Churches of the Day

Friday, Seventh Week of Easter

Paul is now on his way to Rome. Jesus foretells Peter's last days which will also be in Rome.

Saint of the Day: 22 May; St Rita of Casia ; Religious|
C/f A short life of be this saint can found below todays' Readings and Reflection.

 FIRST READING

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.       25:13-21
A dead man called Jesus whom Paul alleged to be alive.














Gospel Acclamation           Jn 14:26
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and
remind you of all I have said to you.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL
The Lord be with you             And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 21:15-19           Glory to you, O Lord
Feed my lambs, feed my sheep






Reflection         Friday,         Seventh Week of Easter,                  John 21:15-19
At the last supper, according to the gospel of John, Jesus announced to his disciples that he loved them as the Father loved him. Jesus went on to call on his disciples to remain in his love. Jesus would love them to the end; his love for them would be faithful. He asked in return that their love for him would be faithful. However, Peter did not remain in Jesus’ love; his love for Jesus did not turn out to be faithful, as he denied Jesus three times. That is the context for the risen Lord asking Peter the question three times, in today’s gospel reading, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’

Jesus was giving Peter the opportunity to renew his love, to come home to the Lord’s love, and remain in his love once more. Only then could Peter be given the responsibility of the pastoral care of the Lord’s flock, the other disciples. Jesus made no mention of Peter’s denials. He simply invited him to renew his love. The Lord does not hold our failings against us. When we drift out of his love, when we deny him by our way of life, he always gives us the opportunity to renew our love for him.

He personally asks us the same question he asked Peter, ‘Do you love me?’ and, in prayer, we can give the answer Peter gave, ‘Lord, you know I love you’. The Lord then asks us to express our love for him by taking care of others, by acting as a good shepherd to those who need our pastoral care. The Lord needs us all to share in some way in his work of pastoral care, but, firstly, he needs us to keep renewing our own personal love of him. It is our loving communion with the Lord that allows him to work through us.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saint of the Day: 22 May; St Rita of Casia ; Religious

Rita was born in 1381 at Rocca Porena (Italy); died on this day in 1457 at her convent in Cascia. Obedient to the will of elderly parents, she accepted an abusive husband and remained faithful for eighteen years until his violent death. When her two sons died soon after, she became an Augustinian nun. She was noted for her life of penance and her suffering and working for peace. 



Married at twelve, Rita endured eighteen years of a violent marriage. After her husband's death, despite an initial refusal, she succeeded miraculously in entering the Augustinian convent where she spent the next forty years.

Patrick Duffy tells her story.

A Violent Marriage
Born at Roccaporena, near Spoleto, in Umbria, Italy, Rita wished in childhood to become a nun, but out of respect for her parents wishes she married Paolo Mancini, a quick-tempered man with many enemies, who was notoriously violent and unfaithful. They had two sons. Rita endured insults and infidelity for eighteen years till one day Paolo was brought home dead after being murdered in a revenge-killing. His sons wanted to take further revenge, but they both died before they could do it.

A Miraculous Entry into the Convent
In 1407, Rita, then a widow, wanted to enter the Augustinian convent at Cascia, but the nuns refused, fearing her husband's family and their rivals. Rita succeeded in reconciling with her husband's family and their rivals, but the prioress still said no. However, Rita started a campaign of prayer which resulted in her miraculous entry. During the night, when the doors to the monastery were locked and the sisters were asleep, her patron saints 'Saint John the Baptist, Saint Augustine, and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino' appeared to her and miraculously transported her inside the convent. When the nuns found her inside the convent in the morning and heard how she entered, they felt they could not turn her away.

Devotion to Jesus' Passion
Rita remained there, living by the Augustinian Rule, and giving herself to intense meditation on the passion of Jesus until her death. After twenty-five years of religious life, a wound appeared on her forehead as if she had been pierced by a crown of thorns. This continued unhealed for fifteen years. Meanwhile Rita devoted herself to caring for sick nuns and counselling sinners.

