John Predmore, S.J., is a USA East Province Jesuit and was the pastor of Jordan's English language parish. He teaches art and directs BC High's adult spiritual formation programs. Formerly a retreat director in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Ignatian Spirituality is given through guided meditations, weekend-, 8-day, and 30-day Retreats based on The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatian Spirituality serves the contemporary world as people strive to develop a friendship with God.
May I be no one’s enemy, and may I be the friend of that which is eternal and abides. May I never quarrel with those nearest me, and if I do, may I be reconciled quickly. May I never devise evil against another. May I love, seek, and attain only that which is good.
Govern all by your wisdom, O Lord, so that I may always be serving you as you desire and not as I choose. Do not punish me, I ask, by granting what I wish or ask, if it offends your love that always lives in me. Let me die to myself that I may serve you. Let me live to you who in yourself are the true life.
Perfect love is that by which we are ordered to love the Lord with our whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. Neither of these two kinds of love is capable of being perfect without the other, because God cannot be loved apart from our neighbor, nor our neighbor apart from God.
Speaking God-like Words
The Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020
www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com
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August 30, 2020
Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27
Peter is like the rest of us in that we do not want to embrace suffering or mortality. Jesus revealed to his friend the completion of his mission, one that will end in his death, and Peter turns away from the subject as quickly as he can. We all do. We want to offer an encouraging word, give the other person hope, put on a positive spin, look to the best advances in science to help the person live and beat their condition, but our words can take us away from the pain and grief that someone might feel. In this case, Jesus tells his closest friends that he is going to die, knowing that it will be a humiliating, painful death, and that there is a terrible finality to his mission. The disciples are not able to hear Jesus or give him what he needs – comfort and consolation – and they miss an opportunity to learn how Jesus feels in his suffering. Because the disciples could not fully hear, Jesus was unable to share fully the extent of his anguish. To avoid being like Peter, we have to be wise and slow with the words we speak.
Jeremiah also feels unheard – by God and by the people to whom he has been sent. The mission from God has not gone as planned because it is more difficult than expected. People do not respect Jeremiah and they certainly do not listen to him. He feels that God is not even listening to his woes. To feel misunderstood is terribly lonely. Jeremiah realizes though, that as much as he would rather walk away from his mission, he cannot. Near-term suffering is his fate, but his words cannot betray God. Something fundamental in the relationship keeps him bound to God. Jeremiah learns to be wise and slow with the words he speaks.
Much of our suffering is caused by the words people speak to us or the way we ineffectively deal we communications in our closest relationships. They may not understand what we are trying to say and they may take us for granted by finishing our sentences for us. They may divert the conversation in another direction, as Peter did, rather than dealing with the substance of what you are saying. It increases our feelings of loneliness and isolation, which further enhances our suffering. Suffering is often brought about by the wrong words we speak, whether they are unkind, untruthful, or violent, whether they lack openness or understanding, whether they are devoid of compassion or attempts to reconcile with one another. Absent the right words we can speak, we will suffer even more. This is what Jesus was telling Peter when he said, “You are speaking as human beings do.” Peter became an obstacle to him, and Jesus needs him to speak as God does. We need to speak as God does, because, as we look around, our families and our nation is filled with the type of human speech that causes division and suffering.
Peter would not have been rebuked by Jesus if he tried to listen to him better. Staying nearby in a stance of openness and silence would have given Peter a better chance to understand what Jesus was saying. At times like these, our needs and concern take second place to the one in greater need. That is losing one’s life for another. That is forfeiting one’s life for the sake of another. After listening to Jesus, Peter could have then spoken God-like words that conveyed insight and understanding. When we speak rightly, we are healed, and we heal the one in need. The one who hears these words of compassion know that they are really loved, really heard, really understood, and this becomes a moment of great happiness.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (Jeremiah 20) You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me.
Tuesday: (1 Corinthians 2) I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom.
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.
Wednesday: (1 Corinthians 2) The Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand the things freely given us by God.
Thursday: (1 Corinthians 3) I could not talk to you as spiritual people, but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it. Indeed, you are still not able, even now, for you are still of the flesh.
Friday (1 Corinthians 3) If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age,
let him become a fool, so as to become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written: God catches the wise in their own ruses, and again:
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Saturday (1 Corinthians 4) It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 16) Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Tuesday: (Luke 4) Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
Wednesday (Luke 4) In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out in a loud voice, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Thursday (Luke 4) At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.”
Friday (Luke 5) When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon.
Saturday (Luke 5) Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
Saints of the Week
September 3: Gregory the Great (540-604) was the chief magistrate in Rome and resigned to become a monk. He was the papal ambassador to Constantinople, abbot, and pope. His charity and fair justice won the hearts of many. He protected Jews and synthesized Christian wisdom. He described the duties of bishops and promoted beautiful liturgies that often incorporated chants the bear his name.
This Week in Jesuit History
· Aug. 30, 1556: On the banks of the St. Lawrence River, the Iroquois mortally wounded Fr. Leonard Garreau, a young missionary.
· Aug. 31, 1581: In St. John's Chapel within the Tower of London, a religious discussion took place between St. Edmund Campion, suffering from recent torture, and some Protestant ministers.
· Sep 1, 1907. The Buffalo Mission was dissolved, and its members were sent to the New York and Missouri Provinces and the California Mission.
· Sep 2, 1792. In Paris, ten ex-Jesuits were massacred for refusing to take the Constitutional oath. Also in Paris seven other fathers were put to death by the Republicans, among them Frs. Peter and Robert Guerin du Rocher.
· Sep 3, 1566. Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford and heard the 26-year-old Edmund Campion speak. He was to meet her again as a prisoner, brought to hear her offer of honors or death.
· Sep 4, 1760. At Para, Brazil, 150 men of the Society were shipped as prisoners, reaching Lisbon on December 2. They were at once exiled to Italy and landed at Civita Vecchia on January 17, 1761.
· Sep 5, 1758. The French Parliament issued a decree condemning Fr. Busembaum's Medulla Theologiae Moralis.
A CIA officer, a friend that I met in Amman, Jordan, wrote a book about his story of coming to the faith.
"A State of Mind: Faith and the CIA" is a memoir of the life and work of a CIA officer. It is also a journey of faith. During the Cold War, the art of handling and recruiting spies was the focus of intelligence work. In those days, the practice of espionage raised serious moral and ethical issues, but it was a well-established and universally accepted form of statecraft. The shocking 9/11/2001 terrorist attack on America forced a fundamental reassessment of the purpose of intelligence and its role in safeguarding a nation. US intelligence, the military, and their allies waged a global war against terrorism using extraordinary means that raised unprecedented moral and ethical issues. Spies were joined by drones. Extreme measures were developed to kill, capture and interrogate terrorists. A reluctant witness to history was compelled to answer the call from God and country.
https://www.amazon.com/State-Mind-Faith-CIA-ebook/dp/B089DL3B77
Loving you, O God, brings its own reward here on earth, as well as the eternal reward of heaven. By becoming mirrors of your love, by wearing the mask of your likeness, and my allowing you to make us perfect, we can know the joy of heaven, even while we abide here on earth.
O Lord, helper of the helpless, the hope of those who are past hope, the savior of the tempest-tossed, the harbor of the voyagers, the physician of the sick. You know each soul and our prayer, each home and its need. Become to each one of us what we most dearly desire. Pour on us your peace and love.
Who am I to You?
The Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020
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August 23, 2020
Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalm 138; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20
The question Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” is the matter at the heart of our faith, and like Peter, our response will dictate how we show our belief. We are gathered here because Jesus is central to our lives, and we each meet Jesus in different ways. How did Peter know him? as a Galilean carpenter, as an enlightened preacher and teacher, as a wise thinker who reflected upon the moral dilemmas of the day, as an observant Jew who sometimes challenged the status quo, as a man who loved the God of their ancestors, as one who ate and drank with them and told stories, but his response to Jesus was more than all that: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
As we see Jesus than more than all that he has done for us; he sees us as more than all we have done as well. This is the fruit of the Spiritual Exercises. The most intense prayers of the Exercises have us observing Jesus. That’s it. We just watch and take notes. We observe how and with whom he speaks. We pay attention to the tone of his voice, his facial gestures, his body language, and we look for the emotion that he conveys during his interactions. We notice what he does and does not do. We pay attention to the style of the man for he always chooses the high road. The miracles and healings are important, but the greater importance are the conversations we have with him to unpack why he did what he did.
