November, 2013 - The month of November is dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory,

A familiar fresco - I would like to identify it.

November, 2013 - Overview for the Month

 

The month of November is dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory, whose feast is celebrated on November 2. November falls during the liturgical season known as Ordinary Time and is represented by the liturgical color green.

The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of November 2013

General: That priests who experience difficulties may find comfort in their suffering, support in their doubts, and confirmation in their fidelity.

Missionary: That as fruit of the continental mission, Latin American Churches may send missionaries to other Churches. (See also www.apostleshipofprayer.net)

Feasts for November

The feasts on the General Roman Calendar celebrated during the month of November are:

1. All Saints, Solemnity
2. All Souls, Feast
3. Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday
4. Charles Borromeo, Memorial
9. Lateran Basilica, Feast
10. Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday
11. Martin of Tours; Veterans Day (USA), Memorial
12. Josaphat, Memorial
13. Frances Xavier Cabrini, Memorial
15. Albert the Great, Opt. Mem.
16. Margaret of Scotland; Gertrude, Opt. Mem.
17. Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday
18. Churches of Peter and Paul; Rose Philippine Duchesne (USA), Opt. Mem.
21. Presentation of Mary, Memorial
22. Cecilia, Memorial
23. Clement I; Columban; Bl. Miguel Agustín Pro (USA), Opt. Mem.
24. Christ the King, Solemnity
30. Andrew, Feast

Focus of the Liturgy

The Gospel readings for the Sundays in November 2013, are taken from St. Luke and are from Year C, Cycle 1.

November 3rd - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time	The Gospel relates the story of Jesus meeting with Zacchaeus.
November 10th - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time	Jesus says that "God is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."
November 17th - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time	In this Gospel Jesus talks about the end of the world.
November 24th - Solemnity of Christ the King	The Gospel recounts the story of the good thief.

Highlights of the Month

During November, as in all of Ordinary Time (Time After Pentecost), the Liturgy signifies and expresses the regenerated life from the coming of the Holy Spirit, which is to be spent on the model of Christ's Life and under the direction of His Spirit. As we come to the end of the Church year we are asked to consider the end times, our own as well as the world's. The culmination of the liturgical year is the Feast of Christ the King. "This feast asserts the supreme authority of Christ over human beings and their institutions.... Beyond it we see Advent dawning with its perspecitive of the Lord's coming in glory."— The Liturgy and Time, A.G. Mortimort

This month the main feasts are the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1), All Souls (November 2),St. Charles Borromeo, (November 4), Lateran Basilica (November 9), St. Martin of Tours,(November 11), St. Josaphat (November 12), St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (November 13), St. Albert the Great (November 15), Sts. Margaret of Scotland and Gertrude (November 16),Presentation of Mary (November 21), St. Cecilia (November 22), Sts. Clement I and St. Columban (November 23), the Solemnity of Christ the King (November 24), St. Catherine of Alexandria (November 25), and St. Andrew (November 30).

The feasts of St. Martin de Porres (November 3), St. Leo the Great (November 10), and St. Elizabeth of Hungary (November 17) are superseded by the Sunday Liturgy. The feast of St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions (November 24) is superseded by the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Thanksgiving

The national holiday (USA) of Thanksgiving also falls on the last Thursday of November. There is a special liturgy which may be used on this day. (Read more here.)

The tradition of eating goose as part of the Martin's Day celebration was kept in Holland even after the Reformation. It was there that the Pilgrims who sailed to the New World in 1620 became familiar with this ancient harvest festival. When, after one year in America, they decided to celebrate a three days' thanksgiving in the autumn of 1621, they went in search of geese for their feast. We know that they also had deer (a present from the Indians), lobsters, oysters, and fish. But Edward Winslow, in his account of the feast, only mentions that "Governor Bradford sent four men on fowling that so we might after a more special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labours." They actually did find some wild geese, and a number of wild turkeys and ducks as well.

.....

Exerpted from the Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, Francis X. Weiser

Thurs. 31 Oct. COMMENT: This exquisite and moving apostrophe was uttered in similar language in the Passion-week

COMMENT:
Luke Verse 34. - O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee! This exquisite and moving apostrophe was uttered in similar language in the Passion-week, just as Jesus was leaving the temple for the last time.

