Churches of the Day

Friday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2

Saints of the Day: July 24 1.St Charbel (or Sharbel) Makhluf (1828-98) priest and monk
Saints of the Day: July 24 1. St Declan, Bishop

FIRST READING 

A reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah          3:14:17
I will give you shepherds after my own heart; all the nations will gather in Jerusalem.

"Come back, disloyal children - it is the Lord who speaks - for I alone am your Master. I will take one from a town, two from a clan, and bring you to Zion. I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and these shall feed you on knowledge and discretion. And when you have increased and become many in the land, then - it is the Lord who speaks - no one will ever say again: 'Where is the ark of the covenant of the Lord ?'
There will be no thought of it, no memory of it, no regret for it, no making of another.

When that time comes, Jerusalem shall be called:
The Throne of the Lord; all the nations will gather there in the name of the Lord and will no longer follow the dictates of their own stubborn hearts.

The Word of the Lord.            Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm          Jer 31:10-13. R/ v.10
Response                               The Lord will guard us as a shepherd guards his flock.

1. O nations, hear the word of the Lord, proclaim it to the far-off coasts.
Say: 'He who scattered Israel will gather him and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.'     Response

2. For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, has saved him from an overpowering hand.
They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.   Response

3. Then the young girls will rejoice and dance, the men, young and old, will be glad.
I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console them, give gladness for grief.                               Response

Gospel Acclamation          Jm 1: 21
Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept and submit to the word,
which has been planted in you and can save your souls.
Alleluia!

Or                                           Lk 8: 15

Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who; with a noble and generous heart, take the word of God
to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance .
Alleluia

GOSPEL 

The Lord be with you                  And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew    13:18-23       Glory to you, O Lord
The one who hears the word and understands it, he is the one who yields a harvest.

Jesus said to his disciples pay attention to the parable of the sower.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the seed sown at the edge of the path.

The seed sown on the edges of rock is someone who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But such a person has no root deep down and does not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word and at once he falls away.

The seed sown in thorns is someone who hears the word, but the worry of the world and the lure of riches choke the word and so it produces nothing.
The seed sown in rich soil is someone who hears the word and understands it;
this is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.

The Gospel of the Lord.             Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection           Friday         Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time        Matthew 13:18-23

The interpretation of the parable of the sower reveals
some of the threats to our growing towards a mature faith.
The first threat is 'a lack of understanding' of the word that is proclaimed. We can grow in our understanding of many areas of life as we get older, but our understanding of the faith can fail to develop beyond the understanding we had when we were children. This leaves our faith vulnerable to the critical questions of reason that we will inevitably encounter as we get older. Reason need not be an enemy of faith, but it can be experienced as such if our understanding of our faith does not grow with age.
A second threat to a mature faith is 'a failure to allow our faith to take deeper roots in our lives'. Our faith may be sustained by social compliance or the desire to please others, but it is not coming from a deep place in our hearts. As a result, when the living of our faith becomes costly, we can be tempted to turn away from it.
In our present age, especially, our faith needs to be sustained by a personal conviction, a freely chosen decision to take the path it offers us because we recognise it to be the path of life.

A third threat to a mature faith lies in the rival claims on our heart that life throws up, the worries and cares of the world and the lure of riches. We may have a deep conviction about the value of our faith, but somehow the demands and pleasures of life absorb us and our faith dies back for lack of attention. We neglect our faith and it becomes choked.

The interpretation of the parable is a salutary reminder that, although faith is a gift from the Lord and the Lord remains faithful to us, 'there is work to be done by ourselves in keeping our relationship with the Lord alive and central to our lives'. Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians expresses well this twofold dynamic of the Lord’s work in our lives and the necessity of our own work, ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure’ (Phil 2:12-13).

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications , c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saints of the Day: July 24. 1.St Charbel (or Sharbel) Makhluf (1828-98) priest and monk
Saints of the Day: July 24. 2. St Declan, Bishop

1.St Charbel (or Sharbel) Makhluf was born on 8 May 1828 at Beka'Kafra (Lebanon); died on Christmas Eve 1898 at Annaya. Maronite monk for 16 years, whose religious name is Sarbel or Charbel, received a good education and was ordained priest. Spent his last 23 years as a hermit. Noted for his ascetic poverty, solitary contemplation and devotion to the Eucharist.

