Daily Gospel for Thursday, 17 July 2014"Peter replied, 'Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.'"(John 6:68-69)
Thursday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the Day:
SAINT ALEXIUS
Confessor
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It came to pass that the servants of St. Alexius, whom his father sent in search of him, arrived at Edessa, and seeing him among the poor at the gate of Our Lady's church, gave him an alms, not recognizing him. Whereupon the man of God, rejoicing, said, "I thank thee, O Lord, Who hast called me and granted that I should receive for Thy name's sake an alms from my own slaves. Deign to fulfil in me the work Thou hast begun."
After seventeen years, when his sanctity was miraculously manifested by the Blessed Virgin's image, he once more sought obscurity by flight. On his way to Tarsus contrary winds drove his ship to Rome. There no one recognized in the wan and tattered mendicant the heir of Rome's noblest house; not even his sorrowing parents, who had vainly sent throughout the world in search of him. From his father's charity he begged a mean corner of his palace as a shelter, and the leavings of his table as food.
Thus he spent seventeen years, bearing patiently the mockery and ill-usage of his own slaves, and witnessing daily the inconsolable grief of his spouse and parents. At last, when death had ended this cruel martyrdom, they learned too late, from a writing in his own hand, who it was that they had unknowingly sheltered. God bore testimony to His servant's sanctity by many miracles.
He died early in the fifth century.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
BLESSED PAVOL GOJDIČ
Basilian Bishop and Martyr
(1888-1960)
He attended the elementary school at Cigeľka, Bardejov and Prešov, finishing his primary studies at Prešov, which he concluded with his maturity exam in 1907. Obeying God's call to the priesthood he began his study of theology at Prešov. Since he obtained excellent results, he was sent a year later to continue his studies in Budapest. Here too he tried to lead a profound spiritual life. While still a seminarian he was directed by his spiritual director on these lines: „Life is not difficult, but it is a serious matter"- words that were to guide him throughout his life. Having finished his studies on August 27th 1911 he was ordained priest at Prešov by Bishop Dr. Ján Valyi. After his ordination he worked for a short period as assistant parish priest with his father. After a year he was appointed prefect of the eparchial seminary and at the same time taught religion in a higher secondary school. Later he was put in charge of protocol and the archives in the diocesan curia. He was also entrusted with the spiritual care of the faithful in Sabinov as assistant parish priest. In 1919 he became director of the episcopal office.
To everyone's surprise on July 20th, 1922 he joined the Order of St. Basil the Great at Černecia Hora near Mukačevo, where, taking the habit on 27.1.1923 he took the name Pavol. He took this decision as a sign of modesty, humility, and a desire to lead an ascetic life in order to better serve God. But God willed otherwise and had ordered him to a higher office as bishop. On September 14th, 1926 he was nominated Apostolic administrator of the eparchy of Prešov. During his installation as Apostolic Administrator he announced the programme of his apostolate: „With the help of God I want to be a father to orphans, a support for the poor and consoler to the afflicted".
The first official act of Pavol Gojdič in his office as newly appointed administrator of the eparchy of Prešov was to address a pastoral letter on the occasion of the 1100° anniversary of the birth of St. Cyril, apostle of the Slavs. Thus he begins his activity in the spirit of the apostle of the Slavs, always faithful to Rome, as they were. He was a Slav and was very fond of his oriental rite.
A short time later, on March 7th, 1927 he was nominated bishop with the title of Harpaš (Church of Harpaš - in Asia Minor). The episcopal consecration took place in the basilica of San Clemente, Rome, on March 25th, 1927, the feast of the Annunciation of Our Lady.
After his episcopal ordination he visited the basilica of St Peter in Rome, where he prayed on the tomb of the Apostle. On March 29th 1927, together with Bishop Nyaradi, he was received in a private audience by the Holy Father Pius XI. The pope gave Bishop Pavol a gold cross saying: „This cross is only a faint symbol of the heavy crosses that God will send you, my son, in your work as bishop".
For his episcopal programme he chose as a motto the following words: „God is love, let us love Him!" As bishop he was engaged in the promotion of spiritual life of both clergy and faithful. He insisted on the proper celebration of the liturgy and of church feasts. Following new conditions he erected new parishes, for instance, in Prague, Bratislava, Levoča and elsewhere. Thanks to his hard work the orphanage at Prešov was built, and entrusted to the local sisters. His activity in the scholastic field was outstanding, as is proved by the foundation of the Greek-Catholic school in Prešov in the year 1936. He supported also the teaching academy, the seminary, colleges etc. He was interested in every aspect of spiritual reading, which resulted in the launching of the review Blahovistnik (Messenger of the Gospel), Da prijdet carstvije Tvoje (Thy Kingdom Come) and various prayers etc., published by the PETRA publishing house. For his kindness, caring and charitable relationship with the people he was described as „a man with a heart of gold".