 

Thursday, 31 October 2013

Thursday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13:31-35.

Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, "Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you."
He replied, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I accomplish my purpose.
Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.'
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling!
Behold, your house will be abandoned. (But) I tell you, you will not see me until (the time comes when) you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

30th Thurs. Oct. As a hen gathers her chicks

----Forward Message---- 

From: Nivard ....

Subject: 30th Thursday As a hen gathers her chicks ...

 Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 ...

29 Thurs 23 Oct 13 Lk 12_49-53

Jesus said to them, "Go and tell that fox...   Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures.”

   

Dominus-Flevit-view-of-Jerusalem-Dawn

Jesus calls Herod a fox". Foxes are animals "that make havoc with the vineyards".

   

Jesus tells us how such damage occurs. _"You refused". Only our un-willingness can" come between us and the love of Christ".

   By our ‘yes’, God "will not refuse anything he can give" along with his Son.

   

In the First Reading St Paul says “We are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter" - sheep who "triumph" over the fox.

 "Father, Fill our hearts with love and mercy for others that we may boldly witness to the truth and joy of the gospel by word and example, through Christ our Lord."

+ + + 

Rabanus Maurus: No One Learns Anything through Speech unless the Mind is Anointed with the Spirit

Night Office 29/10/2013

COMMENT:  

The Night Office this morning gave us the First Reading from Rabanus Maurus. The commentary on Jeremiah has six weighty paragraphs in our Lectionary. The Internet version has a more helpful layout of sentences, i.e. §1-19.
The Website 'Enlarging the Heart' is a Link to some of the Readings from the 'Monastic Office Vigils', a resource of Patristic authors.

1. Jeremiah 36:32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to ...

   ... and he wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all ... gave it to Neriah's son Baruchthe scribe. He ... the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burnt ...

   biblehub.com/jeremiah/36-32.htm - Cached

Rabanus Maurus (c.780-856): Commentary on Jeremiah, 13 (PL 111:1073-75); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Tuesday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time, Year 1  

http://enlargingtheheart.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/raban-maur_alcuin_otgar.jpg

Rabanus Maurus: No One Learns Anything through Speech 

unless the Mind is Anointed with the Spirit 

 Monday, Nov 7 2011 

Early Latin Monks and MONASTIC and PATRISTIC and Rabanus Maurus grace, heart, Holy Spirit, interior life, mind, scripture Mark Armitage 8:55 am  

Rabanus Maurus (c 780 – 856) (left),
supported by Alcuin (c 735–804) (middle),
presents his work to Otgar of Mainz,
from a Carolingian Manuscript, c840.

(On Jeremiah 36)

In the Gospel he who is Truth himself says to his disciples:

1.     When you stand before kings and princes, do not think how you are to speak, or what you are to say; what you are to say will be given you at the time, for it is not you who will be speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

2.     We must realise that the grace of the Holy Spirit is necessary not only for those who teach but also for those who are taught.

3.     Unless the Spirit is present in the heart of the listener, the teacher is wasting his breath.

4.     Unless there is a teacher within us, the teacher without works in a vacuum.

5.     In Church we all hear the same voice speaking, but all do not understand it in the same way.

6.     Since there is no difference in what is said, why is there a difference in our understanding of it, unless there is an interior teacher giving certain people special instruction through their understanding of words of admonition addressed to all?

7.     Concerning this grace of the Holy Spirit, John says: His anointing will teach you everything.

8.     No one learns anything through speech, therefore, unless the mind is anointed with the Spirit.

9.     Because King Jehoiachim and his servants were not inwardly illumined by the grace of the Holy Spirit who inspired the Prophet, their bodily ears could hear the words of God, but the ears of the heart were deaf to them.

10.                        It is this interior listening which our Lord demands in the Gospel when he says: Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

11.                        One has to marvel at the blindness of the human mind and the wickedness of the hardened heart.

12.                        Those whom salutary admonitions should have filled with compunction and sorrow for their sins were at pains to burn the scroll containing the words of the Lord.

13.                        They also took every opportunity to insult the Prophet whom they ought to have honoured for his inspired teaching and admonitions.

14.                        And why did they do this? Was it not because there was in them the sort of wicked spirit that always resists grace – a spirit that contrived to produce in their hearts not subtle obedience but intractable obduracy so that they should not be saved by believing and doing penance?