Patrick Duffy tells his story.

The Lebanese priest-monk Saint Charbel (or Sharbel) Maklouf belonged to the community of the Monastery of St. Maron at Annaya for sixteen years and then lived as a hermit in the mountains for a further twenty-three. Many cures and miracles turned his tomb into a place of pilgrimage.

Family Background
Joseph Zaroun Maklouf's father was a mule-driver, he died when Joseph was three. His mother was a devout and admirable lady who regularly fasted. Some of his uncles had been hermits. At the age of twenty-three Joseph entered the Monastery of Our Lady of Lebanon (north of Byblos) for a two year-novitiate and took the name Sharbel,('Charbel' may be a Frenchified version in honour of a second-century martyr of that name.)

As his mother reflected on her separation from her son after he entered the monastery, she wrote to him, saying: "If you weren't going to become a good religious, I would say to you: 'Come back home'. But I know now that the Lord wants you in his service. And in my sorrow at being separated from you, I quite peacefully say to him: 'May God bless you my son and make a saint of you'."

Monastic Formation
Sharbel was formed according to the Lebanese Maronite Rule of St Antony and professed his final vows in 1853. He was ordained six years later. After sixteen years as a monk with the community of Annaya (1875), he opted for a completely solitary life at the mountainous hermitage of Ss Peter and Paul dependent on Annaya. Here he spent the next twenty-three years in manual work, fasting, obedience and prayer and solitude .

Reputation 
Sharbel was particularly devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. When his superiors occasionally asked him to administer the sacraments to nearby villages, Charbel did so gladly. His reputation for holiness prompted people to seek him to receive a blessing and to be remembered in his prayers.

Death and Burial
Sharbel died on Christmas Eve 1898. His brother companions of the hermitage spent the night kneeling nearby and praying. In the morning heavy snow blocked the paths. But the young men from Annaya and its neighbourhood, wearing their winter clothes and their heavy boots cleared the snow and his brother monks carried down Sharbel's body on their shoulders to the monastery and to the grave.

His Prayer
One of his prayers became well-known:
"Father of truth, behold your son who makes atoning sacrifice to you. Accept the offering:
he died for me that I might have life."

Beatification and Canonisation
Pope Paul VI beatified Sharbel at the Second Vatican Council in 1965 and canonised him in 1977.

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Memorable Saying for Today

"Prayer is reaching out and after the unseen;
fasting, letting go of all that is seen and temporal.
Fasting helps express, deepens, confirms the resolution that we are ready to sacrifice anything,
even ourselves, to attain what we seek for the kingdom of God."

~ Bill Bright ~

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Saints of the Day: July 24. 2. St Declan, Bishop

Declan of Ardmore, a man of noble blood, is considered to be one of the pre-Patrician saints. Colman, a local priest, baptised him. Later he went to Europe to continue his studies where he was ordained priest and possibly bishop. He settled in Ardmore (Waterford) and evangelised the Decies territory.

Patrick Duffy reviews the traditions about him.

Monuments to Declan
The Ardmore peninsula in west Waterford contains many ecclesiastical monuments that testify to the high esteem in which St Declan was held. He is called "the Patrick of the Déisí".

Traditional or alternative narrative?
The traditional narrative about the coming Christianity to Ireland is that St Patrick, the "apostle" and patron saint of Ireland, converted the whole country to Christianity in the fifth century. Most of the stories about Patrick are located in the northern half of the country.

But there is a strong alternative narrative that holds that Christianity had come to the south of Ireland even before Patrick began evangelising, most likely through contact with Wales or Gaul during the early part of the fifth or even at the end of the fourth century. The four saints included in this narrative are: Saints Ailbe of Emly, Declan of Ardmore, Ciaran of Saighir and Ibar of Begerin.

Life of St Declan of Ardmore
A 12th century Life of St Declan of Ardmore survives in both a Latin and an Irish version. Rev Patrick C. Power edited and translated this for the Irish Texts Society in 1914. It presents a full account of the traditions connected with St Declan and locates him firmly among the Déisí or 'people of the west Waterford area', especially linking him with the Ardmore peninsula.

