According to unreliable sources, he was a Frank courtier who was converted by St. Remigius, refused the offer of a See from his godfather, King Clovis I, and became a monk at Micy. He lived as a hermit at Limoges and was rewarded by the king with all the land he could ride around on a donkey in a day for his prayers, which were believed to have brought the Queen through a difficult delivery safely. He founded Noblac monastery on the land so granted him, and it grew into the town of …
Month: November 2020
Prayer for a Sick Person: Prayer of the Day for Friday, November 06, 2020
Almighty and Eternal God,
You are the everlasting health of those who believe in You.
Hear us for Your sick servant (N…)
for whom we implore the aid of Your tender mercy,
that being restored to bodily health,
he (she) may give thanks to You in Your Church.
Through Christ our Lord.
Sinners Drew Near
We have all heard the story from today’s Gospel. Of course God wants to go after the one out of the ninety-nine. We have all heard that Christ is the Good Shepherd. But I want to focus on something in this Gospel that may be easily overlooked, the very first line.
We hear that the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to Jesus. Why was this, do we think? What drew them to Jesus? Was it his preaching, his miracles, the way he presented himself? It could have been a mix of any number of reasons, but I think it may have been that they could see he was different. He actually wanted to help them. He cared deeply about them.
Notice, they didn’t gather around him to be validated in their own sins, but even when Christ challenged them they continued to come back. They could see that he had their actual best interest at heart.
I think this example of evangelization is crucial for our world today. We tend to either dumb down the Gospel so much that it no longer has meaning or we want to hit people with it as if it’s a two by four with rusty nails sticking out.
Here, Jesus shows us the approach that is effective and gets to the heart of those we interact with. It’s the same as the story of the woman caught in adultery. He cared for her, loved her, showed her mercy, but then said to go and sin no more. That must have seemed like a simple and small request for the woman, seeing as her life was just spared.
Do we use the same approach when preaching the good news? Is it first good news? Do we find out about our friends, family, coworkers, and others before we try to evangelize? Classics are classics for a reason. And the classic way of evangelizing that Jesus used, seems like it may just still work. From all of us here at Rodzinka Ministry, God Bless!
Tommy Shultz is the Founder/Director of Rodzinka Ministry and the Director of Faith Formation for the North Allegan Catholic Collaborative. In these roles, he is committed to bringing all those he meets into a deeper relationship with Christ. Tommy has a heart and flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. With a degree in Theology from Franciscan University, Tommy hopes to use his knowledge to help all people understand the beauty of The Faith. Contact Tommy at tommy@rodzinkaministry.com or check out his website at rodzinkaministry.com.
St. Elizabeth: Saint of the Day for Thursday, November 05, 2020
What we know of St. Elizabeth comes from the Gospel, the book of Luke, in particular. In Luke, Elizabeth, a daughter of the line of Aaron, and the wife of Zechariah, was “righteous before God” and was “blameless” but childless. Elizabeth is also a cousin to the Virgin Mary.
Zechariah, desiring a child, went to pray in the temple and was told by the angel Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He …
Prayer to Saint Michael for Powerful Aid: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, November 05, 2020
Glorious Prince of the heavenly hosts
and victor over rebellious spirits,
be mindful of me who am so weak and sinful
and yet so prone to pride and ambition.
Lend me, I pray,
thy powerful aid in every temptation and difficulty,
and above all do not forsake me
in my last struggle with the powers of evil.
Amen.
Rejoice! You’ve Got a Cross to Carry!
Are you happy?
A simple question really. If you are someone who says “yes”, good for you. Now, examine yourself. Why? What makes you happy? Are you truly happy or is it an illusion?
Now, if you answered “no”, same thing. Why? What makes you unhappy? Is it really a big deal? Why does an event or a thing, a part of the great plan of God, make you sad?
The mess of our times – with politics, with Covid – is the result of unhappiness, dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with the laws, with our nation’s leaders, with the virus, and with God.
Then the question becomes how do we fix this mess?
Let’s take a look at the Gospel.
The thing that sticks out and confuses many Catholics in this passage is this line: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
At first glance, that doesn’t sound like fixing things.
Why would Jesus tell us to hate these things, these people? I mean, isn’t Jesus all about love?
Don’t worry. Jesus doesn’t mean literally hate. He is God. He is Love. What He means is that we should love God so much that all our other loves will look like hate compared to His.
Now, you may be thinking, “Isn’t that a bit selfish of God to want everyone to love Him above their wives, children, and family?”
No. Look at it this way.
Is it selfish of your spouse if they want you to love them more than a cookie? Even if the cookie is the most perfectly baked cookie on the face of planet earth?
No. Of course not.
Now, I’m not saying that your spouse is a cookie, to make that quite clear, but what I am saying is that it is that way for God. We are like cookies compared to His greatness.
Later he says “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
Easy enough, right?
Sort of.
We hear it all the time. But do we actually do it? Do we meet the challenges, the crosses that are put in front of us? Do we embrace them with open arms like Jesus did?
We should.