Death and Influence
Rita's last years found her confined to bed as an invalid and she died of tuberculosis in 1457. Her reputation for miracles and holiness led to her incorrupt body being translated to a tomb that survives till today. She was beatified in 1626 by Pope Urban VIII and canonised in 1900 by Pope Leo XIII. Probably because of her miraculous entry into the convent, her cult as the patron of the impossible flourishes widely today. She is also regarded as a patron of those suffering violence and abuse in marriage. A special event at Roccaporena and Cascia is the blessing of roses on her feast day.

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Memorable Sayings for Today

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

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Saints of the Day: June 6:  1. St Norbert, and  2. St Jarlath, bishops

Summary : St Norbert, bishop: Born in the Rhineland (Germany) about 1080; died at Magdeburg on this day in 1134. A cleric in minor orders, he converted from a comfortable life in 1115, was ordained to the presbyterate, and took up a life of poverty. Founded a community of canons at Prémontré (France), austere in discipline and active in pastoral ministry. Later, as Archbishop of Magdeburg, he resisted the alienation of Church property. Noted for his zealous reform of clerical life and for the example of his attachment to the values of the gospel.

The image (<left) is of a commemorative postage stamp depicting St Norbert, who was the founder of the canons of Prémontré, and an indefatigable campaigner against heresy, schism and corruption in the Church.
Patrick Duffy traces St Norbert's life.

Youth and Conversion
Born 1080 at Xanten in Lorraine, France, on the east bank of the Rhine, Norbert belonged to a noble family related to the Emperor, and worked at the Emperor's court. Although he became a subdeacon and was canon at 30, he lived quite a worldly and pleasure-filled life until a violent thunderstorm led to his conversion. Influenced by the Benedictine monks of Siegburg, he renounced wealth for poverty, and was ordained a priest in 1115.

Enthusiastic Reformer 
The enthusiasm of Norbert's reforming spirit did not endear him to the clergy of Xanten, who denounced him. However, he travelled widely as an itinerant preacher and was encouraged in this by Pope Gelasius II (1119-20) who was then in Languedoc. He was soon requested by the Bishop of Cambrai to go and combat heresies in the Low Countries where the sacred species had been stolen and profaned. Because of this, Norbert as a saint has been proclaimed the Apostle of Antwerp, and the feast of his triumph over the sacramentarian heresy is celebrated in the archdiocese of Brussels-Mechelen on 11th July.

Foundation at Prémontré
A chance meeting with the young priest Hugh of Fosse, then in the service of Bishop Burchard of Cambray, and appointed to nurse Norbert while convalescing from illness, led to the first foundation of the Norbertine Order in the valley of Prémontré near Laon in Northern France. Here Norbert, Hugh and a few monks lived at first in huts of wood and clay.

Forty Companions Join
Within a few months 40 companions joined them and on Christmas Day 1121, they made profession of vows, choosing a very austere regime of according to a rule of St Augustine. This was the beginning of the Canons of Prémontré of which Hugh became the first abbot. Norbert was in close contact with and was influenced by the Cistercian founder, St Bernard. His own monks had a great influence on the reform of the conventual clergy in France and Germany. He also founded a third order of Norbertines for lay people.

Archbishop of Magdeburg
In 1126 while he was at the Diet of the Holy Empire at Speyer, Germany, the citizens of Magdeburg disagreed on the election of a new archbishop. In the end they elected Norbert by a unanimous vote. This gave him more influence in the cause of reform in the Church at large. Church property that had been given over to families was restored to the Church. And the example of his monks, some of whom he appointed to posts in the archdiocese, promoted the celibacy of the clergy.

To Italy to Defend Pope Innocent II
With St Bernard, Norbert persuaded the Emperor Lothair II to resist schism in the papacy and to champion the cause of Innocent II as legitimate pope. To this end he joined the emperor in marching to Italy against Pietro di Leone who had installed himself in Rome as an antipope, calling himself Anacletus II. Norbert himself attempted to win Pietro over by persuasion.

Dies at Magdeburg
After these strenuous efforts, he returned to Magdeburg a sick man and died there in 1134. His tomb became famous by the number of miracles performed there. He was canonised by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. His relics were transferred to the Premonstratensian abbey in Strahov, Bohemia in 1627.

