TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 5, 2024
Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time!
On this feast day, we pray for the poor, the needy and those who are oppressed. For persecuted Christians, for peace, love, justice and unity in our families and our world. We continue to pray for our children and children all over the world. With special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for their safety and well-being, especially those beginning the new school year. We also pray for all teachers, staff and parents, and guardians. For the Clergy and those who proclaim the Gospel. May God keep us all safe and well. Amen 🙏
On this day, we pray for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We particularly pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son & the Holy Spirit forever & ever. Amen🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | September 5, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 5, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |September 5, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 5, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Thursday, September 5, 2024
Reading 1, First Corinthians 3:18-23
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Gospel, Luke 5:1-11
SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA (KOLKATA), RELIGIOUS; SAINT BERTIN, RELIGIOUS AND SAINT LAWRENCE JUSTINIAN, BISHOP ~ FEAST DAY: SEPTEMBER 5TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata), Religious; Saint Bertin, Religious and Saint Lawrence Justinian, Bishop. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the poor, the needy and those who are marginalized and suffering in situations of conflict. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed, for all widows and widowers and all those who mourn. For peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world.🙏
SAINT MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA (KOLKATA), RELIGIOUS: St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910–1997), known simply as Mother Teresa, a religious nun and the founder of the religious order of the Missionaries of Charity. A universal symbol of God’s merciful and preferential love for the poor and forgotten. Small of stature, rocklike in faith, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was entrusted with the mission of proclaiming God’s thirsting love for humanity, especially for the poorest of the poor. St. Mother Teresa, luminous messenger of God’s love was born Anjezë (Agnes) Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, city situated at the crossroads of Balkan history. The youngest of three children born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu, a family of Albanian descent in what is now Macedonia. She was baptised Gonxha Agnes, received her First Communion at the age of five and a half and was confirmed in November 1916. From the day of her First Holy Communion, a love for souls was within her. Her father’s sudden death when Mother Teresa was about eight years old left the family in financial straits. Her mother, Drane raised her children firmly and lovingly, greatly influencing her daughter’s character and vocation. She attended a youth group called Sodality, run by a Jesuit priest at her parish of the Sacred Heart, and her involvement opened her to the call of service as a missionary nun. As a young girl Mother Teresa was fascinated by stories she heard of missionaries serving in India. By age 12 she discerned a vocation to the religious life, and at the age of 18, she left her home in September 1928 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Dublin Ireland as a missionary to India. In the convent, Agnes (Mother Teresa) chose her religious name in honor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries. But another nun had already chosen that name, so Agnes became Teresa, spelling the name in the Spanish style. After learning the rule of her Order and basic English, she sailed on the long voyage to India in December, arriving in Calcutta in January 6, 1929. India would be her home for the rest of her life. After making her First Profession of Vows in May 1931, Sister Teresa was assigned to the Loreto Entally community in Calcutta and taught at St. Mary’s School for girls. On May 24, 1937, Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, becoming, as she said, the “spouse of Jesus” for “all eternity.” From that time on she was called Mother Teresa. She continued teaching at St. Mary’s and in 1944 became the school’s principal. A person of profound prayer and deep love for her religious sisters and her students, Mother Teresa’s twenty years in Loreto were filled with profound happiness. Noted for her charity, unselfishness and courage, her capacity for hard work and a natural talent for organization, she lived out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her companions, with fidelity and joy. She enjoyed her work, but became increasingly disturbed by the extreme poverty and societal unrest she observed around her.
