“FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)”
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 7, 2024
Greetings, beloved family and Happy Sunday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time!
On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we humbly pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We continue to pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to 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 | July 7, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 7, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |July 7, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 7, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | July 7, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL
JOYFULLUMINOUSSORROWFULGLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
NOVENA TO THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS | https://novenaprayer.com/novena-to-the-precious-blood-of-jesus/ (When to begin: Any time – The whole month of July)
Today’s Bible Readings: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | July 7, 2024
Reading 1, Ezekiel 2:2-5
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
Gospel, Mark 6:1-6
Reading 2, Second Corinthians 12:7-10
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS
Bible Readings for today, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel (USA) Mark 6:1–6
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place”
“Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.,”
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus returns to His home town of Nazareth, having left there some time previously. He had spent the best part of thirty years in Nazareth. During that time He was known by all as the carpenter, the son of Mary. However, since leaving Nazareth, Jesus’ life had taken a new direction. He had thrown Himself into the work that God had given Him to do. He had left Nazareth as a carpenter; He returned as a teacher and a healer. There was in fact much more to Jesus that His own townspeople had ever suspected while He was living among them. The Gospel reading suggests that they could not accept this ‘more’; they rejected Him. They wanted Him to be the person they had always known; they would not allow Him to move on from that. Jesus’ homecoming turned out to be more painful than His leaving home. God’s unique Son who proclaimed the presence of God’s kingdom was experienced by the people of Nazareth as a thorn in the flesh, to use an image from today’s second reading. The people of Nazareth thought they knew Jesus. The image they had of
Him, which they held on to with great tenacity, became a block to their learning more about Him. We too can easily assume that we know someone, when, in reality, we only know one side to them. We can form strong opinions about people on the basis of past experiences. We can become so attached to these opinions that even when the evidence is there to challenge them, we are completely unmoved. There was more to Jesus than the people of Nazareth were aware of. Indeed there is always more to every human being than we are aware of. That is true even of those we would claim to know well, such as family members and good friends. We are each made in God’s image. There is a profound mystery to each one of us. We can never fully probe the mystery of another person’s life. We each need to approach everyone with the awareness that there is more here than I can see. It was Jesus’ very ordinariness that made it difficult for the people of Nazareth to see Him as He really was, in all His mystery. God was powerfully present to them in and through someone who was as ordinary, in many respects, as they themselves. God continues to come to us today in and through the ordinary, in and through those who are most familiar to us. In the religious sphere there can be a certain fascination with the extraordinary and the unusual. The Gospels suggest that the primary way the Lord comes to us is in and through the everyday. This is what we mean by the incarnation. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The ordinary is shot through with God’s presence.
The Lord can even come to us in and through what we initially experience as something very negative. St Paul made this discovery for himself, according to our second reading today. He struggled with what he called a thorn in the flesh. It is not easy to know what he means by this. Whatever it was, St. Paul wanted to be rid of it. He saw no good in it and he prayed earnestly to the Lord to take it from him, fully expecting that his prayer would be heard. St. Paul’s prayer was answered, but not in the way he had expected. In prayer he came to realize that God was powerfully present in and through this thorn in the flesh. When we find ourselves struggling with something inside ourselves or with something outside ourselves, some person perhaps, we can be tempted to see the struggle as totally negative and just want to be rid of it. Like Paul, however, we can discover that this difficult experience is opening us up to God’s presence. The very thing we judge to be of little or no value can create a space for God to work powerfully in our lives. There is something of a paradox in what Paul hears the risen Lord say to him, ‘My power is at its best in weakness’. It is often when we most feel life as a struggle that God can touch our lives most powerfully and creatively.
In our first reading this Sunday, from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, God called Ezekiel and sent him to the people of Israel in exile in Babylon, to speak to them all at the place of their exile to remind them all of their loving God and Master, the One Who had chastised and punished their ancestors and predecessors for their sins and wickedness, but One Who also would embrace them all once again with His ever generous and enduring love because after all, despite all the anger and punishments that He had given against those same people. This is because ultimately, God has always loved His people, whom He had called and chosen to share in His love and inheritance, and as a loving Father to His beloved ones, that He had treated as His children, He wanted them all to grow up well and to follow the path that He has shown them. Therefore, God’s chastisements and punishments to the Israelites were ultimately meant to lead those wayward people back towards Him. He wanted them all to repent from their sinful ways and to remember His love for them, and how as God’s chosen people, they were supposed to live righteously and virtuously in God’s path, and not to give in to the wickedness of the world, all the temptations of sin that could bring them all into destruction and damnation. Their exile in Babylon was meant to remind them all that without God, there would be no good future for them, and there would only be desolation and suffering if they continued to disobey the Lord. On the other hand, if they embraced God’s mercy and love, His compassion and kindness, then there will be path out of the darkness and despair for them.
