EDITOR’S
NOTE: The daily postings may be delayed, incomplete or missing today
due to travel. I may not have regular access to a computer. Sorry
for any inconvenience.
PRAYER
OF THE DAY
Prayers
to St. Rose of Lima
Patroness Against Vanity, of Embroiderers, Florists, Gardeners,
Needle workers, and People Ridiculed for Their Piety
Patroness Against Vanity, of Embroiderers, Florists, Gardeners,
Needle workers, and People Ridiculed for Their Piety
Chaplet
of St. Rose
Beginning
on the medal of St. Rose, pray:
Glorious St. Rose of Lima, you who knew what it was to love Jesus with such a fine a generous heart. You, whom since infancy, despised the world’s vanities in order to embrace His Cross. You who loved with unfailing devotion our Heavenly Mother and professed a great tender dedication to the destitute, serving then the same way Jesus did. Teach us to imitate your greatest virtues, so that we, following your example, could enjoy your glorious protection in Heaven. For Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever. Amen.
On
the large bead, pray the Our
Father
On
the ten small beads, pray the Hail
Mary
In
conclusion, pray the Glory
be
DAILY
MASS READING
August 23, 2011
Tuesday of the
Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Reading
1
Thes 2:1-8
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters,
that our reception among you was not without effect.
Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated,
as you know, in Philippi,
we drew courage through our God
to speak to you the Gospel of God with much struggle.
Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives,
nor did it work through deception.
But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel,
that is how we speak,
not as trying to please men,
but rather God, who judges our hearts.
Nor, indeed, did we ever appear with flattering speech, as you know,
or with a pretext for greed–God is witness–
nor did we seek praise from men,
either from you or from others,
although we were able to impose our weight as Apostles of Christ.
Rather, we were gentle among you,
as a nursing mother cares for her children.
With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you
not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well,
so dearly beloved had you become to us.
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters,
that our reception among you was not without effect.
Rather, after we had suffered and been insolently treated,
as you know, in Philippi,
we drew courage through our God
to speak to you the Gospel of God with much struggle.
Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives,
nor did it work through deception.
But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel,
that is how we speak,
not as trying to please men,
but rather God, who judges our hearts.
Nor, indeed, did we ever appear with flattering speech, as you know,
or with a pretext for greed–God is witness–
nor did we seek praise from men,
either from you or from others,
although we were able to impose our weight as Apostles of Christ.
Rather, we were gentle among you,
as a nursing mother cares for her children.
With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you
not only the Gospel of God, but our very selves as well,
so dearly beloved had you become to us.
R.
You
have searched me and you know me, Lord.
O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain.
R. You have searched me and you know me, Lord.
Jesus
said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
“Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”
SAINT
OF THE DAY
August
23
St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617)
St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617)
The
first canonized saint of the New World has one characteristic of all
saints—the suffering of opposition—and another characteristic
which is more for admiration than for imitation—excessive practice
of mortification.
She was born to parents of
Spanish descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America was in
its first century of evangelization. She seems to have taken
Catherine of Siena (April 29) as a model, in spite of the objections
and ridicule of parents and friends.
The saints have so great a
love of God that what seems bizarre to us, and is indeed sometimes
imprudent, is simply a logical carrying out of a conviction that
anything that might endanger a loving relationship with God must be
rooted out. So, because her beauty was so often admired, Rose used to
rub her face with pepper to produce disfiguring blotches. Later, she
wore a thick circlet of silver on her head, studded on the inside,
like a crown of thorns.
When her parents fell into
financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at
night. Ten years of struggle against her parents began when they
tried to make Rose marry. They refused to let her enter a convent,
and out of obedience she continued her life of penance and solitude
at home as a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. So deep was
her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most of her time
at home in solitude.
During the last few years of
her life, Rose set up a room in the house where she cared for
homeless children, the elderly and the sick. This was a beginning of
social services in Peru. Though secluded in life and activity, she
was brought to the attention of Inquisition interrogators, who could
only say that she was influenced by grace.
What might have been a
merely eccentric life was transfigured from the inside. If we
remember some unusual penances, we should also remember the greatest
thing about Rose: a love of God so ardent that it withstood ridicule
from without, violent temptation and lengthy periods of sickness.
When she died at 31, the city turned out for her funeral. Prominent
men took turns carrying her coffin.
OFFICE
OF READINGS
O
Lord, open my lips.
And
my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Invitatory
Psalm
Psalm
99 (100)
Come,
let us worship the Lord, the great King.
–
Come,
let us worship the Lord, the great King.
Rejoice
in the Lord, all the earth,
and
serve him with joy.
Exult
as you enter his presence.
–
Come,
let us worship the Lord, the great King.
Know
that the Lord is God.
He
made us and we are his
–
his
people, the sheep of his flock.
–
Come,
let us worship the Lord, the great King.
Cry
out his praises as you enter his gates,
fill
his courtyards with songs.
Proclaim
him and bless his name;
for
the Lord is our delight.
His
mercy lasts for ever,
his
faithfulness through all the ages.
–
Come,
let us worship the Lord, the great King.
Glory
be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as
it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world
without end.
Amen.
–
Come,
let us worship the Lord, the great King.
Hymn
O
light of light, O Dayspring bright,
Co-equal
in thy Father’s light:
Assist
us, as with prayer and psalm
Thy
servants break the nightly calm.
All
darkness from our minds dispel,
And
turn to flight the hosts of hell:
Bid
sleepfulness our eyelids fly,
Lest
overwhelmed in sloth we lie.
Jesu,
thy pardon, kind and free,
Bestow
on us who trust in thee:
And
as thy praises we declare,
O
with acceptance hear our prayer.
O
Father, that we ask be done,
Through
Jesus Christ, thine only Son,
Who,
with the Holy Ghost and thee,
Doth
live and reign eternally.
Thanksgiving
Psalm
9B (10)
The
Lord will protect the rights of the oppressed.
With
what purpose, Lord, do you stay away,
hide
yourself in time of need and trouble?
The
wicked in their pride persecute the weak,
trap
them in the plots they have devised.
The
sinner glories in his desires,
the
miser congratulates himself.
The
sinner in his arrogance rejects the Lord:
“there
is no God, no retribution.”
This
is what he thinks
–
and
all goes well for him.
Your
judgements are far beyond his comprehension:
he
despises all who stand against him.
The
sinner says to himself: “I will stand firm;
nothing
can touch me, from generation to generation.”
His
mouth is full of malice and deceit,
under
his tongue hide trouble and distress.
He
lies in ambush by the villages,
he
kills the innocent in some secret place.
He
watches the weak,
he
hides like a lion in its lair, and makes plans.
He
plans to rob the weak,
lure
him to his trap and rob him.
He
rushes in, makes a dive,
and
the poor victim is caught.
For
he has said to himself, “God has forgotten.
He
is not watching, he will never see.”
Glory
be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as
it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world
without end.
Amen.
The
Lord will protect the rights of the oppressed.
Psalm
9B (10)
Lord,
you have seen our trouble and our sorrow.
Rise
up, Lord, raise your hand!
Do
not forget the weak.
Why
does the wicked man spurn God?
Because
he says to himself, “you will not take revenge.”
But
you do see: you see the trouble and the pain,
and
then you take things into your own hands.
The
weak fall to your care,
and
you are the help of the orphan.
Break
the arms of the sinner and evil-doer:
seek
out wickedness until there is no more to be found.
The
Lord is King for ever and for ever.
The
Gentiles have perished from his land.
You
have heard the prayer of the weak, Lord,
and
you will strengthen their hearts.
You
will lend your ear to the pleas of the orphans and the helpless,
so
mere mortals can frighten them no longer.
Glory
be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as
it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world
without end.
Amen.
Lord,
you have seen our trouble and our sorrow.
Psalm
11 (12)
A
prayer against the proud
The
words of the Lord are words without alloy, silver from the furnace,
seven times refined.
Save
me, Lord, for the good men are all gone:
there
is no-one to be trusted among the sons of men.
Neighbour
speaks falsehood to neighbour:
with
lying lips and crooked hearts they speak.
Let
the Lord condemn all lying lips,
all
boastful tongues.
They
say “Our tongues will make us great,
our
lips are ours, we have no master.”
“On
account of the sufferings of the poor,
the
groans of the weak, I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“I
will bring to safety the one whom men despise.”
The
words of the Lord are pure words,
silver
tried by fire, freed from dross,
silver
seven times refined.
You,
Lord, will help us
and
guard us from now to all eternity –
while
the wicked walk round outside,
where
the vilest are most honoured of the children of men.
Glory
be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as
it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world
without end.
Amen.
The
words of the Lord are words without alloy, silver from the furnace,
seven times refined.
The
Lord will guide the humble on the right path.
–
He
will teach his ways to the meek.
Reading
Jeremiah
1:1-19
The
words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, of a priestly family living at
Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the Lord was
addressed to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in
the thirteenth year of his reign; then in the days of Jehoiakim son
of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of
Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the deportation of
Jerusalem which occurred in the fifth month.
The
word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying,
‘Before
I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before
you came to birth I consecrated you;
I
have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’
I
said, ‘Ah, Lord; look, I do not know how to speak: I am a child!’
But
the Lord replied,
‘Do
not say, “I am a child.”
Go
now to those to whom I send you
and,
say whatever I command you.
Do
not be afraid of them,
for
I am with you to protect you –
it
is the Lord who speaks!’
Then
the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me:
‘There!
I am putting my words into your mouth.
Look,
today I am setting you
over
nations and over kingdoms,
to
tear up and to knock down,
to
destroy and to overthrow,
to
build and to plant.’
The
word of the Lord was addressed to me asking, ‘Jeremiah, what do you
see?’ ‘I see a branch of the Watchful Tree’ I answered. Then
the Lord said, ‘Well seen! I too watch over my word to see it
fulfilled.’
A
second time the word of the Lord was spoken to me, asking, ‘What do
you see?’ ‘I see a cooking pot on the boil,’ I answered ‘with
its contents tilting from the North.’
Then
the Lord said:
‘The
North is where disaster is boiling over
for
all who live in this land;
since
I am now going to summon all the kingdoms of the North –
it
is the Lord who speaks.
They
are going to come, and each will set his throne
in
front of the gates of Jerusalem,
all
round outside its walls,
and
outside all the towns of Judah.
I
am going to pronounce my judgements against them
for
all their wickedness; since they have abandoned me
to
offer incense to other gods
and
worship what their own hands have made.
‘So
now brace yourself for action.
Stand
up and tell them
all
I command you.
Do
not be dismayed at their presence,
or
in their presence I will make you dismayed.
I,
for my part, today will make you
into
a fortified city,
a
pillar of iron,
and
a wall of bronze
to
confront all this land:
the
kings of Judah, its princes,
its
priests and the country people.
They
will fight against you
but
shall not overcome you,
for
I am with you to deliver you –
it
is the Lord who speaks.’
Responsory
Before
I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I
consecrated you. See, I am putting my words into your mouth.
I,
the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right, to make,
through you, a covenant with my own people and to shed a light on the
nations. See, I am putting my words into your mouth.
Reading
St
John Chrysostom on the temptations of the devil
The
five paths of repentance
Shall
I list the paths of repentance? There are certainly many of them,
many and various, and all of them lead to heaven.
The
first path is the path of condemnation of sins. As Isaiah says, Tell
your sins, and you will be acquitted. And the Psalmist adds: I said
“I will bear witness against myself before the Lord,” and you
forgave the guilt of my sin. So you, too must condemn the sins you
have committed. Condemn them, and that condemnation will excuse you
in front of the Lord, since whoever condemns the sins he has
committed will be slower to commit them next time. Stir up your own
conscience to be your accuser – so that when you come before the
judgement-seat of the Lord no-one will rise up to accuse you.
This
is the first path of repentance but the second is in no way inferior
to it in excellence. It is to forget the harm done to us by our
enemies, to master our anger, to forgive the sins of those who are
slaves together with us. As much as we do this, so much will our own
sins against the Lord be forgiven. So this is the second path to the
expiation of our sins. As the Lord says, Yes, if you forgive others
their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours.
Would
you like to know the third path of repentance? It is prayer: fervent
prayer, sincere and focused prayer, prayer coming from the depths of
the heart.
If
you want to know the fourth path, I will tell you it is the giving of
alms. It has great power.
And
finally, if someone acts with modesty and humility, that path is no
less effective as a way to deprive sin of its substance. Look at the
publican, who had no good deeds to speak of. In place of good deeds
he offered humility, and the huge burden of his sins fell away.
So
now I have shown you the five paths of repentance. First,
condemnation of sins. Second, forgiving the sins of those near us.
Third, prayer. Fourth, almsgiving. Fifth, humility.
So
do not be idle, but every day advance along all these paths at once.
They are not hard paths to follow. Poverty is no excuse for not
setting out on the journey. Even if you are destitute you can do all
these things: put aside anger, carry humility in front of you, pray
hard, condemn your sins. Poverty is no obstacle – not even to that
path of penitence that demands money: that is, almsgiving. Remember
the story of the widow’s mite.
Now
we have learnt the right way to heal our wounds, let us apply these
remedies. Let us regain true health and confidently receive the
blessings of Holy Communion. Thus we may come, filled with glory, to
the glory of Christ’s kingdom, and receive its eternal joys through
the grace, mercy and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Responsory
Prayer
is good when accompanied by fasting and almsgiving. It is better to
give alms than to treasure up gold, for almsgiving will purge away
every sin.
Forgive,
and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you, for
almsgiving will purge away every sin.
Let
us pray.
Lord,
by your grace we are made one in mind and heart.
Give
us a love for what you command
and
a longing for what you promise,
so
that, amid this world’s changes,
our
hearts may be set on the world of lasting joy.
We
make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who
lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Let
us bless the Lord.
–
Thanks
be to God.