15.                        Yet human pride is impotent when it sets itself to resist divine sovereignty.

16.                        An earthly King gave orders for the Prophet and his scribe to be arrested and sent to prison;

17.                        the King of heaven shielded his blameless saints from human malice so that they came to no harm.

18.                        Jeremiah took another scroll and gave to the scribe Baruch, son of Neriah, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the book that Jehoiakim King of Judah had burnt in the fire; and much more was added.

19.                        Why was this done if not because, when Judah was ejected by reason of its infidelity, the books of the law and the prophets were preserved for the salvation of the Gentiles, to whom on Christ’s coming passed the whole glory of the Old Testament; for all these things that happened to them were symbolic and they were written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the age has come.

Rabanus Maurus (c.780-856): Commentary on Jeremiah, 13 (PL 111:1073-75); from the Monastic Office of Vigils, Tuesday of Week 30 in Ordinary Time, Year 1  

• Benedict of Nursia

  But in process of time and growth of faith, when the heart has   once been enlarged, the way of God’s commandments is run with unspeakable sweetness of love.
• ~ Benedict of Nursia ~ [The 'ABOUT] of "Enlarging of the Heart",Website

Autumn - Overture Dawn. 29/10/2013 Romans 8:18-25

 

Autumn Dawn, flash reflection from the sun

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Tuesday of the Thirtieth week in Ordinary Time

Mass Introducrion

Fr. Aelred: 

Today’s Reading from the Letter to the Romans is about the expectation of glory. For St. Paul salvation means final salvation, that is, it includes the glorification of our bodies. And he pictures the whole of creation eagerly awaiting the glories revealing of the sons and daughters of God.  But not only the creation awaits it – we ourselves grain inwardly as we wait in hope. 

First Reading, Romans 8:18-25.

Brothers and sisters: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. 
For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God;for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope 
that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Gospel: Lule 13:18-21

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it?. . . 

Grateful to Saint Jude

Saint Jude Thaddeus

COMMENT:

And I Will Manifest Myself to Him

By

Dom Mark

 on May 7, 2007 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fifth Monday of Paschaltide
Acts 14:5–18
Psalm 113B:1–2, 3–4, 15–16 (R.1ab)
John 14:21–26
Grateful to Saint Jude
We are grateful to the Apostle Saint Jude for the marvelous dialogue recounted in today’s Gospel. Our Lord reveals what it means to love Him and to be loved by Him. He declares that anyone who loves Him will be loved by the Father. He promises to love the one who loves him and to manifest Himself to him. “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (Jn 14:21).
The Way of Love
Saint Jude doesn’t immediately grasp what Our Lord is saying. He cannot conceive of a way of knowing Christ apart from the obvious way given to all. Jude seems to think that it is enough to observe Jesus: something that everyone can do. That there should be a higher way of knowing, a more intimate way, the way of love, completely eludes him. “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” (Jn 14:22).
The Divine Indwelling
Our Lord explains that the manifestation of Himself to His disciples will be inseparable from His Father’s love for them. He promises a mysterious indwelling: “We will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23). He declares that anyone who loves Him will hold fast to His words. Those who let go of his words, those who fail to store them up in their hearts, will not enjoy the manifestation reserved to His friends. They will remain strangers to the joy of the indwelling of the Father and the Son.
Friends of the Sacred Heart
How can we not relate this Gospel to the tender love Our Lord revealed in manifesting Himself to the friends of His Sacred Heart over the centuries. To each one of them He said in a unique way, “Behold, I love you and manifest Myself to you, even as I promised.”
I am thinking above all of the Virgin Mother beneath whose own Pure Heart His Sacred Heart of flesh first began to beat. I am thinking of Saint John the Beloved Disciple who, inflamed by his experience of the Heart of Jesus, was compelled to write: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it” (1 Jn1:1–2).
I am thinking of Saint Bernard, Saint Gertrude, Saint Mechthilde, Saint Lutgarde, and Saint Bonaventure. I am thinking of Saint Margaret Mary and of Saint Claude la Colombière, of Mother Marie Adèle Garnier of Tyburn, Mother Clelia Merloni, and Blessed Marie de Jésus Deluil–Martiny; of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, and of Blessed Marie–Joseph Cassant. For each one of these men and women Our Lord fulfilled the promise he makes in today’s Gospel: “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (Jn 14:21).
A Gift Without Price
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, before being a gift of ours offered to Christ is a gift that He offers us. “If you but knew the gift of God!” (Jn 4:10). This is the clear teaching of Pope Pius XII in Haurietis Aquas: “We are perfectly justified in seeing in this same devotion . . . a gift without price which our divine Saviour . . . imparted to the Church, His mystical Spouse in recent centuries when she had to endure such trials and surmount so many difficulties” (HA, art. 2).
The Holy Spirit, First Gift of the Heart of Christ
For Pope Pius XII, the Holy Spirit is the first Gift from the Heart of the risen Christ. This too is announced in today’s Gospel: “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). The work of the Holy Spirit is threefold. (1) The Holy Spirit is our Advocate with the Father, “interceding for us with sighs too deeps for words” because “we do not know how to pray as we ought” (Rom 8:26). (2) The Holy Spirit is sent to teach us all things, that is, to make clear for us “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8). (3) The Holy Spirit is sent to quicken the memory of the Church, to bring to remembrance all that Christ said, lest any word of His be neglected or forgotten.
Advocate, Teacher, and Prompter
The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, our Teacher, and our Prompter. As Advocate, the Holy Spirit aligns us with the prayer of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the Father; “the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom 8:27), that is, according to the Heart of Christ. As Teacher, the Holy Spirit gives us “the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Eph 3:18); in a word, the Holy Spirit teaches us the Heart of Christ. As Prompter, the Holy Spirit calls to mind the words by which Christ communicates to us all “the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3) hidden in His Sacred Heart.

