Churches of the Day

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2

Saints of the Day: 6 July,
1; St Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr.
2. St Moninne of Killeavy, virgin
C/f A short life of these saint can be found below todays' Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of the prophet Hosea            2:16-18. 21-22
I will betroth you to myself for ever.

It is the Lord who speaks: I am going to lure her and lead her out into the wilderness and speak to her heart. There she will respond to me as she did when she was young, as she did when she came out of the land of Egypt.

When that day comes - it is the Lord who speaks – she will call me, 'My husband', no longer will she call me, 'My Baal'
I will betroth you to myself for ever, betroth you with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love; I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and you will come to know the Lord.

The Word of the Lord.              Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm            Ps 144: 2-9. R/v 8
Response                                  The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

1. I will bless you day after day and praise your name for ever.
The Lord is great, highly to be praised, his greatness cannot be measured.            Response

2. Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall declare your mighty deeds,
shall speak of your splendour and glory, tell the tale of your wonderful works.     Response

3. They will speak of your terrible deeds, recount your greatness and might.
They will recall your abundant goodness; age to age shall ring out your justice.    Response

4. The Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures.                                Response

Gospel  Acclamation                            2 Tim 1:10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Christ Jesus abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News
Alleluia!

or                                                                 Jn 10: 27
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord.
I know my own and my own know me.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                           And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew  9:18-26          Glory to you, O Lord
My daughter has just died, but come and her life will be saved.

While Jesus was speaking to them, up came one of the officials, who bowed low in front of him and said, 'My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.'
Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him.

Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself,
'If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.'

Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her,
'Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.'
And from that moment the woman was well again.

When Jesus reached the official's house and saw the flute-players,
with the crowd making a commotion he said,
'Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.'
And they laughed at him.

But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up. And the news spread all round the countryside.

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

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Gospel Reflection              Monday             Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time            Matthew 9:18-26

In today’s first reading, the Lord promises to lead Israel out into the wilderness. There he will speak to her heart and she will respond to him, as she once did. In the gospel reading, two members of God’s people respond to Jesus. One, a synagogue official, approaches Jesus in a public and confident way, as befits his status, and asked Jesus to lay hands on his daughter so that her life will be saved. The other, a woman with a flow of blood, approaches Jesus in a very furtive, hidden, way, in keeping with her non-status within the synagogue community. She only wanted to touch Jesus’ cloak, without making herself known to anybody. However, Jesus refused to treat her as if she were invisible. As the synagogue official spoke directly to Jesus, Jesus wanted to speak directly to the woman.

He saw no essential difference between the approach of the official and the woman. They were both in need and both had the faith to reach out to Jesus for help, and Jesus responded equally generously to them both. We all have our own way of approaching the Lord. We do so in a way that is unique to us and that reflects the circumstances of our lives. However, the Lord relates to all of us equally. In the words of the first reading, he wants to speak to the heart of each of us, drawing us to himself with tenderness and love. Regardless of how we are seen by others, the Lord looks upon us in a way that recognizes our dignity. In the words of today’s psalm, he is ‘kind and full of compassion’ towards all.

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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/



Saints of the Day: 6 July, 1; St Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr.

Summary:  St Maria Goretti: a patron saint both for those who have been abused and for those who are guilty of abuse. Some important lessons must be learned from this saint.

Paddy McCafferty recounts her short life.

[caption id="attachment_47952" align="alignleft" width="261"] This is believed to be a real photograph of Maria, one of only two photos that are known of[/caption]

In the early afternoon on July 5, 1902, an 11-year-old girl, Maria Goretti, was repeatedly stabbed by a 20-year-old man in the course of a frenzied, sexually motivated attack. On June 24, 1950, Pope Pius XII canonised her in the presence of her mother, Assunta, and of the man who murdered her, Alessandro Serenelli. In reading the accounts of Maria's life, her personality and spirituality, one cannot fail to be vividly reminded of the similarities with St Bernadette of Lourdes, before and after the apparitions.

Comparison with Bernadette
Both children lived in grinding poverty. Many years after her death, it was said of St Maria Goretti by a Cardinal Salotti, preaching at her shrine in Nettuno, that she would have been a saint even if she had not been a martyr, "because she had the gift of making her ordinary, everyday life, the holy ground of God's presence.”

