"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Sixth Sunday of Easter - Year B
Saints of the day:
Saint Jozef Damien De Veuster
Priest
(1840-1889)
Priest
(1840-1889)
St. Jozef Damien De Veuster, ss.cc, was born at Tremelo, Belgium, on 3 January 1840 (see also p. 8). Jozef ("Jef") began his novitiate with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ("Picpus Fathers") at the beginning of 1859 and took the name Damien. He would pray every day before a picture of St. Francis Xavier , patron of missionaries, to be sent on a mission. In 1863 his brother, who was to leave for a mission in the Hawaiian Islands , fell ill. Since preparations for the voyage had already been made, Damien obtained permission from the Superior General to take his brother's place. He landed in Honolulu on 19 March 1864. He was ordained to the priesthood on the following 21 May.
At that time, the Hawaiian Government decided on the harsh measure of quarantine aimed at preventing the spread of leprosy: the deportation to the neighbouring Island of Molokai of all those infected by what was then thought to be an incurable disease. The entire mission was concerned about the abandoned lepers and Bishop Louis Maigret, a Picpus father, felt sure they needed priests. He did not want to send anyone "in the name of obedience" because he was aware such an assignment was a potential death sentence. Of the four brothers who volunteered, Damien was the first to leave on 10 May 1873 for Kalaupapa.
At his own request and that of the lepers, he remained on Molokai. Having contracted leprosy himself, he died on 15 April 1889, at the age of 49, after serving 16 years among the lepers. He was buried in the local cemetery under the same Pandanus tree where he had first slept upon his arrival in Molokai. His remains were exhumed in 1936 at the request of the Belgian Government and translated to a crypt of the Church of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts at Louvain. Damien is universally known for having freely shared the life of the lepers in quarantine on the Kalaupapa Peninsula of Molokai. His departure for the "cursed isle", the announcement of his illness (leprosy) in 1884 and his subsequent death deeply impressed his contemporaries of all denominations.
Damien was above all a Catholic missionary. Fr Damien is known today as a hero of charity because he identified so closely with the victims of leprosy.
He respected the religious convictions of others; he accepted them as people and received with joy their collaboration and their help. With a heart wide open to the most abject and wretched, he showed no difference in his approach and in his care of the lepers. In his parish ministry or in his works of charity he found a place for everyone.
Among his best friends were Meyer, a Lutheran, the superintendent of the leper colony, Clifford, an Anglican, and Moritz, a painter, a free-thinker who was the doctor on Molokai and Dr Masanao Goto, a Japanese Buddhist and leprologist.
He continues to inspire thousands of believers and non-believers who wish to imitate him and to discover the source of his heroism. People of all creeds and all philosophical systems recognized in him the Servant of God which he always revealed himself to be, and respect his passion for the salvation of souls.
John Paul II beatified Damien de Veuster in Brussels on June 4, 1995; Pope Benedict XVI canonized him on October 11, 2009 at Rome. His feastday is celebrated on May 10. - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
BLESSED IVAN MERZ
(1896-1928)
(1896-1928)
Ivan Merz was born in Banja Luka, Bosnia, on 16 December 1896, and was baptized on 2 February 1897. He attended elementary and middle school in Banja Luka and, after a brief period of education at the military academy of Wiener Noustadt, he enrolled in 1915 at the University of Vienna, with the dream of teaching young people in Bosnia; thus, he would be following the example of his professor, Ljubomir Marakovic, who helped Ivan to discover the richness of the Catholic faith.
In March 1916, Ivan was enlisted in the army and shipped to the Italian battle front, where he spent the greater part of two years beginning in 1917. The war experience and its horrors marked a turning point in Ivan's young life and contributed greatly to his spiritual growth, prompting him to abandon his future into God's hands and to strive with all his might towards the goal of Christian perfection.
On 5 February 1918, he wrote in his diary: "Never forget God! Always desire to be united with Him. Begin each day in the first place with meditation and prayer , possibly close to the Blessed Sacrament or during Mass. During this time, plans for the day are made, one's defects are put under examination and grace is implored for the strength to overcome all weakness. It would be something terrible if this war had no meaning for me!... I must begin a life regenerated in the spirit of this new understanding of Catholicism. The Lord alone can help me, as man can do nothing on his own". At this time, Ivan also made a private vow of perpetual chastity.
