Saints and Feast

July

Feast day: July 3

“Continuing our encounters with the Twelve Apostles chosen directly by Jesus, today we will focus our attention on Thomas. Ever present in the four lists compiled by the New Testament, in the first three Gospels he is placed next to Matthew (cf. Mt 10: 3; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15), whereas in Acts, he is found after Philip (cf. Acts 1: 13). His name derives from a Hebrew root, ta'am, which means "paired, twin". In fact, John's Gospel several times calls him "Dydimus" (cf. Jn 11: 16; 20: 24; 21: 2), a Greek nickname for, precisely, "twin". The reason for this nickname is unclear. It is above all the Fourth Gospel that gives us information that outlines some important traits of his personality. The first concerns his exhortation to the other Apostles when Jesus, at a critical moment in his life, decided to go to Bethany to raise Lazarus, thus coming dangerously close to Jerusalem (Mk 10: 32). On that occasion Thomas said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11: 16). His determination to follow his Master is truly exemplary and offers us a valuable lesson:  it reveals his total readiness to stand by Jesus, to the point of identifying his own destiny with that of Jesus and of desiring to share with him the supreme trial of death. In fact, the most important thing is never to distance oneself from Jesus. Moreover, when the Gospels use the verb "to follow", it means that where he goes, his disciple must also go. Thus, Christian life is defined as a life with Jesus Christ, a life to spend together with him. St Paul writes something similar when he assures the Christians of Corinth:  "You are in our hearts, to die together and to live together" (II Cor 7: 3). What takes place between the Apostle and his Christians must obviously apply first of all to the relationship between Christians and Jesus himself:  dying together, living together, being in his Heart as he is in ours.” (from the General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, September 27, 2006)

Feast day: July 11

“My revered Predecessor, St Gregory the Great, a Benedictine monk and celebrated biographer of St Benedict, invited us to discern the basis of a life wholly dedicated to "seeking and serving Christ, the one true Saviour" (Preface of the Mass of St Benedict), in the atmosphere of great faith in God and intense love for his law which motivated the original family of the saint from Norcia. This spiritual striving, which grew and developed as he faced the challenges of life, soon led the young man to foresake the illusions of worldy knowledge and possessions to devote himself to learning the wisdom of the Cross and to being conformed to Christ alone. From Norcia to Rome, from Affile to Subiaco, Benedict's spiritual journey was guided by the one desire to please Christ. This longing was strengthened and increased during the three years he lived in the grotto of the Sacro Speco, when "he laid those solid foundations of Christian perfection on which he could later build an edifice of extraordinary height" (Pius XII, Fulgens radiatur, 21 March 1947).
 
“His prolonged and intimate union with Christ prompted him to gather other brothers around him in order to carry out "those great designs and goals to which he had been called by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit" (ibid.). Illumined by divine light, Benedict became a beacon and guide for poor shepherds in search of faith and for devout people who needed direction in the way of the Lord. After a further period of solitude and difficult trials, 1,500 years ago, when he was barely 20 years old, he founded the first Benedictine monastery at Subiaco, not far from the Sacro Speco. In this way the grain of wheat that had chosen to hide itself in the soil of Subiaco and to waste away in penance for love of Christ, gave rise to a new model of consecrated life, becoming a fruitful ear of wheat.” - from the “Message Of John Paul II to the Abbot of Subiaco on the Occasion of the Feast of St. Benedict, Patron Of Europe” (from the Vatican, July 7, 1999)

Feast day: July 12

John Gualbert was of Florentine nobility. He famously refrained, at the last moment, from taking revenge upon the murderer of his brother, and after this experience decided to enter a monastery. His zeal for religious life led him to seek to reform Benedictine practice, which he did, establishing the rigorous congregation of the Vallumbrosans (“OSB Vall.”). By the time of his death in 1073 he had established a dozen monasteries. Miracles were reported at his tomb, and he was canonized in 1193.

Feast day: July 14

Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks,” Kateri Tekakwitha was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 2012. A member of the Algonquin-Mohawks of what is now New York State, Kateri converted to Catholicism at the age of nineteen. She would live for just five more years, dying in 1680 at the age of 24. He story, however, lives on, from the accounts of the glorious transformation of her face at death, her subsequent appearances in the weeks following her death, her chastity and mortification of the flesh. She is the first Native American to be canonized.

Feast day: July 15

Born in 1221, Saint Bonaventure became important to the Franciscan Order which began during that century. He became known as the “Seraphic Doctor,” through his highly developed theological insights and his personal sanctity. He played an integral role in navigating the Franciscan order through its own internal conflicts, helping to maintain its orthodoxy and to provide it with an effective organizational structure. He was made a cardinal by Pope Gregory X, and died July 15, 1274 at the Council of Lyon.

Feast day: July 16

We think on this feast day of our Manquehue friends, as Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the patroness of Chile. The early Carmelites were hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Middle Ages. The Brown Scapular, a popular devotion associated with Carmel, is said to have been given to Simon Stock, an English Carmelite of the 13^th century. Two members of the Carmelite Order are well known doctors of the church – Teresa of Avila and Thérèse of Lisieux.

