"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)Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Day:
Saint of the Day:
SAINT JOHN BOSCOPriest
(1815-1888)
Born in the diocese of Turin in 1815, and brought up in poverty, John Bosco devoted his life to the education of working youth.
He founded religious congregations -the Salesian Order, and the Congregation of the Helpers of Mary -to carry on his ideals.
He fell asleep in the Lord on January 30, 1888 at the age of seventy-two.
SAINT MARCELLA
Widow
(325-410)
St. Marcella, whom St. Jerome called the glory of the Roman women, became a widow in the seventh month after her marriage. Having determined to consecrate the remainder of her days to the service of God, she rejected the hand of Cerealis, the consul, uncle of Gallus Caesar, and resolved to imitate the lives of the ascetics of the East. She abstained from wine and flesh-meat, employed all her time in pious reading, prayer, and visiting the churches, and never spoke with any man alone. Her example was followed by many who put themselves under her direction, and Rome was in a short time filled with monasteries.When the Goths under Alaric plundered Rome in 410, our Saint suffered severely at the hands of the barbarian, who cruelly scourged her in order to make her reveal the treasures which she had long before distributed in charity. She trembled only, however, for the innocence of her dear spiritual daughter, Principia, and falling at the feet of the cruel soldiers, she begged with many tears that they would offer no insult to that pure virgin. God moved them to compassion, and they conducted our Saint and her pupil to the Church of St. Paul, to which Alaric had granted the right of sanctuary, with that of St. Peter.
St. Marcella, who survived this but a short time, closed her eyes by a happy death, in the arms of St. Principia, about the end of August, 410.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Hebrews 11: Description of faith
1 Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see. 2 The elders in the past were approved because they showed faith.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out without knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he lived in the land he had been promised as a stranger. He lived in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were coheirs of the same promise. 10 He was looking forward to a city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith even Sarah received the ability to have a child, though she herself was barren and past the age for having children, because she believed that the one who promised was faithful. 12 So descendants were born from one man (and he was as good as dead). They were as many as the number of the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore. 13 All of these people died in faith without receiving the promises, but they saw the promises from a distance and welcomed them. They confessed that they were strangers and immigrants on earth. 14 People who say this kind of thing make it clear that they are looking for a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking about the country that they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return to it. 16 But at this point in time, they are longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God isn’t ashamed to be called their God—he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham offered Isaac when he was tested. The one who received the promises was offering his only son. 18 He had been told concerning him, Your legitimate descendants will come from Isaac.[a] 19 He figured that God could even raise him from the dead. So in a way he did receive him back from the dead.[Footnotes:
Hebrews 11:18 Gen 21:12]
(Psalm)Luke 1: 69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,
70 just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.
71 He has brought salvation from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and remembered his holy covenant,
73 the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.
He has granted 74 that we would be rescued
from the power of our enemies
so that we could serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
for as long as we live.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 4: Jesus stops a storm
35 Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” 36 They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along.
37 Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. 38 But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?”
39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. 40 Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?”
41 Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:
Saint Boniface (675-764), monk, missionary to Germany, martyr
Letter to Cuthbert ; PL 89, 765 (trans. Breviary 05/06)
"Why are you terrified?
The Church is like a great ship sailing the sea of the world and tossed by the waves of temptation in this life. But it is not to be abandoned—it must be brought under control. As an example of this we have the Fathers of the past, Clement and Cornelius and many others in the city of Rome, Cyprian in Carthage and Athanasius in Alexandria. Living under pagan emperors, they steered the ship of Christ, that is the Church, his beloved spouse. And they did this by teaching, defending, working and suffering even to the shedding of their blood.
When I considered the example of these men and of men like them, I was filled with fear. “Dread came upon me and trembling, and the darkness of my sins almost overwhelmed me” (Ps 54[55],6). I should have been only too glad to give up the government of the Church, which I had accepted, if only I could have found some support for this course of action in the example of the Fathers or in sacred scripture.
Therefore, since this is the situation and since the truth may become wearied but cannot be overcome… I take refuge in my weariness in the one who spoke through Solomon: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Pr 3,5-6)… Let us stand firm in doing what is right and prepare to face temptations, so that we may hope for support from the Lord and be able to say to him: “Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next” (Ps 89[90],1). Let us trust in the one who laid this burden upon us. What we cannot bear on our own, let us bear with the help of the one who is all-powerful and who said: “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt 11,30).
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