Daily Reflections

Psalm 41:10; Mark 14:18

Even my closest friend who had my trust,
– he who ate at my table, has turned against me.

One of you who is eating with Me is about to betray Me.
– He who ate at my table, has turned against me.

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Seven Holy Brothers, Martyrs (Traditional)

Saints Rufina and Secunda, Virgins, Martyrs (Traditional)

God said to Jacob, “I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go…. I will not desert you” (Book of Genesis  28:10-22a)When Jesus enters the official’s house, confident that He will save his daughter, “they laughed at Him”. Yet Jesus “took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up” (Matthew 9:18-26). Do Christ’s promises to us ever seem ridiculous? Let us be sure that suffering and death are not obstacles to Jesus’ love, but the very occasion for Him to show His glorious power.

SEVEN HOLY BROTHERS, MARTYRS

St. Felicitas and her seven sons were put to death for the Faith, about the year 162, under Marcus Aurelius. The sons preceded their mother to Heaven; she followed them four months afterwards. (See the Daily Meditatiion for more details on their heroic martyrdom).

SAINTS RUFFINA AND SECUNDA, MARTYRS

Rufina and Secunda were sisters and virgins of Rome. Their parents had betrothed them to Armentarius and Verinus, but they refused to marry, saying that they had consecrated their virginity to Jesus Christ. They were, therefore, apprehended during the reign of the Emperors Valerian and Gallienus. When Junius, the prefect, saw he could not shake their resolution either by promises or by threats, he first ordered Rufina to be beaten with rods. While she was being scourged, Secunda thus addressed the judge:

“Why do you treat my sister thus honorably, but me dishonorably? Order us both to be scourged, since we both confess Christ to be God.” 

Enraged by these words, the judge ordered them both to be cast into a dark and fetid dungeon; immediately a bright light and a most sweet odor filled the prison. They were then shut up in a bath, the floor of which was made red-hot; but from this also they emerged unhurt. Next they were thrown into the Tiber with stones laid to their necks, but an angel saved them from the water, and they were finally beheaded ten miles out of the city on the Aurelian Way. Their bodies were buried by a matron named Plautilla, on her estate, and were afterwards translated into Rome, where they now repose in the Basilica of Constantine near the baptistery.

Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement I, Pope and Martyr
(Nn. 46, 2 – 47, 4; 48, 1-6: Funk 1, 119-123)

Seek the good of all, not personal advantage

The command has been written: Cling to the saints, for those who cling to them will be sanctified. There is a passage in Scripture as well which states: With the innocent man you will be innocent, and with the chosen one you will be chosen also; likewise with the perverse you will deal perversely. Devote yourselves, then, to the innocent and the just; they are God’s chosen ones. Why are there strife and passion, schisms and even war among you? Do we not possess the same Spirit of Grace which was given to us and the same calling in Christ? Why do we tear apart and divide the Body of Christ? Why do we revolt against our own body? Why do we reach such a degree of insanity that we forget that we are members of one another? Do not forget the words of Jesus Our LORD: Woe to that man; it would be better for him if he had not been born rather than scandalize one of my chosen ones. Indeed it would be better for him to have a great millstone round his neck and to be drowned in the sea than that he lead astray one of My chosen ones. Your division has led many astray, has made many doubt, has made many despair, and has brought grief upon us all. And still your rebellion continues.

Pick up the Letter of blessed Paul the Apostle. What did he write to you at the beginning of his ministry? Even then you had developed factions. So Paul, inspired by the Holy Ghost, wrote to you concerning himself and Cephas and Apollos. But that division involved you in less sin because you were supporting apostles of high reputation and a person approved by them.

We should put an end to this division immediately. Let us fall down before our Master and implore His mercy with our tears. Then He will be reconciled to us and restore us to the practice of brotherly love that befits us. For this is the Gate of Justice that leads to Life, as it is written: Open to me the Gates of Justice. When I have entered there, I shall praise the LORD. This is the Gate of the LORD; the just shall enter through it. There are many gates which stand open, but the Gate of Justice is the gateway of Christ. All who enter through this gate are blessed, pursuing their way in holiness and justice, performing all their tasks without discord. A person may be faithful; he may have the power to utter hidden mysteries; he may be discriminating in the evaluation of what is said and pure in his actions. But the greater he seems to be, the more humbly he ought to act, and the more zealous he should be for the common good rather than his own interest.

DAILY MEDITATION 

The illustrious martyrdom of these saints happened at Rome, under the emperor Antoninus. The seven Brothers were the sons of Saint Felicitas, a noble , pious, Christian widow in Rome, who, after the death of her husband, served God in a state of continency and employed herself, wholly in prayer, fasting, and works of charity. By the public and edifying example of this lady and her whole family, many idolaters were moved to renounce the worship of their false gods, and to embrace the Faith of Christ. 

This excited the anger of the heathen priests, who complained to the emperor, that the boldness with which Felicitas publicly practised the Christian religion, drew many from the worship of the immortal gods, who were the guardians and protectors of the empire, and that, in order to appease these false gods, it was necessary to compel this lady and her children to sacrifice to them. Publius, the prefect of Rome, caused the mother and her sons, to be apprehended and brought before him, and, addressing her, said: “Take pity on your children, Felicitas; they are in the bloom of youth, and may aspire to the greatest honours and preferments.“ The holy mother answered: “Your pity, is really impiety, and the compassion to which you exhort me would make me the most cruel of mothers.“ Then turning herself toward her children, she said to them: “My sons, look up to Heaven, where Jesus Christ with His saints, expects you. Be faithful in His love, and fight courageously for your souls.” 

Publius, being exasperated at this behaviour, commanded her to be cruelly buffeted; he then called the children to him one after another, and used many artful speeches, mingling promises with threats to induce them to adore the gods. His arguments and threats were equally in vain, and the brothers were condemned to be scourged. After being whipped, they were remanded to prison, and the prefect, despairing to overcome their resolution, laid the whole process before the emperor. Antoninus gave an order that they should be sent to different judges, and be condemned to different deaths. Januarius was  scourged to death with whips loaded with plummets of lead. The two next, Felix and Philip, were beaten with clubs till they expired. Sylvanas, the fourth, was thrown headlong down a steep precipice. The three youngest, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis, were beheaded, and the same sentence was executed upon the mother four months after.

Reflection: What afflictions do parents daily meet with from the disorders into which their children fall through their own bad example or neglect! Let them imitate the earnestness of Saint Felicitas, in forming to perfect virtue the tender souls which God hath committed to their charge, and with this saint they will have the greatest of all comforts in them, and will by His grace count as many saints in their family as they are blessed with children.

John Gilmary, Shea [d. 1892] – American author and celebrated historian, regarded as the father of American Catholic history.

1 Corinthians 9:19, 22; Job 29:15-16

Though I am not bound to anyone,
I became a slave to all.
To the weak I became weak.
– I became all things to all men
that I might at least save some.

I was eyes for the blind and feet for the lame;
I was a father to the poor.
– I became all things to all men
that I might at least save some.

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.” – Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen