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May 22, 2008 |
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Thursday, May 22
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary
Time |
6:30 -
7:30 am
7:00 am
7:30 am Mass
8:30 am Mass
7:00 -
8:30 pm |
Men's
Bible Study, Commons
Jesus &
Java, Starbucks
Daily Mass
School Mass
Young
Adults Group, Samaritan House |
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Mass Intentions |
7:30 am -
8:30 am
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Today's Readings
Reading I
Jas 5:1-6
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your
wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your
gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a
testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You
have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you
withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying
aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the
Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you
have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. You have
condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no
resistance.
Responsorial Psalm
49:14-15ab, 15cd-16, 17-18, 19-20
R. (Matthew 5:3) Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of
heaven is theirs! This is the way of those whose trust is folly,
the end of those contented with their lot: Like sheep they are
herded into the nether world; death is their shepherd and the
upright rule over them. R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the
Kingdom of heaven is theirs! Quickly their form is consumed; the
nether world is their palace. But God will redeem me from the power
of the nether world by receiving me. R. Blessed are the poor in
spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs! Fear not when a man
grows rich, when the wealth of his house becomes great, For when he
dies, he shall take none of it; his wealth shall not follow him
down. R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is
theirs! Though in his lifetime he counted himself blessed, “They
will praise you for doing well for yourself,” He shall join the
circle of his forebears who shall never more see light. R.
Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
Gospel
Mk 9:41-50
Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of
water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you,
will surely not lose his reward. “Whoever causes one of these
little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for
him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown
into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is
better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go
into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes
you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life
crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if
your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter
into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown
into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not
quenched. “Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if
salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep
salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.”
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Saint Rita of Cascia
1386 - 1457
May 22
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Daughter of Antonio and Amata
Lotti; known as Peacemakers of Jesus, they had Rita late in life. From her
early youth, Rita visited the Augustinian nuns at Cascia, and showed
interest in a religious life. However, when she was twelve, her parents
betrothed her to Paolo Mancini, an ill-tempered, abusive individual who
worked as town watchman, and was dragged into the political disputes of
the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Disappointed but obedient, Rita married him
when she was 18, and was the mother of twin sons.
She put up with Paolo's abuses for eighteen years before he was ambushed
and stabbed to death. Her sons swore vengeance on their father's killers,
but through Rita's prayers and interventions, they forgave the offenders.
Upon the deaths of her sons, Rita again felt the call to religious life.
However, some of the sisters at the Augustinian monastery were relatives
of her husband's assassins, and she was denied entry for fear of causing
dissension. Asking for the intervention of Saint John the Baptist, Saint
Augustine of Hippo, and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, she managed to bring
the warring factions together, not completely, but sufficiently that there
was peace, and she was admitted to the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene
at age 36.
Rita lived 40 years in the convent, spending her time in prayer and
charity, and working for peace in the region. She was devoted to the
Passion, and in response to a prayer to suffer as Christ, she received a
chronic head wound that appeared to have been caused by a crown of thorns,
and which bled for 15 years.
Confined to her bed the last four years of her life, eating little more
than the Eucharist, teaching and directing the younger sisters. Near the
end she had a visitor from her home town who asked if she'd like anything;
Rita's only request was a rose from her family's estate. The visitor went
to the home, but it being January, knew there was no hope of finding a
flower; there, sprouted on an otherwise bare bush, was a single rose
blossom.
Among the other areas, Rita is well-known as a patron of desperate,
seemingly impossible causes and situations. This is because she has been
involved in so many stages of life - wife, mother, widow, and nun, she
buried her family, helped bring peace to her city, saw her dreams denied
and fulfilled - and never lost her faith in God, or her desire to be with
Him.
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