An important characteristic of the bishop was also his strong affection for the Eucharistic Saviour, which he continually strengthened through his visits to the Blessed Eucharist in the chapel at his residence. Another characteristic, not less evident, of his spiritual life, was his devotion to the Sacred Heart. Already as a Seminarian in Budapest he had consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart and this he confirmed every morninng with the words „All the prayers, sacrifices and crosses I offer to make up for the sins of the whole world!". One must not forget that the bishop had great devotion to the Mother of God and as as a marian devotee held in his residential chapel a picture of the Virgin of Klokočov, in front of which he prayed every day and to whose protection he entrusted himself and the whole eparchy.
On April 13, 1939 he was appointed apostolic administrator in Slovakia of the Apostolic Administration of Mukačevo. In the difficult situation of the Slovak State he became a „thorn in the flesh" for the representatives of the government of the time and so offered his resignation from the post - in fact the present Holy Father appreciated his work and not only refused his resignation but also made him residential bishop of Prešov. And so on August 8th, 1940 he was solemnly enthroned at Prešov and then on January 15, 1946 confirmed in his jurisdiction over the Greek-Catholics in the whole of Czecho-Slovakia.
The progress in religious and spiritual life in the eparchy that followed the personal example and fervour of Bishop Pavol was interrupted by the events of war, and especially with the coming to power of the communistcs in 1948. Their ideological programme made itself felt above all against the Greek-Catholic Church. Bishop P. P. Gojdič resisted any initiative to submit the Greek-Catholics to Russian orthodoxy assisted by the communist party and the power of the State, even though he knew he was risking persecution and arrest; maybe even death. Gradually he was isolated from the clergy and the faithful.
Even though put under severe pressure to renounce the Catholic faith and break unity with the Pope, he refused every attractive offer and exclaimed: „I am already 62 and sacrifice all my goods and residence, but I will not deny my faith in any way because I want to save my soul. Do not even come to me."
During the events sadly known of Sobor of Prešov, April 28, 1950, when the State outlawed the Greek-Catholic Church and forbade her activity, bishop Pavol Gojdič was arrested and interned. Thus began his via crucis in many prisons of what was Czecho-Slovakia, which ended with his death.
In the days from the 11 to the 15 of January 1951 in a trial set up against the so called high treason bishops (Vojtaššák, Buzalka, and Gojdič) he was given a life sentence; fined two hundred thousand crowns and deprived of all his civic rights. Transfers from one prison to another followed. Bishop P. P. Gojdič suffered physical and psychological punishments, humiliations; he was forced to do the most difficult and degrading jobs. Howewer he never complained and never asked to be relieved. He made use of every available time to pray, and celebrated the sacred liturgy in secret. Following the amnesty in 1953, given by State President A. Zapotocký, his life sentence was changed to 25 years detention. He was then 66 and his state of health deteriorated continuously. Yet all further requests for amnesty were refused.
Bishop Pavol Gojdič could only leave prison at the cost of his faithfulness to the Church and to the Holy Father. Various offers were made to him, as is proved by an event that he himself recounts: In the prison of Ruzyň he was received in an office, where he had been brought from his cell, by a high official in uniform. This informed him that from that office he would go straight to Prešov, on condition that he was willing to become patriarch of the Ortodox church in Czecho-Slovakia. The bishop refused this offer excusing himself and explaining that this would be a very grave sin against God, a betrayal of the Holy Father, of his conscience and of his faithful, most of whom were then suffering persecution.
Even in the most difficult situation he abandoned himself to the will of God, as can be seen from these words of his: „I do not really know whether it is a gain to exchange the crown of martyrdom with two or three years of life in freedom. But I leave the good Lord to decide". On the occasion of his 70° birthday even the Holy Father Pius XII sent him a telegram in prison. In it he assured him he would not forget his heroic son. For the bishop this was one of his best days in prison.
A great desire of bishop Gojdič was to die comforted by the sacraments on his birthday. Both desires were fulfilled.
Father Alojz Vrána was transferred to the room of the prison hospital of Leopoldov (Slovakia), where the bishop passed his last days, and could hear his confession. The chalice of suffering of bishop Pavol was about to overflow. An eye witness of the last instants of his life was his fellow prisoner - the nurse František Ondruška, who has given a unique testimony. He confirmed that the desire of the bishop had been fulfilled - he died on July 17th, 1960 that is on the day of his 72nd birthday. He died in the hospital of the prison of Leopoldov as a result of illness resulting from the ill treatment he had suffered. Afterwards he was buried without ceremony in the prison cemetery in a nameless tomb, with the prison number 681.
As a result of the easing of the political situation in Czecho-Slovakia in 1968, the state autorities after many delays gave permission for exhuming the mortal remains of bishop P. P. Gojdič. This happened in the cemetery of Leopoldov on October 29, 1968 and was followed by the transfer of the remains to Prešov. By a decision of the autorities set up after the soviet occupation these were transferred to the crypt of Greek-Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Prešov. From May 15, 1990 they are to be found in a sarcofagus in the chapel of the cathedral.
Bishop Pavol Gojdič was legally rehabilitated on September 27, 1990. Subsequently he was decorated posthumously with the Order of T. G. Masaryk - II class, and with the Cross of Pribina - 1st class.
The Holy Father, John Paul II during his historic visit in Slovakia, while visiting Prešov, prayed at the tomb of this bishop-martyr in the chapel of the cathedral.
He beatified him on November 4, 2001. - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
The Blessed Martyrs of Compiegne
Convicted of crimes against the state on July 17, 1794, the sixteen Carmelite nuns met their deaths by the guillotine in Paris. The usually raucous Parisian crowd was utterly silent as the nuns mounted the scaffold singing the Salve Regina and the Veni Creator after having first renewed their vows of baptism and religious profession. The first to go to her death was the novice, Sister Constance (Marie-Geneviève Meunier); the last to die was the Prioress, Mother Teresa of St. Augustine (Madeleine-Claudine Ledoine). The oldest of the nuns at the age of 79 was Sister of Jesus Crucified (Marie-Anne Piedcourt), who said to her executioners, “I forgive you as heartily as I wish God to forgive me.”
The heads and bodies of the martyrs were thrown into a deep sandpit in a cemetery at Picpus. Because this pit contains over 1300 victims of the Revolution, there seems to be no hope of their relics being recovered; however the Benedictine nuns of Stanbrook Abbey, Worcestershire, England, have five articles of the Carmelites’ clothing which was given to members of their order who had been imprisoned with the Carmelites in Paris.
The martyrs of Compiègne have been models of inspiration for all Carmelites, including Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Saint Julie Billiart, Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, Blessed Titus Brandsma, and Saint Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein). Their story has been the subject of numerous articles, books, a film, and even an opera, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.
Thursday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Isaiah 26:7-10 The path of right-living people is level.
The Leveler evens the road for the right-living.
We’re in no hurry, God. We’re content to linger
in the path sign-posted with your decisions.
Who you are and what you’ve done
are all we’ll ever want.
Through the night my soul longs for you.
Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you.
When your decisions are on public display,
everyone learns how to live right.
If the wicked are shown grace,
they don’t seem to get it.
In the land of right living, they persist in wrong living,
blind to the splendor of God.
11-15 You hold your hand up high, God,
but they don’t see it.
Open their eyes to what you do,
to see your zealous love for your people.
Shame them. Light a fire under them.
Get the attention of these enemies of yours.
God, order a peaceful and whole life for us
because everything we’ve done, you’ve done for us.
O God, our God, we’ve had other masters rule us,
but you’re the only Master we’ve ever known.
The dead don’t talk,
ghosts don’t walk,
Because you’ve said, “Enough—that’s all for you,”
and wiped them off the books.
But the living you make larger than life.
The more life you give, the more glory you display,
and stretch the borders to accommodate more living!
16-18 O God, they begged you for help when they were in trouble,
when your discipline was so heavy
they could barely whisper a prayer.
Like a woman having a baby,
writhing in distress, screaming her pain
as the baby is being born,
That’s how we were because of you, O God.
We were pregnant full-term.
We writhed in labor but bore no baby.
We gave birth to wind.
Nothing came of our labor.
We produced nothing living.
We couldn’t save the world.
19 But friends, your dead will live,
your corpses will get to their feet.
All you dead and buried,
wake up! Sing!
Your dew is morning dew
catching the first rays of sun,
The earth bursting with life,
giving birth to the dead.
Psalms 102:12-17 Yet you, God, are sovereign still,
always and ever sovereign.
You’ll get up from your throne and help Zion—
it’s time for compassionate help.
Oh, how your servants love this city’s rubble
and weep with compassion over its dust!
The godless nations will sit up and take notice
—see your glory, worship your name—
When God rebuilds Zion,
when he shows up in all his glory,
When he attends to the prayer of the wretched.
He won’t dismiss their prayer.
18-22 Write this down for the next generation
so people not yet born will praise God:
“God looked out from his high holy place;
from heaven he surveyed the earth.
He listened to the groans of the doomed,
he opened the doors of their death cells.”
Write it so the story can be told in Zion,
so God’s praise will be sung in Jerusalem’s streets
And wherever people gather together
along with their rulers to worship him.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Thursday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:
Odes of Solomon (Hebrew Christian text from the beginning of the 2nd century)
No. 30 (trans.©James Charlesworth, rev.)
“Come to me, all you who labor"
Fill for yourselves water from the living spring of the Lord, (Jn 4,10; 7,3)
because it has been opened for you.
And come all you thirsty
and take a drink, and rest beside the spring of the Lord,
because it is pleasing and sparkling, and perpetually pleases the self.
For more refreshing is its water than honey,
and the honeycomb of bees is not to be compared with it; (cf. Ps 18[19],11)
Because it flowed from the lips of the Lord,
and it took its name from the heart of the Lord.
And it came boundless and invisible,
and until it appeared they knew it not.
Blessed are they who have drunk from it,
and have have quenched their thirst!
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