Declan came from the royal house of the Déisí and probably studied in Wales or in Gaul. According to the Life, whose literary genre is primarily hagiographical and is not without tendentious assertions and inconsistencies, he visited Rome.
'…he received marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of Rome when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was comely, of good appearance,
humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent in counsel, frank in conversation,
virtuous in mien, generous in gifts, holy in life and resplendent in miracles.'

Strong link between Ailbe and Declan
The Life also presents Ailbe (of Emly - see 12th September) and Declan as having a great bond of affection: “they loved one another like brothers”. They even meet together in Rome and are made bishops there before returning to Ireland. As Declan is coming home, on the road through Italy he meets Patrick (on his way to Rome and not yet a bishop). Patrick and Declan along with Ailbe meet up again at Cashel where their respective areas of influence seem to have been sorted out before King Aengus.

Reflecting 12th century concerns
The relationships of these famous representative bishops is put into a rann or stanza in the Life:
Humble Ailbe is the Patrick of Munster,
greater than any saying,
Declan is the Patrick of the Déisí
and the Déisí belong to Declan for ever.
But it may well be that the concerns that underlie the rann reflect a later sorting out of diocesan jurisdictions contemporary with the time of writing of the Life (12th century). At that time Armagh was given the primacy, Emly became the leading ecclesiastical centre in Munster and Ardmore, Lismore and Waterford were coming together as one diocese.
Legendary Generosity
Declan's generosity was proverbial and beggars followed him wherever he went. In his last days he sought refuge “in a narrow place beside the sea” - called Declan’s Desert - and it was there he died on the 24th July. The day is still kept as his “pattern”.

Ecclesiastical Monuments in Ardmore
A most remarkable group of ancient ecclesiastical remains is still visible today in Ardmore – a beautiful well preserved round tower, a ruined cathedral, the ruins of a second church beside a holy well, a primitive oratory and some ogham-inscribed pillar stones.

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Memorable Sayings for Today

Be humble and never think that you are better than anyone else.
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God

~c/f 1 Peter 5:6 ~

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- Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

FIRST READING

A reading from the First Book of Kings 3:5. 7-12
You have asked for a discerning judgement for yourself, here and now I do what you ask.

 At Gibeon the Lord appeared in a dream to Solomon during the night. God said,
'Ask what you would like me to give you'.
Solomon replied,
Lord my God, you have made your servant king in succession to David my father. But I am a very young man, unskilled in leadership. Your servant finds himself in the midst of this people of yours that you have chosen, a people so many its number cannot be counted or reckoned.
Give your servant a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil, for who could govern this people of yours that is so great?'
It pleased the Lord that Solomon should have asked for this.
'Since you have asked for this' the Lord said 'and not asked for long life for yourself or riches or the lives of your enemies, but have asked for a discerning judgement for yourself, here and now I do what you ask.
I give you a heart wise and shrewd as none before you has had and none will have after you.

The Word of the Lord.              Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm            Ps 118: 57. 72. 76-77. 127-130 R/ v 97
Response                                Lord how I love your law!

1. My part, I have resolved, O Lord, is to obey your word.
The law from your mouth means more to me. than silver and gold.                 Response

2. Let your love be ready to console me by your promise to your servant.
Let your love come to me and I shall live for your law is my delight.               Response

3. That is why I love your commands more than finest gold.
That is why I rule my life by your precepts: I hate false ways.                            Response

4. Your will is wonderful indeed; therefore I obey it.
The unfolding of your word gives light and teaches the simple.                         Response


SECOND READING

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Romans           8:28-30
God intends us to become true images of his Son.

We know that by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose. They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory. 

The Word of the Lord.                      Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation                  Jn 15: 15
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!

Or                                                    Mt 11:25
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL  

The Lord be with you                        And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew    13:44-52      Glory to you, O Lord
He sells everything he owns and buys it.

Jesus spoke to the crowds:
'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

'Have you understood all this?'
They said, 'Yes'.
And he said to them, 'Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old'.

The Gospel of the Lord    Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Shorter form of the Gospel

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you                         And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew   13:44-52        Glory to you, O Lord
He sells everything he owns and buys it.

Jesus spoke to the crowds:
'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

The Gospel of the Lord.      Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers.