2014
US Bishops Promote March for Marriage on June 19 in Washington DC
Your Eminence/Your Excellency:
As you may be aware, several organizations are collaborating to sponsor a second March for
Marriage, which is scheduled to be held on June 19, 2014 in Washington, D.C. Just two days before
the beginning of the Fortnight for Freedom, this year’s March for Marriage will provide an ideal
occasion for participants to celebrate and give public witness to the unique meaning of marriage as
the union of one man and one woman at a time when the religious liberties and conscience rights of
those who promote and defend marriage are increasingly threatened.
We are very grateful for this opportunity to express our support for the March for Marriage and to
encourage participation in this event. We kindly ask that you promote the march in your diocese and
parishes and encourage participation where possible.
The March for Marriage will be an important means to promote and defend marriage for the good of
our culture, to pray for our federal and state governments, and to stand in solidarity with people of
good will. It also complements well the bishops’ Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious
Liberty (www.usccb.org/life-marriage-liberty). This is a critical time for marriage in our country, as
marriage amendments are being struck down by federal courts and appeals of these decisions are
being made. We are deeply grateful for any support you can offer for this march.
The websites promoting the March for Marriage are available at www.marriagemarch.org and
www.facebook.com/MarchForMarriage. As we understand, more detailed information will be
forthcoming in the next few weeks, and updates will be posted on the websites. The Secretariat of
Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth will also be promoting this event through its websites and
social media.
With profound appreciation for all you do in support of marriage and family life, and with our
assurance of prayers in this holy season of Lent, we remain
Fraternally in Christ,
Most Reverend Richard J. Malone
Bishop of Buffalo
Chairman, Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth
Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone
Archbishop of San Francisco
Chairman, Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage
Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth
Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage
3211 FOURTH STREET NE • WASHINGTON DC 20017-1194 • 202-541-3040 • FAX 202-541-3176
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Saint June 18 : Venerable Matt Talbot - Patron of Alcoholics
Matt Talbot was born on the 2nd May 1856 at 13, Aldborough Court in the Parish of St. Agatha, Dublin, Ireland. Matt was one of Dublin's poor he lived in a tenement, wore second hand cloths, died in a laneway and was buried in a pauper's grave. Coming from such a deprived background and with an alcoholic father and a family history of neglect and poverty, Matt found himself sucked into the culture of addiction and to the only choice of drug available to the poor of his day alcohol. Matt like so many others embraced alcohol as a means of escape from the misery and poverty of daily life.
Today we live in an age of addictions more sophisticated perhaps than those of Matt's day, addictions to substances such as alcohol and other drugs soft or hard, prescription or illegal, addictions to gambling, pornography and the internet, addictions to work, professional advancement, sex, money and power. All these have the ability to destroy our lives and like demons even our very souls as well.
Matt Talbot gradually came to this awareness and from the time of his conversion as a young man of 28, he spent the rest of his life living to a heroic extent the Christian virtues through prayer, spiritual reading, work and acts of charity. For three months, Talbot decided to make a general confession and begin to attend daily Mass. The first seven years after taking the starting were especially difficult. He avoided his former drinking places. He began to pray. He paid back people from whom he had borrowed or stolen money. He joined the Secular Franciscan Order with strict penance; he abstained from meat nine months a year. Matt read Scripture and the lives of the saints every day. He prayed the rosary daily. Matt sets before us a radical example which demonstrates that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. His life is a witness to the fact that people can by God's grace and their own self acceptance say no to that which leads to addiction or addictive behaviors.
Trinity Sunday the 7th June was the hottest day of a heat wave that had gripped the country since the previous week. Matt as usual had attended the 5.30am Mass in Gardiner St. and went to Holy Communion with the men of his Sodality at 8.00am Mass after Mass he returned to Rutland Street to have his usual meagre breakfast, one of his neighbours thought he looked poorly and advised him to take a little rest. Matt admitted that he was feeling a little weak but a half an hour later Matt came down again; he smiled at his neighbour, said he felt all right and was going on to the 10am Mass in Dominick Street. Dominican Church He always hurried to Mass. Around two sides of Mountjoy Square, along Gardiner Place, past Belvedere College, down Gardiner Row and along the North side of Parnell Square he was now just a few minutes away from his goal, the Dominican Church. Turning into Granby Lane, a short cut to the Church, he stumbled and collapsed. Passers by came to his aid people coming from an earlier Mass in Dominick called for a priest, a nurse and a Guard were on the scene. An eye witness account from Noel Carroll, who was a young boy at the time, recalls how his father who was manager of a chemist's shop at Bolton Street, would generally attend the 10am Mass on Sunday mornings in Dominick Street.
