Prayer: Cyprian of Carthage

 Let us pray that peace may very soon be restored to us, help reach us in our dangers, draw us from our dark retreats, and may God's gracious promises find fulfillment. May we see after the rain, fair weather, after the darkness, light, after these storms and tempests, a gentle calm. Amen. 

Literature: Barbara Kingsolver, "Stealing Apples"

I rarely think of poetry as something I make happen; it is more accurate to say that it happens to me. Like a summer storm, a house afire, or the coincidence of both on the same day. Like a car wreck, only with more illuminating results. I've overheard poems, virtually complete, in elevators or restaurants where I was minding my own business... When a poem does arrive, I gasp as if an apple had fallen into my hand, and give thanks for the luck involved. Poems are everywhere, but easy to miss. I know I might very well stand under that tree all day, whistling, looking off to the side, waiting for a red delicious poem to fall so I could own it forever. But like as not, it wouldn't. Instead it will fall right while I'm in the middle of changing the baby, or breaking up a rodeo event involving my children and the dog, or wiping my teary eyes while I'm chopping onions and listening to the news; then that apple will land with a thud and roll under the bed with the dust bunnies and lie there forgotten and lost for all time. There are dusty, lost poems all over my house, I assure you. In yours, too, I'd be willing to bet... I've lost so many I can't count them. I do understand that they fall when I'm least able to pay attention because poems fall not from a tree, really, but from the richly pollinated boughs of an ordinary life, buzzing, as lives do, with clamor and glory.

Prayer: FRom Bede Jarrett, former Master of the Dominicans

May He give us all the courage that we need to go the way He shepherds us.

That when He calls we may go unfrightened.

If He bids us come to Him across the waters, that unfrightened we may go. 

And if He bids us climb a hill, may we not notice that it is a hill, mindful only of the happiness of His company.

He made us for Himself, that we should travel with Him and see HIm at the last in His unveiled beauty in the abiding city where He is light and happiness and endless home.

Spirituality: Ross Gay, The Book of Delights

Because in trying to articulate what, perhaps, joy is, it has occurred to me that among other things—the trees and the mushrooms have shown me this—joy is the mostly invisible, the underground union between us, you and me, which is, among other things, the great fact of our life and the lives of everyone and thing we love going away. If we sink a spoon into that fact, into the duff between us, we will find it teeming. It will look like all the books ever written. It will look like all the nerves in a body. We might call it sorrow, but we might call it a union, one that, once we notice it, once we bring it into the light, might become flower and food. Might be joy.

Prayer: Pope Francis

Being a Christian is not just following the commandments, but means being in Christ, thinking like him, acting like him, loving like him; it means letting him take possession of our lives and change them, transform them, free them from the darkness of evil and sin.

Poem: Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water

Unless we are creators, we are not fully alive... Remember, the root word of humble and human is the same: humus: earth. We are dust. We are created; it is God who made us and not we ourselves. But we were made to be co-creators with our maker.

Being Taught The Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2021

                                                                  Being Taught

The Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2021

August 8, 2021

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1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34; Ephesians 4:30-5:2; John 6:41-51

 

During these Bread of Life discourses, we see that traditional Jews opposed the teaching of Jesus and they caused dissension. Somehow it is comforting to know that the Church has always seen its share of dissension, just as it exists today, and will be in the church long after we are in heaven. In matters of faith, people will interpret teachings in their own way and will live out of that belief. The danger arrives when one tries to impose it upon others. 

 

Jesus said, “They shall all be taught by God,” and that is what we all want, but we wonder how that happens. In our rational world, we use deductive logic to arrive at answers with certitude, but it often does not happen with our faith life. We seek clarity but we get opinions and we do not know how to weigh various interpretations. Most of our teaching comes from an inductive process, for instance, when we receive the Eucharist. We cannot explain what happens when we come to worship or share in communion, but we know that somehow, we are satisfied or are even changed. Somehow the rightness of consuming the consecrated host makes us part of the larger Body of Christ. 

 

Some of us try to read Sacred Scripture because this is an account of God’s love story with the world and we want to understand it better, but we do not know where to begin or what to read first, and when we do read it, we need a commentary to keep all the names, dates, and events straight. We want to know in what spirit we should read it or what to look for, what to believe, what to write off as human accounts. We want to know, “Did it really happen? Did it happen like that? Who wrote the book and what relevance am I to give it? Should I even bother to read the Old Testament?” Comprehending the Bible can be daunting and intimidating, and yet we know we are supposed to read Scripture because it is the most direct accounts of God’s interactions with us, and we want to hear God’s messages. 

 

So, we look to the church where we find our Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Catechism, and church documents. In our hierarchy of teachings, we know our Ecumenical Councils, like the Second Vatican Council, are the highest teaching authority. They are our Constitutions and even a Pope cannot go against it. Then we have our Dogma, then Doctrine, followed by Synods and specialized teachings on specific subjects, and then we have a range of theological opinions. This is where it gets messy because not every bishop, cardinal, priest, or other person who speaks from the church has equal weight and rank, and one’s hierarchical place in the church does not guarantee expertise. Many times, people in positions of influence are merely stating one’s own opinion, and this makes us uncertain about its relevancy. For instance, a Catholic lay astronomer may have much more expertise in her field than a particular Cardinal. This is the reason we must study our traditions and look at the history of certain teachings, so that we can know which teaching has greater authenticity. 

 

When we return to our Constitution, Vatican II, we know that God’s special way of teaching us is through our prayer – both communal and personal – and that God speaks to us through our conscience. The primacy of conscience is our most telling truth of how God communicates to us. God speaks to our soul; God is in our quest; God speaks to our conscience, a conscience we can never betray because we can never betray God. We, therefore, have to form and inform our conscience, do our own work to seek and discover what is true and right, and through this process of discovery we come to a clear way that God has been teaching us. It puts an end to murmuring, and it gives us the solace that God is in our striving, that God is the striving itself, and that God is very near to us. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

Monday: (Deuteronomy 10) Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the LORD, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it. Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them as to choose you, their descendants,
in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.

 

Tuesday: (2 Corinthians 9) Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.

 

Wednesday: (Deuteronomy 34) Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the headland of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land—Gilead, and as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, the circuit of the Jordan with the lowlands at Jericho, city of palms, and as far as Zoar.

 

Thursday: (Joshua 3) The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know I am with you, as I was with Moses. Now command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant to come to a halt in the Jordan
when you reach the edge of the waters.”

 

Friday (Joshua 24) In times past your fathers, down to Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, dwelt beyond the River and served other gods. But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River and led him through the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac. To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I assigned the mountain region of Seir in which to settle, while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

 

Saturday (Joshua 24) Fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 17) Jesus asked him, “What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt.

 

Tuesday: (John 12) Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

 

Wednesday (Matthew 18) If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the Church. If he refuses to listen even to the Church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

 

Thursday (Matthew 18) Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”

 

Friday (Matthew 19) He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.

 

Saturday (Matthew 19) The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

 

 

Saints of the Week

 

August 8: Dominic, priest (1170-1221), was a Spaniard who was sent to southern France to counter the heretical teachings of the Albigensians, who held that the material world was evil and only religious asceticism could combat those forces. Dominic begged and preached in an austere fashion and set the foundations for the new Order of Preachers for both men and women.

 

August 8: Mother Mary MacKillop, religious (1842-1909), who worked in Australia and New Zealand to assist the poor, needy, and immigrants to the country, was canonized on October 17^th 2010. August 8^th is chosen as the day in which she will be memorialized on the Roman calendar. I offer the following prayer:

 

Bountiful and loving God,

You have filled the heart of Mary MacKillop

with compassionate love for those

who are in need at the margins of our society.

