Daily Gospel for Monday, 3 March 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to
whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life." John 6:68
Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary
Time
Saint(s) of the day:
SAINT CUNEGUNDES
Empress
(+1040)
Saint Cunegundes was the daughter of
Siegfried, the first Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious wife. They
instilled into her from her cradle the most tender sentiments of piety, and
married her to St. Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the Emperor
Otho III., was chosen king of the Romans, and crowned on the 6th of June, 1002.
She was crowned at Paderborn on St. Laurence's day. In the year 1014 she went
with her husband to Rome, and received the imperial crown with him from the hands
of Pope Benedict VIII. She had, by St. Henry's consent, before her marriage
made a vow of virginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile accusations against
her, and the holy empress, to remove the scandal of such a slander, trusting in
God to prove her innocence, walked over red-hot ploughshares without being
hurt. The emperor condemned his too scrupulous fears and credulity, and from
that time they lived in the strictest union of hearts, conspiring to promote in
everything God's honor and the advancement of piety.
Going once to make a retreat in Hesse,
she fell dangerously ill, and made a vow to found a monastery, if she
recovered, at Kaffungen, near Cassel, in the diocese of Paderborn, which she
executed in a stately manner, and gave it to nuns of the Order of St. Benedict.
Before it was finished St. Henry died, in 1024. She earnestly recommended his
soul to the prayers of others, especially to her blear nuns, and expressed her
longing desire of joining them. She had already exhausted her treasures in
founding bishoprics and monasteries, and in relieving the poor, and she had
therefore little left now to give. But still thirsting to embrace perfect
evangelical poverty, and to renounce all to serve God without obstacle, she
assembled a great number of prelates to the dedication of her church of
Kaffungen on the anniversary day of her husband's death, 1025; and after the
gospel was sung at Mass she offered on the altar a piece of the true cross, and
then, putting off her imperial robes, clothed herself with a poor habit; her
hair was cut off, and the bishop put on her a veil, and a ring as a pledge of
her fidelity to her heavenly Spouse.
After she was consecrated to God in
religion, she seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress, and behaved
as the last in the house, being persuaded that she was 30 before God. She
prayed and read much, worked with her hands, and took a singular pleasure in
visiting and comforting the sick.
Thus she passed the last fifteen years of
her life. Her mortifications at length reduced her to a very weak condition,
and brought on her last sickness. Perceiving that they were preparing a cloth
fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death, she changed color and
ordered it to be taken away; nor could she be at rest till she was promised she
should be buried as a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3d of March,
1040. Her body was carried to Bamberg and buried near that of her husband. She
was solemnly canonized by Innocent III. in 1200.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler,
Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saint Katherine Drexel
Feastday: March 3
Died: 1955
Beatified By: Pope John Paul II
Canonized By: Pope John Paul II
Saint Katharine Drexel, Religious (Feast
Day-March 3) Born in 1858, into a prominent Philadelphia family, Katharine
became imbued with love for God and neighbor. She took an avid interest in the
material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans. She began by
donating money but soon concluded that more was needed - the lacking ingredient
was people. Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Black
and Native American peoples, whose members would work for the betterment of
those they were called to serve. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955,
she dedicated her life and a fortune of 20 million dollars to this work. In
1894, Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians,
in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other schools quickly followed - for Native Americans
west of the Mississippi River, and for the blacks in the southern part of the
United States. In 1915 she also founded Xavier University in New Orleans. At
her death there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout
the country. Katharine was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988.
Because of her lifelong dedication to her
faith and her selfless service to the oppressed, Pope John Paul II canonized
her on October 1, 2000 to become only the second recognized American-born
saint.
Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary
Time
1 Peter 1: 3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our
father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, 4 to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away,
reserved in Heaven for you, 5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein you greatly
rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief
in various trials, 7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than
gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in
praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— 8 whom not having
known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you
rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory— 9 receiving the result
of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Psalm 111: Praise Yah![a]
1
I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart,
in the council of the upright, and in the congregation.
2 Yahweh’s works are great,
pondered by all those who delight in them.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 111:1 Psalm 111 is an acrostic
poem, with each verse after the initial “Praise Yah!” starting with a letter of
the alphabet (ordered from Alef to Tav).
5 He has given food to those who fear
him.
He always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of
his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
9 He has sent redemption to his people.
He has ordained his covenant forever.
His name is holy and awesome!
10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of
wisdom.
All those who do his work have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
Saint Mark 10: 17 As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt
before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life?”
18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me
good? No one is good except one—God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not
murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false
testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’”[a]
20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have
observed all these things from my youth.”
21 Jesus looking at him loved him, and
said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the
cross.”
22 But his face fell at that saying, and
he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions. 23 Jesus
looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who
have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his
words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard is it for those who trust
in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom! 25 It is easier for a camel to go
through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.”
26 They were exceedingly astonished,
saying to him, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus, looking at them, said, “With
men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
Footnotes:
a. Mark 10:19 Exodus 20:12-16;
Deuteronomy 5:16-20
Monday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary
Time
Commentary of the Day:
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997),
founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
No Greater Love, p. 97-98
"He went away sad, for he had many
possessions"
We have no right to judge the rich. For
our part, what we desire is not a class struggle but a class encounter, in
which the rich save the poor and the poor save the rich.
With regard to God, our poverty is our
humble recognition and acceptance of our sinfulness, helplessness, and utter
nothingness, and the acknowledgment of our neediness before Him, which
expresses itself as hope in Him, as an openness to receive all things from Him
as from our Father. Our poverty should be true gospel poverty: gentle, tender,
glad, and open-hearted, always ready to give an expression of love. Poverty is
love before it is renunciation. To love, it is necessary to give. To give, it
is necessary to be free from selfishness.
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