Jesus is interested in how our friendship matures, which means that the choice to go deeper is squarely with us. As we learn more fully who Jesus is, we have to decide whether to invest more fully into it. He invites and asks us what we can do. That’s it. He does not pressure us to go deeper. He reveals and then asks us to respond. Some people need to keep it at a superficial level. It is all they can do. People respond to varying degrees, and we do enough self-reflection to figure out how far we can go. We’ve all had human friendships that we wished could have evolved, but for other reasons, they remained only at a certain point. With reason, he will go as deep as we allow. If we agree to follow, we will discover deeper realities, and if we say yes, we are given a place of privilege at the Cross. The Cross is where we learn to give compassion and consolation. It is the formative aspect of our response as disciples.
When we behold the human enterprise of the life of Jesus, we see that he is God. What happens though when Jesus beholds us? What does he see? He sees so much more than the things we have said or done. He sees us in our workplace, in our strivings, in our prayers, in the kind words we have uttered, in the generosity we’ve given to others. He is honored when he sees us because we have stood by him and stood by those who are also important to him. The question is both, “Who do you say that I am and let me tell you who are you are me.” In this dynamism of affection, we form greater bonds of friendship and mystery, and through it all, we see God more clearly.
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (Isaiah 22) I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority.
Tuesday: (Revelation 21) The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
Wednesday: (2 Thessalonians 2) We ask you, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way.
Thursday: (2 Thessalonians 3) For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.
Friday (1 Corinthians 1) I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Saturday (1 Corinthians 1) Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 16) And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Tuesday: (John 1) Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Wednesday (Matthew 23) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”
Thursday (Matthew 23) You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets.
Friday (Matthew 24) Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Saturday (Matthew 25) Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Saints of the Week
August 23: Rose of Lima (1586-1617) was the first canonized saint of the New World. She had Spanish immigrant parents in Lima. Rose joined the Dominicans and lived in her parents' garden to support them while she took care of the sick and the poor. As a girl, she had many mystical experiences as she practiced an austere life. She also had many periods of darkness and desolation.
August 24: Bartholomew (First Century), according to the Acts of the Apostles, is listed as one of the Twelve Disciples though no one for sure knows who he is. Some associate him with Philip, though other Gospel accounts contradict this point. John's Gospel refers to him as Nathaniel - a Israelite without guile.
August 25: Louis of France (1214-1270) became king at age 12, but did not take over leadership until ten years later. He had eleven children with his wife, Marguerite, and his kingship reigned for 44 years. His rule ushered in a longstanding peace and prosperity for the nation. He is held up as a paragon of medieval Christian kings.
August 25: Joseph Calasanz, priest (1556-1648), was a Spaniard who studied canon law and theology. He resigned his post as diocesan vicar-general to go to Rome to live as a pilgrim and serve the sick and the dying. He used his inheritance to set up free schools for poor families with children. He founded an order to administer the schools, but dissension and power struggles led to its dissolution.
August 27: Monica (332-387) was born a Christian in North Africa and was married to a non-Christian, Patricius, with whom she had three children, the most famous being Augustine. Her husband became a Christian at her urging and she prayed for Augustine's conversion as well from his newly adopted Manichaeism. Monica met Augustine in Milan where he was baptized by Bishop Ambrose. She died on the return trip as her work was complete.
August 28: Augustine, bishop and doctor (354-430), was the author of his Confessions, his spiritual autobiography, and The City of God, which described the life of faith in relation to the life of the temporal world. Many other writings, sermons, and treatises earned him the title Doctor of the church. In his formative years, he followed Mani, a Persian prophet who tried to explain the problem of evil in the world. His mother’s prayers and Ambrose’s preaching helped him convert to Christianity. Baptized in 387, Monica died a year later. He was ordained and five years later named bishop of Hippo and defended the church against three major heresies: Manichaeism, Donatism, and Pelagianism.
August 29: The Martyrdom of John the Baptist recalls the sad events of John's beheading by Herod the tetrarch when John called him out for his incestuous and adulterous marriage to Herodias, who was his niece and brother's wife. At a birthday party, Herodias' daughter Salome danced well earning the favor of Herod who told her he would give her almost anything she wanted.
This Week in Jesuit History
· Aug. 23, 1558: In the First General Congregation, the question was discussed about the General's office being triennial, and the introduction of Choir, as proposed by Pope Paul IV, and it was decreed that the Constitutions ought to remain unaltered.
· Aug. 24, 1544: Peter Faber arrived in Lisbon.
· Aug. 25, 1666: At Beijing, the death of Fr. John Adam Schall. By his profound knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, he attained such fame that the Emperor entrusted to him the reform of the Chinese calendar.
· Aug. 26, 1562: The return of Fr. Diego Laynez from France to Trent, the Fathers of the Council desiring to hear him speak on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
· Aug. 27, 1679: The martyrdom at Usk, England, of St. David Lewis, apostle to the poor in his native Wales for three decades before he was caught and hanged.
· Aug. 28, 1628: The martyrdom in Lancashire, England, of St. Edmund Arrowsmith.
· Aug. 29, 1541: At Rome the death of Fr. John Codure, a Savoyard, one of the first 10 companions of St. Ignatius.
Life is short. If you defer changing your ways until the hour of your death, you are blind, for you do not know either the time or the place where you will die. If we desire a good death, we must lead a Christian life And the way to prepare for a good death is to model our deaths on the death of Jesus.
The formidable power of forgiveness enables us to acknowledge that the decisions of human life, even when they turn out badly, are not above repair.
She Persisted.
The Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020
www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com
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August 16, 2020
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
Many find it refreshing that Jesus had a moment of expanded consciousness when we was forced to reckon with the unnamed Canaanite woman whose daughter was tormented by a demon. If Jesus was all-God by birth and all-knowing, then he would have treated her more kindly; if Jesus was all-human, a core aspect of our faith, then his human growth and development is reassuring because he didn’t have it all figured out before he began his ministry. Just the fact that Jesus could grow in his understanding of what it meant to be a servant of God gives us permission to grow from our experiences as well.
Jesus had to deal with a sort of racism in his time. As a Jew, he was forbidden to interact with anyone who was a tax collector or sinner, a person from another nation, including Samaritans and Gentiles, and yet those are the people with whom Jesus regularly seems to interact. Genetic purity was often a policy goal and laws against intermarriage were strict at certain historic moments. In this passage, he is challenged by his tradition, and it is evidenced in his attitude towards a woman who is a Canaanite. The mission Jesus received at his Baptism was to preach the immanence of the Kingdom of Heaven to the Twelve Tribes of Israel only. Certainly, this women went beyond the pale. The way he treats women and foreigners will be a blueprint for the way we are to proceed.
Fortunately, Jesus had a moment of awakening. This woman pressed against his assumptions and challenged some of his core beliefs. She persisted. To his credit, the heart and mind, the attitudes of Jesus become changed. His heart softens to her and her plight. How does this happen? He listens to her story of suffering. She and her daughter are suffering just like any Jew would and she is despondent – hoping that God would have compassion upon her. She was not trying to change any structures; she was not protesting. She only said these words to Jesus, “Lord, help me.” This is the moment when her humanity touches the humanity of Jesus, and both are changed for it. When we hear the each other’s stories of suffering, we can’t help but be changed for the better. We want to alleviate their suffering because their pain touches us. We want to help. We want to be a part of the solution, just as Jesus was the instrument by which the woman’s daughter was healed. Our ability to respond to someone else’s suffering heals the world.
This unnamed woman was the key that unlocked the entire world of seekers to the faith. In the first reading, Isaiah writes that “foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, ministering to him, becoming his servants” will be brought to the holy mountain of God and will experience joy with God. The Lord says at the conclusion of the reading, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
So, as Jesus was, we are challenged by the way we may interact or deal with foreigners and racism in our lives. What is the key for the faith? Listening. Letting our hearts hear stories of pain and suffering. Letting our faith be informed by greater understanding and wisdom, even in the midst of our uncomfortableness. Letting our goodness well up to say, “I want to be a part of the solution.” We will be able to hear Jesus say to us, “How great is your faith. Your faith has healed you.”
