24th Sunday of the Year (B)

Reflections for the 24th Sunday of the Year (B)

Isaiah 50:4-9
Psalm 116
James 2:14-18
Mark 8:27-35

Memorial of Saints (September 14)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 14

• Triumph of the Holy Cross (celebrated as a Feast);
• Maternus, bishop;
• Notburga, virgin

The Feast of the Triumph of the Cross is also known as the Exaltation of the Cross in the Eastern Church. This feast celebrates the finding of the True Cross of Christ under a Roman landfill by the emperor Constantine's mother, Helen (August 18) in ca. 320 A.D. The finding of the Cross inspired the dedication of a basilica built by Constantine. Constantine's shrine included two principal buildings: the large basilica used for the Liturgy of the Word, and a circular church used for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

St. Maternus (d. ca. 325 A.D.) was the first known bishop of Cologne, Germany. Maternus was one of the three bishops from Gaul sent by Emperor Constantine to hear the charges against Bishop Caecilian by the Donatist bishops of Africa. Maternus and his companions exonerated Caecilian. When the Donatists refused to accept the exoneration, Constantine referred the matter to the council at Arles in 314 A.D. Maternus may also have been bishop of Trier at one time and died there.

Memorial of Saints (September 13)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 13

John Chrysostom (died 14 Sept. 407 A.D.): ascetic; became bishop of Constantinople (397 A.D.); outstanding preacher (thus surnamed "golden mouthed"); defended the poor; sought reform of the clergy; twice exiled due to royal opposition; authored ascetical, apologetic, and polemical treatises as well as letters; one of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church; patron of preachers and Istanbul (Constantinople).

More on St. John Chrysostom

• Patron Saint of Preachers
• Doctor of the Church of the First Millenium
• Father of the Greek Church, Early Pillar of the Church

Also on September 13

• Maurilius, bishop;
• Eulogius of Alexandria, bishop;
• Amatus, abbot

Eight Days of The Spiritual Exercises by Segura & Lumabao

Eight Days of The Spiritual Exercises by Florencio Segura, SJ and Randolph Lumabao, SJ

The book is a very refreshing read for those who have already experienced a directed retreat of the 30-day Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

The original Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola was written in very terse and concise language meant mostly for Jesuit spiritual directors or for lay people who have been trained by the Jesuits to give the Spiritual Exercises. The Spiritual Exercises is originally meant for a 30-day intense period of prayer, meditation and contemplation.

Eight Days of The Spiritual Exercises

Authors Florencio Segura, SJ and Randolph Lumabao, SJ have come up with a summarized translation of the original Spiritual Exercises and wrote it in a form that can be a simple guide for those who cannot undertake an intensive 30-day retreat. The main themes and topics of the original Spiritual Exercises are divided into eight days in this book. Also within the eight days are text references to Scriptural passages that help the exercitant [the one taking The Spiritual Exercises] pray and meditate on the themes and topics of the Spiritual Exercises.

A good book to read and reread for meditation purposes.

This book is a boon for lay people who have experienced a guided 30-day retreat but are presently busy at work and family life. It can help suggest prayers and meditation content from Scriptural passages whenever there is a need for quiet time with the Lord.

Content of the book

To have an idea of what the book contains, here is a listing of the titles and topics:

• Part I: Meditations
• Introductory Meditation
• First Day
• First Principle and Foundation
• Introduction to the Ignatian Method of the Repetitions
• "The Truth Will Set You Free"
• Second Day
• The Lie: Sin and Personal Sins
• Colloquy with the Crucified
• Third Day
• The Way
• The Life: Through Christ, with Him, and in Him The Kingdom
• Fourth Day
• To Choose: Meditation on the Three Standards
• The Mission of Jesus
• The Style of Jesus
• Fifth Day
• Introduction to the Third Week
• Gethsemane
• The Tribunals
• The Way of the Cross
• Sixth Day
• The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross
• Three Attitudes of Compassion
• Christ: The Way, The Truth, and The Life
• The Sepulcher and the Eucharist
• Mary in our Exercises
• Seventh Day
• The Resurrection: To Forge a Light
• The Appearances
• Eighth Day
• The Face
• Angels and Archangels
• Meditation on the Bread, the Wine, and the Arms

The book provides a rekindling of one's 30-day spiritual experience that can again be integrated in one's daily work and life. It can also provide a simple guide to anyone who is interested in St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises. To have more details about this book, visit Librarything.com.

