Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

There are certain questions that every single believer needs to ask. The questions are asked by Christ throughout the Gospels, and the question in this weekend's Gospel is important: Who is Jesus Christ? Answering the question is only the beginning - what does it mean for us? Are we willing to take up our cross to follow Him. As St. James instructs us in the second reading, our faith is empty unless we are willing to do works (after all, submission of belief in Christ is also a work according to St. John). May we follow Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Msgr. Greg Schaeffer and the Mission in Guatemala

The CNS service is running a story about one of the priests of the Diocese of New Ulm. The coffee from San Lucas Tolimon is consistently the best I have . For more info, on ordering coffee, call the Diocese!

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ephphatha - Be opened - Christ still speaks to us by opening our ears and mouths. We are like the deaf mute in today's readings, without Christ unable to really hear and speak of God. But Christ, God made man, speaks to us and heals us. Let Him open our ears to hear Him, our lips to praise Him, our Hearts to worship Him, and our hands to serve Him!

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

From within us, from our unredeemed hearts, evil pours forth, as we hear in this weekend's Gospel. God's law is to put the limits on this evil, but more important, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, redeems us and makes us capable of true transformation. After listening to the Bread of Life discourse, it is perhaps most appropriate that we return to the Gospel accord to Mark with this passage. The Eucharist is Christ given to us, and at every Mass, we have the re-presentation of Calary - Christ's grace poured out for us, and - in our reception of Christ - in us! How great God is in giving us His Law, and that Word of God that is planted in our souls. May we allow it to grow, and in doing so, allow Him to direct us to all that is good and holy.

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Lord, to whom shall we go," St. Peter responds to the question of whether they, too, were going to leave. Many had stopped walking with Jesus - of course this is more than just being with Him. It meant that they no longer followed Him and allowed Him to teach them. The disciples who remain do so not simply because they understood every word of what Jesus said, but rather they knew Him and that He is God, and that His words were for eternal life.

We are asked to follow Jesus Christ, to walk with Him. We, too, might not understand every word thoroughly, but we place our faith in Jesus Christ. May we follow faithfully.

Vatican to Prepare Document on Seminarians

Zenit reports that the Vatican to Prepare Document on Seminarians. Keep them in prayer as they do this - sounds like it will be timely and very much useful!

On the Saints of August

On August 2, Pope Benedict spoke On the Saints of August.

"Real Models of Spirituality and Priestly Devotion"

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in the courtyard of the Papal Summer Residence, Castel Gandolfo, on Aug. 2.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I returned a few days ago from the Val d'Aosta and it is with great pleasure that I am with you once again, dear friends of Castel Gandolfo. To the Bishop, the parish priest and the parish community, to the civil Authorities and the entire population of Castel Gandolfo, along with the pilgrims as well as the holiday-makers, I renew my affectionate greeting together with a heartfelt "thank you" for your ever cordial welcome. I also thank you for the spiritual closeness that many people expressed to me in Les Combes at the time of the small accident to my right wrist.

Dear brothers and sisters, the Year for Priests that we are celebrating is a precious opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the value of the mission of priests in the Church and in the world. In this regard, useful ideas for reflection can be found in remembering the saints whom the Church holds up to us daily.

In these first days of the month of August, for example, we commemorate some who are real models of spirituality and priestly devotion. Yesterday was the liturgical Memorial of St Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori, a Bishop and Doctor of the Church, a great teacher of moral theology and a model of Christian and pastoral virtues who was ever attentive to the religious needs of the people. Today we are contemplating St Francis of Assisi's ardent love for the salvation of souls which every priest must always foster. In fact today is the feast of the "Pardon of Assisi", which St Francis obtained from Pope Honorious III in the year 1216, after having a vision while he was praying in the little church of the Portiuncula.

Jesus appeared to him in his glory, with the Virgin Mary on his right and surrounded by many Angels. They asked him to express a wish and Francis implored a "full and generous pardon" for all those who would visit that church who "repented and confessed their sins". Having received papal approval, the Saint did not wait for any written document but hastened to Assisi and when he reached the Portiuncula announced the good news: "Friends, the Lord wants to have us all in Heaven!". Since then, from noon on 1 August to midnight on the second, it has been possible to obtain, on the usual conditions, a Plenary Indulgence, also for the dead, on visiting a parish church or a Franciscan one.

What can be said of St John Mary Vianney whom we shall commemorate on 4 August? It was precisely to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his death that I announced the Year for Priests. I promise to speak again of this humble parish priest who constitutes a model of priestly life not only for parish priests but for all priests at the Catechesis of the General Audience next Wednesday. Then on 7 August it will be the Memorial of St Cajetan da Thiene, who used to like to say: "it is not with sentimental love but rather with loving actions that souls are purified".

And the following day, 8 August, the Church will point out as a model St Dominic, of whom it has been written that he only "opened his mouth either to speak to God in prayer or to speak of God". Lastly, I cannot forget to mention the great figure of Pope Montini, Paul VI, the 31st anniversary of whose death, here in Castel Gandolfo, occurs on 6 August. His life, so profoundly priestly and so rich in humanity, continues to be a gift to the Church for which we thank God. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, help priests to be totally in love with Christ, after the example of these models of priestly holiness.

[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In English, he said:]

I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer, including the international pilgrimage group of Sisters of St Felix of Cantalice. In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us to work for the food that remains unto life eternal. During these quiet days of summer, may all of us find spiritual nourishment in "the bread come down from heaven", offered to us daily in God's holy word and in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Upon you and your families I invoke an abundance of joy and peace in the Lord!

[In Italian, he said:]

Lastly, I address my cordial greetings to the Italian-speaking pilgrims, and first of all to the citizens of Castel Gandolfo to which I always return joyfully and where today the traditional Peach Festival is being held. I greet in particular the young people from the parishes of San Giovanni Battista and Santa Maria Assunta in Monterosso Almo and all the parish groups and families, including those who are watching us at this moment on the screens set up in St Peter's Square, Rome. I wish you all a good Sunday and a peaceful month of August.

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana