"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Friday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day:
SAINT LOUIS BERTRAND
(Dominican)
(1526-1581)
(Dominican)
(1526-1581)
St. Louis Bertrand was born at Valencia, in Spain, in 1526, of the same family as St. Vincent Ferrer. In 1545, after severe trials, he was professed in the Dominican Order, and at the age of twenty-five was made master of novices, and trained up many great servants of God.
When the plague broke out in Valencia he devoted himself to the sick and dying, and with his own hands buried the dead. In 1562 he obtained leave to embark for the American mission, and there converted vast multitudes to the Faith. He was favored with the gift of miracles, and while preaching in his native Spanish was understood in various languages.
After seven years he returned to Spain, to plead the cause of the oppressed Indians, but he was not permitted to return and labor among them. He spent his remaining days toiling in his own country, till at length, in 1580, he was carried from the pulpit in the Cathedral at Valencia to the bed from whence he never rose.
He died on the day he had foretold-October 9, 1581.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
SAINT JOHN LEONARDI
Priest
(c.1541-1609)
Priest
(c.1541-1609)
St. John Leonardi was born in Tuscany about 1541. He was ordained priest, and founded a community to teach the young and to instruct adults against the Protestant Reformers.
He went to Rome and worked with Philip Neri for a time. In preparing priests for mission work, he laid the foundations of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
He died in 1609.
The Weekday Missal (1975)
Bl. John Henry Newman, († 1890) 
Friday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Joel 1:13 Cohanim, put on sackcloth, and weep!
Wail, you who serve at the altar!
Come, lie in sackcloth all night long,
you who serve my God!
For the grain offering and drink offering are withheld
from the house of your God.
14 Proclaim a holy fast,
call for a solemn assembly,
gather the leaders
and all who live in the land
to the house of Adonai your God,
and cry out to Adonai,
15 “Oh no! The Day!
The Day of Adonai is upon us!
As destruction from Shaddai
it is coming!
2:1 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!
Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”
Let all living in the land tremble,
for the Day of Adonai is coming! It’s upon us! —
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick fog;
a great and mighty horde is spreading
like blackness over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it,
nor will there ever be again,
not even after the years
of many generations.
Psalm 9:2 (1) I give thanks to Adonai with all my heart.
I will tell about all your wonderful deeds.
3 (2) I will be glad and exult in you.
I will sing praise to your name, ‘Elyon.
6 (5) You rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked,
blotted out their name forever and ever.
16 (15) The nations have drowned in the pit they dug,
caught their own feet in the net they hid.
8 (7) But Adonai is enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
9 (8) He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will judge the peoples fairly.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Luke 11:15 But some of them said, “It is by Ba‘al-Zibbul” — the ruler of the demons — “that he expels the demons.” 16 And others, trying to trap him, demanded from him a sign from Heaven. 17 But he, knowing what they were thinking, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, with one house collapsing on another. 18 So if the Adversary too is divided against himself, how can his kingdom survive? I’m asking because you claim it is by Ba‘al-Zibbul that I drive out the demons. 19 If I drive out demons by Ba‘al-Zibbul, by whom do your people drive them out? So, they will be your judges! 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,[Luke 11:20 Exodus 31:18] then the Kingdom of God has come upon you!
21 “When a strong man who is fully equipped for battle guards his own house, his possessions are secure. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and defeats him, he carries off all the armor and weaponry on which the man was depending, and divides up the spoils. 23 Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me are scattering.
24 “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest. On finding none, it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there — so that in the end the person is worse off than he was before.”
Friday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-c.208), Bishop, theologian and martyr
Against the heresies, V,5,2 (SC 153, p.63f.)
Does anyone believe that it is impossible men should remain alive for as long as the first of the patriarchs? Does he think that Elijah was not taken up in his body but that his body was consumed on the chariot of fire? Let him consider that Jonah, having been cast to the bottom of the sea and swallowed up in the belly of the fish, was cast up on the shore safe and sound at God’s orders. Ananias, Azarias and Mizael, thrown into a fiery furnace heated up seven times, experienced no harm and not even a smell of fire was about them (Dan 3,94). If the hand of God helped them and accomplished extraordinary things in them, impossible to human nature, what is astonishing if this same hand likewise accomplished an extraordinary thing by carrying out the will of the Father in those who were translated? Now this Hand is the Son of God, (cf Dan 3,92).
