancy. He had an altar with a fire prepared, and had Barlaam’s right hand held over the fire and filled with incense and hot coals. This would force Barlaam’s burning hand to recoil, causing the incense to fall before the pagan altar, which the judge could then proclaim as a public act of sacrifice to the idols. Instead, Barlaam endured the pain in perfect stillness. He held his hand steady until it burned off completely. Irate, the judge ordered his immediate death. St. Barlaam’s feast day is November 19th.
Saint Barlaam of Antioch, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Luke 19:1-10
“The Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost”
At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”
Today’s Gospel reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke details the famous story of the encounter between the Lord Jesus and Zaccheus the infamous tax collector. Acoording to the Gospel, at that occasion, the Lord was visiting the place where Zaccheus lived in, and Zaccheus, being intrigued and wanting to meet the Lord, made the effort to go and climb up a tree to be able to see Him, as he was short in stature. Zacchaeus showed an extraordinary determination to see Jesus. When he couldn’t see Jesus because of the crowd, he did something that would have been considered very strange for a man of his position as a chief tax collector by climbing up into a sycamore tree to be sure of seeing Jesus. As Jesus says in the Gospels, ‘Seek and you will find’, literally, ‘Keep on seeking and you will find’. Zacchaeus was one of those people who kept on seeking the Lord, and, in the end, Jesus found him. Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree and said to him, ‘I must stay at your house today’. Not only was Zacchaeus seeking Jesus but Jesus was seeking Zacchaeus, because he was the Son of Man who had come to seek out and to save the lost. Yet, it was Zacchaeus’ persistent seeking of the Lord which created the opening for the Lord to find Zacchaeus. The Lord is seeking us long before we seek Him, but it is our persistent seeking of the Lord which creates the opening for the Lord to enter our lives. That is why the Lord’s call, ‘Seek and you will find’ is addressed to all of us.
Zacchaeus was someone who was far from perfect. However, we see the first of Zaccheus’ good qualities, being the effort that he put into seeking the Lord, going out of his way to seek Him and to find Him, when many others could be less bothered to do the same, ignoring Him and even rejecting His message and refusing to believe in Him. Then, not only that, but Zaccheus also pledged Himself to the Lord in a most public manner before everyone who were assembled there, pledging that he would undo whatever wicked things and deeds that he might have done in the past as a tax collector. One of the many reasons why tax collectors during the time of the Lord Jesus were often reviled, hated and ostracised was that they were themselves corrupt, putting heavier taxes on the people while pocketing some of those gains for their own selfish desires and ambitions. Zaccheus must have been doing the same and hence, he was mentioned as being quite notorious among the people. But the Lord did not care about all that, as what He truly saw in Zaccheus is the potential as well as the strong desire to seek Him, which Zaccheus committed firmly in his public confession of faith and desire to repent from his many sins. Zaccheus showed us all that even the greatest of sinners may have a change of heart and repent from his or her many sins, provided that the sinner is willing to embrace God’s most generous and wonderful love and mercy, like Zaccheus had done. His public form of repentance and commitment, as well as the desire to follow the Lord is an inspiration for many of us that God truly loves us all and wants us all, His beloved children and people to come back to Him and to be reconciled and reunited with Him without any exception. No one is truly beyond God’s rich mercy and love, and we should keep this in mind as we continue to progress through this life. We must not forget that God loves each and every one of us and He does not discriminate us one from another. It is always us who made artificial and man-made categories and barriers separating us from other people. As the crowds saw Zacchaeus as a sinner, Jesus saw him as lost; if the crowds dismissed him because he was a sinner, Jesus sought him out because he was lost. The story shows us that Jesus has come not to condemn the sinner but to seek out the lost. We are all lost to some degree. We wander from the path the Lord calls us to take, the path of life. If, like Zacchaeus, we recognize that we are lost and seek the Lord from where we are, then, like him, we will discover that the Lord is seeking us with even greater energy. Lord can work powerfully in and through us, if we acknowledge it and allow it to propel us in the direction of the Lord who is always seeking us.
