Saturday 6 November 2021
Saturday of week 31 in Ordinary Time
Spiritual Reading
Your Second Reading from the Office of Readings:
Saturday of week 31 in Ordinary Time
St Ambrose, On The Blessing of Death
On the blessing of death
St Paul says, The world is crucified to me, and I to the world. Then he tells us that he means death in this life, and a good death: We carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of our Lord Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body.
Let death do its work in us, therefore, so that life may do its work also: a good life after death, that is, a good life after victory, after the battle is over, when the law of the flesh is no longer in conflict with the law of the mind, when we have no more battles with mortal flesh but in mortal flesh we have victory. I wonder if this death might not have more power in it than life. St Paul’s authority certainly suggests it when he says Death works in us but life in you.
One man’s death has laid the foundations of life for so many people! And so St Paul teaches that we should seek that death in this life, so that Christ’s death should shine out in our bodies. That blessed death, in which our outer nature falls away and our inner nature is renewed, and our earthly dwelling is dissolved so that our heavenly home is laid open to us.
A man imitates this death when he drags himself away from being part of this flesh and breaks those chains that the Lord had spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: Break unjust fetters, undo the thongs of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and break every unjust constraint.
It was to put an end to guilt that the Lord permitted death to come into the world; but so that human nature should not end up perishing by death instead of guilt, the resurrection of the dead was given us. By death, guilt would be ended, and by resurrection, human nature would be eternal.
And thus this death is a journey for everyone. You must always be journeying: from decay to incorruptibility, from mortality to immortality, from turbulence to peace. Do not be alarmed by the word ‘death’ but rejoice at the good that the journey will bring. For what is death except the burial of vice and the raising up of virtue? Hence Scripture says, May I die the death of the just – that is, may I be buried with them, put down my vices, and put on the grace of the just, who carry the mortification of Christ around in their bodies and their souls.
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In other parts of the world and other calendars:
All Saints of Ireland
From the letters of the Popes to the Irish
The heroes in the faith who went before you
You have been chosen by the Lord in these last and most calamitous times to renew the pattern of your Church as it was in the beginning. Give yourselves to good works, spend your time in prayer, do nothing contrary to the Catholic religion or to the integrity of that faith you are proud that your ancestors received from this Holy See. You pride yourselves that your ancestors were men so devoted to God that because of this Ireland won the title of Island of Saints. Show then that you are worthy to be their descendants.
If God has chosen you to be his companions in tribulation, in chains, in blows, in prisons, in privations, rest assured that he will make you his companions in joy. Think of the masters in virtue you have had, consider the heroes in the faith who went before you. Do not prove unworthy of your ancestors, do not lose the way of righteousness; but hold on to the teaching of those whose land you inherit, follow eagerly in the works of those whose virtues you esteem; lest your pride in having for your ancestors those whom you are reluctant to imitate prove an empty boast.
Remember Saint Patrick, the apostle of Ireland. The rich fruit of his apostolic mission and preaching was that Ireland, where hitherto idols were worshipped, came to be called the Island of Saints, and truly was such. Remember Saint Malachy the archbishop of Armagh, appointed papal legate in all Ireland by Pope Innocent II. Think of the labours of Saint Laurence, the archbishop of Dublin, born of royal stock. Pope Alexander III chose him to be papal legate in Ireland at the Lateran Council, and afterwards Pope Honorius III solemnly raised him to the ranks of the saints. One letter would be too short to run down the list of those most holy men, like Columban, Kilian, Fergal, Gall and many others, who brought the Catholic faith from Ireland to other countries, or glorified it by shedding their blood in martyrdom.
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Saint Nuno Alvares Pereira, Religious
From 'The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church' of the Second Vatican Council
Consecration to God through religious vows
The teaching and examples of Christ provide the foundation for the evangelical counsels of chaste self-dedication to God, of poverty, and of obedience. The Apostles and Fathers of the Church commend them as an ideal of life, and so do her doctors and pastors. They, therefore, constitute a gift of God which the Church has received from her Lord and which by his grace she always safeguards.
Guided by the Holy Spirit, Church authority has been at pains to give a right interpretation of the counsels, to regulate their practice and also to set up stable forms of living embodying them.
This form of life has its own place in relation to the divine and hierarchical structure of the Church. Not, however, as though it were a kind of middle way between the clerical and lay conditions of life. Rather it should be seen as a form of life to which some Christians, both clerical and lay, are called by God so that they may enjoy a special gift of grace in the life of the Church and may contribute, each in his own way, to the saving mission of the Church.