Deepen that love within us

that we may embrace the mystery of the Cross

which leads us through death to life.

We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus

who having broken the bonds of death

leads us to everlasting life. Amen.

 

August 9: Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), martyr (1891-1942), became a Catholic convert from Judaism after reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila. He earned a doctorate in philosophy, but was unemployable because she was a woman. She taught at a high school for eight years before entering the Carmelites in 1933 where she made final vows in 1938. She moved to Holland to escape persecution by the Nazis, but was arrested when the bishops spoke out against the persecution of the Jews.

 

August 10: Lawrence, deacon and martyr (d. 258) was martyred four days after Pope Sixtus II and six other deacons during the Valerian persecution. A beautiful story is told about Lawrence's words. When asked to surrender the church's treasure, Lawrence gathered the poor and presented them to the civil authorities. For this affront, he was martyred. He is the patron of Rome. 

 

August 11: Clare, founder (1193-1253), was inspired by Francis of Assist so much that she fled her home for his community to receive the Franciscan habit on Passion Sunday 1212. She lived in a nearby Benedictine convent until she was made superior of a new community in San Damiano. She practiced radical poverty by wearing no shoes, sleeping on the ground, and giving up meat. 

 

August 12: Jane Frances de Chantal, religious (1572-1641), founded the Congregation of the Visitation with her spiritual advisor, Francis de Sales. This congregation was for women who wanted to live in religious life, but without the austerity of the other orders. Jane was married to a Baron with whom she had six children and she sought religious answers to her suffering. Her order established eighty-five convents dedicated to serving the poor before she died. 

 

August 13: Pontian, pope and martyr and Hippolytus, priest and martyr (d.236). Pontian's papacy was interrupted by a persecution when the Roman Emperor Maximinus arrested him and his rival, Hippolytus, and banished them to Sardinia. Pontian resigned so another pope could succeed him. Hippolytus, who formed a schismatic group and claimed to be the real pope, reconciled with the church before he and Pontian were martyred.

 

August 14: Maximilian Kolbe, priest and martyr (1894-1941), was born in Russian-occupied Poland. He entered the Franciscans in 1910 and preached the gospel with his devotion to Mary in Poland and Japan. When the Nazis conquered Poland in 1939, he ministered to thousands of refugees. He was arrested, sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. When a prisoner escaped and retaliation was sought, Kolbe offered himself to replace one of the ten randomly chosen men to be executed.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

·         August 8, 1604. St Peter Claver takes his first vows at Tarracona. 

·         August 9, 1762. The moving of the English College from St Omers to Liege. 

·         August 10, 1622. Blessed Augustine Ota, a Japanese brother, was beheaded for the faith. He had been baptized by Blessed Camillus Costanzi on the eve of the latter's martyrdom. 

·         August 11, 1846. The death of Benedict Joseph Fenwick. He was the second bishop of Boston, twice the president of Georgetown, and the founder of the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts. 

·         August 12, 1877. The death of Fr. Maurice Gailland. He was an expert in languages and spent many years at St Mary's Mission in Kansas. He wrote a 450.page dictionary and grammar of the Potawatomi language. 

·         August 13, 1621. The death in Rome of St John Berchmans. He died while still in studies, preparing for a public disputation. 

·         August 14, 1812. Napoleon I and his army arrived at Polosk, in White Russia. They plunder the property of the Society and violate the tombs of the Generals. 

 

Siendo enseñado El Novideis Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario 2021

                                                           Siendo enseñado

El Novideis Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario 2021

8 de agosto de 2021

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predmoresj@yahoo.com | 617.510.9673

1 Reyes 19: 4-8 ; Salmo 34 ; Efesios 4 : 30-5: 2 ; Juan 6 : 41-51

 

Durante estos discursos del Pan de Vida , vemos que los judíos tradicionales se opusieron a la enseñanza de Jesús y causaron disensión. De alguna manera es reconfortante saber que la Iglesia siempre ha visto su parte de disensión, tal como existe hoy, y estará en la iglesia mucho después de que estemos en el cielo. En materia de fe, las personas interpretarán las enseñanzas a su manera y vivirán de acuerdo con esa creencia. El peligro llega cuando se intenta imponerlo a los demás.