In our first reading today from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, the Apostle reminded the faithful people of God throughout the many prominent early churches that were spread then across Christendom of the words of the Lord that had been passed and revealed to him in the series of the revelations and visions he received while he was exiled to the Island of Patmos, many decades after the Lord’s Passion, suffering, death and Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven. The Lord showed St. John what happened to those who have not obeyed the Lord and followed His ways, those who have fallen into the path of wickedness and evil, and refused to listen to Him and turn towards the light of God. He also showed then what those who have been living righteously and worthily of the Lord will enjoy at the end of time. Thus, St. John passed on the words of the Lord delivered through the visions that he had received to the faithful people of God across Christendom, reminding them and all of us of all that we are expected to do as God’s people, His disciples and followers. We must not be lukewarm in our faith and be ignorant of our calling and the missions which God has entrusted to us, reminding all of us that everything that we should be actively doing in our lives, in each and every one of our actions and interactions with one another. We must show love and compassion to our fellow brothers and sisters around us, to be the shining beacons of God’s light, hope and truth to everyone, so that everyone may know the Lord through our dedication and commitment, our every examples and inspiration in life.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded to repent from our many wickedness and sins, to stop our acts of disobedience towards God and all the things which had separated us from Him, all the things that had kept us from being able to commit ourselves thoroughly and wholeheartedly to His path. All of us are reminded that God has always been rich in mercy and generous in offering us His compassionate love and kindness, and all of us are truly precious to Him, being those whom He has always loved and cared for from the very beginning, and He has created us all with love and truly intends for us all to enjoy the fullness of His love and grace. As we reflect on today’s Gospel reading we are called to begin with following the example of humility that Zaccheus had shown us all and also the realisation that we are all sinners, imperfect and flawed, needing God’s healing and mercy above all else. We cannot and should not think that we are better and superior than others, or that there are those who does not deserve God’s love and kindness. In fact, if we see around us that there are those who are bereft of love, compassion and kindness, we should lead the way in showing them the genuine love that our Lord Himself has shown to us. In each and every one of our actions, words and deeds, in our every efforts and works, in our every interactions, we should always show love, care and concern for everyone without prejudice, and strive to seek the Lord together, helping and supporting one another in this endeavour. May the Lord, our ever loving and compassionate God, our patient and ever caring Father, continue to bless us all with His love and grace, and help us to open our hearts and minds to Him, to get rid of the pride and stubbornness which had prevented us to come towards His salvation. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may His compassionate love and mercy embrace us all much as He Himself has embraced Zaccheus the penitent in the past. May God always be with us and may He continue to journey together with us as He has always done, in our every efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen 🙏🏽
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER:
MONTH OF THE HOLY SOULS: The Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of November to praying in a special way for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The Holy Souls (also called the Faithful Departed) are members of the Church who await the purification of their souls before joining the Saints in heaven for all eternity. Specifically, they are referred to as the Church Suffering (the Saints in heaven are the Church Triumphant, and the faithful on earth are the Church Militant).The poor souls in purgatory cannot pray for themselves or do anything to hasten their entrance into heaven, but we can and ought to pray for them as an act of charity. The feast of the Holy Souls is November 2nd.
The entire month of November falls during the liturgical season known as Tempus per Annum or Ordinary Time (formerly Time After Pentecost), which is represented by the liturgical color green. Green is a symbol of hope, as it is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. The liturgical color green is worn during the praying of Offices and celebration of Masses of Ordinary Time. The last portion of the liturgical year represents the time of our pilgrimage to heaven during which we hope for reward. As we come to the end of the Church year we are asked to consider the end times, our own as well as the world’s.
The month of November is very full of Memorials, feasts and solemnities. The main feast days are the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1), The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) (November 2), the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome (November 9), The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (November 24), and St. Andrew (November 30).
The other saint days are: St. Charles Borromeo, (November 4), Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome (November 9), St. Martin of Tours, (November 11), St. Josaphat (November 12), St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (November 13) St. Albert the Great (November 15), Sts. Margaret of Scotland and Gertrude (November 16), Presentation of Mary (November 21), St. Cecilia (November 22), Sts. Clement I and St. Columban (November 23), and
St. Catherine of Alexandria (November 25). The commemorations of St. Martin de Porres (November 3), St. Leo the Great (November 10), St. Elizabeth of Hungary (November 17), and St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions (November 24) fall on Sundays and are superseded by the Sunday Liturgy.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER – FOR ANYONE WHO HAS LOST A CHILD: We pray that all parents who mourn the loss of a son or daughter find support in their community and receive peace and consolation from the Holy Spirit.
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
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 🙏🏾
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. 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. 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 attentive Lord, You are always aware of every heart that longs for You. You never ignore those who desire You in their life. Please help me to see my own interior needs and struggles and to see You as the only source of fulfillment in life. I commit myself to seeking You out, dear Lord. And as You come to me, I commit to abandon all that has kept me from You in the past. 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 Mechtilde (Mathilda) of Hackeborn, Virgin and Saint Barlaam of Antioch, 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🙏
Blessings and love always, Philomena💖
Daily Reflections | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/
Foundation | https://gliopiepehe.org
Sir G.L.I Opiepe’s Health and Education Foundation |