Daily Reflections

“Heart of Jesus, bless the homes where Thy picture is exposed and honoured.” St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Psalm 89:20, 22, 21

I have placed a crown on My warrior,
and have exalted the one chosen from among the people.
– My strong Right Hand will be with him always.

I have found David, My servant;
with My holy oil I have anointed him.
– My strong Right Hand will be with him always.

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (Traditional)

The prophet Jeremiah sensed “terror from every side”, former friends intent on taking revenge. Yet, despite his fear, Jeremiah makes an act of Faith: “The LORD is at my side, a Mighty hero; my opponents will stumble.” Mindful of this historical precedent, Jesus Christ commands us not to be “afraid of those who kill the body” (Mt. But how is it possible to live like this? Saint John tells us that perfect Love casts out fear. The Love that Jesus Christ offers encompasses everything that pertains to us: “every hair on your head has been counted”. Through our embrace of the overflowing, “abundant free gift” of Jesus Christ, we truly can live without fear.

(TRADITIONAL):

The Liturgy inspires us with confidence in God in the midst of the struggles, sufferings, and calamities of this life.

St. Paul (Roms 8:18-23) shows us the tribulations which overwhelm us and their result: but the Holy Ghost has sanctified us and is the pledge of  the resurrection of our bodies. 

In the Gospel (Lk5:1-11), the Church is here represented by Peter’s boat. In the ship of the Church of Jesus, beaten by the waves and tempest of this world, let us put our trust in God.

From a Treatise on the Trinity by Faustus Luciferanus, Priest (died in the Diocletian persecution of 304 AD.)
(No. 39-40: CCL 69, 30-341)

Christ, King and Priest for ever

Our Saviour received a bodily anointing and so became a True King and a True Priest. Both King and Priest He was of His very self; a Saviour could be nothing less. Hear in His own words how He Himself became a King: I have been appointed King by God on Zion His holy mountain. Hear in the Father’s words that He was a Priest: You are a Priest for ever in the line of Melchizedek. Aaron was the first under the law to be made a priest by being anointed with chrism, yet the Father does not say, “in the line of Aaron,” lest it be believed that the Saviour’s Priesthood could be passed on by inheritance, for at that time Aaron’s priesthood was transmitted by lineal descent. But the Saviour’s Priesthood is not inherited because this Priest lives on for ever. Therefore Scripture says: You are a Priest for ever in the line of Melchizedek.

There is, therefore, a Saviour in the flesh who is both a King and a Priest, though His anointing was not physical but spiritual. Among the Israelites, those kings and priests who were actually anointed with oil were either kings or priests. No man could be both king and priest; he had to be one or the other. Only Christ was both King and Priest; because He had come to fulfill the Law, He alone possessed the twofold perfection of Kingship and Priesthood.

Those who had been anointed with the oil of kingship or priesthood, although they received only one of these anointings, were called messiahs. Our Saviour, however, who is the Christ, was anointed by the Holy Ghost so that the passage in Scripture might be fulfilled: God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness and raised you above your companions. The difference, then, between the one Christ and the many christs is in the anointing, since He was anointed with the oil of gladness, which signifies nothing other than the Holy Ghost.

This we know to be True from the Saviour Himself. When He took the Book of Isaiah, He opened it and read: The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me because He has anointed Me. He then said that the prophecy was fulfilled in the hearing of those listening.

Peter, the prince of the Apostles, also taught that the chrism which made the Saviour a christ was the Holy Ghost; that is to say, the Power of God. When in the Acts of the Apostles Peter spoke to that faithful and merciful man, the centurion, he said among other things: After the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, started out in Galilee and traveled about performing powerful miracles, and freeing all who were possessed by the devil.

So you see that Peter too said that Jesus in His humanity was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power. Thus Jesus in His humanity truly became the Christ. By the anointing of the Holy Ghost, He was made both King and Priest for ever

DAILY MEDIATION

Around us is the mighty ocean with its storms and its dangers around us; our enemies, sickness, and death. Therefore, we fly to Christ. “The LORD is my Light and my Salvation whom shall I fear?” [Introit]. We cling to the LORD. He holds the sceptre of the world in His Hand. He would bring it about that “the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered“ so we may serve God “in quiet devotion“[Collect]. It is true that suffering and want must come; but for those who have given themselves to Christ, these sufferings are not to be compared to the Glory that will be revealed in us [Epistle]. As all creation longs for deliverance from the slavery and the corruption of sin, so, too, we await the moment when our adoption as the sons of God will be accomplished with all its glory. We await our entry into the bliss of Eternity, the resurrection of our flesh to Life Everlasting. The first longing, however, can be satisfied only by Our LORD Himself. We must cling to Him.

During this week, the Church sometimes celebrates the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. Therefore, we find Our LORD today in the boat of Peter [Gospel]. We press close to Him to hear His Word, which He speaks to the world from the barque of Peter, the Church. We are those fish who were enclosed in Peter’s net in the early morning [in Baptism], and there, having been enclosed in the net of the Church, we found salvation. We were rescued by the barque of Peter. Let us remain true to the salvation, which we obtained in Baptism and in the Church. It is for this Grace that we pray in the Offertory.

Dom Benedict Baur (d. 1963) Benedictine, respected theologian and archabbot of St. Martin’s Abbey in Bueron.

Set on the Age to Come

Be careful to never let your heart be disturbed or get involved in things that upset it, but always work to keep it calm. In this way the LORD will build in your soul a city of Peace, and your heart will be a place of delights. Every time you get upset, Jesus simply wants you to come back to silence and calm yourself again in all your works and thoughts.

Before anything else, place the sentinel of peace over your feelings. In this way you will arrive at great things without any struggle, but rather with much tranquility and certainty. With this sentinel sent to you by God, you will keep watch over yourself, you will become accustomed to praying well, to humbling yourself, to bearing injury without being disturbed.

Try a little to distance yourselves from worldly distractions, and to spend a few half hours in recollection and prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. You will see how enlightened your mind will be, how much your soul will be refreshed and comforted. In our churches Jesus Christ waits for us, calls us, and invites us to ask Him confidently for everything we want, and He promises to hear us. And we, how can we say that we enter His Temple and listen to Jesus’ voice if we don’t enter it with a True spirit of Faith?

Act so that your life is hidden in God with Jesus. When one is hidden with Jesus, one is in the company of His holy example, of His adorable maxims, of His very humble Heart. In such company who could be anything but humble?

Since a day will come when Jesus Christ will appear in His Glory, then you too will shine in His Glory. But for now, you must remain hidden like Him in the manger and as He was in His Death. Thus, no praise, no glory for us here below! Let us unceasingly desire to want to appear only when He will show Himself in the Infinite splendour of His Glory.

Blessed Clelia Merloni

Blessed Clelia Merloni († 1930) founded the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1894. Today they share the love of the Heart of Jesus on four continents. [From Spiritual Anthology: Elements in the Spirituality of Mother Clelia Merloni, Sr. M. Clare Millea, Tr.