"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Friday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day:
St. Cajetan, Priest (1480-1547)
Saint Sixtus II
Friday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book Deuteronomy 4:32 “Indeed, inquire about the past, before you were born: since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? Has anyone heard anything like it? 33 Did any other people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and stay alive? 34 Or has God ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from the very bowels of another nation, by means of ordeals, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and great terrors — like all that Adonai your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 This was shown to you, so that you would know that Adonai is God, and there is no other beside him. 36 From heaven he caused you to hear his voice, in order to instruct you; and on earth he caused you to see his great fire; and you heard his very words coming out from the fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt with his presence and great power, 38 in order to drive out ahead of you nations greater and stronger than you, so that he could bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is the case today; 39 know today, and establish it in your heart, that Adonai is God in heaven above and on earth below — there is no other. 40 Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land Adonai your God is giving you forever.”
Psalm 77:12 (11) So I will remind myself of Yah’s doings;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
13 (12) I will meditate on your work
and think about what you have done.
14 (13) God, your way is in holiness.
What god is as great as God?
15 (14) You are the God who does wonders,
you revealed your strength to the peoples.
16 (15) With your arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Ya‘akov and Yosef. (Selah)
21 (20) You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moshe and Aharon.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 16:24 Then Yeshua told his talmidim, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep following me. 25 For whoever wants to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life for my sake will find it. 26 What good will it do someone if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or, what can a person give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man will come in his Father’s glory, with his angels; and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct. 28 Yes! I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom!”
Friday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint Pio of Pietralcina "Padre Pio" (1887-1968), Capuchin
FSP, 119; Ep 3,441; CE,21; Ep 3,413
"Let him take up his cross, and follow me"
Christ does not ask you to carry the whole of his heavy cross during your life but only a small part of it, by accepting your suffering. You have nothing to fear. To the contrary, consider yourself happy to have been accounted worthy of taking your share in the sufferings of the Man-God. There is no question on the Lord's part of either abandonment or punishment; quite the opposite – it bears witness to his love, his great love for you. You must offer God thanks and accept to drink the chalice of Gethsemane.
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SAINT CAJETAN
Priest
(1480-1547)
Priest
(1480-1547)
St. Cajetan was born at Vicenza, in 1480, of pious and noble parents, who dedicated him to our blessed Lady. From childhood he was known as the Saint, and in later years as "the hunter of souls". A distinguished student, he left his native town to seek obscurity in Rome, but was there forced to accept office at the court of Julius II. On the death of that Pontiff he returned to Vicenza, and disgusted his relatives by joining the Confraternity of St. Jerome, whose members were drawn from the lowest classes; while he spent his fortune in building hospitals, and devoted himself to nursing the plague-stricken.
To renew the lives of the clergy, he instituted the first community of Regular Clerks, known as Theatines. They devoted themselves to preaching, the administration of the sacraments, and the careful performance of the Church's rites and ceremonies. St. Cajetan was the first to introduce the Forty Hours' Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as an antidote to the heresy of Calvin.
He had a most tender love for our blessed Lady, and his piety was rewarded, for one Christmas eve she placed the Infant Jesus in his arms. When the Germans, under the Constable Bourbon, sacked Rome, St. Cajetan was barbarously scourged, to extort from him riches which he had long before securely stored in heaven.
When St. Cajetan was on his death-bed, resigned to the will of God, eager for pain to satisfy his love, and for death to attain to life, he beheld the Mother of God, radiant with splendor and surrounded by ministering seraphim. In profound veneration, he said, "Lady, bless me!" Mary replied, "Cajetan, receive the blessing of my Son, and know that I am here as a reward for the sincerity of your love, and to lead you to paradise." She then exhorted him to patience in fighting an evil spirit who troubled him, and gave orders to the choirs of angels to escort his soul in triumph to heaven. Then, turning her countenance full of majesty and sweetness upon him, she said, "Cajetan, my Son calls thee. Let us go in peace."
Worn out with toil and sickness, he went to his reward in 1547.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]Saint Sixtus II
Facts
Death: 258
A Roman of Greek descent, Sixtus was elected to the papacy in 257. He repaired the rift between the sees of Rome and Carthage that had developed over the issue of baptism and rebaptism. Like his predecessor Stephen, Sixtus believed that baptism is a once-in-a-lifetime event, but unlike Stephen, Sixtus tolerated those who rebaptized. The martyrdom of St. Sixtus was dramatic. Forbidden to hold services, he and his deacons continued to worship in the chapel in the cemetary of Prćtextatus. One day in 258, as the pope preached, soldiers broke into the chapel and beheaded Sixtus. Four of his eight attendants were also beheaded. The authorities executed another three later that day. St. Lawrence was martyred four days later.
Book Deuteronomy 4:32 “Indeed, inquire about the past, before you were born: since the day God created human beings on the earth, from one end of heaven to the other, has there ever been anything as wonderful as this? Has anyone heard anything like it? 33 Did any other people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of a fire, as you have heard, and stay alive? 34 Or has God ever tried to go and take for himself a nation from the very bowels of another nation, by means of ordeals, signs, wonders, war, a mighty hand, an outstretched arm and great terrors — like all that Adonai your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 This was shown to you, so that you would know that Adonai is God, and there is no other beside him. 36 From heaven he caused you to hear his voice, in order to instruct you; and on earth he caused you to see his great fire; and you heard his very words coming out from the fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt with his presence and great power, 38 in order to drive out ahead of you nations greater and stronger than you, so that he could bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is the case today; 39 know today, and establish it in your heart, that Adonai is God in heaven above and on earth below — there is no other. 40 Therefore, you are to keep his laws and mitzvot which I am giving you today, so that it will go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you will prolong your days in the land Adonai your God is giving you forever.”
Psalm 77:12 (11) So I will remind myself of Yah’s doings;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
13 (12) I will meditate on your work
and think about what you have done.
14 (13) God, your way is in holiness.
What god is as great as God?
15 (14) You are the God who does wonders,
you revealed your strength to the peoples.
16 (15) With your arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Ya‘akov and Yosef. (Selah)
21 (20) You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moshe and Aharon.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 16:24 Then Yeshua told his talmidim, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep following me. 25 For whoever wants to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life for my sake will find it. 26 What good will it do someone if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or, what can a person give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man will come in his Father’s glory, with his angels; and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct. 28 Yes! I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom!”
Friday of the Eighteenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day:
Saint Pio of Pietralcina "Padre Pio" (1887-1968), Capuchin
FSP, 119; Ep 3,441; CE,21; Ep 3,413
Sometimes the Lord lets you feel the weight of the cross. This weight seems unbearable to you and yet you carry it because the Lord, who is full of love and mercy, holds out his hand to you and gives you the strength you need. Our Lord needs people who will suffer with him in the face of men's lack of piety. That is why he leads me along the painful paths you speak of in your letter. Yet may he be blessed for ever since his love puts sweetness into what is bitter; he changes the passing suffering of this life into merit for eternity.
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