On September 10, 1946 during the train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, Mother Teresa received her “inspiration,” her “call within a call.” What she called “an order” from God to leave the convent and work and live among the poor. At this point she did not know that she was to found an order of nuns, or even exactly where she was to serve. “I knew where I belonged, but I did not know how to get there,” she said once, recalling the moment on the train. On that day, in a way she would never explain, Jesus’ thirst for love and for souls took hold of her heart and the desire to satiate His thirst became the driving force of her life. Over the course of the next weeks and months, by means of interior locutions and visions, Jesus revealed to her the desire of His heart for “victims of love” who would “radiate His love on souls.” “Come be My light,” He begged her. “I cannot go alone.” He revealed His pain at the neglect of the poor, His sorrow at their ignorance of Him and His longing for their love. He asked Mother Teresa to establish a religious community, Missionaries of Charity, dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor. Nearly two years of testing and discernment passed before Mother Teresa received permission to begin. On August 17, 1948, she dressed for the first time in a white, blue-bordered sari and passed through the gates of her beloved Loreto convent to enter the world of the poor. After a short course with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta and found temporary lodging with the Little Sisters of the Poor. She began her own religious order in Calcutta dedicated to ministering to, in her words, “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.” On December 21 she went for the first time to the slums. She visited families, washed the sores of some children, cared for an old man lying sick on the road and nursed a woman dying of hunger and TB. She started each day in communion with Jesus in the Eucharist and then went out, rosary in her hand, to find and serve Him in “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.” After some months, she was joined, one by one, by her former students and together they took in men, women, and children who were dying in the gutters along the streets and cared for them. Despite facing many challenges, doubts and disagreements, both from within and outside the Church, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata) began seeing several impacts and successes, as there were others who followed her examples, and soon, it became the foundation of the Missionaries of Charity. And despite the challenges and trials that St. Teresa of Kolkata and her fellow sisters had to face, she continued to dedicate herself to the Lord and her mission tirelessly.
On October 7, 1950 the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established in the Archdiocese of Calcutta. By the early 1960s, Mother Teresa began to send her Sisters to other parts of India. The Decree of Praise granted to the Congregation by Pope Paul VI in February 1965 encouraged her to open a house in Venezuela. It was soon followed by foundations in Rome and Tanzania and, eventually, on every continent. Starting in 1980 and continuing through the 1990s, Mother Teresa opened houses in almost all of the communist countries, including the former Soviet Union, Albania and Cuba. In order to respond better to both the physical and spiritual needs of the poor, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963, in 1976 the contemplative branch of the Sisters, in 1979 the Contemplative Brothers, and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. Yet her inspiration was not limited to those with religious vocations. She formed the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, people of many faiths and nationalities with whom she shared her spirit of prayer, simplicity, sacrifice and her apostolate of humble works of love. This spirit later inspired the Lay Missionaries of Charity. In answer to the requests of many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests as a “little way of holiness” for those who desire to share in her charism and spirit. During the years of rapid growth, the world began to turn its eyes towards Mother Teresa and the work she had started. Numerous awards, beginning with the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962 and notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, honoured her work, while an increasingly interested media began to follow her activities. She received both prizes and attention “for the glory of God and in the name of the poor.” The whole of Mother Teresa’s life and labour bore witness to the joy of loving, the greatness and dignity of every human person, the value of little things done faithfully and with love, and the surpassing worth of friendship with God. But there was another heroic side of this great woman that was revealed only after her death. Hidden from all eyes, hidden even from those closest to her, was her interior life marked by an experience of a deep, painful and abiding feeling of being separated from God, even rejected by Him, along with an ever-increasing longing for His love. She called her inner experience, “the darkness.” The “painful night” of her soul, which began around the time she started her work for the poor and continued to the end of her life, led Mother Teresa to an ever more profound union with God. Through the darkness, she mystically participated in the thirst of Jesus, in His painful and burning longing for love, and she shared in the interior desolation of the poor. She was a fierce defender of the unborn saying: “If you hear of some woman who does not want to keep her child and wants to have an abortion, try to persuade her to bring him to me. I will love that child, seeing in him the sign of God’s love.”