If you were one of the people who answered “no” to the happy question at the beginning, found that your happiness was an illusion, or are just going about your day like a normal person, take up your cross. Whatever it may be. You see, the readings of today are all about doing something. Not feeling something, not thinking something, doing something. Now, what use is all of this, all these nuggets of wisdom, if we don’t actually do it? That is Jesus’ point. Do it. Take up that cross and rejoice. The action is what matters in the long run.
Perpetua Phelps is a high school student residing in West Michigan and is the second of four children. Apart from homeschooling, Perpetua enjoys volunteering at her church, attending retreats, studying Latin and French, and reading classics such as Beowulf, The Lord of the Rings, C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, and Mark Twain’s Joan of Arc. She also spends much time writing novels, essays, and poetry for fun and competition. A passionate Tolkien fan, Perpetua is a founding member of a Tolkien podcast.
St. Charles Borromeo: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, November 04, 2020
Saint Charles Borromeo was born on October 2, 1538 at the castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore near Milan. His father was the Count of Arona and his mother a member of the House of Medici. He was the third of six children born to the couple.
At the age of 12, the young Count Charles Borromeo dedicated himself to a life of service to the Church. His uncle gave to him the family income from the Benedictine abbey of Saints Gratinian and Felinus. Even as a youth, his integrity was obvious. He was …
Prayer to St. Dymphna – Perseverance: Prayer of the Day for Wednesday, November 04, 2020
Most faithful St. Dymphna, you remained true to your baptismal promises to the very end. You are, therefore, honored, known, and loved after 1,400 years by people you have aided all over the world. We do not know how long or short a time is left to us of this life here, but help us in any case to be faithful to God to the end. Please gain for us the grace to live one day at a time as if each were to be our last. Amen.
The Price of Humility
Today’s First Reading is one of my all-time favorites. I grew up going to Youth 2000 retreats with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFRs) in the Bronx. I will never forget the first time I heard this reading. I had probably *heard* it a thousand times before, but it struck such a chord with me that night as it was chanted. I still remember the exact tune, 15+ years later. It is crazy how some things just make an impression on you.
God was speaking to me in that soft voice of the Friar singing these words of St. Paul. Up until that point in my life, I had not really contemplated the humility of Jesus Christ, probably because humility is a hard virtue for me to grasp. Pride is one of the biggest struggles in my life, and I am constantly fighting my concupiscence to choose humility.
And then I look at Jesus, the most powerful being in all of existence. Even though He was God, He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. What does that actually mean? It means that He did not consider His power or omnipotence hindrances to offering Himself to the Father for our sake. He emptied Himself of Himself. What does this mean? It means that He, who lacked nothing, chose humanity. He chose to become one of us — a nothing!
Christ could have come to this earth with fire and brimstone, on a golden chariot in all of His Divine Glory, power, and wealth. But He came as a “still small voice.” Who is discriminated against the most in our world today? The unborn babies. And yet who did Jesus come as? A poor, helpless babe.
Jesus chose to be dependent on a human mother and father. What is the root of the breakdown of our society? The downfall of the familial structure.
Furthermore, He was treated as nothing more than a slave; persecuted, beaten, and eventually executed. He chose death for us. That, my friends, is the price of humility.
And that is why, at the sound of the name of Jesus, every man in Heaven, in Hell, and on earth should fall to their knees. Paul calls to mind David’s words in today’s Psalm when He makes this claim, “ The whole wide world will remember and return to Yahweh, all the families of nations bow down before him. For to Yahweh, ruler of the nations, belongs kingly power!
All…on earth will bow before him, all who go down to the dust will do reverence before him. And those who are dead, their descendants will serve him, will proclaim his name to generations.” Even the demons cower in awe and reverence of Him! That is the glory, the honor, and the praise that is due only to Jesus Christ, because in Him alone is the Father “well pleased”. And that is the return for humility.
Sarah Rose hails from Long Island and graduated from Franciscan University in 2016 with a Bachelor’s in Theology & Catechetics. She is happily married to her college sweetheart John Paul. They welcomed their first child, Judah Zion, in 2019. She is passionate about her big V-vocation: motherhood, and her little v-vocation: bringing people to encounter Christ through the true, the good, and the beautiful. She loves fictional novels, true crime podcasts/documentaries, the saints (especially Blessed Chiara Luce Badano), & sharing conversation over a good cup of coffee. She is currently the Coordinator of Young Adult Ministry at St. Cecilia Church in Oakley, Cincinnati. You can find out more about her ministry here: https://eastsidefaith.org/young-adult OR at https://www.facebook.com/stceciliayam.
St. Martin de Porres: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, November 03, 2020
St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru on December 9, 1579. Martin was the illegitimate son to a Spanish gentlemen and a freed slave from Panama, of African or possibly Native American descent. At a young age, Martin’s father abandoned him, his mother and his younger sister, leaving Martin to grow up in deep poverty. After spending just two years in primary school, Martin was placed with a barber/surgeon where he would learn to cut hair and the medical arts.
As Martin grew older, he …