In our second reading today, from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, the Apostle St. Paul reminded the faithful there about the dangers of temptations and the corruptions of human desires and pride, all of which can lead the people into the path of sin and evil. He used himself as an example and told the faithful in Corinth about how he has constantly been reminded by the ‘thorn of Satan’ to keep him reminded of his own imperfections and frailty, lest he became too proud because of all of his works and achievements in proclaiming the Good News of God to more and more people among the Gentiles in his missionary journeys. Through this example, St. Paul wanted to remind and warn the other faithful people of God not to give in to the very dangerous allures and temptations of worldly fame, glory and ambitions which could lead them astray from the path of God’s righteousness. When we come face to face in our own lives with failure, loss, rejection, we often need to stand back so as to see these painful experiences with the eyes of faith, rather than just with the eyes of our culture, the eyes of the world. We reflect on these experiences with the conviction that the Lord may be powerfully present here in a life-giving way. We face our failures, our weaknesses, our brokenness, with hope, recognizing, with Saint Paul, that the Lord’s power is always at work somewhere in our weakness.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, that we must always be obedient to God, be humble in all things and keep in mind that no matter how great we are, ultimately everything that we have, and all of our greatness and achievements, all of these are only possible because of God, His guidance and blessings towards us. Through God’s help and guidance all of us have received the strength and the means to persevere through the challenges of life, and by His providence, we have been guided to reach the path towards salvation and eternal life with God. However, we must always be ever vigilant and careful, lest the many temptations present around us may lead us astray into the path of ruin and damnation. As we listened and remembered the words of the Lord contained within the Scripture readings which we have received this Sunday, let us all therefore reflect on our own way of life, our own actions and all the things which we had done. Let us all ask ourselves whether we have allowed our pride, ego, desires, ambitions and all the things that often distracted and misled us in this life to bring us away from the path of God’s salvation. Let us all continue to dedicate ourselves and our every moments in life to serve the Lord ever more faithfully, and let us continue to be humble, to be willing to listen to God speaking to us all through His Church and through everyone we encounter in life, so that by listening to Him and obeying His will, we may find our path in life, and be guided ever more to walk in the path towards God’s salvation and grace. May the Lord, our ever loving God and Creator, continue to love and help us in our journey, and may He continue to bless us all in our every actions, words, deeds, and our every efforts to carry out His Law and commandments in every moments of our lives. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and be with us all, His beloved people and His Church, so that by His Presence and ever loving guidance in our lives, we may continue to walk faithfully in His path, and be the good and worthy role models and inspirations for one another, that our lives may always be illuminated with God’s light, His love and truth, at all times. Let us always remember God’s ever enduring love, and be thankful for all that He had done for us, now and always. Amen 
SAINTS OF THE DAY: SAINT PALLADIUS, BISHOP; SAINT PANTÆNUS, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND APOSTLE TO THE INDIES; BLESSED PETER TO ROT, CATECHIST AND MARTYR; BLESSED ROGER DICKENSON, PRIEST, BLESSED RALPH MILNER AND BLESSED LAWRENCE HUMPHREY, MARTYRS AND BLESSED POPE BENEDICT XI ~ FEAST DAY: JULY 7TH Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Palladius, Bishop; Saint Pantænus, Doctor of the Church and Apostle to the Indies; Blessed Peter To Rot; Blessed Roger Dickenson, Priest, Ralph Milner and Lawrence Humphrey, Martyrs and Blessed Pope Benedict XI. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the protection and safety of Christians all over the world and we continue to pray for the Church, the Clergy, for persecuted christians and for the conversion of sinners. We also pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the poor, the needy and most marginalized, for peaceful marriages, for justice, peace and unity in our families and our world.
SAINT PALLADIUS, BISHOP: St. Saint Palladius (d. 450) was First Bishop and Apostle of the Scots. The first bishop of the Christian mission to Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick; the two were perhaps conflated in many later Irish traditions. The name Palladius marks Saint Palladius as a Roman; and a seventh century Irish biography of Saint Patrick identifies him as Archdeacon of the Roman Church under Pope Celestine. Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, his contemporary, informs us in his historical chronicle that when Agricola, a noted Pelagian, had corrupted the churches of Britain by introducing that pestilential heresy, Pope Celestine, at the instance of Palladius the deacon, in 429 sent there Saint Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, as his legate. He, after having ejected the heretics, brought back the Britons to the Catholic faith.
The same Pope sent St. Palladius to the Celts. The Irish writer of the life of Saint Patrick says that Palladius preached in Ireland some time before Saint Patrick, but that he was soon sent away by the King of Leinster and returned to North Britain, where he had opened his mission. Saint Prosper says that he was consecrated bishop by the same Pope Celestine, and then sent with relics of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, as first bishop to the nation of the Christian Scots. Several colonies of these had passed from Ireland into North Britain and taken possession of the part of the country since called Scotland. Later Saint Palladius also founded three churches in more hospitable regions of Ireland. St. Palladius was accompanied by four companions: Sylvester and Solinus, who remained after him in Ireland; and Augustinus and Benedictus, who followed him to Britain, but returned to their own country after his death. He preached to the Scots with great zeal, and formed a considerable church. The Scottish historians tell us that the Faith was first planted in North Britain about the year 200, in the time of King Donald, when Saint Victor I was Pope; but they all acknowledge that St. Palladius was the first bishop of that country, and they call him their first Apostle. Saint Palladius died at Fordun, fifteen miles from Aberdeen, about the year 450.
PRAYER: O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
SAINT PANTÆNUS, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND APOSTLE TO THE INDIES: Saint Pantænus, Father of the Church (Died c 216) Theologian, Philosopher, Teacher, Confessor and Defender of the Faith, Writer and interpreter of the Bible, the Trinity, and Christology, Missionary. An apostolic man, filled with wisdom. He had such affection and love for the word of God, and was so inflamed with the ardor of faith and devotion, that he set out to preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles inhabiting the farthest recesses of the East. At length returning to Alexandria, he rested in peace, under Antoninus Caracalla. This learned Doctor and apostolic man flourished in the second century. Born in Sicily, he was a Hebrew Christian who had studied Holy Scripture and also Greek philosophy. His esteem for virtue had led him into an acquaintance with the Christians, and being charmed with the innocence and sanctity of their conversation, he opened his eyes to the truth. It was under the disciples of the Apostles that he studied Holy Scripture in the orient, before his thirst for sacred learning brought him to Alexandria in Egypt, where the disciples of Saint Mark had instituted a celebrated school of Christian doctrine.
St. Pantænus did not seek to display his talents in that center of literature and commerce; but his great progress in sacred learning was discovered, and he was drawn out of the obscurity in which his humility had sought to bury itself. He was placed at the head of the Christian school some time before the year 179. His learning and excellent manner of teaching raised the school’s reputation above all schools of the philosophers, whom he strove to win to Christianity. The lessons which he read and commented, gathered from the prophets and Apostles, conveyed light and knowledge into the minds of all his hearers. The Indian traders who came to Alexandria entreated Saint Pantænus to pay their country a visit and vanquish false philosophy by the true faith. He was advised by the bishop of Alexandria to consent, and therefore left the school and went to preach the Gospel to the eastern nations. In India he found some seeds of the faith already sown, and there he was shown the Gospel of Saint Matthew in Hebrew, which according to Eusebius’ account in his History of the Church, was taken there by Saint Bartholomew. He brought it back with him to Alexandria, where he returned after he had zealously employed several years in instructing the Indians in the faith. Saint Pantænus continued to teach privately until about the year 214, when he closed a noble and excellent life by a holy and happy death.
Saint Pantænus,, Doctor of the Church and Apostle to the Indies ~ Pray for us
BLESSED PETER TO ROT, MARTYR: A beloved World War II Papuan catechist and martyr who died to defend marriage. A devoted husband and loving father, he fought to uphold the indissolubility of matrimony. Many wagered he would become a priest. Instead, he not only started a family but also lay down his life to defend marriage. He stood firm in the faith during the Japanese occupation of his homeland in World War II. He was arrested for his opposition to polygamy. He was poisoned and suffocated to death presumed to be on July 7, 1945 in a Japanese concentration camp at Rakunai. Bl. Peter To Rot was born in 1912 in Papua New Guinea, the city of Rakunai (near Rabual), a village on the Melanesian island of New Britain, today an eastern province of the independent nation of Papua, New Guinea. A place where His father, Angelo To Puia, an influential and charismatic chieftain who was among the first converts to Catholicism, played a pivotal role in spreading the Gospel in his land. Bl. Peter’s mother, Maria la Tumul, was a fervent Catholic who knew how to form the family as the first European missionaries had taught. Both parents were baptized as adults belonged to the region’s first generation of Catholics. From his father, Bl. Peter inherited the qualities of a leader; from his mother, a particular sensibility for religion. Perhaps it was this happy fusion of natural gifts, coupled with a wholly unique devotion and inclination toward study, which led the local missionary priest to believe he had identified the seeds of a priestly vocation in him, and to consider sending him to Europe for studies. It was his father (providentially, in hindsight) who decided Bl. Peter’s future course as a lay leader and catechist. Bl. Peter therefore prepared himself for this ministry, thus confirming everything others had seen in him: a surprising ability as a teacher, a keen knowledge of the Bible, the ability to relate to everyone, and a powerful influence over others, especially young people. In short, he was a born leader. At just 21 years of age, Bl. Peter was already an invaluable catechist and served as the missionary parish priest’s right hand man and collaborator. In 1936, at the age of 24, Peter married Paula la Varpit, a 16-year old who seemed to have been made just for him. For she shared his faith, his ideals, his aspirations and his commitment. Theirs was a union sustained by daily prayer and the reading of the Bible: their home was imbued with a lived faith that was first witnessed and then passed on to their three children.