Norbertine Canons in Ireland
The Norbertine Canons had one house in Ireland - the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity and St Norbert - at Kilnacrott, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.

(The last public Mass by a Norbertine priest in Ireland was celebrated on Sun. Sept, 25th, 2016. As of that date all public ministry by the Norbertines on the island of Ireland ceased due a  failure in their policy of Child  Safeguarding Practices.)

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Memorable Note for Today

Fellow disciples of Christ,
let us not underestimate the marvelous work
the Lord is doing through us... despite our shortcomings

                                                                                                                       ~ Reyna L. Aburto ~

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and 

St Jarlath, bishop

Summary: St Jarlath, bishop. Very little is known of Jarlath. His first foundation was in Clonfush near Tuam. Later he founded a monastery in Tuam. He is said to have taught Brendan of Clonfert and Colman of Cloyne. Jarlath is the abbot-bishop associated with the archdiocese of Tuam that includes parts of the counties of Mayo, Galway and Roscommon.

 Patrick Duffy looks at what is known about him.

From a Wealthy Family?
Not much is known about the life of Jarlath (Irish Iarfhlaith). He became a disciple of St Enda. The monasteries he founded, first at Cluain ois and Later at Tuam were renowned for their scholarship and learning.

However, Jarlath is regarded as the founder and patron saint of the archdiocese of Tuam in Galway, Ireland. From the second syllable of his name, fhlaith, meaning "lord", it could be taken that he came from a wealthy family; the meaning of the first syllable is unknown.

Cloonfush and Reputation
Jarlath is said to have studied under Benen (Benignus), a disciple of St Patrick, and under St Enda at Aran Isalnd. The Féilire of Aengus tells us that he was noted for his mortification, fasting, and prayer. He own first monastic foundation was at Cloonfush, some miles east of Tuam. Among his disciples there were Brendan of Clonfert and Colman of Cloyne.

While Jarlath was travelling in his chariot west from Cloonfush, the wheel of the chariot broke. A prophecy of St Brendan of Clonfert had foretold that this place where the wheel of the chariot would break would be the place where he would meet death. So Jarlath decided to found another monastic community here. From this incident, the chariot wheel has become the symbol of the town of Tuam.

The diocese was established by the twelfth-century synods of Rathbreasail and Kells, and subsequently became an archdiocese absorbing into it two other medieval dioceses: Annaghdown and Mayo.

Death and Feast
Jarlath died around 550. His feast is on 6th June.

St Jarlath's Window, Tuam Cathedral

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Memorable Sayings for Today

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, And the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And, until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

~ author unknown ~

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- Pentecost Vigil and Day Masses -

The Fifty Days of Easter conclude with the Celebration of Penetecost Sunday

Vigil Mass
(This Mass is celebrated on Saturday evening of Pentecost.
Anyone of the following readings from the Old Testament may be chosen)

I

FIRST READING (Anyone of the following readings from the Old Testament may be chosen)
A reading from the book of Genesis 11:1-9
It was named Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth.


Throughout the earth men spoke the same language, with the same vocabulary. Now as they moved eastwards they found a plain in the land of Shinar where they settled. They said to one another,
'Come, let us make bricks and bake them in the fire.' - For stone they used bricks, and for mortar they used bitumen. - 'Come,' they said. 'let us build ourselves a town and a tower with its top reaching heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, so that we may not be scattered about the whole earth.'

Now the Lord came down to see the town and the tower that the sons of man had built.
'So they are all a single people with a single language!' said the Lord. 'This is but the start of their undertakings! There will be nothing too hard for them to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their language on the spot so that they can no longer understand one another'.

The Lord scattered them thence over the whole face of the earth, and they stopped building the town. It was named Babel therefore, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth. It was from there that the Lord scattered them over the whole face of the earth.

The Word of the Lord      Thanks be to God.          

2 

A Reading from the book of Exodus  19:3-8. 16_20
The Lord came down on the mountain of Sinai,  and  called Moses to the top of the mountain.

Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, 'Say this to the House of Jacob, declare this to the sons of Israel,
"You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own, for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.
" Those are the words you are to speak to the sons of lsrael.'So Moses went and summoned the elders of the people, putting before them all that the Lord had bidden him. Then all the people answered as one, 'All that the Lord has said, we will do.'

Now at daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shook violehtly. Louder and louder grew the sound of the trumpet. Moses spoke, and God answered him with peals of thunder. The Lord came down on the mountain of Sinai, on the mountain top, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain.

The Word of the Lord                  Thanks be to God.

3

A Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel 37:1-14
Dry bones , I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live.


The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the Spirit of the Lord me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'You know, Lord'.
He said, 'Prophesy over these bones. Say, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord."'

I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, "The Lord says this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead; let them live!"' I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life again and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army.

Then he said, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, "Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead". So prophesy. Say to them, "The Lord says this:
I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel.  And you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this - it is the Lord who speaks."

The Word of the Lord      Thanks be to God.

4

A Reading from the Prophet  Joel 3:1-5
I will pour out my spirit on all people.

Thus says the Lord:
'I will pour out my spirit on all mankind.
Your sons and daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men see visions.
Even on the slaves, men and women, will I pour out my spirit in those days. I will display portents in heaven and on earth. blood. and fire and columns of smoke.'

The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the day of the Lord dawns, that great and terrible day.
All who calI on the name of the Lord will be saved,
for on Mount Zion there will be some who have escaped, as the Lord has said, and in Jerusalem some survivors whom the Lord will call.

Responsorial Psalm     Ps 103
Response                        Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or                                         Alleluia!

1. Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe!                                                       Response                   

2. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches. Bless the Lord, my soul.                                                     Response                   

3. All of these look to you to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up: you open your hand, they have their fill.                           Response

4. You take back your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.      Response                   

SECOND READING
A reading for the letter to the Romans  8:22-27
The Spirit himself  expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words.

From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free. For we must be content to hope that we shall be saved - our salvation is not in sight, we should not have to be hoping for it if it were - but, as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet - it is something we must wait for with patience.

The Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself  expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.

Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                             

The Lord be with you              And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to  John    7:37-39           Glory to you, O Lord
From his breast shall flow fountains of living water.


On the last day and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood there and cried out:
'If any man is thirsty, let him come to me! Let the man come and drink who believes in me!'

As scripture says: From his breast shall flow fountains of living water.
He was speaking of the Spirit which those who believed in him were to receive; for there was no Spirit as yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The Gospel of the Lord    Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Pentecost  Sunday Mass during the Day

FIRST READING 
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.  2:1-11
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and  the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.

Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. 'Surely' they said 'all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome- Jews and proselytes alike-Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.'

The Word of the Lord      Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm  Ps 103: 103:1. 24. 29-31  R/v 30 
Response :                     Send forth your Spirit, 0 Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or                                      Alleluia.

1. Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory, wrapped in light as in a robe!                                              Response                   

2. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches. Bless the Lord, my soul.                                                     Response                   

3. All of these look to you to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up: you open your hand, they have their fill.                           Response

4. You take back your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.        Response       

SECOND READING                 

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians  12:3-7. 12-13
It is in the one Spirit we were all baptised.

No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord' unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

SEQUENCE

Holy Spirit, Lord of light,
From the clear celestial height
Thy pure beaming radiance give.

Come, thou Father of the poor,
Come with treasures which endure;
Come, thou light of all that live!

Thou, of all consolers best,
Thou, the soul's delightful guest,
Dost refreshing peace bestow;

Thou in toil art comfort sweet;
Pleasant coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

Light immortal, light divine,
Visit thou these hearts ofthine,
And our inmost being fill:

If thou take thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay;
All his good is turned to ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

Thou, on us who evermore
Thee confess and thee adore,
With thy sevenfold gifts descend:

Give us comfort when we die;
Give us life with thee on high;
Give us joys that never end.      

Gospel Acclamation     
Alleluia, Alleluia!  
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love
Alleluia!

GOSPEL    ( Year A)

The Lord be with you                            And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John              20:19-23         Glory to you, O Lord
As the Father sent me, so am I sending you. 'Receive the Holy Spirit.

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them,
'Peace be with you', and showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again,
'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.'

After saying this he breathed on them and said:
'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'

The Gospel of the Lord    Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/




Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.