Memorial of Saints (September 12)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 12

• Ailbhe, bishop;
• Eanswida, virgin;
• Guy of Anderlecht

St. Eanswida (d. ca. 640 A.D.) was the daughter of a King of Kent. When her father wanted to have her married to a pagan Northumbrian prince, she resisted. But with her father's consent, she founded a convent near Folkestone, Kent, in 630 A.D. She spent the rest of her life there in prayer and penance.

Memorial of Saints (September 11)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 11

• Protus and Hyacinth, martyrs;
• Theodora of Alexandria;
• Paphnutius the Great, bishop;
• Patiens of Lyons, bishop;
• Deiniol, bishop;
• Peter of Chavanon;
• Bodo, bishop

Learn more details of each Saints' life

Also included in this roster for today's Saints is Blessed John Perboyre. He joined the Vincetians and was ordained in 1826. He became a professor of a seminary until he was granted permission to go to China as a missionary in 1835 A.D. Blessed John was active in rescuing abandoned Chinese children. When the persecution of Christians began in China, John was arrested and imprisoned. After being subjected to torture so that he will reveal the hiding places of his companions, he was strangled to death for refusing to do so. Blessed John of Perboyre was beatified in 1889 A.D., the first Christian in China to be beatified.

Memorial of Saints (September 10)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 10

• Nicolas of Tolentino, confessor;
• Nemesian and Companions, martyrs;
• Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora, virgin and martyrs;
• Pulcheria, virgin;
• Finnian of Moville, bishop;
• Salvius of Albi, bishop;
• Theobard, bishop;
• Aubert, bishop;
• Ambrose Barlow, priest and martyr

Sts. Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora (d. ca. 304 A.D.) were, according to Catholic tradition, three orphan sister living in Bithynia. When the persecution of Christians under Emperors Diocletian and Maximian broke out, they were denounced because of their adherence to their faith in Christ. Menodora was beaten to death before her two other sisters. Metrodora was tortured, burned, and beheaded. And Nymphodora was beaten to death.

Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney

"Heroic Leadership: Best Practices From A 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World", by Chris Lowney

This book writes about the Jesuit Order, an religious order which follows a four-pillar success principle that the author explains in the book. This four-pillar success principle can be applied to corporations as well. It has contributed much to the longevity and the life of a very influential religious order since the 16th century A.D.

The Four Pillars of Success

One strong thread that binds the content of the book is the description of the leadership substance and principles which has made the Jesuit order a unique organization that has changed and influenced the world. These four pillars of leadership success are integrated in the very way of life and prayer of each Jesuit:

• self-awareness
• ingenuity
• love
• heroism

The formation of the Order's recruits centered around these four ideals.

• each Jesuit understood what each one's strengths, weaknesses, values and worldview are
• each one was formed to confidently innovate and adapt to a changing world
• each one engaged others with a positive, and loving attitude
• and each one energized himself and others through heroic and selfless ambitions for God's greater glory

The author also speaks also of the Order as one where all are leaders. His view of the organization as a community of leaders is not far from what M. Scott Peck speaks of in "The Different Drum: The Creation of True Community". M. Scott Peck speaks of a true community as one which is "leaderless", because all of the members of the community, are leaders themselves.

Author Chris Lowney makes a distinction with the leadership style of the Jesuits, as a leadership that begins with self-leadership. Whereas M. Scott Peck speaks more of community in the style of an experience, that binds the members, and helps them grow and mature as a community, in the context of freedom and individuality, Chris Lowney speaks more along the lines of a well-structured community - one that can be organized into a well-ordered corporation and built on strong-valued principles.

Chapters of the book

The book is an interesting read because it highlights stories of individual Jesuits in the history of the Order that, in one way or another, made the Jesuit stand out amongst other religious orders of their time. And these examples of heroic men have truly embodied the four pillars of success that Chris Lowney mentions at the very beginning of the book.

• Of Jesuits and J. P. Morgan
• What Leaders Do
• The Jesuits: An Accidental Company With a Purposeful Vision
• Leadership Role Models: Three Unlikely Case Studies
• "To Order One's Life" Self-Awareness As the Foundation of Leadership
• The Spiritual Exercises: A Lifelong Development Tool
• "The Whole World Becomes Our House" How Ingenuity Sparks Innovation, Creativity, and a Global Mindset
• "Refuse No Talent, Nor Any Man of Quality" How Love Uncovers Talent and Unites Teams
• "An Uninterrupted Life of Heroic Deeds" How Heroic Leaders Envision the Impossible - and Do It
• "Exceptional Daring Was Essential" How the End of Risk Taking Almost Ended the Jesuits
• "The Way We Do Things" Four Core Values, but One Integrated Life

Leadership insights and wisdom

For one who heads an organization or a business, the book is a good source of leadership insights and wisdom that organizational leader or business person can apply to their organization. The book is structured more along the lines of a free-flowing story - citing the formation and the growth of the Jesuit Order, in terms of selected invididuals, who dotted their history, and made a great impact on the world at the time. But any corporate leader can also find in this book a fresh look at an old organization, that has survived the test of an ever-changing world and environment. The book is not a strict guide, or a training manual on the formation of leaders, but it tells a story and brings the truth and message: for something to last 450 years, means that it has a unique formula that was, is, and will always be God-inspired, and truly built on a vision that is solid and based on ideals that are rooted in the very soul of the life, prayer and mission of Christ.

Learn more about the book at Librarything.com

Memorial of Saints (September 9)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 9

• Peter Claver
• Gorgonius;
• Isaac or Sahak I, bishop;
• Ciarsa or Kieran, abbot;
• Audomarus or Omer, bishop;
• Bettelin

Peter Claver: was a Jesuit missionary of the sixteenth century who ministered to African slaves as they arrived in the South American seaport of Cartagena. Enduring the derision of the slave traders, he fed the hungry, cared for the sick and dying, preached the Gospel and baptized converts for over forty years.

Bettelin (8th century A.D.) was a hermit and disciple of St. Guthlac in Croyland, England. Tradition tells that his father was a Stafford ruler and his mother, a princess. The couple was on their way from Ireland to England, when the princess suddenly was about to give birth to Bettelin. While his father went away to find a midwife, the princess gave birth to Bettelin. However, the mother of Bettelin was killed by ravenous wolves. Bettelin thus grew up in the forest as a hermit. He was said to leave his hermitage and perform a miracle in driving off invaders with the assistance of an angel.

23rd Sunday of the Year (B)

Reflections for the 23rd Sunday of the Year (B)

Liturgical readings:
Isaiah 35:4-7
Psalm 146
James 2:1-5
Mark 7:31-37

To be posted and published soon.

Memorial of Saints (September 8)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 8

• Birth of Mary; (Solemnity)
• Hadrian, Natalia, martyrs;
• Eusebius, Nestabus, Zeno, and Nestor, martyrs;
• Disibod;
• Sergius I, pope;
• Corbinian, bishop

Memorial of Saints (September 7)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints for September 7

• Regina or Reine, virgin and martyr;
• Sozon, martyr;
• Grimonia, virgin and martyr;
• John of Nicomedia, martyr;
• Anastasius the Fuller, martyr;
• Cloud or Clodoald;
• Alcmund and Tilbert, bishops

St. Regina (2nd century A.D.) was the daughter of a pagan father in Burgundy. She was raised as a Christian by a woman who took care of her when her mother died at her birth. When her father learned that she became Christian, he put her out of his house. Regina went to live with the Christian woman who raised her. A prefect, named Olybrius, wanted to marry her but Regina refused. She was imprisoned, tortured and beheaded at Autun, Gaul.

Memorial of Saints (September 6)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints on September 6

• Donatian, Laetus and Companions, bishop and martyrs;
• Eleutherius, abbot;
• Chainoaldes or Cagnoald, bishop;
• Bega or Bee, virgin

St. Donatian (d. ca. 484 A.D.) was a bishop of Byzacene, North Africa. Together with Fusculus, Germanus, Mansuetus and Praesidius, they all objected to the edict of an Arian king who wanted to close all Catholic churches and order all its possessions to be turned over to the Arian clergy (note: Arianism is an early Christian heresy). All of them were tortured and banished to the desert where they all died of exposure. St. Laetus, bishop of Leptis Minor, was imprisoned and then burned to death at the stake at the same time as his fellow bishops.

Memorial of Saints (September 5)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints on September 5

• Justinian, bishop and confessor;
• Bertinus, abbot
• Teresa of Calcutta

St. Bertinus (d. 700 A.D.) is a native of Contances, France, together with St. Mommolinus and St. Bertrand. They were sent to assist St. Omer, bishop of Therouanne, to evangelize the Morini around Pade-Calais. They built monasteries where Mommolinus became abbot in one monastery. When St. Mommolinus was appointed bishop of Noyon, St. Bertinus was made an abbot in one of the monasteries.

St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997 A.D.) a.k.a. Mother Teresa, was born in Albania and entered the Sisters of Loreto in 1928 A.D. She taught for seventeen years at the Order's school in Calcutta. When she looked out of the window of the school, she suddenly noticed the poor in the streets of Calcutta. This inspired her to have a "second vocation" - to leave the Sisters of Loreto and found an Order dedicated to the sick, the poor and the dying in Calcutta. The Order of the Missionaries of Charity, which she founded, became a pontifical congregation in 1965 A.D. Because of Mother Teresa's commitment to caring for the people in the slums of Calcutta, the Order she founded grew and exapanded to many countries in the world.

Learn more from "Something Beautiful for God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta". A book on Mother Teresa by Malcolm Muggeridge featured at Librarything.com

Memorial of Saints (September 4)

Obligatory and Optional Memorials on September 4:

• Marcellus and Valerian, martyrs;
• Marinus;
• Boniface I, pope;
• Ultan of Ardbraccan, bishop;
• Ida of Herzfeld, widow;
• Rosalia, virgin;
• Rose of Viterbo, virgin

St. Marcellus (d. ca. 178 A.D.) was a priest at Lyons when the persecutions of Christians was launched in 177 A.D. He was imprisoned but managed to escape together with a fellow prisoner named Valerian. He sheltered in a home of a pagan whom he converted to the faith. Marcellus then met Priscus, a governor, who invited him to his home. But when Priscus began preparing for the rituals to their pagan gods, Marcellus refused to join. Priscus thus had him buried to his waist near Chalon-sur-Saone and he died three days later. Valerian was recaptured and beheaded at Tournus.

St. Marinus (4th century A.D.) was born in Dalmatia and became a stonemason together with St. Leo, a fellow stonemason. They converted many who were sentenced to labor in the quarries in which they worked. Leo soon became a priest and Marinus a deacon. When Marinus was accused by a Dalmatian woman of being the husband who deserted her, Marinus fled into the mountains and became a hermit. A monastery grew up around his hermitage. This area grew to what is now San Marino - a tiny republic in Europe.

Memorial of Saints (September 3)

Gregory (died 12 March 604 A.D.): prefect of Rome; O.S.B.; patron saint of music. (Learn more)

also on September 3:

• Phoebe;
• Macanisius, bishop;
• Simeon Stylites the Younger;
• Remaclus, bishop;
• Aigulf, martyr;
• Hildelitha, virgin;
• Cuthburga, widow

St. Phoebe (1st century A.D.) was a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae, the port of Corinth. She is mentioned in Romans 16:1-2 where she was praised by St. Paul for her assistance to him and to many others. St. Paul recommended her to the Christian congregation at Rome.

St. Remaclus (d. ca. 960 A.D.) was born in Aquitaine. He studied under St. Sulpicius and was ordained. He was appointed by St. Eligius as the first bishop of Solignac and then he later served as the abbot of Cugnon in Luxembourg. In about 684 A.D., at the court of King Sigebert III, he was persuaded to found the double monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy in Ardennes. Widely venerated for his austerities and holiness, he also became abbot of that double monastery.

St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor

St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor: 540-604 A.D.

Feast day, September 3

Birth, family, education, and early public office

St. Gregory was born of a wealthy patrician, Gordianus, at a time when the Roman Empire was disintegrating. His family, however, owned large estates in Sicily as well as a magnificent home on the Caelian Hill in Rome. Besides wealth, St. Gregory's family was also known for its piety - having already given to the Church two sixth-century popes - Felix III and Agapitus I.

Amid the turmoil in Rome, Gregory still received a good education. He studied law and prepared to follow his father into public service. Upon reaching thirty years of age, he was appointed as Prefect of Rome, the highest civil office in the city. When his father passed away and his mother then retired to a convent, St. Gregory inherited a vast amount of riches.

Sought a higher calling to serve God

For five years, Gregory served as Prefect of the city. He however decided to abandon his career and devote himself to the service of God. He went to Sicily where he turned the estates of his family into six monasteries. And then he returned to Rome, making his own home into a Benedictine monastery - under the patronage of St. Andrew, and under the spiritual leadership of Valentius. He then lived the life of a monk for three or four years before Pope Pelagius I Iappointed him a deacon in 578 A.D. - forcing St. Gregory to live a more active life outside his monastery. The Pope then sent St. Gregory as ambassador to the emperor's court in Constantinople.

Elected to the papacy

St. Gregory was recalled to Rome around 586 A.D., and returned to his monastery where he was then elected abbot. In 590 A.D., a terrible plague hit Rome, and among its victims was the pope. St. Gregory was immediately and unanimously voted and chosen to be pope. Gregory however tried to run away from the city, but he was forcibly carried to the Basilica of St. Peter, where he was consecrated to the papacy on September 3, 590 A.D. Gregory was about fifty years old at the time and he was the first monk to be elected pope.

Gregory's work as Pope

As the pope, St. Gregory restored ecclesiastical discipline, removed unworthy clerics from office, abolished clerical fees for burials and ordinations, and was prodigious in his charities. He also administered papal properties wisely and justly; ransomed captives from the Lombards; protected Jews from unjust coercion; and fed the victims of a famine. As pope, Gregory also was a writer - writing a work called Regula Pastoralis, which addresses the office of a bishop. This work was an immediate success, and for hundreds of years provided the guidance for the pastoral mission of a bishop.

A missionary work dear to his papacy

Of all his work as pope, nothing was more dear to St. Gregory than the conversion of England. He turned to his own monastery and chose a band of forty monks, under the leadership of the man that was to become St. Augustine of Canterbury. St. Gregory then instructed the monks to purify rather than to destroy pagan temples and customs, and to convert pagan rites and festivals into Christian feasts. Although St. Augustine of Canterbury passed away eight years after this mission to convert England, the work he and the monks began eventually bore fruit.

Last years, sickness and death

Throughout his life, St. Gregory practiced much asceticism. His health was always precarious. And he suffered from gastric disorders, probably because of the excessive fasts he made. During the last years of his life, he was emaciated almost in the likeness of a skeleton. He suffered also from gout and was unable to walk at the time of his death. He died on March 12, 604 A.D. and was buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Writings and liturgical works

St. Gregory wrote treatises, notably his Dialogues - a collection of visions, prophecies, miracles, and lives of Italian saints. He also wrote the Liber regulae pastoralis - on the duties of a bishop, plus hundreds of sermons and letters. The custom of saying thirty successive Masses for a dead person goes back to him and bears his name. And not to forget also is the famous Gregorian Chant that is attributed to him.

Doctor of the Church

St. Gregory is the last of the traditional Latin Doctors of the Church. Despite his prestige and status during his lifetime, St. Gregory called himself Servus Servorum Dei - Servant of the Servants of God - a title still retained by his successors to this day, fourteen centuries later. Because of St. Gregory's tireless works and apostolates, he merited the title "The Great". He was one of the two popes who were titled "The Great", the other being St. Leo the Great.

References of this article

• Dictionary of Saints, by John J. Delaney
• The Doctors of the Church vol 1, by John F. Fink
• A Year With the Saints, by Don Bosco Press, Inc.
• Saints for Our Time, by Ransom

Memorial of Saints (September 2)

on September 2:

• Antoninus of Apamea, martyr;
• Castor, bishop;
• Agricolus, bishop;
• William of Roskilde, bishop;
• Brocard

St. Antoninus of Apamea (4th century A.D.) was said to be a stonemason in Syria who denounced his fellow villagers for worshipping idols. He lived as a hermit for two years, and then returned to his village to destroy the idols worshipped by the villagers. When he was driven out by the villagers, he went to Apamea, also in Syria, where he built a church. This enraged the villagers of Apamea. In their anger, they killed him.

St. Brocard (d. ca. 1231 A.D.) was a French monk of Mount Carmel. He became the superior of the hermits there in 1195 A.D., imposing the rule given by St. Albert (learn more), the papal legate to Palestine. Although the rule was questioned for not being approved by the Holy See, Pope Honorius III eventually confirmed it, after experiencing a vision from the Blessed Virgin. St. Brocard ruled the community for 35 years.

Learn more on Carmelite Spirituality.

22nd Sunday of the Year (B)

Liturgical readings
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Psalm 15
James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

For posting and publishing soon.

Memorial of Saints (September 1)

on September 1:

• Giles, abbot;
• Verena, virgin;
• Lupus or Leu, bishop;
• Fiacre;
• Sebbe;
• Drithelm;
• Beatrice de Silva Meneses, virgin