____________________________
Blessed John Henry Newman
Priest, founder of a religious community, theologian
(1801-1890)
Priest, founder of a religious community, theologian
(1801-1890)
This day that has brought us together here in Birmingham is a most auspicious one. In the first place, it is the Lord's Day, Sunday, the day when our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and changed the course of human history for ever, offering new life and hope to all who live in darkness and in the shadow of death. (...)Yet there is another, more joyful reason why this is an auspicious day for Great Britain, for the Midlands, for Birmingham. It is the day that sees Cardinal John Henry Newman formally raised to the altars and declared Blessed.(...)
England has a long tradition of martyr saints, whose courageous witness has sustained and inspired the Catholic community here for centuries. Yet it is right and fitting that we should recognize today the holiness of a confessor, a son of this nation who, while not called to shed his blood for the Lord, nevertheless bore eloquent witness to him in the course of a long life devoted to the priestly ministry, and especially to preaching, teaching, and writing. He is worthy to take his place in a long line of saints and scholars from these islands, Saint Bede, Saint Hilda, Saint Aelred, Blessed Duns Scotus, to name but a few. In Blessed John Henry, that tradition of gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord has borne rich fruit, as a sign of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit deep within the heart of God's people, bringing forth abundant gifts of holiness.
Cardinal Newman's motto, Cor ad cor loquitur, or "Heart speaks unto heart", gives us an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, experienced as the profound desire of the human heart to enter into intimate communion with the Heart of God. He reminds us that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms us into the divine likeness. As he wrote in one of his many fine sermons, "a habit of prayer, the practice of turning to God and the unseen world in every season, in every place, in every emergency - prayer, I say, has what may be called a natural effect in spiritualizing and elevating the soul. A man is no longer what he was before; gradually ... he has imbibed a new set of ideas, and become imbued with fresh principles" (Parochial and Plain Sermons, iv, 230-231). Today's Gospel tells us that no one can be the servant of two masters (cf. Lk 16:13), and Blessed John Henry's teaching on prayer explains how the faithful Christian is definitively taken into the service of the one true Master, who alone has a claim to our unconditional devotion (cf. Mt 23:10). Newman helps us to understand what this means for our daily lives: he tells us that our divine Master has assigned a specific task to each one of us, a "definite service", committed uniquely to every single person: "I have my mission", he wrote, "I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do his work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place ... if I do but keep his commandments and serve him in my calling" (Meditations and Devotions, 301-2).
The definite service to which Blessed John Henry was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing "subjects of the day". His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, and into the need for a broadly-based and wide-ranging approach to education were not only of profound importance for Victorian England, but continue today to inspire and enlighten many all over the world. I would like to pay particular tribute to his vision for education, which has done so much to shape the ethos that is the driving force behind Catholic schools and colleges today. Firmly opposed to any reductive or utilitarian approach, he sought to achieve an educational environment in which intellectual training, moral discipline and religious commitment would come together. The project to found a Catholic University in Ireland provided him with an opportunity to develop his ideas on the subject, and the collection of discourses that he published as The Idea of a University holds up an ideal from which all those engaged in academic formation can continue to learn. And indeed, what better goal could teachers of religion set themselves than Blessed John Henry's famous appeal for an intelligent, well-instructed laity: "I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it" (The Present Position of Catholics in England, ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the vision he so clearly sets before us.
While it is John Henry Newman's intellectual legacy that has understandably received most attention in the vast literature devoted to his life and work, I prefer on this occasion to conclude with a brief reflection on his life as a priest, a pastor of souls. The warmth and humanity underlying his appreciation of the pastoral ministry is beautifully expressed in another of his famous sermons: "Had Angels been your priests, my brethren, they could not have condoled with you, sympathized with you, have had compassion on you, felt tenderly for you, and made allowances for you, as we can; they could not have been your patterns and guides, and have led you on from your old selves into a new life, as they can who come from the midst of you" ("Men, not Angels: the Priests of the Gospel", Discourses to Mixed Congregations, 3). He lived out that profoundly human vision of priestly ministry in his devoted care for the people of Birmingham during the years that he spent at the Oratory he founded, visiting the sick and the poor, comforting the bereaved, caring for those in prison. No wonder that on his death so many thousands of people lined the local streets as his body was taken to its place of burial not half a mile from here. One hundred and twenty years later, great crowds have assembled once again to rejoice in the Church's solemn recognition of the outstanding holiness of this much-loved father of souls. What better way to express the joy of this moment than by turning to our heavenly Father in heartfelt thanksgiving, praying in the words that Blessed John Henry Newman placed on the lips of the choirs of angels in heaven:
Praise to the Holiest in the height
And in the depth be praise;
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways!
(The Dream of Gerontius).