Scripture for Daily Mass
First Reading:
Monday: (Ezekiel 24) Son of man, by a sudden blow I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes, but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears. Groan in silence, make no lament for the dead, bind on your turban, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover your beard, and do not eat the customary bread.
Tuesday: (Ezekiel 28) Because you are haughty of heart, you say, “A god am I!
I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!”— And yet you are a man, and not a god, however you may think yourself like a god.
Wednesday: (Ezekiel 34) You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and slaughtered the fatlings, but the sheep you have not pastured. You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured. You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost, but you lorded it over them harshly and brutally.
Thursday: (Ezekiel 36) For I will take you away from among the nations, gather you from all the foreign lands, and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.
Friday (Ezekiel 37) Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the LORD.
Saturday (Ezekiel 43) I fell prone as the glory of the LORD entered the temple
by way of the gate which faces the east, but spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court. And I saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD.
Gospel:
Monday: (Matthew 19) “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Tuesday: (Matthew 19) Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Wednesday (Matthew 20) ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
Thursday (Matthew 22) ‘Tell those invited: “Behold, I have prepared my banquet,
my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast.”’ Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
Friday (Matthew 22) “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Saturday (Matthew 23) They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.
Saints of the Week
August 16: Stephen of Hungary (975-1038) tried to unite the Magyar families and was able to establish the church in Hungary through Pope Sylvester II's support. Rome crowed Stephen as the first king in 1001 and he instituted many reforms in religious and civil practices. He built churches and trained local clergy.
August 18: Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, S.J., priest (1901-1952), was a Chilean Jesuit priest, lawyer, writer and social worker who was born in the Basque region in Spain. He established Hogar de Cristo, that housed at-risk children, whether orphaned or not, and provided them food and shelter. Hurtado also supported the rise of labor union and labor rights in Chile.
August 19: John Eudes, priest (1601-1680) preached missions, heard confessions, and assisted the sick and dying. He founded a new religious order for women, which includes Our Lady of Charity and the Good Shepherd Sisters. He eventually left the Oratorians to found the Congregation of Jesus and Mary.
August 20: Bernard, Abbot and Doctor (1090-1153) became a Benedictine abbey in Citeaux because of its strict observance. He was sent to set up a new monastery in Clairvaux with 12 other monks. He wrote theological treatises, sermons, letters, and commentaries that dominated the thought of Europe. His writings had a tremendous influence of Catholic spirituality.
August 21: Pius X, pope (1835-1914), was an Italian parish priest for 17 years before he became bishop of Mantua, the cardinal patriarch of Venice, and eventually pope. He urged frequent communion for adults, sacramental catechesis for children, and continued education for everyone. He is known for rigid political policies that put him at odds with a dynamically changing world that led to World War I.
August 22: The Queenship of Mary concludes the octave of the principal feast of Mary as she celebrates her installation as queen and mother of all creation. This feast was placed on our calendar in 1954 following the dogmatic proclamation of the Assumption.
This Week in Jesuit History
· Aug. 16, 1649: At Drogheda, Cromwell's soldiers shot Fr. John Bath and his brother, a secular priest, in the marketplace.
· Aug. 17, 1823: Fr. Van Quickenborne and a small band of missionaries descended the Missouri River to evangelize the Indians at the request of the bishop of St. Louis. On this date in 1829, the College of St. Louis opened.
· Aug. 18, 1952: The death of Alberto Hurtado, writer, retreat director, trade unionist and founder of "El Hogar de Christo," a movement to help the homeless in Chile.
· Aug. 19, 1846: At Melgar, near Burgos, the birth of Fr. Luis Martin, 24th General of the Society.
· Aug. 20, 1891: At Santiago, Chile, the government of Balmaceda ordered the Jesuit College to be closed.
· Aug. 21, 1616: At Pont a Mousson in Lorraine died Fr. William Murdoch, a Scotchman, who when only 10 years of age was imprisoned seven months for the faith and cruelly beaten by the order of a Protestant bishop. St. Ignatius is said to have appeared to him and encouraged him to bear the cross bravely.
· Aug. 22, 1872: Jesuits were expelled from Germany during the Bismarckian Kulturkampf.