Over the years Bl. Peter’s spirituality matured, his natural ability to relate to others was transformed into a kind and gracious availability to all, he increasingly took on a role as an undisputed leader: in addition to winning the esteem and appreciation of others, he also won their love. People realized that Peter lived what he taught and they admired his strength of character, his integrity and the generosity he showed toward others. In 1942, Japanese imperial forces attacked and occupied the entire region and immediately began targeting the religion that had been brought by Westerners: all European missionaries were captured and interned in concentration camps, and all Catholic chapels were destroyed. The only person left “in the field” was Bl. Peter: first, because he was a native and second, because he was a layman and therefore not held on the same par with the missionaries the Japanese wanted to strike. With great ease and simplicity, he took charge of the community, yet without a parish priest: he baptized, visited the sick and the dying, assisted at marriages, and protected and guarded the Holy Eucharist. He knew the risks, but he was utterly convinced of the need “to give primacy to the things of God.” The Japanese watched him closely, aware that he was the worst of enemies, the one reference point for Catholics in the area. Things turned very bad for Bl. Peter when he took a clear stance against the decision of Japanese authorities to introduce polygamy: unity and indissolubility are essential characteristics of Catholic marriage, and Bl. Peter repeatedly and forcefully proclaimed this truth with the power of John the Baptist, who from his prison cell had denounced Herod’s sin of adultery. Amid great suffering yet as constant as ever, he denounced even his own brother who had taken a second wife. Bl. Peter knew that in doing so he was irrevocably marking his fate, but with great serenity he told everyone: “It is beautiful to die for the faith.” On Christmas 1944, Japanese officials arrested and imprisoned him in a concentration camp. There, his serenity would only be disturbed at the thought of his community being without a leader. Every attempt to have him released failed, even one organized by Methodists in cooperation with several Catholics. The Japanese wanted quickly to rid themselves of this uncomfortable witness of the Gospel. One night, on July 7, 1945, a Japanese doctor accompanied by two officials killed him by lethal injection. A martyr for the faith and in defense of marriage, the catechist Bl. Peter To Rot, “a devoted husband, a loving father and a dedicated catechist,” was beatified by Pope John Paul II on January 17, 1995. He’s Patron Saint of Married couples; Catechists; Rakunai, World Youth Day 2008.
Blessed Peter To Rot, Martyr ~ Pray for us
BLESSED ROGER DICKENSON, PRIEST, BLESSED RALPH MILNER AND BLESSED LAWRENCE HUMPHREY, MARTYRS: These holy men were executed on July 7, 1591 in Winchester under Elizabeth I. Blessed Roger Dickenson was executed for being a Catholic priest present in England, Blessed Ralph Milner for being a Catholic layman who assisted a Catholic priest (Father Dickenson), and Blessed Lawrence Humphrey, like Milner a convert and layman. Blessed Ralph, a farmer and father of a family was rich in faith, was arrested and executed together with Father Dickenson.
BLESSED RALPH MILNER: Bl. Ralph Milner was an elderly and illiterate farmer from the district of Flacsted in Hampshire brought up as a Protestant. Influenced by the good lives led by his Catholic neighbors, he took instructions in the faith and was received into the Church. On the very day of his First Communion, this devout convert was seized and imprisoned. Though he remained in prison for a number of years, he was often granted parole. At such times he would obtain alms and spiritual succor for his fellow prisoners, and by utilizing his overall knowledge of the country he would help missionary priests move about and work more easily. It was in this way that he met and aided a secular priest named Roger Dickenson.