Feast day: July 22

“The Church, both in the East and in the West has always regarded Saint Mary Magdalene the first witness of the Lord’s resurrection and the first evangelist, and with the greatest reverence has always honoured her although in diverse ways. Given that in our time the Church is called to reflect in a more profound way on the dignity of Woman, on the New Evangelisation and on the greatness of the Mystery of Divine Mercy, it seemed right that the example of Saint Mary Magdalene might also fittingly be proposed to the faithful. In fact this woman, known as the one who loved Christ and who was greatly loved by Christ, and was called a “witness of Divine Mercy” by Saint Gregory the Great and an “apostle of the apostles” by Saint Thomas Aquinas, can now rightly be taken by the faithful as a model of women’s role in the Church. Therefore the Supreme Pontiff Pope Francis has established that from now on the celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene should be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar with the rank of Feast rather than Memorial as is presently the case.” – from the decree raising the celebration of Mary Magdalene to a feast; from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 3 June 2016, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Robert Card. Sarah.

Feast day: July 25

“The name "James" is the translation of Iakobos, the Graecised form of the name of the famous Patriarch, Jacob. The Apostle of this name was the brother of John and in the above-mentioned lists, comes second, immediately after Peter, as occurs in Mark (3: 17); or in the third place, after Peter and Andrew as in the Gospels of Matthew (10: 2) and Luke (6: 14), while in the Acts he comes after Peter and John (1: 13). This James belongs, together with Peter and John, to the group of the three privileged disciples whom Jesus admitted to important moments in his life… James was able to take part, together with Peter and John, in Jesus' Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and in the event of Jesus' Transfiguration. Thus, it is a question of situations very different from each other: in one case, James, together with the other two Apostles, experiences the Lord's glory and sees him talking to Moses and Elijah, he sees the divine splendour shining out in Jesus. On the other occasion, he finds himself face to face with suffering and humiliation, he sees with his own eyes how the Son of God humbles himself, making himself obedient unto death. The latter experience was certainly an opportunity for him to grow in faith, to adjust the unilateral, triumphalist interpretation of the former experience: he had to discern that the Messiah, whom the Jewish people were awaiting as a victor, was in fact not only surrounded by honour and glory, but also by suffering and weakness. Christ's glory was fulfilled precisely on the Cross, in his sharing in our sufferings. This growth in faith was brought to completion by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so that James, when the moment of supreme witness came, would not draw back. Early in the first century, in the 40s, King Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, as Luke tells us, "laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the Church. He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword" (Acts 12: 1-2). – from the General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, June 21, 2006.

Feast day: July 29

This Sunday we continue reading the 10 chapters of the Evangelist Luke. The passage today is that on Martha and Mary. Who are these two women? Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus, are the relatives and faithful disciples of the Lord, who lived in Bethany. St Luke describes them in this way: Mary, at the feet of Jesus, “listened to his teaching”, while Martha was burdened with much serving (cf. Lk 10:39-40). Both welcome the Lord on his brief visit, but they do so differently. Mary sets herself at the feet of Jesus to listen but Martha lets herself become absorbed in preparing everything, and so much so that she says to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me” (v. 40). And Jesus answers scolding her sweetly: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing” (v. 41). What does Jesus mean? What is this one thing that we need? First of all, it is important to understand that this is not about two contradictory attitudes: listening to the word of the Lord, contemplation, and practical service to our neighbour. These are not two attitudes opposed to one another, but, on the contrary, they are two essential aspects in our Christian life; aspects that can never be separated, but are lived out in profound unity and harmony. Why then was Martha scolded, even if kindly, by Jesus? Because she considered only what she was doing to be essential; she was too absorbed and worried by the things “to do”. For a Christian, works of service and charity are never detached from the principle of all our action: that is, listening to the Word of the Lord, to be — like Mary — at the feet of Jesus, with the attitude of a disciple. And that is why Martha was scolded.
 
In our Christian life too, dear brothers and sisters, may prayer and action always be deeply united. A prayer that does not lead you to practical action for your brother — the poor, the sick, those in need of help, a brother in difficulty — is a sterile and incomplete prayer. But, in the same way, when ecclesial service is attentive only to doing, things gain in importance, functions, structures, and we forget the centrality of Christ. When time is not set aside for dialogue with him in prayer, we risk serving ourselves and not God present in our needy brother and sister. St Benedict sums up the kind of life that indicated for his monks in two words: ora et labora, pray and work. It is from contemplation, from a strong friendship with the Lord that the capacity is born in us to live and to bring the love of God, his mercy, his tenderness, to others. And also our work with brothers in need, our charitable works of mercy, lead us to the Lord, because it is in the needy brother and sister that we see the Lord himself. Let us ask the Virgin Mary, the Mother of listening and of service, to teach us to meditate in our hearts on the Word of her Son, to pray faithfully, to be ever more attentive in practical ways to the needs of our brothers and sisters.” – from Pope Francis’ Angelus, July 21, 2013

Feast day: July 30

Peter Chrysologus was a 5^th century bishop of Ravenna, declared Doctor of the Church in 1729. He is also known as the “Doctor of Homilies,” for his gift of articulating the riches of the faith in his short sermons.

Feast day: July 31

“…But as St Ignatius teaches us in the First Week, looking at Jesus and, especially, looking at the Crucified Christ, we feel that most human and most noble sentiment which is shame at not being able to measure up to him; we look at Christ’s wisdom and our ignorance, at his omnipotence and our impotence, at his justice and our wickedness, at his goodness and our evil will (cf. EE, 59). We should ask for the grace to be ashamed; shame that comes from the continuous conversation of mercy with him; shame that makes us blush before Jesus Christ; shame that attunes us to the heart of Christ who made himself sin for me; shame that harmonizes each heart through tears and accompanies us in the daily ‘sequela’ of ‘my Lord.’ And this always brings us, as individuals and as the Society, to humility, to living this great virtue. Humility which every day makes us aware that it is not we who build the Kingdom of God but always the Lord’s grace which acts within us…” - from Pope Francis, homily on the feast of Saint Ignatius, 2013