Maria's family had been forced to move in as lodgers with the widower, Giovanni Serenelli, and his two sons. Her father, Luigi, had to give up their small farm in Corinaldo because it was impossible to eke out any kind of existence there for his wife and children. The Serenellis invited him to come onto their farm as a partner. He had little option but to accept. Giovanni Serenelli was a boorish man. He often got drunk and became abusive. He and his two sons were as different to the deeply devout Goretti family as chalk is to cheese. The Serenellis, for example, were much given to reading the lurid accounts of "true sex crimes." Indecent pictures were pasted on the walls of the house they now shared with the Gorettis.

Assunta and Luigi tried to protect their children as best they could in such an atmosphere. Assunta later said: "We tried to bring them up in the faith, to be good Christians, teaching them to pray and to see God in his creation." Every evening Luigi would lead his wife and children in the rosary.

Grim life
Life was grim for the Gorettis. Already awful circumstances became even worse when Luigi fell ill and died at the end of March, 1901. The grief-stricken Assunta was forced to take on her husband's work in the fields. But she was shown no compassion whatsoever by Giovanni Serenelli.

Eleven-year-old Maria had to assume the domestic chores of her mother - cooking, cleaning, mending, fetching, carrying and caring for the younger children. She was a docile and gentle child, deeply prayerful. She tried to console her mother as best she could: "Don't worry, Mama. The good Lord will always look after us. Soon we will all be grown up and we will be able to take care of you."

At this time, Alessandro began to pester Maria and to make indecent advances towards her. The child firmly resisted but was horrified and frightened. As is the case with so many other victims of child sexual abuse, she told no one of her plight. The cramped living conditions in which the Goretti family lived with the Serenellis made it impossible for Maria to avoid Alessandro. However, she did her best to ensure she was never alone with him.

Brutal Assault
On July 5, 1902, Alessandro caught her in the house by herself, and tried to force her into having sexual intercourse. He was much stronger than the child and could easily have overpowered her, but he wanted her to comply willingly with his demands. Maria utterly refused: "No, Alessandro, God does not want this. If you do this, you will go to hell.”

Alessandro, in a madness of passion and fury, lost his temper and stabbed her repeatedly. Her baby sister, Teresa, began to cry with all the disturbance, and this alerted Assunta who was working in the fields. Maria was found bleeding profusely. The local doctor could do nothing, so she was rushed to hospital in nearby Nettuno. The journey was only eight miles but it took four hours, during which the dying girl suffered agonies because of the jolting of the ambulance on the rough country roads. She was examined upon arrival, and the doctors discovered that all her vital organs, including her heart, had been damaged.

Maria was dehydrated from blood loss and the heat. She pleaded for water but, because the doctors had decided to operate, was not allowed anything to drink. Her mother later testified that the thought of Jesus' thirst on the cross helped her to bear her own.

Fourteen major wounds

[caption id="attachment_47954" align="alignleft" width="110"] (Maria Goretti's forgiven murderer) Alessandro Serenelli in 1950[/caption]

Maria had suffered 14 major wounds and two contusions. The operation lasted two hours. Afterwards, she was in agony with nothing to relieve the pain. She worried about her mother, brothers and sisters but, most of all, about her abuser and attacker: "Poor Alessandro. He's going to go to hell."

The parish priest came to see her. Before giving her Holy Communion, he spoke to her of Jesus' death and how he forgave his murderers. He asked her: "Do you forgive Alessandro?" She seemed tremendously relieved and said that she forgave him with all her heart. Before her death, Maria became delirious and relived the trauma of the attack. She died at 15.45 pm on July 6, 1902.

When Maria was canonised on June 24, 1950, half a million people were in attendance in St Peter's Square. Her mother was present, aged 85. It was the first time in history that a mother had been present for her child's canonisation. Also present with her and Maria's family was : Alessandro Serenelli.

Amazing courage
The story of this amazing child of courage and faith needs to be heard again by the people of God in these difficult times. Nowadays, we are extremely conscious of the immense damage and prolonged suffering that can be inflicted on those who fall prey to sexual predators. In St Maria Goretti, we have a friend in God's presence who commends to God's loving care all who, like her, have been victimised in this way.

In these times, when the church has been ravaged by scandals involving the sexual abuse of children and minors, St Maria Goretti must now be allowed to come into her own. In her we have an advocate for everyone who has suffered sexual abuse – no matter who or what the perpetrator, and no matter what the circumstances.

We know of many cases where paedophiles molested their victims and then murdered them. St Maria Goretti was mortally wounded with 14 stab wounds. The majority of victims of paedophilia, however, are lacerated 'within'. They are condemned to a slow death – a long haemorrhaging of the spirit – by the interior disfigurement caused by the abuse.

The victim is disfigured in his/her own eyes. Others might look and see a beautiful, gifted person; but the person who is abused views him/herself with intense and often violent self-loathing. The spirit weeps and the soul bleeds. This can go on for many, many years.

St Maria fought back against her attacker. He demanded her complicity and she refused. Later, after his conversion, Alessandro Serenelli testified for the cause of her beatification: "I knew I was breaking God's law. I killed her because she refused. She had never encouraged me in any way – not by a word or a deed."

Lies of the Abuser
Many abused children did not have the strength, or the ability, to resist an abuser. That is no reflection on them whatsoever; but the important thing to remember is that now that they are older and stronger, they can fight back against the abuse. They can close their ears to the terrible lies that the abuser told them about themselves. They can begin to look at themselves as they truly are – a beloved child of God.

The prayers of an 11-year-old child who is now in heaven can help abused people withstand and face down the monsters of fear that haunt and intimidate them, making of their lives a living hell. Yes, Maria is very much a saint for these times.

There can be no doubt about it. Maria, before the throne of God, pleads for the many victims of child sexual abuse in our country as well as her own and throughout the world. She is a saint for the church in these painful and troubled times. Yet again, as always, God has raised up a little one to confound the powerful. (1 Cor 1:28)

[caption id="attachment_102375" align="aligncenter" width="299"] Pope Francis begs forgiveness of children sexually abused by church people, workers or priests.[/caption]

Scripture says: "And a little child shall lead them." (Is 11:6). Maria, at the head of an army of innocents and little ones, goes before God's church to call us back to "being like little children” (Mt 18:3). The church had become, in too many ways, arrogant and abusive of God's people. Now, the church must become little again so as to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 18:4).

Saint for the Guilty
St Maria Goretti is also a saint for those who are guilty of abuse. Alessandro Serenelli, like many abusers when they are caught, was in total denial of his actions. He had been caught with the blood of this child on his hands and clothes. He was, for a long time, hard-hearted and unrepentant. He was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment in Sardinia.

For eight of those years he was defiant and contemptuous. Then one night he had a dream about Maria in which the child made a gentle gesture of forgiveness towards him. His life changed. He became a great penitent. He was released, with Assunta's agreement, after 26 years because he was such a model prisoner. Upon release, he laboured for nine years as a builder. It took him this long to save up enough money to return to Italy.

The first thing he did was to go see Assunta at Corinaldo. He pleaded for forgiveness, and Assunta readily forgave him. Assunta took him with her to Midnight Mass at Christmas 1937. They received Holy Communion together. After he received the Eucharist, there was a bit of commotion among the congregation, so he turned around to them and said: "I am guilty of a terrible sin. Please forgive me.”

He was with the family at the beatification and canonisation of his victim. He eventually went to work as a gardener in an isolated monastery. He stayed hidden there until his death in 1969, aged 82. His last words: "I'm going to be with Maria.”

Human beings in need of help
Society rightly has a horror of those who would subject children to sexual abuse. The temptation is to demonise paedophiles, and a lynch-mob mentality often comes into play. St Maria Goretti would remind us that those who have this serious and dangerous disorder are human beings too. They are in need of specialised help. Alessandro Serenelli came from a very disturbed background. This is no excuse for what he inflicted on Maria but we must leave the matter of judgement where it rightfully belongs – with God.

For our part, it is vitally important that we ensure that it becomes as difficult as humanly possible for anyone to hurt or abuse children. Paedophiles need to be prevented from carrying out their life-destroying actions. Under no circumstances must sexual offenders against children ever be allowed to have access to children.
They are not, however, beyond the mercy and love of God. St Maria Goretti teaches and reminds us of this truth by her own example towards Alessandro.

God's Own Work
In the midst of a most distressing and painful time for the church, we need to look again at the gentle, little girl from Nettuno. She should have lived and died in obscurity. She would probably have lived the same kind of life as her mother – poverty-stricken and hard-working, yet full of faith and of love in action. The horrific circumstances of her death gradually brought her to the attention of the universal church. This is the Lord's own work and it is wonderful to see (Ps 118:23) The Lord found his discarded little one and lifted her up before the whole world. May her prayers help all those who are suffering the deep wounds of childhood abuse and trauma.

[caption id="attachment_47955" align="aligncenter" width="259"] St Maria's body is kept in the crypt of the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie e Santa Maria Goretti in Nettuno, south of Rome.[/caption]



This article first appeared in Reality (October, 2002), a publication of the Irish Redemptorists.

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Memorable Quote for Today

“In their bitter words and their even more bitter tears (amongst the abused),
I would sense both a deep love for the Church and a practically bottomless disillusionment with it.”