 

Jesús dijo: “Todos serán enseñados por Dios”, y eso es lo que todos queremos, pero nos preguntamos cómo sucede eso. En nuestro mundo racional, usamos la lógica deductiva para llegar a respuestas con certeza, pero a menudo no sucede con nuestra vida de fe. Buscamos claridad pero obtenemos opiniones y no sabemos sopesar diversas interpretaciones. La mayor parte de nuestra enseñanza proviene de un proceso inductivo, por ejemplo, cuando recibimos la Eucaristía. No podemos explicar qué sucede cuando venimos a adorar o compartir la comunión, pero sabemos que de alguna manera estamos satisfechos o incluso cambiamos. De alguna manera, la rectitud de consumir la hostia consagrada nos hace parte del cuerpo más grande de Cristo.

 

Algunos tratamos de leer la Sagrada Escritura porque es un relato de la historia de amor de Dios con el mundo y queremos entenderlo mejor, pero no sabemos por dónde empezar ni qué leer primero, y cuando lo leemos, no sabemos por dónde empezar. necesita un comentario para mantener todos los nombres, fechas y eventos en orden. Queremos saber con qué espíritu debemos leerlo o qué buscar, qué creer, qué descartar como relatos humanos. Queremos saber: “¿Realmente sucedió? ¿Ocurrió así? ¿Quién escribió el libro y qué relevancia debo darle? ¿Debería molestarme siquiera en leer el Antiguo Testamento? " Comprender la Biblia puede ser abrumador e intimidante y, sin embargo, sabemos que se supone que debemos leer las Escrituras porque son los relatos más directos de las interacciones de Dios con nosotros y queremos escuchar los mensajes de Dios.

 

Entonces, miramos a la iglesia donde encontramos nuestro Credo, los Diez Mandamientos, el Catecismo y los documentos de la iglesia. En nuestra jerarquía de enseñanzas, sabemos que nuestros Concilios Ecuménicos, como el Concilio Vaticano II, son la máxima autoridad docente. Son nuestras Constituciones y ni siquiera un Papa puede ir en contra. Luego tenemos nuestro Dogma, luego Doctrina, seguido de Sínodos y enseñanzas especializadas sobre temas específicos, y luego tenemos una variedad de opiniones teológicas. Aquí es donde se complica porque no todos los obispos, cardenales, sacerdotes u otras personas que hablan desde la iglesia tienen el mismo peso y rango , y el lugar jerárquico de uno en la iglesia no garantiza la experiencia . Muchas veces, las personas en posiciones de influencia simplemente expresan su propia opinión, y esto nos hace inseguros sobre su relevancia. Por ejemplo, un astrónomo católico laico puede tener mucha más experiencia en su campo que un cardenal en particular. Esta es la razón por la que debemos estudiar nuestras tradiciones y mirar la historia de ciertas enseñanzas, para que podamos saber qué enseñanza tiene mayor autenticidad.

 

Cuando volvemos a nuestra Constitución, el Vaticano II, sabemos que la forma especial de Dios de enseñarnos es a través de nuestra oración, tanto comunitaria como personal, y que Dios nos habla a través de nuestra conciencia. La primacía de la conciencia es nuestra verdad más contundente de cómo Dios se comunica con nosotros. Dios habla a nuestra alma; Dios está en nuestra búsqueda; Dios le habla a nuestra conciencia, una conciencia que nunca podemos traicionar porque nunca podemos traicionar a Dios. Por lo tanto, tenemos que formar e informar nuestra conciencia, hacer nuestro propio trabajo para buscar y descubrir lo que es verdadero y correcto, y a través de este proceso de descubrimiento llegamos al camino claro que Dios nos ha estado enseñando. Pone fin a la murmuración y nos da el consuelo de que Dios está en nuestro esfuerzo, que Dios es el esfuerzo mismo y que Dios está muy cerca de nosotros.

 

Escritura para la misa diaria

 

Lunes: ( Deuteronomio 10 ) ¡Piensa! Los cielos, incluso los cielos más altos, pertenecen al SEÑOR, tu Dios, así como la tierra y todo lo que hay en ella. Sin embargo, en su amor por sus padres, el SEÑOR estaba tan unido a ellos que los eligió a ustedes, sus descendientes, con preferencia a todos los demás pueblos, como de hecho lo ha hecho ahora.

 

Martes: (2 Corintios 9 ) Además, Dios puede hacer que toda gracia sea abundante para ti, para que en todas las cosas, teniendo siempre todo lo necesario, tengas en abundancia para toda buena obra.

 

Miércoles: ( Deuteronomio 34 ) Moisés subió de las llanuras de Moab al monte Nebo, la punta de Pisga frente a Jericó, y el SEÑOR le mostró toda la tierra: Galaad y hasta Dan, todo Neftalí, la tierra de Efraín. y Manasés, toda la tierra de Judá hasta el mar Occidental, el Negeb, la circunvalación del Jordán con las tierras bajas de Jericó, ciudad de las palmeras, y hasta Zoar .

 

Jueves: ( Josué 3 ) El SEÑOR le dijo a Josué: “Hoy comenzaré a exaltarte a los ojos de todo Israel, para que sepan que estoy contigo, como estuve con Moisés. Ahora ordena a los sacerdotes que llevan el arca del pacto que se detengan en el Jordán cuando llegues al borde de las aguas ".

 

Viernes ( Josué 24 ) En tiempos pasados, sus padres, hasta Taré , padre de Abraham y Nacor , habitaban más allá del río y servían a otros dioses. Pero traje a tu padre Abraham de la región más allá del río y lo guié por toda la tierra de Canaán. Multipliqué su descendencia y le di a Isaac. A Isaac le di a Jacob y a Esaú. A Esaú le asigné la región montañosa de Seir para que se estableciera, mientras que Jacob y sus hijos descendieron a Egipto.

 

Sábado ( Josué 24 ) Teme al SEÑOR y sírvele completa y sinceramente. Echa fuera a los dioses a los que sirvieron tus padres al otro lado del río y en Egipto, y servid al SEÑOR. Si no te agrada servir al SEÑOR, decide hoy a quién servirás, a los dioses que sirvieron tus padres al otro lado del río oa los dioses de los amorreos en cuyo país estás viviendo .

 

Evangelio: 

Lunes: ( Mateo 1 7 ) Jesús le preguntó: “¿Cuál es tu opinión, Simón? ¿De quién cobran los reyes de la tierra los peajes o el impuesto del censo? ¿De sus súbditos o de extranjeros? " Cuando dijo: “De los extranjeros”, Jesús le dijo: “Entonces los súbditos están exentos.

 

Martes: (Juan 12) En verdad, en verdad os digo, que si un grano de trigo no cae a la tierra y muere, queda sólo un grano de trigo; pero si muere, da mucho fruto.

 

Miércoles (Mateo 18 ) Si no te escucha, lleva contigo a uno o dos más, para que todos los hechos se establezcan con el testimonio de dos o tres testigos. Si se niega a escucharlos, dígaselo a la Iglesia. Si se niega a escuchar incluso a la Iglesia, trátelo como lo haría con un gentil o un recaudador de impuestos. 

 

Jueves ( Mateo 18 ) Señor, si mi hermano peca contra mí, ¿con qué frecuencia debo perdonarlo? ¿Hasta siete veces? Jesús respondió: “Les digo que no siete veces, sino setenta y siete veces. "

 

Viernes ( Mateo 1 9 ) El respondió: “No todos pueden aceptar esta palabra, sino aquellos a quienes que está sentado. Algunos son incapaces de casarse porque nacieron así; algunos, porque fueron hechos por otros; algunos, porque han renunciado al matrimonio por el Reino de los cielos.

 

S ÁBADO ( Mateo 1 9 ) Los discípulos los reprendió, pero Jesús dijo: "Dejad que los niños vengan a mí, y no evitan que sean; porque el reino de los cielos es de tales ". Después de poner sus manos sobre ellos, se fue.

 

 

Santos de la semana

 

8 de agosto : Domingo, sacerdote (1170-1221), era un español que fue enviado al sur de Francia para contrarrestar las enseñanzas heréticas de los albigenses , quienes sostenían que el mundo material era malo y solo el ascetismo religioso podía combatir esas fuerzas. Domingo suplicó y predicó de manera austera y sentó las bases para el nuevo orden de predicadores tanto para hombres como para mujeres.

 

8 de agosto: Madre Mary MacKillop , religiosa (1842-1909), que trabajó en Australia y Nueva Zelanda para ayudar a los pobres, los necesitados, y los inmigrantes al país, w como canonizado el 17 de octubre ^º 2010 . 8 de agosto de ^XX es elegido como el día en el que se inmortalizó en el calendario romano. Ofrezco la siguiente oración:  

 

Dios generoso y amoroso,

Has llenado el corazón de Mary MacKillop

con amor compasivo por aquellos

que están en necesidad en los márgenes de nuestra sociedad.

Profundiza ese amor dentro de nosotros

para que podamos abrazar el misterio de la cruz

que nos lleva de la muerte a la vida.

Te lo pedimos en el Espíritu de Jesús.

que habiendo roto los lazos de la muerte

nos lleva a la vida eterna. Amén.

 

9 de agosto : Teresa Benedicta de la Cruz (Edith Stein), mártir (1891-1942), se convierte en católica convertida del judaísmo tras leer la autobiografía de Teresa de Ávila. Obtuvo un doctorado en filosofía, pero no pudo trabajar porque ella era mujer. Enseñó en una escuela secundaria durante ocho años antes de ingresar a los Carmelitas en 1933, donde hizo los votos perpetuos en 1938. Se mudó a Holanda para escapar de la persecución de los nazis, pero fue arrestada cuando los obispos hablaron en contra de la persecución de los judíos.

 

10 de agosto : Lawrence, diácono y mártir (muerto en 258) fue martirizado cuatro días después del Papa Sixto II y otros seis diáconos durante la persecución de Valeriana. Se cuenta una hermosa historia sobre las palabras de Lawrence. Cuando se le pidió que entregara el tesoro de la iglesia, Lawrence reunió a los pobres y los presentó a las autoridades civiles. Por esta afrenta, fue martirizado. Es el patrón de Roma.

 

11 de agosto : Clara, fundadora (1193-1253), se inspiró tanto en Francisco de Assist que huyó de su casa a su comunidad para recibir el hábito franciscano el Domingo de Pasión de 1212. Vivió en un convento benedictino cercano hasta que fue nombrada superiora. de una nueva comunidad en San Damiano. Practicó la pobreza radical al no usar zapatos, dormir en el suelo y renunciar a la carne.

 

12 de agosto : Jane Frances de Chantal, religiosa (1572-1641), funda la Congregación de la Visitación con su consejero espiritual, Francisco de Sales. Esta congregación era para mujeres que quisieran vivir en la vida religiosa, pero sin la austeridad de las otras órdenes. Jane estaba casada con un barón con el que tenía seis hijos y buscaba respuestas religiosas a su sufrimiento. Su orden estableció ochenta y cinco conventos dedicados a servir a los pobres antes de su muerte.

 

13 de agosto : Pontiano, papa y mártir e Hipólito, sacerdote y mártir (muerto en 236). El papado de Ponciano fue interrumpido por una persecución cuando el emperador romano Maximino lo arrestó a él y a su rival, Hipólito, y los desterró a Cerdeña. Pontian renunció para que otro Papa pudiera sucederlo. Hipólito, que formó un grupo cismático y afirmó ser el verdadero Papa, se reconcilió con la iglesia antes de que él y Ponciano fueran martirizados.

 

14 de agosto: Maximilian Kolbe, sacerdote y mártir (1894-1941), nace en la Polonia ocupada por Rusia. Ingresó a los franciscanos en 1910 y predicó el evangelio con su devoción a María en Polonia y Japón. Cuando los nazis conquistaron Polonia en 1939, ministró a miles de refugiados. Fue arrestado, enviado al campo de concentración de Auschwitz. Cuando un prisionero escapó y se buscó represalia, Kolbe se ofreció a reemplazar a uno de los diez hombres elegidos al azar para ser ejecutados.

 

Esta semana en la historia de los jesuitas

 

·                8 de agosto de 1604. San Pedro Claver toma sus primeros votos en Tarracona .

·                9 de agosto de 1762. El traslado del English College de St Omers a Lieja.

·                10 de agosto de 1622. El beato Augus tine Ota, un hermano japonés, fue decapitado por la fe. Había sido bautizado por el beato Camilo Costanzi en vísperas del martirio de este último.

·                11 de agosto de 1846. Muerte de Benedict Joseph Fenwick. Fue el segundo obispo de Boston, dos veces presidente de Georgetown y fundador del Colegio de la Santa Cruz en Massachusetts.

·                12 de agosto de 1877. Muerte del P. Maurice Gailland . Era un experto en idiomas y pasó muchos años en St Mary's Mission en Kansas. Escribió un diccionario de 450 páginas y gramática del idioma Potawatomi.

·                13 de agosto de 1621. Muerte en Roma de San Juan Berchman . Murió mientras aún estudiaba, preparándose para una disputa pública.

·                14 de agosto de 1812. Napoleón I y su ejército llegaron a Polosk , en la Rusia Blanca. Saquean la propiedad de la Sociedad y violan las tumbas de los Generales.

 

Poem: Paul Tran, The Cave

Someone standing at the mouth had

the idea to enter. To go further

than light or language could

go. As they followed

the idea, light and language followed

like two wolves—panting, hearing themselves

panting. A shapeless scent

in the damp air ...

Keep going, the idea said.

Someone kept going. Deeper and deeper, they saw

others had been there. Others had left

objects that couldn’t have found their way

there alone. Ocher-stained shells. Bird bones. Grounded

hematite. On the walls,

as if stepping into history, someone saw

their purpose: cows. Bulls. Bison. Deer. Horses—

some pregnant, some slaughtered.

The wild-

life seemed wild and alive, moving

when someone moved, casting their shadows

on the shadows stretching

in every direction. Keep going,

the idea said again. Go ...

Someone continued. They followed the idea so far inside that

outside was another idea.

Spirituality: Ignatius and Faber

August 1st has historically signaled a change in calendar for me. Summer is visibly coming to an end as the summer daylight fades and two thirds of the summer months are over. It seems natural that we begin to look to September and the advent of a new academic year. 

It also is the day between the Solemnity of St. Ignatius and the Memorial of St. Peter Faber. Faber actually died on August 1st, but the date of the Roman Calendar was already taken, so it was moved to August 2nd. Ignatius regarded Faber as one of the best spiritual directors and he was esteemed so highly that Ignatius selected him to attend the Council of Trent. 

That the two men were of the original seven founders of the Society of Jesus, it is right that they are remembered together on the calendar. This day in between allows us to remember them both collectively, while we remember them individually on their respective days. I regard them so highly that I think they could be considered Doctors of the Church for the many people who have been healed by the Spiritual Exercises over the last 450 years. 

Today is a day to give thanks for the Spiritual Exercises.