Author name: sanjose

Acts 4:11

Verse:

“Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.” - Acts 4:11

Prayer Before Surgery

Loving Father, I entrust myself to your care this day; guide with wisdom and skill the minds and hands of the medical people who minister in your Name, and grant that every cause of illness be removed, I may be restored to soundness of health and learn to live in more perfect harmony with you and with those around me. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Into your hands, I commend my body and my soul. Amen.

Sources:

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Saint John Neumann

Saint John Neumann was born in what is now the Czech Republic. After studying in Prague, he came to New York at 25 and was ordained a priest. He did missionary work in New York until he was 29, when he joined the Redemptorists and became its first member to profess vows in the United States. He continued missionary work in Maryland, Virginia and Ohio, where he became popular with the Germans.
At 41, as bishop of Philadelphia, he organized the parochial school system into a diocesan one, increasing the number of pupils almost twentyfold within a short time.
Gifted with outstanding organizing ability, he drew into the city many teaching communities of sisters and the Christian Brothers. During his brief assignment as vice provincial for the Redemptorists, he placed them in the forefront of the parochial movement.
Well-known for his holiness and learning, spiritual writing and preaching, on October 13, 1963, John Neumann became the first American bishop to be beatified. Canonized in 1977, he is buried in St. Peter the Apostle Church in Philadelphia.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-neumann/

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Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a true daughter of the American Revolution, born August 28, 1774, just two years before the Declaration of Independence. By birth and marriage, she was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of high society. Reared a staunch Episcopalian, she learned the value of prayer, Scripture and a nightly examination of conscience. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley, did not have much use for churches but was a great humanitarian, teaching his daughter to love and serve others.

At 19, Elizabeth was the belle of New York and married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Magee Seton. They had five children before his business failed and he died of tuberculosis. At 30, Elizabeth was widowed and penniless, with five small children to support.

While in Italy with her dying husband, Elizabeth witnessed Catholicity in action through family friends. Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence, devotion to the Blessed Mother and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ. Many of her family and friends rejected her when she became a Catholic in March 1805. To support her children, she opened a school in Baltimore. From the beginning, her group followed the lines of a religious community, which was officially founded in 1809.

The thousand or more letters of Mother Seton reveal the development of her spiritual life from ordinary goodness to heroic sanctity. She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son. She died January 4, 1821, and became the first American-born citizen to be beatified (1963) and then canonized (1975). She is buried in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Sources:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-elizabeth-ann-seton/

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Saint Genevieve

Saint Genevieve was born in Nanterre and moved to Paris (then known as Lutetia) after encountering Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes and dedicated herself to a Christian life.

In 451 she led a “prayer marathon” that was said to have saved Paris by diverting Attila’s Huns away from the city. When the Germanic king Childeric I besieged the city in 464, Genevieve acted as an intermediary between the city and its besiegers, collecting food and convincing Childeric to release his prisoners. Genevieve had frequent visions of heavenly saints and angels. She reported her visions and prophecies until her enemies conspired to drown her in a lake. Through the intervention of Germanus, their animosity was finally overcome. The Bishop of Paris appointed her to look after the welfare of the other Consecrated virgins, and by her instruction and example, she led them to a high degree of sanctity.

She is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevieve
McNamara, Halborg, and Whatley 18.
McNamara, Halborg, and Whatley 4.

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Job 19:25

Verse:

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.” - Job 19:25

Prayer For Redemption

Dear God, I believe that Jesus was God incarnate, holy God Who became perfect Man. I believe that He died on the cross to pay the price for the sin of the world, and I believe that He died to forgive my sin. Lord, give me a teachable spirit so that I may grow in grace and grow in a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach me I pray, and give me wisdom to know what is right and what is wrong. Thank You, God. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Sources:

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Saint Basil the Great

Saint Basil was on his way to becoming a famous teacher when he decided to begin a religious life of gospel poverty. After studying various modes of religious life, he founded what was probably the first monastery in Asia Minor. He is to monks of the East what Saint Benedict is to the West, and Basil’s principles influence Eastern monasticism today.
He was ordained a priest, assisted the archbishop of Caesarea—now southeastern Turkey—and ultimately became archbishop himself, in spite of opposition from some of the bishops under him, probably because they foresaw coming reforms.

Arianism, one of the most damaging heresies in the history of the Church which denied the divinity of Christ, was at its height. Emperor Valens persecuted orthodox believers, and put great pressure on Basil to remain silent and admit the heretics to communion. Basil remained firm, and Valens backed down. But trouble remained. When the great Saint Athanasius died, the mantle of defender of the faith against Arianism fell upon Basil. He strove mightily to unite and rally his fellow Catholics who were crushed by tyranny and torn by internal dissension. He was misunderstood, misrepresented, accused of heresy and ambition. Even appeals to the pope brought no response. “For my sins I seem to be unsuccessful in everything.”

Basil was tireless in pastoral care. He preached twice a day to huge crowds, built a hospital that was called a wonder of the world—as a youth he had organized famine relief and worked in a soup kitchen himself—and fought the prostitution business.
Basil was best known as an orator. Though not recognized greatly in his lifetime, his writings rightly place him among the great teachers of the Church. Seventy-two years after his death, the Council of Chalcedon described him as “the great Basil, minister of grace who has expounded the truth to the whole earth.

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The Octave Day of Christmas, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading: Nm 6:22-27

The LORD said to Moses:
“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:
This is how you shall bless the Israelites.
Say to them:
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!
So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites,
and I will bless them.”

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 67:2-3,5,6,8

Response– May God bless us in his mercy

May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R– May God bless us in his mercy

May the nations be glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R– May God bless us in his mercy

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R– May God bless us in his mercy

Second Reading: Gal 4:4-7

Brothers and sisters:
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law,
to ransom those under the law,
so that we might receive adoption as sons.
As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
So you are no longer a slave but a son,
and if a son then also an heir, through God.

Alleluia:

 Alleluia, alleluia. In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son. Alleluia, alleluia!

Gospel: Lk 2: 16-21

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.

The Readings and Gospel were sourced from:

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Proverbs 21:26

Verse:

“All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.” - Proverbs 21:26

Prayer For Generosity (Jandi’s Version of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Prayer)

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve You as I should. To give and not to count the cost. To fight and not to heed the wounds. To toil and not to seek for rest. To labor and ask not for reward. Save that of knowing that I do Your most holy will.

Sources:

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