.: 09/27/21

Monday, September 27, 2021

† " ...The Intention of their Hearts . . ."

†Saint Quote
""All the science of the Saints is included in these two things: To do, and to suffer. And whoever has done these two things best, has made himself most saintly."
— Saint Francis de Sales

† MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"By accepting the sufferings 'offered' by life and allowed by God for our progress and purification, we spare ourselves much harder ones. We need to develop this kind of realism and, once and for all, stop dreaming of a life without suffering or conflict. That is the life of heaven, not earth. We must take up our cross and follow Christ courageously every day; the bitterness of that cross will sooner or later be transformed into sweetness."
— Fr. Jacques Philippe, p. 49
AN EXCERPT FROM
Interior Freedom

† VERSE OF THE DAY
"Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me."
John 14:23-24

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SAINT OF THE DAY

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
St. Vincent de Paul (1581–1660) was born in France to a peasant farming family. As a child he grew up herding sheep, and showed such an aptitude for his studies that his father sold the family oxen to fund his seminary education. After his ordination in 1600, St. Vincent worked in Toulouse as a tutor to pay for his doctorate. In 1605, while traveling by sea, he was captured by Turkish pirates. He was taken to Tunis in Africa and sold into slavery four times before escaping in 1607 along with his master, whom he had converted to the faith. St. Vincent then continued his studies in Rome, and afterwards returned to France. He served as a parish priest and ministered to the nobility; however, two life-changing encounters with destitute people inspired him to begin work among the poor and marginalized. He gathered the wealthy women of his parish to collect funds for missionary projects. From this group came the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. He also founded an Order of priests, the Vincentians, who, during a time of general laxity and ignorance among the clergy, devoted themselves to the Evangelical Councils while serving in small towns and villages. He committed himself to the education of priests and conducted many retreats for their spiritual formation. He also ministered to convicts suffering deplorable conditions in prison, and won many to the faith in addition to building them a hospital. St. Vincent renewed the faith of France during a time of spiritual crisis. For this he was named the patron of charitable works. He is also the patron of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, an organization dedicated to the service of the poor, now working in 132 countries. His feast day is September 27th.

Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest

• Readings for the Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, priest

Reading I Zec 8:1-8

This word of the LORD of hosts came:

Thus says the LORD of hosts:
I am intensely jealous for Zion,

stirred to jealous wrath for her.

Thus says the LORD:
I will return to Zion,

and I will dwell within Jerusalem;
Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city,

and the mountain of the LORD of hosts,

the holy mountain.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women,

each with staff in hand because of old age,

shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem.
The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:

Even if this should seem impossible

in the eyes of the remnant of this people,

shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also,

says the LORD of hosts?
Thus says the LORD of hosts:

Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun,

and from the land of the setting sun.
I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem.
They shall be my people, and I will be their God,

with faithfulness and justice.

Responsorial Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23
R. (17) The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,

and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion

and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,

and not despised their prayer.
R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
Let this be written for the generation to come,

and let his future creatures praise the Lord:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,

from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,

to release those doomed to die."
R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
The children of your servants shall abide,

and their posterity shall continue in your presence.
That the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion;

and his praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together,

and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.

Alleluia Mk 10:45

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 9:46-50

An argument arose among the disciples
about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child
and placed it by his side and said to them,
"Whoever receives this child in my name receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest."
Then John said in reply,
"Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name
and we tried to prevent him
because he does not follow in our company."
Jesus said to him,
"Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."

Daily Meditation: Luke 9:46-50

The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest. (Luke 9:48)

St. Vincent de Paul, whom we celebrate today, liked to tell his followers, "Go to the poor. You will find God." But Vincent knew that sometimes we can harbor attitudes of judgment or superiority toward the people we are trying to help, and that can make them feel small or ashamed. That's why Vincent added, "It is for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give them." In other words, if we approach people with humility and love when we are serving them, we will be careful to treat them with reverence. We will encounter God in them and discover that the least among us is actually the greatest (Luke 9:48).

Here are a couple of examples of just this process.

Joe volunteered at the local food pantry. One man returned week after week complaining about the bread. Joe decided that instead of being annoyed with the man, he would learn his name and pay closer attention to his needs and preferences. When Joe set aside a package of soft rolls with the man's favorite filling, he was met with a cheerful grin. "You know," he told Joe, "I'm not homeless. This city is my home. I just don't have a roof over my head right now." The ensuing conversation blessed Joe with new understanding and perspective.

Carol took the time to call and check in on a homebound widow from her parish. She was touched when the woman asked about her own concerns and promised to put them on her prayer list. But when she called a couple of months later to check in again, Carol was surprised that the woman asked about her prayer intentions. Even more, she realized that if the woman hadn't asked, she might have overlooked the way God had answered those faithful prayers.

Jesus comes to meet us in the "least among us," who are truly the greatest. Let's take the risk of going out to the poor so that we can, as St. Vincent says, "Find God."

"Jesus, I don't want to miss the opportunities to meet you in those the world might consider least."

Zechariah 8:1-8
Psalm 102:16-23, 29

Listen to 2cents

From Today's Holy Scripture:
"Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women,

each with staff in hand because of old age,

shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem.
The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:

Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun,

and from the land of the setting sun.
I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem.
They shall be my people, and I will be their God,

with faithfulness and justice."
They say there is no solar sun in Heaven, because God is the light, and there is no darkness. We must believe, and we must flock to the light of Christ, that is, to live the light of Christ.

We pray in Psalms:
"The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,

and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion

and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,

and not despised their prayer."

Our Lord speaks:
"For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest."

Nobody likes to be a doormat, nor do they like to be a human punching bag, and much less everyone's toilet to get dumped on, beat up, or to get walked all over...right?
I mean, at which point is there dignity? At what point is there human rights? And at what point is one allowing themselves to be such things....for the sake of the Kingdom of God?
And such is what our Lord asks us today. Who wishes to be the greatest?
Then be the least. The least remembered. Them most forgotten. The one less noticed. The one giving glory to others. The one giving all credit to God and others. The one who is a slave AND a friend. Is it possible to be a slave of Christ and a friend of Christ? All things are possible to one who believes.

From Bishop Barron today:
"Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that he will be rejected by men who will kill him and then he will rise from the dead. Having just heard a vision of self-forgetting love, the disciples commence to argue about which of them is the greatest.

At this point, Jesus proposes a solution. He sets a little child in their midst and says, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." What are children capable of? They are capable of being commanded. They have not yet learned the path of disobedience.

Also, little children are able to live radically in the present moment, to be lost in play or in the contemplation of something beautiful. Most of us live either in the past (savoring faded glory or licking old wounds) or in the future (aspiring, hoping, fearing what might come). But God is available, grace is available now.

Anthony de Mello's image is apt here: most of us are like people on a bus, passing through the most beautiful country imaginable, but we have the shades drawn and are arguing about who has first place on the bus!"

from your brother in Christ,
Adrian