Thank you, Dom M
http://vultus.stblogs.org/sacred-heart-of-jesus/2007/05/

St. Jude statue

St. Jude, also called Thaddeus, was the Apostle who asked at the Lord at the Last Supper why he had manifested himself only if his disciples and not the whole world (Jn. 14:22)

A Saint of the day:    St. Jude (October 28)

Monday, 28 October 2013

Saint Simon and Saint Jude, apostles - Feast

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci

Tradition has it that Jude the Apostle, patron saint of lost causes, preached in Judea and Samaria and later Syria, Iraq and Libya, before being martyred in Beirut. According to legend King Abgar of the small Aramaic kingdom of Edessa wrote to Christ during-His lifetime offering Him sanctuary, to which Jesus replied with an image of himself, and after His death St Thomas sent Jude to the king, who was cured of his ailment (historically Edessa did have a Christian presence in the first century).

Leonardo da Vinci,  Last Supper positions

As a result, Jude is traditionally shown holding an image of Jesus by his heart. Alternatively, he is shown with a flame over his head, signifying his presence at Pentecost as one of the 70 who received the Holy Spirit. For obvious reasons his life story is somewhat patchy - as is his very identity.  ude the Apostle is sometime identified as Thaddeus, and is twice called Jude of James in the New Testament, and he may be the same as the "Jude , brother of Jesus", the traditional author of the Epistle of Jude.

One biography, although stemming from the 14th century and so of questionable veracity, states that Jude was born into a Jewish family in Galilee and was

the bridegroom at the wedding of Cana, and that his wife was a cousin of the Virgin Mary. (This is possible: it's likely that among Jesus's closest followers would have been relatives).

Jude, along with Bartholomew, is traditionally seen as bringing Christi­anity to Armenia, the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion. St Thaddeus Monastery in what is now northern Iran still stands today, on the grounds of a church that dates back to AD68, and Dominicans visitors to Armenia in the 13th century found a substantial devotion to

the saint.

He was martyred in AD65 along with Simon the Zealot. Sometime later his body was brought to Rome and placed in St Peter's Basilica, and he remains there with Simon. Along with many of the early relics, traditions abound about where they have remained down the years, including a lake in Kyrgyzstan.

Before that, though, it is said that pilgrims went to his grave and that he acquired the title "the Saint for the Hopeless and the Despaired". He is also, due to the influence of the Dominicans and Claretians in the American Midwest, the patron saint of the Chicago Police Department.

 

St. Jude storm 28 Oct 2013

St. Mary's Light House, Whitley Bay

 See commentary: 

  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20061011_en.html

BENEDICT XVI

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Saint Peter's Square
Wednesday, 11 October 2006

Simon and Jude

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, let us examine two of the Twelve Apostles: Simon the Cananaean and Jude Thaddaeus (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot). Let us look at them together, not only because they are always placed next to each other in the lists of the Twelve (cf. Mt 10: 3, 4; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13), but also because there is very little information about them, apart from the fact that the New Testament Canon preserves one Letter attributed to Jude Thaddaeus.    

COMMENT: Madre Antonia - Mexican Prison

Anne Marie Milwain

To Fr Donald

What a wonderful story.  I will share that.
Anne Marie
Sent from my iPad

On 27 Oct 2013, at 09:21, Fr Donald ... wrote.

+ + +

The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 4.8 out of 5 stars  40 reviews  

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't put this book down! 9 May 2005

By Jennifer Bender - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Hardcover

Mother Antonia is the essence of love, and yet she makes you laugh, makes you feel cherished, and makes you feel like a better person. She is so spunky and exudes life, and despite her small and short frame, she has stories that are so intense that it scares you, yet amazes you at how someone can love the unlovable so sincerely. This book captures her spirit and her overflowing love so well, and it also shows the other side of her, which is so courageous that she even stands up to some of Mexico's most notorious druglords. I wish that everyone could meet her, and that is why I am so excited that this book exists, so that everyone can have a chance to get to know what she is like. I read this book in a day because I could not put it down. There are so many on-the-edge-of-your-seat stories that it captures you. It made me think, laugh, cry, made me want to make more of my life, made me want to give, and helped me to love more. Mother Antonia is a gift and a blessing to everyone that meets her or reads her story.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Prison Angel 19 May 2005

By Edward A. Gargan - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Hardcover

Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan have written a rare and intimate book, one that traces the densely complex life of an american housewife from the glades of beverly hills to the cold and violent cells of a mexican prison; rare because journalists seldom plumb inner lives, and intimate because they lived with mother antonia in the prison where she works. this volume is rare as well because as much as it chronicles a life of consumate goodness, it does so within the harsh and often deadly atmosphere of mexican criminal life, the drug wars, vendettas, vengeance and betrayals. i read this book in one sitting; it cannot be put down.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book about forgiveness, altruism and compassion 31 Jan 2006

By Vianey Garcia - Published on Amazon.com

Format:Hardcover

First of all, I knew who Madre Antonia was because I live in Tijuana and almost everybody here knows her or has heard of her. So when I heard there was a book about her I got really excited and tried to get a hold of a copy.

This book is very inspirational. Mother Antonia is my friend's godmother and when M. Jordan talked to her about writing a book about her life, Mother Antonia went to talk to my friend's dad (who had been the prison director before)and asked him what he thought about the idea of having a book about her work, she thought it wasn't right to tell everybody "Oh look all the things I've done", she just didn't want to feel like she was bragging about her actions, but my friend's dad told her that she didn't need to see it that way, she could see it as an inspiration for others to follow her steps. And I think it is exactly what this book is.

Mother Antonia gave up alot of things and decided to move into "La Peny" how people from Tijuana refer to La Mesa Prison. And like she said it's not self-sacrifice because what she does she does it with love and she enjoys it. This American nun is very sweet, she is always smiling, when you talk to her she always smiles. She bring help and warmth to prisioners, poor people and just anyone who looks for her and finds her.

This book definetely makes us think about how selfish we can be, sometimes we just live in our world thinking we have it all and don't even think about help the ones the have nothing. I'm going to be honest and say that this book made me feel really selfish. In fact, I already chose some stuff I'm going to take to Madre Antonia, you can just give her things and she will find people that need it. I felt bad because I told her I was going to bring her some things about a year ago and I didn't (being 10 minutes away from her ~_~) so now I'm definetely going to do it.

There were a lot of sentences that caught my attention, but right now I'm going to share only one:
"Look up into the sky and see a billion planets, and you'll see what power is. It doesn't come from a wallet or a weapon" Madre Antonia p.179

I recommended this book so so so much. It's tough to put down. The authors did an excellent job. You'll see that it will make you think about ways to help others. It's an incredible story. I promise you'll find yourself smiling at the fact that people like Madre Antonia still exists on this world.