During the last years of her life, despite increasingly severe health problems, Mother Teresa continued to govern her Society and respond to the needs of the poor and the Church. By 1997, Mother Teresa’s Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members and were established in 610 foundations in 123 countries of the world. In March 1997 she blessed her newly-elected successor as Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity and then made one more trip abroad. After meeting Pope John Paul II for the last time, she returned to Calcutta and spent her final weeks receiving visitors and instructing her Sisters. On September 5, 1997 Mother Teresa’s earthly life came to an end. She was given the honour of a state funeral by the Government of India and her body was buried in the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike. Mother Teresa left a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her response to Jesus’ plea, “Come be My light,” made her a Missionary of Charity, a “mother to the poor,” a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting love of God. She received the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize for her inspiring work with social outcasts. Less than two years after her death, in view of Mother Teresa’s widespread reputation of holiness and the favours being reported, Pope John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization. On December 20, 2002, he approved the decrees of her heroic virtues and miracles. St. Mother Teresa was Beatified on October 19, 2003 and Canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016. St. Mother Teresa is the Patron Saint of World Youth Day, Missionaries of Charity, Archdiocese of Calcutta (co-patron). Her feast day is September 5th.
QUOTES OF SAINT MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA (KOLKATA): ☆Mother Teresa once said, “A sacrifice to be real must cost, must hurt, must empty ourselves. The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.” ☆She also said, “give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.” ☆”By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.” ☆”God still loves the world and He sends you and me to be His love and His compassion to the poor.” She was a soul filled with the light of Christ, on fire with love for Him and burning with one desire: “to quench His thirst for love and for souls.”
PRAYER: Saint Mother Teresa, your generosity to the poor and destitute inspired millions. Your life of dedication to prayer, to the Church, and to the dignity of all life inspires us still. May we emulate your life of total service and total love by loving God first… Amen 🙏
SAINT BERTIN, RELIGIOUS: St. Bertin
(c. 615 – c. 709 AD), also known as Saint Bertin the Great, was the Frankish abbot of a monastery in Saint-Omer later named the Abbey of Saint Bertin after him. St. Bertin was born about the beginning of the 7th century near Constance, France, and received his religious formation at the Abbey of Luxeuil, at that time the model abbey for the rather strict Rule of St. Columban. About 639, together with two other monks, he joined St. Omer, Bishop of Thérouanne, who had for two years been evangelizing the pagan Morini in the low-lying marshy country of the Pas-de-Calais. In this almost totally idolatrous region, these holy missionary monks founded a monastery that came to be called St. Mommolin after its first Abbot. After eight more arduous years of preaching the faith for Christ, they founded a second monastery at Sithiu dedicated to St. Peter. St. Bertin ruled it for nearly sixty years and made it famous; accordingly, after his death it was called St. Bertin and gave birth to the town of St. Omer.
St. Bertin practiced the greatest austerities and was in constant communion with God. He also traveled much and trained disciples who went forth to preach the faith to others. Among others, he selected St. Winnoc to found a monastery at Wormhoundt, near Dunkirk, and this Saint figures in many medieval English calendars. St. Bertin’s monastery served as an example to the locals, and brought many to the faith; 22 of its monks have been canonized. During a life that spanned nearly a century, St. Bertin was known for holiness and severe self-imposed austerities. On his death, the monastery was re-dedicated to him. About the year 698, this zealous preacher of Christ died, surrounded by his monks.
PRAYER: God, You built up Your Church by means of the religious zeal and apostolic care of St. Bertin. Grant by his intercession that she may ever experience a new increase of faith and holiness. Amen. Saint Bertin, Religious ~ Pray for us 🙏
SAINT LAWRENCE JUSTINIAN, BISHOP: St. Lawrence (also spelled Laurence), (1381-1455), Bishop and first Patriarch of Venice, was born on July 1, 1381, at Venice, Italy, Venetian nobility; his ancestors had fled Constantinople for political reasons. He was a descendant of the Giustiniani, a Venetian patrician family which numbered several saints among its members. St. Lawrence’s pious mother sowed the seeds of a devout religious life in the boy’s youth. From his childhood, he longed to be a Saint, and when he was nineteen years of age he was given a vision of the Eternal Wisdom, in the form of a beautiful and noble Lady who told him to seek the only repose he would ever know in Her, the Eternal Wisdom of God. All earthly things paled in his eyes before the ineffable beauty of this sight, and as it faded away a void was left in his heart which none but God could fill. Against his widowed mother‘s wishes, he chose against marriage and for the religious life. Refusing the offer of a brilliant marriage, at the age of nineteen he fled from his home in Venice and in 1400 joined the Augustinian Order of the Canons of St. George (canon regular at San Giorgio) Alga, Italy, a little Island, one mile from Venice where his uncle was a priest. Spent his days wandering the island, begging for the poor. Ordained a priest in 1406. When Lawrence first entered religion, a nobleman went to dissuade him from the folly of thus sacrificing every earthly prospect. The young monk listened patiently to his friend’s affectionate appeal, which soon changed into scorn and violent abuse. Calmly and kindly he then replied. He pointed out the shortness of life, the uncertainty of earthly happiness, and the incomparable superiority of the prize he sought, to any pleasures his friend had named. The latter could make no answer; he felt in truth that Lawrence was wise, and he himself was the fool. And he too left the world, became a fellow-novice with the Saint, and eventually died a holy death. As a monk, the mortification of Saint Lawrence was exemplary; he never drank outside of meals, and when urged to do so replied: If we cannot endure a little heat on earth, how will we bear that of Purgatory? He underwent two painful operations without saying any word except the holy name of Jesus. Before the second intervention, when the surgeon’s hand trembled, he said, Cut with vigor; your instrument cannot match the iron hooks used to tear the sides of the martyrs.
St. Lawrence was a noted preacher and teacher of the faith. Held assorted administrative positions within his Order. Elected Superior and General of his Order, Saint Lawrence strengthened his brethren. Humility keeps silent and does not become inflated in prosperity, whereas in adversity it is elevated, magnanimous, full of joy and an invincible courage. Few know what this virtue is; it is possessed only by those to whom God has given it by infusion, as a reward for their persevering efforts and their spirit of prayer. He encouraged frequent Communion, saying that the person who does not strive to become united with Him as frequently as possible has very little love for Jesus Christ. When he was consecrated bishop of his diocese in 1433, He tried to refuse the dignity, but Pope Eugene IV obliged him to accept it. In the face of slander and insult he thoroughly reformed his see. He founded fifteen monasteries and many churches, and his cathedral became a model for all of Christendom. His door was never closed to the poor, but he himself lived like a poor monk. His zeal led to his being appointed the first Patriarch of Venice, but he remained in heart and soul a humble priest, thirsting for the vision reserved for heaven. He tried to foster the religious life by his sermons as well as by his writings. The Diocese of Castello belonged to the Patriarchate of Grado. On 8 October, 1451, Nicholas V united the See of Castello with the Patriarchate of Grado, and the see of the patriarch was transferred to Venice, and Lawrence was named the first Patriarch of Venice, and exercised his office till his death somewhat more than four years later. His beatification was ratified by Clement VII in 1524, and he was canonized in 1690 by Alexander VIII. Innocent XII appointed 5 September for the celebration of his feast. The saint’s ascetical writings have often been published, first in Brescia in 1506, later in Paris in 1524, and in Basle in 1560, etc. We are indebted to his nephew, Bernardo Giustiniani, for his biography. He had just finished writing his last work, The Degrees of Perfection, when finally the eternal day began to dawn. Are you preparing a bed of feathers for me? he said. No, my Lord was stretched on a hard and painful tree. Laid upon straw, he exclaimed in rapture, Good Jesus, behold, I come. St. Lawrence died on January 8, 1455 at the age of seventy-four at Venice, Italy of natural causes. He was Beatified in 1524, Rome, Papal States by Pope Clement VII and Canonized on October 16, 1690, Rome, Papal States by Pope Alexander VIII. Innocent XII appointed 5 September for the celebration of his feast. Noted writer on mystical contemplation. Had the gift of prophecy. Miracle worker. He’s the Patron Saint of Venice, Italy.
