"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 First Week of Advent
Feast of the Church:
Saints of the Day:
SAINT ELIGIUS
Bishop
(† 665)
Eligius, a goldsmith at Paris, was commissioned by King Clotaire to make a throne. With the gold and precious stones given him he made two. Struck by his rare honesty, the king gave him an appointment at court, and demanded an oath of fidelity sworn upon holy relics; but Eligius prayed with tears to be excused, for fear of failing in reverence to the relics of the Saints.On entering the court he fortified himself against its seductions by many austerities and continual ejaculatory prayers. He had a marvellous zeal for the redemption of captives, and for their deliverance would sell his jewels, his food, his clothes, and his very shoes, once by his prayers breaking their chains and opening their prisons. His great delight was in making rich shrines for relics.
His striking virtue caused him, a layman and a goldsmith, to be made Bishop of Noyon, and his sanctity in this holy office was remarkable.
He possessed the gifts of miracles and prophecy, and died in 665.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
BLESSED CHARLES OF JESUS
Charles de Foucauld
Priest
(1858-1916)
CHARLES DE FOUCAULD (Brother Charles of Jesus) was born in Strasbourg, France on September 15th, 1858. Orphaned at the age of six, he and his sister Marie were raised by their grandfather in whose footsteps he followed by taking up a military career.He lost his faith as an adolescent. His taste for easy living was well known to all and yet he showed that he could be strong willed and constant in difficult situations. He undertook a risky exploration of Morocco (1883-1884). Seeing the way Muslims expressed their faith questioned him and he began repeating, ‘‘My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.’’
On his return to France, the warm, respectful welcome he received from his deeply Christian family made him continue his search. Under the guidance of Fr. Huvelin he rediscovered god in October 1886. he was then 28 years old. ‘‘As soon as I believed in God, I understood that I could not do otherwise than to live for him alone.’’
A pilgrimage to the Holy Land revealed his vocation to him : to follow Jesus in his life at Nazareth. He spent 7 years as a Trappist, first in France and then at Akbès in Syria. Later he began to lead a life of prayer and adoration, alone, near a convent of Poor Clares in Nazareth.
Ordained a priest at 43 (1901) he left for the Sahara, living at first in Beni Abbès and later at Tamanrasset among the Tuaregs of the Hoggar. He wanted to be among those who were, ‘‘the furthest removed, the most abandoned.’’ He wanted all who drew close to him to find in him a brother, ‘‘a universal brother.’’ In a great respect for the culture and faith of those among whom he lived, his desire was to ‘‘shout the Gospel with his life’’. ‘‘I would like to be sufficiently good that people would say, ‘‘If such is the servant, what must the Master be like ?’’
On the evening of December 1st 1916, he was killed by a band of marauders who had encircled his house.
He had always dreamed of sharing his vocation with others : after having written several rules for religious life, he came to the conclusion that this ‘‘life of Nazareth’’ could led by all. Today the ‘‘spiritual family of Charles de Foucauld’’ encompassed several associations of the faithful, religious communities and secular institutes for both lay people and priests.
© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Saint Florence (Florentina)(636)
Saint Florentina lived in Spain and was the sister of three brothers who are saints — Saint Leander, Saint Fulgentius and Saint Isidore, Doctor of the Church. She became a nun and an abbess and died in the same year as her great brother, Saint Isidore.
Monday of the First Week of Advent
Book of Isaiah 2: Climb God’s Mountain
1-5 The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:
There’s a day coming
when the mountain of God’s House
Will be The Mountain—
solid, towering over all mountains.
All nations will river toward it,
people from all over set out for it.
They’ll say, “Come,
let’s climb God’s Mountain,
go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He’ll show us the way he works
so we can live the way we’re made.”
Zion’s the source of the revelation.
God’s Message comes from Jerusalem.
He’ll settle things fairly between nations.
He’ll make things right between many peoples.
They’ll turn their swords into shovels,
their spears into hoes.
No more will nation fight nation;
they won’t play war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
let’s live in the light of God.
Psalm 122: A Pilgrim Song of David
1-2 When they said, “Let’s go to the house of God,”
my heart leaped for joy.
And now we’re here, O Jerusalem,
inside Jerusalem’s walls!
3-5 Jerusalem, well-built city,
built as a place for worship!
The city to which the tribes ascend,
all God’s tribes go up to worship,
To give thanks to the name of God—
this is what it means to be Israel.
Thrones for righteous judgment
are set there, famous David-thrones.
6-9 Pray for Jerusalem’s peace!
Prosperity to all you Jerusalem-lovers!
Friendly insiders, get along!
Hostile outsiders, keep your distance!
For the sake of my family and friends,
I say it again: live in peace!
For the sake of the house of our God, God,
I’ll do my very best for you.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8: 5-6 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”
7 Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”
8-9 “Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10-12 Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”
Monday of the First Week of Advent1-5 The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:
There’s a day coming
when the mountain of God’s House
Will be The Mountain—
solid, towering over all mountains.
All nations will river toward it,
people from all over set out for it.
They’ll say, “Come,
let’s climb God’s Mountain,
go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He’ll show us the way he works
so we can live the way we’re made.”
Zion’s the source of the revelation.
God’s Message comes from Jerusalem.
He’ll settle things fairly between nations.
He’ll make things right between many peoples.
They’ll turn their swords into shovels,
their spears into hoes.
No more will nation fight nation;
they won’t play war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
let’s live in the light of God.
Psalm 122: A Pilgrim Song of David
1-2 When they said, “Let’s go to the house of God,”
my heart leaped for joy.
And now we’re here, O Jerusalem,
inside Jerusalem’s walls!
3-5 Jerusalem, well-built city,
built as a place for worship!
The city to which the tribes ascend,
all God’s tribes go up to worship,
To give thanks to the name of God—
this is what it means to be Israel.
Thrones for righteous judgment
are set there, famous David-thrones.
6-9 Pray for Jerusalem’s peace!
Prosperity to all you Jerusalem-lovers!
Friendly insiders, get along!
Hostile outsiders, keep your distance!
For the sake of my family and friends,
I say it again: live in peace!
For the sake of the house of our God, God,
I’ll do my very best for you.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8: 5-6 As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”
7 Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”
8-9 “Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10-12 Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”
Commentary of the Day:
Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church
6th sermon for Advent
The whole earth will be filled with the majesty of God
One day the Lord will come to restore our bodily strength as the apostle Paul says : « We await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our mortal body to conform with his glorious body” (Phil 3,20-21)…
The God of Hosts, Lord of might and King of glory will come from heaven to transform our mortal bodies himself and make them like his glorious body. What glory, what joy there will be when the world’s Creator, who concealed himself in lowly form when he came to redeem us, will appear in all his glory and majesty…, in the sight of all, to glorify our wretched bodies! Who will then call to mind his first coming when he is seen descending in light, preceded by angels who, at the sound of the trumpet, will take up our body of dust to carry it before Christ? (1Thes 4,16f)…
So let our soul rejoice and our body rest in hope while it is waiting for our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ who will transform it to make it like his glorious body. One of the prophets wrote: “If my soul thirsts for you, how much more does my body desire you too!” (Ps 62,2 Vg). The soul of this prophet begged and prayed for the first coming of the Savior who was to redeem it, but his flesh begged even more earnestly for the final coming when it would be glorified. Then will all our prayers be satisfied: the whole earth will be filled with the majesty of God. May God in his mercy lead us to that glory, that happiness, that peace which passes all that can be imagined (Phil 4,7), and may our Lord Jesus Christ not permit our ardent waiting for the Savior to be dismayed.
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