And in the depth be praise;
In all his words most wonderful,
Most sure in all his ways!
(The Dream of Gerontius).
(Homily of his holiness Benedict XVI - Mass with the beatification of venerable cardinal John Henry Newman - Birmingham - Sunday, 19 September 2010) - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
St. Dionysius and his Companions, Martyrs
SAINT DIONYSIUS
and his Companions
Martyrs
(3rd century)
and his Companions
Martyrs
(3rd century)
Of all the Roman missionaries sent into Gaul, St. Dionysius carried the Faith the furthest into the country, fixing his see at Paris, and by him and his disciples the sees of Chartres, Senlis, Meaux, and Cologne were erected in the fourth century.
During the persecution of Valerian he was arrested and thrown into prison, and after remaining there for some time was beheaded, together with St. Rusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a deacon.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]Friday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Joel 1:13 Cohanim, put on sackcloth, and weep!
Wail, you who serve at the altar!
Come, lie in sackcloth all night long,
you who serve my God!
For the grain offering and drink offering are withheld
from the house of your God.
14 Proclaim a holy fast,
call for a solemn assembly,
gather the leaders
and all who live in the land
to the house of Adonai your God,
and cry out to Adonai,
15 “Oh no! The Day!
The Day of Adonai is upon us!
As destruction from Shaddai
it is coming!
2:1 “Blow the shofar in Tziyon!
Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”
Let all living in the land tremble,
for the Day of Adonai is coming! It’s upon us! —
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick fog;
a great and mighty horde is spreading
like blackness over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it,
nor will there ever be again,
not even after the years
of many generations.
Psalm 9:2 (1) I give thanks to Adonai with all my heart.
I will tell about all your wonderful deeds.
3 (2) I will be glad and exult in you.
I will sing praise to your name, ‘Elyon.
6 (5) You rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked,
blotted out their name forever and ever.
16 (15) The nations have drowned in the pit they dug,
caught their own feet in the net they hid.
8 (7) But Adonai is enthroned forever;
he has set up his throne for judgment.
9 (8) He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will judge the peoples fairly.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Luke 11:15 But some of them said, “It is by Ba‘al-Zibbul” — the ruler of the demons — “that he expels the demons.” 16 And others, trying to trap him, demanded from him a sign from Heaven. 17 But he, knowing what they were thinking, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, with one house collapsing on another. 18 So if the Adversary too is divided against himself, how can his kingdom survive? I’m asking because you claim it is by Ba‘al-Zibbul that I drive out the demons. 19 If I drive out demons by Ba‘al-Zibbul, by whom do your people drive them out? So, they will be your judges! 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God,[Luke 11:20 Exodus 31:18] then the Kingdom of God has come upon you!
21 “When a strong man who is fully equipped for battle guards his own house, his possessions are secure. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and defeats him, he carries off all the armor and weaponry on which the man was depending, and divides up the spoils. 23 Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather with me are scattering.
24 “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest. On finding none, it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there — so that in the end the person is worse off than he was before.”
Friday of the Twenty-seventh week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-c.208), Bishop, theologian and martyr
Against the heresies, V,5,2 (SC 153, p.63f.)
"But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you"
Because Enoch was pleasing to God he was translated bodily into heaven, thus prefiguring the translation of the just. Elijah, too, was taken up just as he was, in the substance of his bodily shape (2Kgs 2,11), foreshadowing by this the taking up of the spiritual man. Their bodies did not in any way prevent this translation or taking up for it was by means of the same hands by which they were formed in the beginning (Gn 2,7) that they were translated and taken up. Because, in the case of Adam, God’s hands were accustomed to guide, hold and carry the work they had formed, to take it up and set it down wherever they wanted. And where was this first man placed? In Paradise, undoubtedly, as Scripture says: “And God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed,” (v.8). And it was from there that he was expelled in this world for having disobeyed… Does anyone believe that it is impossible men should remain alive for as long as the first of the patriarchs? Does he think that Elijah was not taken up in his body but that his body was consumed on the chariot of fire? Let him consider that Jonah, having been cast to the bottom of the sea and swallowed up in the belly of the fish, was cast up on the shore safe and sound at God’s orders. Ananias, Azarias and Mizael, thrown into a fiery furnace heated up seven times, experienced no harm and not even a smell of fire was about them (Dan 3,94). If the hand of God helped them and accomplished extraordinary things in them, impossible to human nature, what is astonishing if this same hand likewise accomplished an extraordinary thing by carrying out the will of the Father in those who were translated? Now this Hand is the Son of God, (cf Dan 3,92).
____________________________
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