Jul 8, 2025
O righteous band of martyrs
united by faith in Christ and His Church
in a nation of religious oppression:
children and grandparents,
workers and teachers,
lay and ordained,
native and foreign-born…
all as one you gave your lives,
led by your convictions –
pray the Word of the Lord
come to a land so cold
Jul 8, 2025
(Gn.41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24; Ps.33:2-3,10-11,18-19,22; Mt.10:1-7)
“The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him.”
In our gospel, Jesus commissions the twelve apostles to go forth after “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” in order “to expel unclean spirits and cure sickness and disease of every...
Jul 7, 2025
(Gn.32:23-33; Ps.17:1-3,6-8,15; Mt.9:32-38)
“You test my heart, searching it in the night.”
“You have contended with divine and human beings,” the angel says of Jacob; and so he receives his new name, Israel: “he strives with God”. Such striving with the Lord in this night which has set upon the...
Jul 6, 2025
(Gn.28:10-22; Ps.91:1-4,14-15; Mt.9:18-26)
“Know that I am with you;
I will protect you wherever you go.”
What the Lord says here to Jacob, He says indeed to all of us: He will protect us on our journey; let us but take refuge in Him. Our dearest Jesus is the abode of God, and in Him our souls are safe.
Jul 5, 2025
O perpetual virgin
who defended your purity
even with your life
and so earned the crown
of martyrdom
at a tender age…
O bride of Christ
who prayed even for your murderer
and so served to inspire
his conversion –
pray for us, too, dear child;
pray the lust and violence
so prevalent in this world of sin,
and in our own...