"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Saturday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day:
St. Alphonsus Liguori, (1696-1787)
Saturday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Leviticus 25:1 Adonai spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai; he said,
8 “‘You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty-nine years. 9 Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom-Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through your land; 10 and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel for you; you will return everyone to the land he owns, and everyone is to return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be a yovel for you; in that year you are not to sow, harvest what grows by itself or gather the grapes of untended vines; 12 because it is a yovel. It will be holy for you; whatever the fields produce will be food for all of you. 13 In this year of yovel, every one of you is to return to the land he owns.
(LY: ii) 14 “‘If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from him, neither of you is to exploit the other. 15 Rather, you are to take into account the number of years after the yovel when you buy land from your neighbor, and he is to sell to you according to the number of years crops will be raised. 16 If the number of years remaining is large, you will raise the price; if few years remain, you will lower it; because what he is really selling you is the number of crops to be produced. 17 Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am Adonai your God.
Psalm 67:2 (1) God, be gracious to us, and bless us.
May he make his face shine toward us, (Selah)
3 (2) so that your way may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
5 (4) Let the nations be glad and shout for joy,
for you will judge the peoples fairly
and guide the nations on earth. (Selah)
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
7 (6) The earth has yielded its harvest;
may God, our God, bless us.
8 (7) May God continue to bless us,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 14:1 Around that time, Herod, the regional governor, heard of the fame of Yeshua 2 and said to his attendants, “This must be Yochanan the Immerser. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For Herod had arrested Yochanan, put him in chains and thrown him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; 4 since Yochanan had told Herod, “It violates the Torah for you to have her as your wife.” 5 Herod had wanted to put Yochanan to death; but he was afraid of the people, in whose eyes Yochanan was a prophet. 6 However, at Herod’s birthday celebration, Herodias’ daughter danced before the company and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of Yochanan the Immerser.” 9 The king became deeply upset; but out of regard for the oaths he had sworn before his dinner guests, he ordered that her wish be granted, 10 and sent and had Yochanan beheaded in prison. 11 The head was brought on a platter to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 12 Yochanan’s talmidim came, took the body and buried it; then they went and told Yeshua.
Saturday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Diadochus of Photike (c.400-?), Bishop
Spiritual perfection, 12
“Whoever hate his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life” (Jn 12,25)
Whoever loves his own life (Jn 12,25) cannot be loving God, but whoever does not cling to himself as a result of divine love's overflowing gifts is the one who loves God. Such a one never seeks their own glory but God's, for whoever loves his own life is seeking his own glory. Whoever binds himself to God loves the glory of his Creator. And indeed, it is the characteristic of souls sensitive to God's love that they continually seek God's glory in carrying out the commandments and take pleasure in their own lowliness. For glory belongs to God because of his greatness, and lowliness belongs to man because it makes of him God's friend. If this is the way we behave then we will rejoice after Saint John the Baptist's example and will start saying over and over again: “He must increase; I must decrease” (Jn 3,30).
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SAINT ALPHONSUS MARY DE LIGUORI
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(1696-1787)
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(1696-1787)
St. Alphonus was born of noble parents, near Naples, in 1696. His spiritual training was intrusted to the Fathers of the Oratory in that city, and from his boyhood Alphonsus was known as a most devout Brother of the Little Oratory. At the early age of sixteen he was made doctor in law, and he threw himself into this career with ardor and success.
A mistake, by which he lost an important cause, showed him the vanity of human fame, and determined him to labor only for the glory of God. He entered the priesthood, devoting himself to the most neglected souls; and to carry on this work he founded later the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of St. Agatha, and undertook the reform of his diocese with the zeal of a Saint. He made a vow never to lose time, and, though his life was spent in prayer and work, he composed a vast number of books, filled with such science, unction, and wisdom that he has been declared one of the Doctors of the Church.
St. Alphonsus wrote his first book at the age of forty-nine, and in his eighty-third year had published about sixty volumes, when his director forbade him to write more. Very many of these books were written in the half-hours snatched from his labors as missionary, religious superior, and Bishop, or in the midst of continual bodily and mental sufferings. With his left hand he would hold a piece of marble against his aching head while his right hand wrote.
Yet he counted no time wasted which was spent in charity. He did not refuse to hold a long correspondence with a simple soldier who asked his advice, or to play the harpsichord while he taught his novices to sing spiritual canticles. He lived in evil times, and met with many persecutions and disappointments.
For his last seven years he was prevented by constant sickness from offering the Adorable Sacrifice; but he received Holy Communion daily, and his love for Jesus Christ and his trust in Mary's prayers sustained him to the end.
He died in 1787, in his ninety-first year.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]Saturday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Leviticus 25:1 Adonai spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai; he said,
8 “‘You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty-nine years. 9 Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom-Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through your land; 10 and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel for you; you will return everyone to the land he owns, and everyone is to return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be a yovel for you; in that year you are not to sow, harvest what grows by itself or gather the grapes of untended vines; 12 because it is a yovel. It will be holy for you; whatever the fields produce will be food for all of you. 13 In this year of yovel, every one of you is to return to the land he owns.
(LY: ii) 14 “‘If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from him, neither of you is to exploit the other. 15 Rather, you are to take into account the number of years after the yovel when you buy land from your neighbor, and he is to sell to you according to the number of years crops will be raised. 16 If the number of years remaining is large, you will raise the price; if few years remain, you will lower it; because what he is really selling you is the number of crops to be produced. 17 Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am Adonai your God.
Psalm 67:2 (1) God, be gracious to us, and bless us.
May he make his face shine toward us, (Selah)
3 (2) so that your way may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
5 (4) Let the nations be glad and shout for joy,
for you will judge the peoples fairly
and guide the nations on earth. (Selah)
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
7 (6) The earth has yielded its harvest;
may God, our God, bless us.
8 (7) May God continue to bless us,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 14:1 Around that time, Herod, the regional governor, heard of the fame of Yeshua 2 and said to his attendants, “This must be Yochanan the Immerser. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For Herod had arrested Yochanan, put him in chains and thrown him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; 4 since Yochanan had told Herod, “It violates the Torah for you to have her as your wife.” 5 Herod had wanted to put Yochanan to death; but he was afraid of the people, in whose eyes Yochanan was a prophet. 6 However, at Herod’s birthday celebration, Herodias’ daughter danced before the company and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of Yochanan the Immerser.” 9 The king became deeply upset; but out of regard for the oaths he had sworn before his dinner guests, he ordered that her wish be granted, 10 and sent and had Yochanan beheaded in prison. 11 The head was brought on a platter to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 12 Yochanan’s talmidim came, took the body and buried it; then they went and told Yeshua.
Saturday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Diadochus of Photike (c.400-?), Bishop
Spiritual perfection, 12
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