He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 

and has lifted up the lowly. 

He has filled the hungry with good things, 

and the rich he has sent away empty.

LISTEN TO TODAYS READING

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

View 1st Reading and Psalm

Gospel text (Mt 22:34-40): When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

“You shall love the Lord, your God... You shall love your neighbor as yourself”

Thoughts on Today's Gospel

• “You want me to tell you why and in what measure God is to be loved. I reply, the reason for loving God is God himself, and the measure, is to love without measure” (Bernard of Clairvaux)
• "Nothing should come before the service of God. Such "submission" to God is not destructive of the creature. The creation is configured in such a way that it invites this adoration. The rhythm of our life only vibrates correctly if it is imbued with this force" (Benedict XVI)
• “To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name. The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 2097)

Life in Christ: Catechism #2371

"Let all be convinced that human life and the duty of transmitting it are not limited by the horizons of this life only: their true evaluation and full significance can be understood only in reference to man's eternal destiny."

Peace be with you!

Thank you for joining us in praying the St. Monica Novena! 

Before we begin, the online Pray More Healing Retreat has begun! You can join us here.

Throughout this novena, let's be inspired by the example of St. Monica's persistent prayers.

When St. Monica was praying for her son's conversion (she prayed for more than 15 years for this), she prayed, fasted, and even asked clergy to talk with him -- to argue with him. But they assured her it was useless after so many years. 

It turns out, though, that they were wrong, and that nothing was impossible with God.

St. Monica's prayers made a difference, and eventually, her son, St. Augustine, converted. Her husband and mother-in-law, who were both pagan, also converted because of her prayers and example. 

Today, we would like to start this novena by praying for something we need to persistently pray for: for peace. As St. Monica prayed for her son, St. Augustine, to experience a conversion, we would like to pray for all people who are inflicting violence around the world. Let's pray that they may also experience a conversion, that the violence will stop through the intercession of St. Monica, and that peace will reign.  

You can share your prayer intentions with us all here.

Here are the prayers for today:

Day 1 - St. Monica Novena

(Audio/Video Version)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Saint Monica, you were once the mournful mother of a prodigal son. Your faithfulness to prayer brought you and your son so close to God that you are now with him in eternity. By your intercession and God’s grace, your son St. Augustine became a great and venerable Saint of the Church. Please take my request to God with the same fervor and persistence with which you prayed for your own son.

(Mention your intentions here)

With your needs, worries and anxieties, you threw yourself on the mercy and providence of God. Through sorrow and pain, you constantly devoted yourself to God. Pray for me, that I might join you in such a deep faith in God’s goodness and mercy.

Above all, dear Saint Monica, pray for me, that I may, like your son, turn from my sin and become a great saint for the glory of God. 

Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Reflect

Jaime Hilario Barbal’s (1898-1937) hearing had deteriorated so much that the Spanish De La Salle brother was forced to give up teaching Latin. He was serving as a gardener when he was arrested during the Spanish Civil War, and his attorneys encouraged him to say that was his occupation. But Jaime refused, instead declaring himself a religious brother. Consequently he was executed by a firing squad.

Pray

Saint Jaime, you likely could have escaped martyrdom

by not telling the full truth, but you embraced who you were.

Please pray for me to do the same in difficult situations.

Act

Own your faith in at least one of your conversations today.

Saint John Eudes' Story

How little we know where God’s grace will lead. Born on a farm in northern France, John died at 78 in the next “county” or department. In that time, he was a religious, a parish missionary, founder of two religious communities, and a great promoter of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

John joined the religious community of the Oratorians and was ordained a priest at 24. During severe plagues in 1627 and 1631, he volunteered to care for the stricken in his own diocese. Lest he infect his fellow religious, during the plague he lived in a huge cask in the middle of a field.

At age 32, John became a parish missionary. His gifts as a preacher and confessor won him great popularity. He preached over 100 parish missions, some lasting from several weeks to several months.

In his concern with the spiritual improvement of the clergy, John realized that the greatest need was for seminaries. He had permission from his general superior, the bishop, and even Cardinal Richelieu to begin this work, but the succeeding general superior disapproved. After prayer and counsel, John decided it was best to leave the religious community.