Saint Lawrence Justinian, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Thursday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time I USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Luke 5:1-11
“They left everything and followed Jesus”
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” ~ Luke 5:8
In today’s Gospel reading, Simon Peter and his companions had worked hard all night long, fishing on the Sea of Galilee, and had caught nothing. It is often the way that our hard work can appear to bear very little fruit. Then, Jesus asks Simon Peter to do something which from a human point of view doesn’t make a lot of sense. Jesus called on them to set out into the deep again, at the least promising time for catching fish. He asked Peter to put out into deep water and let down their nets for a catch, even though, as Simon Peter promptly told Him, they had worked hard all night long and caught nothing. If they caught nothing at the most promising time for fishing, why would they set out again in the heat of the day? However, Simon Peter obeyed and set out in response to Jesus’ word and, amazingly, without doing much work at all, he and his companions caught an astounding catch of fish, so much so that their nets began to tear. Their hard work bore no fruit, and, now, Jesus seems to have gifted them this extraordinary catch. For Simon Peter, this was pure gift, an experience of the Lord’s abundant generosity. Having experienced the Lord’s generosity in the extra-ordinary catch of fish, Peter becomes suddenly aware of his own weakness and unworthiness. He becomes aware that he does not deserve such generosity from Jesus. He went on to make the discovery that the Lord loved him and have a generous purpose for his life in spite of his weakness and unworthiness. From now on he would gather people into the nets of God’s kingdom.
Just as the Lord graced Simon Peter and his companions, sometimes, the Lord can grace us in similar ways. We work hard and nothing happens, and, then, without our doing much we are abundantly graced. It was this experience of the Lord’s abundant love and generosity that brought home to Simon Peter his own unworthiness to be in the Lord’s presence, ‘Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man’. The more we come to experience the Lord’s love for us, the more we realize how small our response to that love is. Simon Peter experienced himself at that moment by the shore of the Sea of Galilee as a loved sinner, and that is what we all are. As Pope Francis often speaks of himself as a loved sinner. Yet, in spite of Simon Peter’s sense of his unworthiness before Jesus and his desire to put space between Jesus and himself, Jesus had important work for Simon Peter to do, ‘from now on it is people you will catch’. The Lord wants to work through each of us, imperfect as we are. Even though we may be tainted by sin, the Lord can work powerfully through us, if, like Simon Peter, we set out in response to His word. The Lord’s generosity with us is not dependant on our worthiness. The Lord does not wait for us to be worthy to bestow His graces on us or to call us to a share in His life-giving work in the world. Indeed, it is the insight into our unworthiness which creates an opening for the Lord to work through us. The Lord cannot really engage us in his service if we think of ourselves as complete.
Today’s Gospel reading suggests that just when a situation seems hopeless, without promise, there is often an abundance of life just below the surface, if only we could see it. Most of us will have tasted the experience of failure in one shape or form. We may have failed to live up to the values and the goals that we had set ourselves; some enterprise or some initiative that we had invested in may have come to nothing; some relationship that was important to us may have slipped away from us. All such experiences can leave us feeling disheartened. Such an experience of failure is to be found in today’s Gospel reading. We can hear the note of failure in the words of Simon Peter to Jesus, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing’, and in his later words to Jesus, ‘leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man’. Yet, the Gospel reading proclaims loudly that failure does not need to have the last word, because the Lord is stronger than our failures and can work powerfully through them. The Lord transformed the fruitless night’s labour of the disciples into an abundant catch of fish, and he insisted that the sinful Simon Peter would share in His own work of drawing people into the nets of God’s kingdom. The Lord is constantly at work in all kinds of seemingly unpromising situations, drawing new life out of loss and failure. Yet, for this to happen, the Lord needs us not to give in to discouragement. He needs us to keeping putting out into deep water in response to His faithful word. Very often the Lord can see signs of life that we miss. Our past failures, the size of the task before us, our sense of our own limitations, can immobilize us and leave us feeling despondent and even hopeless. It is at such times that we need to turn to the Lord and ask him to help us to see as He sees, with eyes that are sensitive to the promise and hope that even the most unpromising of situations can hold. We might think in our wisdom that some situation, or even some person, is a lost cause, but as Saint Paul says in the first reading, ‘the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God’. God brought new life out of the most unpromising situation imaginable, the crucifixion of His own Son, the very embodiment of God’s love for the world. The God whom Jesus revealed is a God who sees abundance in the most unpromising of situations. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can begin to see life as the Lord does, with eyes that are attentive to the signs of life beneath what is often an unpromising surface.