BLESSED ROGER DICKENSON: Bl. Roger Dickenson was a native of Lincoln and a priest of the College of Rheims who was sent on mission in 1583. He had already been arrested once but been able to escape when his guards got drink. The second time he was arrested with Ralph Milner and both were put on trial for the faith. The judge took especial pity on Milner who was getting old and had eight children. Seeking any pretext to set him free, he urged the saintly farmer to make a visit to the nearby parish church as a matter of form and he would be freed since this would be tantamount to reconciliation with the Church of England. However, the blessed Martyr, aided by God’s grace, stood firm and refused to make the least deceitful gesture, preferring to share the fate of his friend Father Dickenson. Accordingly, both of these servants of God were executed at Winchester on July 7, 1591. They were beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI.
BLESSED LAWRENCE HUMPHREY: Bl. Lawrence Humphrey was a convert and layman. Bl. Lawrence is commemorated on this day because the exact date of his death is uncertain. He was executed for a most unusual reason: he spoke against the Queen while delirious.
These holy men lived at a time in the history of England when Catholics of that country risked imprisonment and death to practice and spread of their faith. They faced persecution and death without fear, confident in the Lord and ready to die for their faith.
PRAYER: God, You surround and protect us by the glorious confession of Your holy Martyrs, Blessed Ralph and Roger. Help us to profit from their example and be supported by their prayer. Amen
BLESSED POPE BENEDICT XI: Bl. Pope Benedict XI (1240-1304) was born in Italy with the name Nicholas Boccasini. At the age of 14 he entered the Dominican Order, and went on to become a theology professor before being named Master General of the Order in 1296. As Master of the Dominicans, Bl. Boccasini defended Pope Boniface VIII when the hostility of secular rulers towards the Roman Pontiff grew, especially during the pope’s open conflict with the King of France. In reward for his loyalty, Bl. Boccasini was elevated to Cardinal and then Bishop of Ostia. When Hungary was torn with civil war, Bl. Boccasini was sent there by the Holy See to restore peace. When he returned to Rome, the Pope’s conflict with France reached its height; Pope Boniface VIII was seized, beaten, and driven from the Sacred Palace by his enemies, while Bl. Boccasini was one of only two cardinals who defended the Holy Father to the end. After Pope Boniface VIII died, Bl. Boccasini was elected in his place and took the name Pope Benedict XI. He excommunicated all those who had taken part in the seizure and abuse of his predecessor, while at the same time restoring peace with the French court. In this time of tumult he repaired the damage with leniency, yet without compromising the Holy See or the good memory of the previous pope. His reign was brief; he died suddenly of a suspected poisoning after only eight months in office. Bl. Pope Benedict XI was the author of a volume of sermons and commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew, Psalms, Job, and Revelation. His feast day is July 7th.
Bl. Pope Benedict XI ~ Pray for us
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF JULY:
THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS: The month of July is dedicated to the Precious Blood. The feast of the Precious Blood of our Lord was instituted in 1849 by Pius IX, but the devotion is as old as Christianity. The early Fathers say that the Church was born from the pierced side of Christ, and that the sacraments were brought forth through His Blood.
“The Precious Blood which we worship is the Blood which the Savior shed for us on Calvary and reassumed at His glorious Resurrection; it is the Blood which courses through the veins of His risen, glorified, living body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven; it is the Blood made present on our altars by the words of Consecration; it is the Blood which merited sanctifying grace for us and through it washes and beautifies our soul and inaugurates the beginning of eternal life in it.”
PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYER: Almighty, and everlasting God, who hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world, and hast been pleased to be reconciled unto us by His Blood, grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate with solemn worship the price of our salvation, that the power thereof may here on earth keep us from all things hurtful, and the fruit of the same may gladden us for ever hereafter in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF JULY – FOR THE PASTORAL CARE OF THE SICK: We pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick confer to those who receive it and their loved ones the power of the Lord and become ever more a visible sign of compassion and hope for all.
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 beķķen in vain. Now, Lord, come to our ajnid! 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, 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. 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 revealing Lord, You continuously speak to me in the depths of my heart, revealing to me Your divine presence and love. Give me a heart that is truly open to You on the deepest level, so that my faith will grow and I will know for certain Your divine love. 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 Palladius; Saint Pantænus; Blessed Peter To Rot and Blessed Roger Dickenson, Ralph Milner and Lawrence Humphrey and Blessed Pope Benedict XI ~ Pray for us
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us. Amen
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 and grace-filled Sunday and week
Blessings and Love always, Philomena