That same year John founded a new community, ultimately called the Eudists—the Congregation of Jesus and Mary--devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries. The new venture, while approved by individual bishops, met with immediate opposition, especially from Jansenists and some of his former associates. John founded several seminaries in Normandy, but was unable to get approval from Rome—partly, it was said, because he did not use the most tactful approach.

In his parish mission work, John was disturbed by the sad condition of prostitutes who sought to escape their miserable life. Temporary shelters were found, but arrangements were not satisfactory. A certain Madeleine Lamy, who had cared for several of the women, one day said to him, “Where are you off to now? To some church, I suppose, where you’ll gaze at the images and think yourself pious. And all the time what is really wanted of you is a decent house for these poor creatures.” The words, and the laughter of those present, struck deeply within him. The result was another new religious community, called the Sisters of Charity of the Refuge.

John Eudes is probably best known for the central theme of his writings: Jesus as the source of holiness; Mary as the model of the Christian life. His devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart led Pope Pius XI to declare him the father of the liturgical cult of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Reflection

Holiness is the wholehearted openness to the love of God. It is visibly expressed in many ways, but the variety of expression has one common quality: concern for the needs of others. In John’s case, those who were in need were plague-stricken people, ordinary parishioners, those preparing for the priesthood, prostitutes, and all Christians called to imitate the love of Jesus and his mother.

• Why the Vatican's Secretariat of State Is Set to Face a Trial in the UK Over the London Property Deal
• The Relics St. Helena Brought to Rome from the Holy Land
• Each of Louisiana's Abortion Clinics Are Leaving the State
• UN: China's Mistreatment of the Uyghurs Amounts to Modern-Day Slavery
• Arlington Bishop Offers Path Forward After Implementing Traditional Latin Mass Restrictions

Forming “Warriors and Adventurers” in Christ’s Army

David G. Bonagura, Jr.: We must constantly point out the falsity of secular dogmas and explain why they are wrong, and we have to teach children what we believe and why we believe it.

We all know the grim statistics: a mere quarter of Catholics attend Mass each Sunday. Half of those do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The three-quarters who do not go are essentially unchurched; their understanding of the faith is shaped mostly by childish caricatures and distortions from media and pop culture.

      Taking these facts alone, the odds of our children and grandchildren navigating this gauntlet and remaining practicing Catholics are not good, to put it mildly. Kids, as we know, are disproportionately influenced by what their peers do – and do not do. Couple this reality with the fact that nearly all their activities, from their hours on screens to classroom instruction, sports, and extracurriculars, occur with no reference to God. It’s not hard to wonder why kids don’t think religion is “cool” – none of their friends or the people they see in media seem to even think about it.  

Click here to read the whole story !

My Morning Offering

My Father hallowed be thy name.

My Father your will be done.

My Father Forgive me.

My Father protect my family.

My Father thank you.

Jesus I Love You.

Jesus I Adore You.

Jesus I Praise You.

Jesus I Trust You.

Holy Spirit Come Fill the Hearts and Souls of My Family and bring them close to you.

Holy Spirit Make My Faith Strong.

Holy Spirit Give Me The Courage to Hope.

Holy Spirit Teach Me To Love as you love.

Holy SpiritGive me The Grace To Do Your Will This Day.

Mother Mary,Joseph and all the angels and saints please intercede for all the petitions of the Pope and the holy church this day.

Quote of the Day

"Just as in one man there is one soul and one body, yet many members; even so the Catholic Church is one body, having many members. The soul that quickens this body is the Holy Spirit; and therefore in the Creed after confessing our belief in the Holy Spirit, we are bid to believe in the Holy Catholic Church."

–St. Augustine 

Today's Meditation

“There are two loves, the love of God and the love of the world. If the love of the world takes possession of you, there is no way for the love of God to enter into you. Let the love of the world take the second place, and let the love of God dwell in you. Let the better love take over.”

—St. Augustine, p. 34