The Christian who pledges himself to this kind of life binds himself to the practice of the three evangelical counsels by vows or by other sacred bonds of a similar nature. He consecrates himself wholly to God, his supreme love. In a new and special way he makes himself over to God, to serve and honour him. True, as a baptised Christian he is already dead to sin and dedicated to God; but he desires to derive still more abundant fruit from the grace of his baptism. For this purpose he makes profession in the Church of the evangelical counsels. He does so for two reasons: first, to be set free from hindrances that could hold him back from loving God ardently and worshipping him perfectly; and secondly, in order to consecrate himself in a more thoroughgoing way to the service of God. The bonds by which he pledges himself to the practice of the counsels show forth the unbreakable bond of union that exists between Christ and his bride the Church.
All the members of the Church should unflaggingly fulfil the duties of their Christian calling. The profession of the evangelical counsels shines before them as a sign which can and should effectively inspire them to do so. For the People of God have no lasting city here but seeks the city which is to come, and the religious state of life, in bestowing greater freedom from the cares of earthly existence on those who follow it, simultaneously reveals more clearly to all believers the heavenly goods which are already present in this age, witnessing to the new and eternal life which we have acquired through the redemptive work of Christ and preluding our future resurrection and the glory of the heavenly kingdom.
Furthermore the religious state constitutes a closer imitation and an abiding re-enactment in the Church of the form of life which the Son of God made his own when he came into the world to do the will of the Father, and which he propounded to the disciples who followed him. Finally, this state manifests in a special way the transcendence of the kingdom of God and its requirements over all earthly things, bringing home to all people the immeasurable greatness of the power of Christ in his sovereignty and the infinite might of the Holy Spirit which works so marvellously in the Church.
This state of life, then, which is constituted by the profession of the evangelical counsels, while not entering into the hierarchical structure of the Church, belongs undeniably to her life and holiness.
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Blessed Josepha Naval Girbes, Virgin
From the 'Decree regarding the heroic virtues of Josepha Naval Girbes'
She regarded her parish as her Mother in faith
Since parishes in a certain way represent the visible Church established on the earth, Josepha, the Servant of God, regarded her parish as her Mother in faith and in grace, and as such she loved her and served her with humility and with a spirit of sacrifice. And for that reason she showed her parish priest sincere veneration and entrusted herself to his spiritual direction. She looked after the making of liturgical furnishings and she saw that they were kept clean and well cared for, and the altars as well. Each day she went to the parish church to take part in the Eucharistic sacrifice. But she was especially notable for her intelligent and fruitful apostolate, which she always carried out with the consent of her pastors, to whom she professed absolute respect and obedience.
Convinced as Josepha was that Christians ought to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, she was not content to practise the virtues at home. Rather she wanted to fulfil completely the command of the Lord who said, “Let your light shine before all people, in order that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” And so she sought every opportunity to proclaim Christ by word and deed both to non-believers, in order to draw them to the faith, and to the faithful, in order to instruct and confirm them and encourage them to live more fervently. With that in view, she taught the poor and counselled all who came to her. She restored peace in broken families. She organised meetings for mothers in her own house in order to help them in their Christian formation. She brought back to the way of virtue women who had gone astray, and she prudently admonished sinners. However, the work on which she most focused her care and energy was that of instructing young people in the things of life and in the faith. For their sake she opened in her house a free embroidery school which was well attended. Her workshop became a place of fraternal gatherings. It was a centre of prayer, where God was praised and where the Sacred Scriptures and eternal truths were explained and developed.
Like a loving mother, the Servant of God watched over her followers and prepared them for life. She was a model of fervent love for God. She was a lamp that gave forth light and warmth and a shining example in so many ways of a living and contagious faith, of unflagging love, and of joyous submission to the will of God and of her superiors. Josepha is remembered for her unbounded solicitude for the salvation of souls. She stood out for her singular prudence, and for the humility, poverty, silence and patience that she always practised, even amidst setbacks and difficulties. The fervour with which she cultivated the interior life of prayer and meditation, and her patience under trial were well known, as was her love for the Eucharist and for the Virgin Mary and the saints. In this way, the Servant of God helped to build up her parish community.
Copyright © 1996-2021 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.