Daily Gospel for Saturday, 16 May 2015

Daily Gospel for Saturday, 16 May 2015
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Saturday of the Sixth week of Easter
Saints of the day:

Saint Brendan

Feastday: May 16

Death: 577

Born possibly in Tralee, Ireland, and educated by St. Ita and ordained by Bishop Erc, he became a monkand founded a large monastery at Clonfert. Many fantastic details have been added to this briefknowledge usually based on the fictional "Navagation" in which he is described as searching for the Isles of the Blessed, touching the Canaries, and even discovering america. It is possible that he actually made visits to Scotland and Wales. Feast day May 16.

Saint Gemma Galgani

Feastday: April 11

Birth: 1878

Death: 1903

Gemma Galgani was born on March 12, 1878, in a small Italian town near Lucca. At a very young age, Gemma developed a love for prayer. She made her First Communion on June 17, 1887. As a pupil at the school run by the Sisters of St. Zita, Gemma was loved by her teachers and her fellow pupils. Although quiet and reserved, she always had a smile for everyone. Although a good student, she had to quit school due to chronic ill health before completing the course of study.

Throughout her life, Gemma was to be favored with many mystical experiences and special graces. These were often misunderstood by others, causing ridicule. Gemma suffered these heartaches in reparation, remembering that Our Lord Himself had been misunderstood and ridiculed.

Gemma had an immense love for the poor, and helped them in any way she could. After her father's death, the nineteen year old Gemma became the mother of her seven brothers and sisters. When some were old enough to share this responsibility, she lived briefly with a married aunt. At this time, two young men proposed marriage to her. Gemma however, wanted silence and retirement, and more that ever, she desired to pray and speak only to God.

Gemma returned home and almost immediately became very ill with meningitis. Throughout this illness, her one regret was the trouble she caused her relatives who took care of her. Feeling herself tempted by the devil, Gemma prayed for help to the Venerable Passionist, Gabriel Possenti. (Gabriel was later canonized) Through his intercession, Gemma was miraculously cured.

Gemma wished to become a nun, but her poor health prevented her from being accepted. She offered this disappointment to God as a sacrifice.

Gemma predicted that the Passionists would establish a monastery at Lucca; this came to pass two years after her death. Today, Gemma's mortal remains are still treasured at the Passionist monastery in Lucca.

On June 8, 1899, Gemma had an interior warning that some unusual grace was to be granted to her. She had pain in her hands, feet and heart and blood was coming from the places where she had pain. These were the marks of the stigmata. Each Thursday evening, Gemma would fall into rapture and the marks would appear. The stigmata remained until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning when the bleeding would stop, the wounds would close, and only white marks would remain in place of the deep gashes. Gemma's stigmata would continue to appear until the last three years of her life, when her confessor forbade her to accept them. Through her prayers, this phenomenon ceased, but the whitish marks remained on her skin until her death.

Through the help of her confessor, Gemma went to live with a family named Giannini, where she was allowed more freedom than at home for her spiritual life. She had many ecstacies and her words spoken during these raptures, were recorded by her confessor and a relative of her adoptive family. At the end of her ecstacies, she returned to normal and went quietly and serenely about the family life. Gemma often saw her guardian angel, with whom she was on familiar terms. She often sent her guardian angel on errands, usually to deliver a letter or oral message to her confessor in Rome.

During the apostolic investigations into her life, all witnesses testified that there was no artfulness in Gemma's manner. Most of her severe penances and sacrifices were hidden from most who knew her.

In January of 1903, Gemma was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. She died quietly in the company of the parish priest, on April 11 at age twenty-five. He said, "She died with a smile which remained upon her lips, so that I could not convince myself that she was really dead." She was beatified in 1933 and canonized on May 2, 1940, only thirty-seven years after her death.0

BLESSED VLADIMIR GHIKA
(† 1954)

Vladimir Ghika was a convert to Catholicism who was martyred by his country’s Communist government in 1954. Born into an illustrious family of princely nobility, the young Vladimir studied political science in Paris and philosophy in Rome, and the intistitution that would become the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas – the Angelicum. He converted to Catholicism in 1902 and dedicated himself to doing works of charity, while discerning a vocation to the priesthood. He served as a diplomat for several years, including those of the I World War. In 1923, he was ordained to the priesthood. 

Returned to Romania when the II World War broke out, he refused to leave despite the danger of Allied bombing. When the Communists seized power in Romania, he again refused to leave. He was arrested in 1952 and charged with high treason because he refused to foreswear loyalty to Rome and recognize the schismatic Church the Communist government was working to establish. After years of maltreatment, he died in prison on May 16^th, 1954. 

He was beatified on August 31st, 2013 by pope Francis.

www.vatican.va Saturday of the Sixth week of Easter

Acts of the Apostles 18:23 spent some time there, and afterwards set out and passed systematically through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the talmidim.

24 Meanwhile, a Jewish man named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker with a thorough knowledge of the Tanakh. 25 This man had been informed about the Way of the Lord, and with great spiritual fervor he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Yeshua, but he knew only the immersion of Yochanan. 26 He began to speak out boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of God in fuller detail. 27 When he made plans to cross over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote the talmidim there to welcome him. On arrival, he greatly helped those who through grace had come to trust; 28 for he powerfully and conclusively refuted the unbelieving Jews in public, demonstrating by the Tanakh that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Psalms 47:2 (1) Clap your hands, all you peoples!

Shout to God with cries of joy!

3 (2) For Adonai ‘Elyon is awesome,

a great king over all the earth.

8 (7) For God is king of all the earth;

sing praises in a maskil.

9 (8) God rules the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

10 (9) The leaders of the people gather together,

the people of the God of Avraham;

for the rulers of the earth belong to God,

who is exalted on high.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 16:23 “When that day comes, you won’t ask anything of me! Yes, indeed! I tell you that whatever you ask from the Father, he will give you in my name. 24 Till now you haven’t asked for anything in my name. Keep asking, and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

25 “I have said these things to you with the help of illustrations; however, a time is coming when I will no longer speak indirectly but will talk about the Father in plain language. 26 When that day comes, you will ask in my name. I am not telling you that I will pray to the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.

28 “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and returning to the Father.”

Saturday of the Sixth week of Easter
Commentary of the day:
Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church
Sermons for Lent, no. 5, 5

“Whatever you ask the Father, he will give you in my name.”

Every time I speak about prayer, it seems to me that I hear in your heart certain human reflections that I have often heard, even in my own heart. Since we never stop praying, how come we so rarely seem to experience the fruit of prayer? We have the impression that we come out of prayer like we entered into it; no one answers us with even one word, gives us anything at all; we have the impression that we have labored in vain. But what does the Lord say in the gospel? “Stop judging by appearances and make a just judgment.” (Jn 7 :24) What is a just judgment other than a judgment of faith? For “the just man shall live by faith.” (Gal3:11) So follow the judgment of faith rather than your experience, for faith does not deceive, whereas experience can lead into error.
And what is the truth of faith other than that the Son of God himself promised: “If you are ready to believe that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer, it shall be done for you.” (Mk 11:24) Thus, may no one among you, Brothers, consider prayer to be a small thing. For I assure you, the one to whom it is addressed does not consider it a small thing; even before it has left our mouth, he has had it written down in his book. Without the slightest doubt, we can be sure that God will either give us what we are asking him or he will give us something that he knows to be better. For “we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Rom 8:26), but God has compassion on our ignorance and he receives our prayer with kindness… So “take delight in the Lord, and he will grant you your heart’s requests.” (Ps 37:4)

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