After the war, he continued his studies at Vienna (1919-20), and then in Paris (1920-22). In 1923 he obtained a degree in philosophy. His thesis was entitled "The influence of the Liturgy on the French authors". He then became a professor of language and French literature and was exemplary in his dedication to the students and to his responsibilities as a teacher.
In his spare time he studied philosophy and theology and deepened his knowledge of the documents of the Magisterium of the Church.
Ivan was especially noted for his interest in young people and concern for their growth in faith and holiness. He started the "League of Young Croatian Catholics" and the "Croatian League of Eagles" within the Croatian Catholic Action Movement. Their motto was: "Sacrifice Eucharist Apostolate".
For Ivan, the purpose of this organization was to form a group of front-line apostles whose goal was holiness. This scope of this goal also flowed over into liturgical renewal, of which Ivan was one of the first promoters in Croatia.
As a Catholic intellectual, Ivan was able to guide young people and adults to Christ and His Church through his writings and organized gatherings. He also sought to teach them love and obedience to the Vicar of Christ and the Church of Rome.
In the face of any misunderstandings and difficulties, Ivan always had an admirable patience and calm, the fruit of his continual union with God in prayer . Those who knew him well described him as a person who had his "mind and heart immersed in the supernatural". Convinced that the most effective way to save souls was through efficacious suffering, he offered to God all his physical and moral sufferings, particularly for the intention of the success of his apostolic endeavours.
Shortly before his death, he offered his life for the youth of Croatia. In short, the young man believed that his vocation was very simply "the Catholic faith".
Ivan Merz died on 10 May 1928 in Zagreb. He was 32 years old. He was beatified by John Paul II at Banja Luka on June 22, 2003. - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Saint Comgall
Feastday: May 10
Birth: 516
Death: 601
Abbot and teacher of St. Columbanus and the monks who evangelized France and central Europe. He was born about 516 in Ylster, Ireland, and studied under St. Fintan at Cluain Eidnech Monastery. After living under a harsh rule as a hermit, Comgall founded a monastery in Bangor. He was abbot for eight thousand monks. Comgall also accompanied St. Columba on a mission to Inverness, Scotland, and founded a monastery at Heth. He died at Bangor.
Mass Readings:
1st Reading: Acts of the Apostles 10:25 As Kefa entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell prostrate at his feet. 26 But Kefa pulled him to his feet and said, “Stand up! I myself am just a man.”
34 Then Kefa addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, 35 but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to.
44 Kefa was still saying these things when the Ruach HaKodesh fell on all who were hearing the message. 45 All the believers from the Circumcision faction who had accompanied Kefa were amazed that the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh was also being poured out 46 on the Goyim, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Kefa’s response was, 47 “Is anyone prepared to prohibit these people from being immersed in water? After all, they have received the Ruach HaKodesh, just as we did.” 48 And he ordered that they be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Then they asked Kefa to stay on with them for a few days.
Responsorial: Psalm 98: (0) A psalm:
(1) Sing a new song to Adonai,
because he has done wonders.
His right hand, his holy arm
have won him victory.
2 Adonai has made known his victory;
revealed his vindication in full view of the nations,
3 remembered his grace and faithfulness
to the house of Isra’el.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
4 Shout for joy to Adonai, all the earth!
Break forth, sing for joy, sing praises!
2nd Reading: 1 John 4:7 Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. 8 Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. 10 Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.
Holy Gospel According to: Saint John 15:9 “Just as my Father has loved me, I too have loved you; so stay in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love — just as I have kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love. 11 I have said this to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete.
12 “This is my command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is about; but I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, I chose you; and I have commissioned you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that whatever you ask from the Father in my name he may give you. 17 This is what I command you: keep loving each other!
Sixth Sunday of Easter - Year B
Commentary of the day:
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermons on St. John, no. 65
Dearly beloved, this love renewed even the righteous ones of past times, the patriarchs and the prophets, just as it later renewed the holy apostles. It is the love that now renews the pagan nations. This love raises up and gathers together a new people from the entire human race scattered over the whole earth, the body of the new Spouse of the Son of God.
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