Prayer to Venerable Matt Talbot
Asking Matt's Help in the Presence of the Lord Gentle Matt, I turn to you in my present needs and ask for the help of your prayers. Trusting in you, I am confident your charitable and understanding heart will make my petitions your own. I believe that you are truly powerful in the presence of Divine Mercy. If it be for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the honour of Mary, our Mother and Queen and the deepening of my relationship with them, show that your goodness towards me, in my daily struggles, equals your influence with the Holy Spirit, who is hidden and at home in my Heart. Friend of pity, friend of power, hear, oh hear me in this hour, gentle Matt, please pray for me.
Edited from http://www.matttalbot.ie/
1st Woman to Win the Ratzinger Prize - Prof. Pelletier and other winners
ANNE-MARIE PELLETIER FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE RATZINGER PRIZE
Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) – This morning a press conference was held in the Holy See Press Office to present two events organised by the “Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI”: the 2014 Ratzinger Prize, which will be awarded on 22 November, and the congress to be held in the Pontifical Bolivarian University of Medellin in Colombia (23-24 October 2014).
The speakers at the conference were Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Scientific Committee of the “Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI”, Msgr. Giuseppe Scotti, president of the Foundation, and German Cardona Gutierrez, Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See. Cardinal Ruini announced the names of the prizewinners: the French Professor Anne-Marie Pelletier and Professor Waldemar Chrostowski. Professor Pelletier is the first woman ever to win the Prize, and is a scholar of hermeneutics and biblical exegesis who has also focused on the issue of women in Christianity; Professor Chrostowski, the first ever Polish prizewinner, is a priest, biblicist and expert on Catholic-Jewish dialogue.
Anne-Marie Pelletier, born in 1946, taught general linguistics and comparative literature at the University of Paris X, then Marne-la-Vallee, as well as theology of marriage at the Catholic Institute of Paris. She has for some years taught sacred scriptures and biblical hermeneutics at the Notre Dame faculty of the seminary of Paris. Since 2013 she has held the role of professor of biblical teaching at the European Institute of Science of Religions (IESR). Her research extends to Judaism and Christianity at the College des Bernardins, and the monastic world. She has published widely: notable works in the field of hermeneutics and biblical exegesis are “Lectures du Cantique des Cantiques. De l'enigme du sens aux figures du lecteur”, “Lectures bibliques. Aux sources de la culture occidentale”, “D'age en age les Ecritures. La Bible et l'hermeneutique contemporaine”, and “Le livre d'Isaie, l'histoire au prisme de la prophetie”. With regard to the question of women in Christianity, she has written two books: “Le christianisme et les femmes. Vingt siecles d'histoire”, and “Le signe de la femme”.
“Pelletier is therefore a most distinguished figure in contemporary French Catholicism”, commented Cardinal Ruini, “who unites deserved scientific prestige and a great and versatile cultural liveliness with an authentic dedication to causes of the highest importance for Christian witness in society”.
Msgr. Waldemar Chrostowski was born in 1951 in Chrostowo, Poland. He holds a doctorate in theology and in 2013 received the title of university professor from the President of Poland. He is the general editor of the journal “Collectanea Theologica” and is the president of the Association of Polish Biblicists. His scientific and didactic production is extensive and includes his dissertation “Prophets before history. The interpretation of the story of Israel in Ezekiel 16, 20 and 23 and their reinterpretation in the Bible of the Seventies”, the two volumes of “The Garden of Eden – known testimony of the Assyrian diaspora” and “Assyrian diaspora of the Israelites”, “God, Bible, Messiah”, and “The Church, Jews, Poland”. He teaches in the faculty of theology of the Warsaw Academy, now Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, and in various other universities and seminaries.
“Msgr. Chrostowski is engaged in Catholic-Jewish and Polish-Jewish dialogue and has for some time been a member of the commission of the Polish episcopate for dialogue with Judaism. He unites scientific rigour with passion for the Word of God, service to the Church and engagement in interreligious dialogue”, concluded Cardinal Ruini.
