Spiritual Food for the Journey
September 8, 2024
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
It is with great Joy and celebration that gather this weekend. Itis good and fitting that we pause to celebrate all that God has done and is doing through us. This weekend as we celebrate Saint Peter Claver is an opportunity to reflect on his life of humble service to the African peoples as they were brought to the Americas and how he touched their lives in their suffering,
This weekend today on September 8th we join with Divine Word Missionaries around the world as we begin the celebrations of our Jubilee year. This Jubilee Year of our foundation as the Society of the Divine Word is a great blessing and truly a cause for celebration to see where we have come and how we have evolved as a worldwide, and largest missionary congregation in in the church after 150 years. Too often we fail to remember, or out of humility we fail to celebrate and bear witness to the mighty ways God has used us as a Missionary Society to not only spread the goodness to a hurting world, but to tough and transform the lives of the poor, the marginalized and those on the peripheries. The vision of St Arnold that began in a small pub that became St Michael's mission house has now spread across the entire planet.
Our founder chose this special day, the Birth of Mary the mother Of God knowing that we would need in a special way her guidance and protection. On this Feast of the Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Let us Rejoice, Let Us be glad, and Let us praise God who holds our life in His hands. So let us praise the Father, let us praise the Son, let us praise the Spirit Three in One.
This week's readings lead us to reflect on the lives that both Saints Peter Claver And Arnold Janssen sought to serve. In the Gospel we find Jesus on the peripheries. He is amongst the poor, the sick and. those on the margins. There is a man who is deaf and mute Jesus' response is immediate. He encounters the situation by being actively engaged and addressing the suffering of the blind man. Jesus models for us what our response should be, when encountering those on the peripheries in their suffering. We are called to stand with them, and to seek to be agents for healing, restoration, and wholeness.
This weekend today on September 8th we join with Divine Word Missionaries around the world as we begin the celebrations of our Jubilee year. This Jubilee Year of our foundation as the Society of the Divine Word is a great blessing and truly a cause for celebration to see where we have come and how we have evolved as a worldwide, and largest missionary congregation in in the church after 150 years. Too often we fail to remember, or out of humility we fail to celebrate and bear witness to the mighty ways God has used us as a Missionary Society to not only spread the goodness to a hurting world, but to tough and transform the lives of the poor, the marginalized and those on the peripheries. The vision of St Arnold that began in a small pub that became St Michael's mission house has now spread across the entire planet.
Our founder chose this special day, the Birth of Mary the mother Of God knowing that we would need in a special way her guidance and protection. On this Feast of the Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Let us Rejoice, Let Us be glad, and Let us praise God who holds our life in His hands. So let us praise the Father, let us praise the Son, let us praise the Spirit Three in One.
This week's readings lead us to reflect on the lives that both Saints Peter Claver And Arnold Janssen sought to serve. In the Gospel we find Jesus on the peripheries. He is amongst the poor, the sick and. those on the margins. There is a man who is deaf and mute Jesus' response is immediate. He encounters the situation by being actively engaged and addressing the suffering of the blind man. Jesus models for us what our response should be, when encountering those on the peripheries in their suffering. We are called to stand with them, and to seek to be agents for healing, restoration, and wholeness.
St. Augustine Community Garden
|
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. |