In our first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Corinth, the Apostle was speaking about the matter of human and worldly wisdom, and how those who are members of the faithful and holy people, the Church of God ought to always seek to be filled with God’s Wisdom and grace, to be filled with His love and kindness, and not be swayed by the foolish paths taken by those who depended and walked in the path shown by their worldly wisdom and understanding alone. Those who sought worldliness and its satisfaction will be brought low while those who sought the Lord to be with them, all of them would be protected and reassured in their lives and existence before God and man alike. As Christians, it is important that all of us must embody our faith and beliefs in each and every one of our actions, words and deeds, or else we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers. Worse still, we may even scandalise our faith and the Lord’s good and holy Name if we allow ourselves and our actions to be swayed by the falsehoods and evils of this world around us. We should not allow our pride, ego and ambition, our greatness, abilities and other things from leading us astray from the Lord and His righteousness.
As we reflect on the words of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that we should not put our trust only in human power and abilities, only in our own wisdom and intellect, as there would be a time and opportunity when those things may eventually fail us, while if we put our faith and trust in the Lord, we will be strengthened and while our paths and journeys may still be difficult and challenging, but in the end, it is with the Lord alone that we shall be able to gain true satisfaction, joy and happiness, glory and liberation from all of our troubles and difficulties. If we follow the Lord, then He will guide us all to His Presence, and we have to commit ourselves to walk in this path He has shown and led us through. On this day, as we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, we are reminded of the well-known examples set by St. Teresa which should keep us strongly dedicated to God, as well as turn us away from all sins and wickedness. We should instead be filled with genuine love from God, and with the desire to love our fellow brothers and sisters, much as what St. Teresa of Calcutta and all those inspired by her had done. Let us all be inspired by the great examples of St. Teresa of Kolkata and the many other Saints, holy men and women of God, so that our lives and efforts will truly be centred on God and that we will not be swayed by the temptations of worldly ambitions, power and glory. Instead, let us all humbly seek the Lord and strive to be always guided by Him and His Wisdom in all things. Let us all be the instruments of the Lord’s works, and be the ones through whom God would bring His many good works to fruition. St. Teresa of Kolkata continued to do her best to serve the Lord and His people, following Him to whichever path that He wanted her to go, and famously mentioning at the time when she was given the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts, that she was just ‘an instrument in the hands of the Lord.’ May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to be just an instrument in His hands and may He grant us the ability to look beyond the weakness, the imperfection in others, so as to see as well the elements of grace that are always there in every human life. May God bless us in our every good works, efforts, and endeavours now and always. Amen.🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:
MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th. Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.
This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.
INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾
During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, those who are terminally ill, and the death. 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. 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 consoling Lord, You manifested Your almighty power to Simon Peter through his ordinary daily activity. You allowed him to see Your divine power at work. Help me to see You at work in my life also, dear Lord. And as I see You, help me to humble myself before You, acknowledging my unworthiness. As I do, I pray that I also hear You say to me “Do not be afraid,” so that I can get up and follow You wherever You lead. 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 Virgin Mary; Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata); Saint Bertin and Saint Lawrence Justinian ~ 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 month of September 🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