Msgr. Giuseppe Antonio Scotti went on to present the convention “Respect for life, path for peace”, which will take place from 23 to 24 October in the Bolivarian University of Medellin, Colombia. The congress is the fourth since the institution in 2010 of the “Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI” and, like the previous ones, will count on the participation of the universities in the host country, along with the local Church and representatives of civil society and politics. Since the first encounter, organinsed in Bygdoszcz, Poland, 275 universities have taken part, involving 1600 teachers and students who have carried out projects of reflection and research related to the theme.
“The appointment in Medellin this October … once more emphasises that universities – the young people and people who study, think and seek there – can and wish to take an active and committed role in the construction of a fully human future, aware that our times, marked by globalisation, with its positive and negative aspects, as well as bloody conflicts and threats of war, necessitate renewed and concerted commitment to seeking the common good, and the development of the whole of humanity and the whole human person”.
Latest from the Vatican Information Service - Appointments by Pope Francis
Vatican City, 18 June 2014 (VIS) – Today the programme of Pope Francis' apostolic trip to Korea (13-18 August), to attend the 6th Asian Youth Day, was published. The Pope will depart on Wednesday 13 August at 4 p.m. from Rome's Fiumicino airport and will arrive in Seoul at 10.30 a.m. on Thursday 14. After celebrating Holy Mass in private at the apostolic nunciature, he will make a courtesy visit to the president of the Republic and will meet with the political authorities, whom he will address at the Blue House. The first day will conclude with a meeting with the bishops of Korea at the offices of the Episcopal Conference. On Friday 15, Solemnity of the Assumption, the Pope will transfer by helicopter to Daejeon where he will celebrate Mass in the World Cup Stadium. He will then lunch with some young people in the major seminary and from there will proceed by helicopter to the shrine of Solmoe to meet with the young of Asia, returning to Seoul in the late afternoon. On Saturday 16, he will visit the shrine of the Martyrs of Seo So Mun and at 10 a.m. he will celebrate Mass for the beatification of Paul Yun Ji-Chung and 123 companion martyrs at the Gwanghwamun Gate in Seoul. Following the ceremony he will transfer, again by helicopter, to Kkottongnae, where he will visit the House of Hope, a rehabilitation centre for the disabled. Shortly after he will meet with the religious communities of Korea in the “School of Love” Training Centre. At 6.30 p.m. he will meet with leaders of the apostolic laity at the Spirituality Centre, before returning to Seoul around 7 p.m. On Sunday 17, the Pope will meet with the bishops of Asia in the shrine of Haemi. After lunching with the prelates, Francis will celebrate Holy Mass at 4.30 p.m. to mark the closing of the 6th Asian Youth Day in the castle of Haemi, from where he will fly to Seoul. On Monday, 18 August, the Holy Father will spend his final day in Korea meeting with religious leaders in the building of the old Curia of the Archdiocese of Seoul. At 9.45 a.m.he will celebrate Mass for peace and reconciliation in the cathedral of Myeong-dong, at12.45 p.m. there will be a farewell ceremony at the Seoul air base, and finally at 1 p.m. he will depart. He is expected to arrive at Rome's Ciampino airport at around 5.45 p.m. | ||||||||||||||||||
| OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS Vatican City, 18 June 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has: - appointed Bishop Philippe Mousset of Pamiers, France, as bishop of Perigueux (area 9,060, population 412,082, Catholics 355,900, priests 91, permanent deacons 9, religious 184), France. He succeeds Bishop Michel Mouisse, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father. - appointed Bishop Segundo Rene Coba Galarza, auxiliary of Quito, Ecuador, as military ordinary of Ecuador (priests 60, religious 10). He succeeds Bishop Miguel Angel Aguilar Miranda, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same military ordinariate, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father. - appointed Msgr. Luis Gabriel Ramirez Diaz, as bishop of El Banco (area 12,535, population 484,000, Catholics 449,000, priests 20, religious 16), Colombia. The bishop-elect, currently apostolic administrator of the same diocese, was born in Margarita, Colombia in 1965 and was ordained a priest in 1993. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including priest of the parish of “San Pedro martir de Verona”, administrator of the parish of “La Inmaculada Concepcion” in Remolino, vocational promoter, formator and rector of the “San Jose” major seminary of the diocese of Santa Marta, priest of the parish of “San Sebastian”, delegate for priestly pastoral in the diocese of El Banco, priest of the parish of “La Inmaculada Concepcion” in Plato, and vicar general of El Banco. | ||||||||||||||||||
Breaking Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Miracle Approved - Share!
June 17, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cause for Venerable Sheen’s Beatification moves to next step
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Peoria, IL -- The Most Reverend Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, Bishop of Peoria and President of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, received word today that the seven-member theological commis-sion who advise the Congregation of the Causes of Saints at the Vatican unanimously agreed that a re-ported miracle should be attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Archbishop Ful-ton Sheen. The case involved a stillborn baby born in September 2010.
For over an hour the child demonstrated no signs of life as medical professionals attempted every possible life saving procedure, while the child's parents and loved ones began immediately to seek the intercession of Fulton Sheen.
After 61 minutes the baby was restored to full life and over three years later demonstrates a full recovery. Today's decision by the theologians comes after the March 2014 vote by the team of Vatican medical experts who affirmed that they could find no natural explanation for the child's healing. With the recom-mendations of the medical experts and now the theologians, the case will next be reviewed by the cardi-nals and bishops who advise the Pope on these matters. Finally, the miracle would be presented to Pope Francis who would then officially affirm that God performed a miracle through the intercession of Ful-ton Sheen.
There is no timeline as to when these next steps might move forward. Should Pope Francis validate this proposed miracle, Sheen could then be declared "Blessed" in a cere-mony that could be celebrated in Peoria, Sheen's hometown. Upon the Holy Father signing the decree for the beatification, an additional miracle would lead to the Canonization of Archbishop Sheen, in which he would be declared a “Saint.” For more information about Fulton Sheen and the Cause for his canonization, visit: ArchbishopSheenCause.org.
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Pope Francis "The way God points out is not always clear, nor is the path free of obstacles, including the constant temptation to sin..."
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday appealed to institutions to offer concrete help to the hundreds of thousands of refugees who continue to flee conflict and persecution in their homelands.
Speaking after his General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope mentioned that on June 20 we mark World Refugee Day and said the number of our refugee brothers is on the increase as thousands more people are forced to leave their homes in these days in order to be saved.
“Millions of refugee families from different nations and of every religious faith live through dramatic stories and carry deep wounds that will be hard to heal” he said.
And the Pope appealed to the faithful "to be close to these people, sharing their fears and their uncertainty for the future, and alleviating their pain with concrete measures".
“May the Lord sustain those people and institutions” – Francis prayed – “who work with generosity to assure a welcome to refugees, recognise their dignity and give them reasons for hope”.
The Pope’s appeal came after his Wednesday catechesis which today – he said – begins a new cycle dedicated to the Church.
Please find below the English translation of the synopsis of Pope Francis’ catechesis:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Today begins a new cycle of catecheses devoted to the Church. The Church is not simply an institution but a mother, a family, a mystery which is meant to embrace the whole human race. Founded by Jesus Christ, she traces her roots to the Old Testament, where God called Abraham to set off with his household for a new land and promised to make him the father of a vast people, in order to bring his blessing to all the nations of the earth. Significantly, it is God himself who takes the first step: he chooses Abraham and all his household to follow him in faith. The way God points out is not always clear, nor is the path free of obstacles, including the constant temptation to sin and infidelity. The history of God’s people, the Church, is thus one of God’s absolute fidelity, mercy and love; only by his unfailing aid can we overcome our sins and persevere in following the path he points out to us in Christ. Let us ask the Lord to sustain the Church on her journey of faith through history, to guide her to our heavenly homeland and to make her a blessing and a sign of God’s loving plan for all his children.
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2014
Saint June 18 : St. Elizabeth of Schoenau : Patron Against Temptations : Abbess and Mystic
St. Elizabeth of Schoenau
BENEDICTINE ABBESS AND MYSTIC
Feast: June 18
Information:
Feast Day: June 18 Born: 1129 at Germany Died: 18 June 1165 at Bonn, Germany Patron of: against temptations
Born about 1129; d. 18 June, 1165.-Feast 18 June. She was born of an obscure family, entered the double monastery of Schönau in Nassau at the age of twelve, received the Benedictine habit, made her profession in 1147, and in 1157 was superioress of the nuns under the Abbot Hildelin. After her death she was buried in the abbey church of St. Florin. When her writings were published the name of saint was added. She was never formally canonized, but in 1584 her name was entered in the Roman Martyrology and has remained there.
Given to works of piety from her youth, much afflicted with bodily and mental suffering, a zealous observer of the Rule of St. Benedict and of the regulation of her convent, and devoted to practices of mortification, Elizabeth was favoured, from 1152, with ecstasies and visions of various kinds. These generally occurred on Sundays and Holy Days at Mass or Divine Office or after hearing or reading the lives of saints. Christ, His Blessed Mother, an angel, or the special saint of the day would appear to her and instruct her; or she would see quite realistic representations of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension, or other scenes of the Old and New Testaments. What she saw and heard she put down on wax tablets. Her abbot, Hildelin, told her to relate these things to her brother Egbert (Eckebert), then priest at the church of Bonn. At first she hesitated fearing lest she be deceived or be looked upon as a deceiver; but she obeyed. Egbert (who became a monk of Schönau in 1155 and succeeded Hildelin as second abbot) put everything in writing, later arranged the material at leisure, and then published all under his sister's name.
Thus came into existence
* three books of "Visions". Of these the first is written in language very simple and in unaffected style, so that it may easily pass as the work of Elizabeth. The other two are more elaborate and replete with theological terminology, so that they show more of the work of Egbert than of Elizabeth.
* "Liber viarum Dei". This seems to be an imitation of the "Scivias" (scire vias Domini) of St. Hildegarde of Bingen, her friend and correspondent. It contains admonitions to all classes of society, to the clergy and laity, to the married and unmarried. Here the influence of Egbert is very plain. She utters prophetic threats of judgment against priests who are unfaithful shepherds of the flock of Christ, against the avarice and worldliness of the monks who only wear the garb of poverty and self-denial, against the vices of the laity, and against bishops and superiors delinquent in their duty; she urges all to combat earnestly the heresy of the Cathari; she declares Victor IV, the antipope supported by Frederick against Alexander III, as the one chosen of God. All of this appears in Egbert's own writings.
* The revelation on the martyrdom of St. Ursula and her companions. This is full of fantastic exaggerations and anachronisms, but has become the foundation of the subsequent Ursula legends.
There is a great diversity of opinion in regard to her revelations. The Church has never passed sentence upon them nor even examined them. Elizabeth herself was convinced of their supernatural character, as she states in a letter to Hildegarde; her brother held the same opinion; Trithemius considers them genuine; Eusebius Amort (De revelationibus visionibus et apparitionibus privatis regulae tutae, etc., Augsburg, 1744) holds them to be nothing more than what Elizabeth's own imagination could produce, or illusions of the devil, since in some things they disagree with history and with other revelations (Acta SS., Oct, IX, 81). A complete edition of her writings was made by F.W.E. Roth (Brunn, 1884); translations appeared in Italian (Venice, 1859), French (Tournai, 1864), and in Icelandic (1226-1254).
(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia)
source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/E/stelizabethofschoenau.asp#ixzz1y8bGfFK8
St. Elizabeth of Schoenau
BENEDICTINE ABBESS AND MYSTIC
Feast: June 18
|
Information:
| Born about 1129; d. 18 June, 1165.-Feast 18 June. She was born of an obscure family, entered the double monastery of Schönau in Nassau at the age of twelve, received the Benedictine habit, made her profession in 1147, and in 1157 was superioress of the nuns under the Abbot Hildelin. After her death she was buried in the abbey church of St. Florin. When her writings were published the name of saint was added. She was never formally canonized, but in 1584 her name was entered in the Roman Martyrology and has remained there. Given to works of piety from her youth, much afflicted with bodily and mental suffering, a zealous observer of the Rule of St. Benedict and of the regulation of her convent, and devoted to practices of mortification, Elizabeth was favoured, from 1152, with ecstasies and visions of various kinds. These generally occurred on Sundays and Holy Days at Mass or Divine Office or after hearing or reading the lives of saints. Christ, His Blessed Mother, an angel, or the special saint of the day would appear to her and instruct her; or she would see quite realistic representations of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension, or other scenes of the Old and New Testaments. What she saw and heard she put down on wax tablets. Her abbot, Hildelin, told her to relate these things to her brother Egbert (Eckebert), then priest at the church of Bonn. At first she hesitated fearing lest she be deceived or be looked upon as a deceiver; but she obeyed. Egbert (who became a monk of Schönau in 1155 and succeeded Hildelin as second abbot) put everything in writing, later arranged the material at leisure, and then published all under his sister's name. Thus came into existence * three books of "Visions". Of these the first is written in language very simple and in unaffected style, so that it may easily pass as the work of Elizabeth. The other two are more elaborate and replete with theological terminology, so that they show more of the work of Egbert than of Elizabeth. * "Liber viarum Dei". This seems to be an imitation of the "Scivias" (scire vias Domini) of St. Hildegarde of Bingen, her friend and correspondent. It contains admonitions to all classes of society, to the clergy and laity, to the married and unmarried. Here the influence of Egbert is very plain. She utters prophetic threats of judgment against priests who are unfaithful shepherds of the flock of Christ, against the avarice and worldliness of the monks who only wear the garb of poverty and self-denial, against the vices of the laity, and against bishops and superiors delinquent in their duty; she urges all to combat earnestly the heresy of the Cathari; she declares Victor IV, the antipope supported by Frederick against Alexander III, as the one chosen of God. All of this appears in Egbert's own writings. * The revelation on the martyrdom of St. Ursula and her companions. This is full of fantastic exaggerations and anachronisms, but has become the foundation of the subsequent Ursula legends. There is a great diversity of opinion in regard to her revelations. The Church has never passed sentence upon them nor even examined them. Elizabeth herself was convinced of their supernatural character, as she states in a letter to Hildegarde; her brother held the same opinion; Trithemius considers them genuine; Eusebius Amort (De revelationibus visionibus et apparitionibus privatis regulae tutae, etc., Augsburg, 1744) holds them to be nothing more than what Elizabeth's own imagination could produce, or illusions of the devil, since in some things they disagree with history and with other revelations (Acta SS., Oct, IX, 81). A complete edition of her writings was made by F.W.E. Roth (Brunn, 1884); translations appeared in Italian (Venice, 1859), French (Tournai, 1864), and in Icelandic (1226-1254). (Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia) |
source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/E/stelizabethofschoenau.asp#ixzz1y8bGfFK8
Today's Mass Readings Online : Wed. June 18, 2014
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 367
Reading 12 KGS 2:1, 6-14
When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,
he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here;
the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.”
“As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live,
I will not leave you,” Elisha replied.
And so the two went on together.
Fifty of the guild prophets followed and
when the two stopped at the Jordan,
they stood facing them at a distance.
Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up
and struck the water, which divided,
and both crossed over on dry ground.
When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha,
“Ask for whatever I may do for you, before I am taken from you.”
Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.”
“You have asked something that is not easy,” Elijah replied.
“Still, if you see me taken up from you,
your wish will be granted; otherwise not.”
As they walked on conversing,
a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them,
and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
When Elisha saw it happen he cried out,
“My father! my father! Israel’s chariots and drivers!”
But when he could no longer see him,
Elisha gripped his own garment and tore it in two.
Then he picked up Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from him,
and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan.
Wielding the mantle that had fallen from Elijah,
Elisha struck the water in his turn and said,
“Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?”
When Elisha struck the water it divided and he crossed over.
he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here;
the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.”
“As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live,
I will not leave you,” Elisha replied.
And so the two went on together.
Fifty of the guild prophets followed and
when the two stopped at the Jordan,
they stood facing them at a distance.
Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up
and struck the water, which divided,
and both crossed over on dry ground.
When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha,
“Ask for whatever I may do for you, before I am taken from you.”
Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.”
“You have asked something that is not easy,” Elijah replied.
“Still, if you see me taken up from you,
your wish will be granted; otherwise not.”
As they walked on conversing,
a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them,
and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
When Elisha saw it happen he cried out,
“My father! my father! Israel’s chariots and drivers!”
But when he could no longer see him,
Elisha gripped his own garment and tore it in two.
Then he picked up Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from him,
and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan.
Wielding the mantle that had fallen from Elijah,
Elisha struck the water in his turn and said,
“Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?”
When Elisha struck the water it divided and he crossed over.
Responsorial Psalm PS 31:20, 21, 24
R. (25) Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, O LORD,
which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you,
you show in the sight of the children of men.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode
from the strife of tongues.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones!
The LORD keeps those who are constant,
but more than requites those who act proudly.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, O LORD,
which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you,
you show in the sight of the children of men.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plottings of men;
You screen them within your abode
from the strife of tongues.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Love the LORD, all you his faithful ones!
The LORD keeps those who are constant,
but more than requites those who act proudly.
R. Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
Gospel MT 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door,
and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to others to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door,
and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to others to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
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