~ Robert E. Barron+ ~

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Saints of the Day: 6 July, 2. St Moninne of Killeavy, virgin

Moninne, also known a Darerca or Bline one of Ireland's earliest women saints, founded and was the abbess of a community of hermits which initially consisted of 8 virgins of the Lord and a widow with a baby.

St Moninne is associated with the area of Slieve Gullion and the parishes of Killeavy (Upper, Middle and Lower) in South Armagh. She may also have had a significant role in starting the monastic movement in Ireland.

Patrick Duffy explains.

Links with Patrick, Brigid and Ibar
Moninne's original name was Darerca and she seems to belong to the very early period of Christianity in Ireland. She is said to have received the veil from St Patrick and to have founded a community of eight virgins and a widow with a baby near Faughart, north Louth. She fostered the widow's baby, Luger, and he later became a bishop. She moved, perhaps with her whole community, to a place near Begerin in Co. Wexford to be under St Ibar for counsel and stayed there for some time. She later came back to Cill Shléibhe Cuillin (Killeavy, South Armagh) and settled in a remote spot in the shadow of  Slieve Gullion. She is also associated with St Brigid, having stayed with her at Kildare on her way to and from Wexford.

Association with St Ninian
Moninne seems to have had difficulty in founding and maintaining a religious community of women without getting support from monks. Liam de Paor is of the opinion that it may have been communities of women who actually pioneered the great monastic movement that became so influential in the Irish Church from the sixth to the twelfth century. She sent at least one of her companions, Brignat, across the sea to St Ninian's Candida Casa at Whithorn in Galloway to learn good monastic practice.

Did she go to Whithorn Herself?
Another tradition says she went to Whithorn herself. Her adopted or pet name Moninne could be a feminine version of 'my Ninian'. Another story says that she cured a dumb poet, whose first words were 'Ninna, Ninna' or 'my Ninna'. Because of this name, her cult became confused with that of St Modwenna, the patron of Burton-on-Trent in England. And it is to this confusion that we owe the survival of much of the information about her.

Grave and Well at Killeavy
There is a large granite slab at Killeavy that is pointed out as her grave, and a nearby holy well is visited by pilgrims on her feast day, 6th July. The well is known as St Bline's Well, Bline being a corruption of Moninne's name that is still used locally. However, on the well erected in 1929 an inscription in Irish reads Tobar Naoimh Blathnaid. Blathnaid is the name of a woman associated with the Irish legendary hero Cúchulain. See St Moninne's Well

Tribute of St Oengus
In his Félire, or calendar of Irish saints, St Oengus refers to Moninne as:

Moninde of the mountains,
Cuillin, a beautiful pillar.
She gained a triumph, a hostage of purity,
A kinswoman of great Mary.

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Memorable Sayings for Today

Love is never defeated, and I could add, the history of Ireland proves it.

~St Pope John Paul II ~

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Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time,  Year A

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah           55:10-11
The rain makes the earth give growth.

Thus says the Lord:
As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.

The Word of the Lord.            Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm          Ps 64: 10-14 R/v Luke 8:8
Response                               Some seed fell into rich soil and produced its crop.

1. You care for the earth, give it water, you fill it with riches.
Your river in heaven brims over to provide its grain.                                             Response

2. And thus you provide for the earth; you drench its furrows,
you level it, soften it with showers, you bless its growth.                                       Response

3. You crown the year with your goodness. Abundance flows in your steps,
in the pastures of the wilderness it flows.                                                                 Response

4. The hills are girded with joy, the meadows covered with flocks,
the valleys are decked with wheat. They shout for joy, yes, they sing.               Response

SECOND READING       

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Romans             8:18-23
The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons.

I think that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us. The whole creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal his sons. It was not for any fault on the part of creation that it was made unable to attain its purpose, it was made so by God; but creation still retains the hope of being freed, like us, from its slavery to decadence, to enjoy the same freedom and glory as the children of God.

From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free.

The Word of the Lord.                 Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation              1 Sam 3: 9, 
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!

or                                                 Mt 11: 25

Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL                         

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew         13:1-23
A sower went out to sow.

Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables.

He said,
'Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has ears!'

Then the disciples went up to him and asked, |
'Why do you talk to them in parables?'
'Because' he replied 'the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:
You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive.
For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,
for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and
be healed by me.

'But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.

'You, therefore, are to hear 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 man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he 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.

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

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Shorter form
GOSPEL                    

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew               13:1-9
A sower went out to sow.

Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables.

He said,
'Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has ears!'

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




Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.