Thought for the Day – 24 September – Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 8:19-21
An Affair of the Will
C S Lewis (1898-1963)
“In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son ….”
1 John 4:10
On the whole, God’s love for us, is a much safer subject to think about, than our love for Him.
Nobody can always have devout feelings and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about.
Christian love, either toward God, or toward man, is an affair of the will.
If we are trying to do His Will, we are obeying the commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.” He will give us the feelings of love if He pleases. We cannot create them for ourselves and we must not demand them as a right.
But the great thing to remember, is that, though our feelings come and go, His Love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins or our indifference and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him!
Quote/s of the Day – 24 September – Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 8:19-21
But he said to them, “My mother and my brethren, are those, who hear the word of God and do it.”
Luke 8:21
“We recognise a tree by its fruit and we ought to be able to recognise a Christian by his action. The fruit of faith should be evident in our lives, for being a Christian is more than making sound professions of faith. It should reveal itself in practical and visible ways. Indeed it is better to keep quiet about our beliefs and live them out, than to talk eloquently about what we believe but fail to live by it.”
“A Christian is not his own master, since all his time belongs to God.”
St Ignatius of Antioch (c 35-c 108) Martyr
Father of the Church
“Look upon the face of the Crucified, who invites you to follow Him. He will be a Father, Mother– everything to you.”
One Minute Reflection – 24 September – Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time, Year C, Gospel: Luke 8:19-21
But he said to them, “My mother and my brethren, are those, who hear the word of God and do it.”…Luke 8:21
REFLECTION – “He who wishes for anything but Christ, does not know what he wishes; he who asks for anything but Christ, does not know what he is asking; he who works and not for Christ, does not know what he is doing.” … Saint Philip Neri (1515-1595)
PRAYER – Shepherd of Your Church and we, the sheep of Your flock, who follow You and hear and do Your Word. Support us with grace those who are constantly striving to do Your will, so that following the example of the humble fiat of Your blessed Mother and ours, we may devote all our powers and talents to love of You and our neighbour and finally arrive safely in our heavenly home. In God, our Father we pray through You who live in union with Him and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ages and ages. Amen
Saint of the Day – 24 September – Saint Pacificus of Severino OFM (1653-1721) Priest, Franciscan Friar, Mystic, Miracle-worker, Missionary, Superior of the Friary of San Severino and joyful sufferer for Christ – born on 1 March 1653 at San Severino, Italy and died on 24 September 1721 at San Severino, Italy of natural causes aged 68.
Pacificus was born into the impoverished Divini family on 1 March 1653, in the city of San Severino, Italy. He was one of 13 children. At age three he lost his father and his mother. Along with his siblings he was brought to the house of an uncle to be raised. The children suffered greatly there, mistreated by two servants in the household.
From infancy Pacificus had received a good religious formation from his mother, which helped him to not fall into despair and to follow the religious vocation that early attracted him. At age 17 he entered the Franciscans of Forano, where he studied and received Holy Orders on 4 June 1678, subsequently becoming Professor of Philosophy at the Monastery.
The words of Our Lord, “the harvest is great but the workers are few,” refused to leave his mind and he concluded that the world did not need doctors but apostles. He spoke about this concern to his Provincial, who directed him in 1683 to take up missionary work. For five or six years he actively preached to the people of the surrounding regions. His ideal was to convert the infidel and suffer martyrdom. But God had reserved to this hunter of souls another apostolate, that of suffering.
His feet became swollen and covered with wounds, which prevented him from walking, a condition he suffered until his death. For a while, he held the post of guardian in the Monastery and dedicated many hours to hearing confessions. However, he could no longer do so after he became deaf and could not communicate with those around him. This intensified his union with God.
The loss of this sense was not enough. Pacificus also became blind. In the last years of his life he could no longer celebrate Mass or go to the choir. And, since the worse enemies of man are his neighbours, St Pacific found some persons in his Monastery – like the sacristan and nurse – who mistreated him with words and deeds.
The Saint bore all this with an inextinguishable and firm patience. He became a model for all those who carry this cross. But “he sought for comfort and relief in God alone and was by him favoured with marvellous supernatural graces and with the gift of working miracles.” He was said to have “borne his ills with angelic patience, worked several miracles and was favoured by God with ecstasies.” He died on 24 September 1721. (Scamoni, The True Face of the Saints)
He was Beatified on 4 August 1786 by Pope Pius VI and Canonised on 26 May 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.
The Statue of St Pacificus in the Cathedral in his hometown of San Severino
Commemorates the foundation of the Mercedarian Order and the apparition of Our Lady of Ransom. In this appearance she carried two bags of coins for use in ransoming Christians imprisoned by Moors. On 10 August 1218, the Mercedarian Order was legally constituted at Barcelona, Spain by King James of Aragon and was approved by Pope Gregory IX on 17 January 1235. The Mercedarians celebrated their institution on the Sunday nearest to 1 August because it was on 1 August 1218 that the Blessed Virgin showed Saint Peter Nolasco the white habit of the Order. This custom was approved by the Congregation of Rites on 4 April 1615. On 22 February 1696 it was extended to the entire Latin Church and the date changed to 24 September. St Peter Nolasco (1189-1256) was the Founder of the Mercedarian Order – Memorial 28 January.
Patronages – Bahía Blanca, Argentina, archdiocese of, Barcelona, Spain, Dominican Republic.
Our Lady of Walsingham/Virgin of the Sea:
In 2012 the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter for Anglicans joining the Church was given its patron as the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady of Walsingham. Patronages – England,East Anglia, England, diocese of, Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter
St Chuniald
Bl Colomba Matylda Gabriel
St Coprio
St Erinhard
St Felix of Autun
St Gerard Sagredo
St Geremarus
St Gislar
St Isarnus of Toulouse
St Lupus of Lyons St Pacificus of Severino OFM (1653-1721)
St Paphnutius of Egypt
Bl Robert Hardesty
St Rusticus of Clermont
St. Rupert of Salzburg
St Terence of Persaro
St Thyrsus of Autun
St Ysarn of Saint Victor
Bl William Spenser
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Martyrs of Chalcedon – (49 saints): Forty-nine Christian choir singers of the church in Chalcedon in Asia Minor who were martyred together in their persecutions of Diocletian in 304.
Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Antonio Pancorbo López
• Blessed Esteban García y García
• Blessed José María Ferrándiz Hernández
• Blessed Juan Francisco Joya Corralero
• Blessed Luis de Erdoiza Zamalloa
• Blessed Manuel Gómez Contioso
• Blessed Melchor Rodríguez Villastrigo
• Blessed Pascual Ferrer Botella
• Blessed Rafael Rodríguez Mesa
• Blessed Santiago Arriaga Arrien
AnaStpaul 
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