"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)Monday of the Thirty-second Week of Ordinary Time
Feast of the Church:
Saints of the Day:
SAINT LEO THE GREAT
Pope and Doctor of the Church
(†461)
Leo was born at Rome. He embraced the sacred ministry, was made archdeacon of the Roman Church by St. Celestine, and under him and Sixtus III. had a large share in governing the Church. On the death of Sixtus, Leo was chosen Pope, and consecrated on St. Michael's day, 440, amid great joy.It was a time of terrible trial. Vandals and Huns were wasting the provinces of the empire, and Nestorians, Pelagians, and other heretics wrought more grievous havoc among souls. Whilst Leo's zeal made head against these perils, there arose the new heresy of Eutyches, who confounded the two natures of Christ. At once the vigilant pastor proclaimed the true doctrine of the Incarnation in his famous "tome;" but fostered by the Byzantine court, the heresy gained a strong hold amongst the Eastern monks and bishops. After three years of unceasing toil, Leo brought about its solemn condemnation by the Council of Chalcedon, the Fathers all signing his tome, and exclaiming, "Peter hath spoken by Leo."
Soon after, Attila with his Huns broke into Italy, and marched through its burning cities upon Rome. Leo went out boldly to meet him, and prevailed on him to turn back. Astonished to see the terrible Attila, the "Scourge of God," fresh from the sack of Aquileia, Milan, Pavia, with the rich prize of Rome within his grasp, turn his great host back to the Danube at the Saint's word, his chiefs asked him why he had acted so strangely. He answered that he saw two venerable personages, supposed to be Sts. Peter and Paul, standing behind Leo, and impressed by this vision he withdrew. If the perils of the Church are as great now as in St. Leo's day, St. Peter's solicitude is not less. Two years later the city fell a prey to the Vandals; but even then Leo saved it from destruction.
He died A. D. 461, having ruled the Church twenty years.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
SAINT ANDREW AVELLINO
Priest
(1521-1608)
After a holy youth, Lancelot Avellino was ordained priest at Naples. At the age of thirty-six he entered the Theatine Order, and took the name of Andrew, to show his love for the cross. For fifty years he was afflicted with a most painful rupture; yet he would never use a carriage. Once when he was carrying the Viaticum, and a storm had extinguished the lamps, a heavenly light encircled him, guided his steps, and sheltered him from the rain. But as a rule, his sufferings were unrelieved by God or man.On the last day of his life, St. Andrew rose to say Mass. He was in his eighty-ninth year, and so weak that he could scarcely reach the altar. He began the "Judica," and fell forward in a fit of apoplexy. Laid on a straw mattress, his whole frame was convulsed in agony, while the fiend in visible form advanced to seize his soul. Then, as his brethren prayed and wept, the voice of Mary was heard, bidding the Saint's guardian angel send the tempter back to hell. A calm and holy smile settled on the features of the dying Saint, as, with a grateful salutation to the image of Mary, he breathed forth his soul to God.
His death happened on the 10th of November, 1608.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Monday of the Thirty-second Week of Ordinary Time
Titus 1:1-4 I, Paul, am God’s slave and Christ’s agent for promoting the faith among God’s chosen people, getting out the accurate word on God and how to respond rightly to it. My aim is to raise hopes by pointing the way to life without end. This is the life God promised long ago—and he doesn’t break promises! And then when the time was ripe, he went public with his truth. I’ve been entrusted to proclaim this Message by order of our Savior, God himself. Dear Titus, legitimate son in the faith: Receive everything God our Father and Jesus our Savior give you!
A Good Grip on the Message
5-9 I left you in charge in Crete so you could complete what I left half-done. Appoint leaders in every town according to my instructions. As you select them, ask, “Is this man well-thought-of? Is he committed to his wife? Are his children believers? Do they respect him and stay out of trouble?” It’s important that a church leader, responsible for the affairs in God’s house, be looked up to—not pushy, not short-tempered, not a drunk, not a bully, not money-hungry. He must welcome people, be helpful, wise, fair, reverent, have a good grip on himself, and have a good grip on the Message, knowing how to use the truth to either spur people on in knowledge or stop them in their tracks if they oppose it.
Psalm 24: A David Psalm
1-2 God claims Earth and everything in it,
God claims World and all who live on it.
He built it on Ocean foundations,
laid it out on River girders.
3-4 Who can climb Mount God?
Who can scale the holy north-face?
Only the clean-handed,
only the pure-hearted;
Men who won’t cheat,
women who won’t seduce.
5-6 God is at their side;
with God’s help they make it.
This, Jacob, is what happens
to God-seekers, God-questers.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17: A Kernel of Faith
1-2 He said to his disciples, “Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!
3-4 “Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive him.”
5 The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.”
6 But the Master said, “You don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it would do it.
Monday of the Thirty-second Week of Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:Isaac of Stella (?-c.1171), Cistercian monk
Sermon 31 : PL 194,1792, SC 207
Forgiving seven times a day
« Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ »; « Bearing with one another in love » (Gal 6,2 ; Eph 4,2) : these are indeed Christ’s law. When I notice something in my brother that cannot be corrected due to some difficulty or physical or moral infirmity, why can’t I bear with him patiently, why not wholeheartedly comfort him according to the words of Scripture: “As nurslings you shall be carried in their arms and comforted on their lap”? (Is 66,12). Could it be that I am lacking in the charity that bears with everything, that upholds with patience and loves with indulgence? (cf 1Cor 13,7). Such, in any case, is the law of Christ. In his Passion he truly : “took our sufferings on himself” and in his mercy “endured our sorrows” (Is 53,4), loving those he carried and carrying those he loved.
But he who, to the contrary, shows himself agressive to this brother in difficulty, who sets a snare for his weakness, whatever it might be, obviously submits to the devil’s law and does it. So be compassionate to one another and full of brotherly love; bear with weaknesses and cast out vices… And truly, any kind of life that allows us to give ourselves more genuinely to the love of God and, for his sake, to love of neighbour – whether in religious or secular life – is pleasing to God.
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