Memorial of St. John Bosco

When tempted, invoke your angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him: He trembles and flees at the sight of your guardian angel.
--St. John Bosco

Lectio Divina Opportunity

The Little Sisters of the Poor are having a session of Lectio Divina, particularly for those who are discerning their vocations.

Date: Monday, Feb. 19
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: Little Sisters of the Poor Home

3225 N. Florissant Ave. map
Please RSVP to Sr. Mildred, lsp (314-421-6022 or vcstlouis@littlesistersofthepoor.org)

On Prayer

When we pray,

our words should be calm,

modest and disciplined.

Let us reflect

that we are standing before God.

We should please him

both by our bodily posture

and the manner of our speech.

It is characteristic of the vulgar

to shout and make a noise,

not those who are modest.

On the contrary,

they should employ a quiet tone

in their prayer.

--St. Cyprian

The Man Possessed by Legion

We see this man in the Gospel reading today, this man who was possessed by Legion and lived among the tombs and on the hillsides, screaming out and gnashing himself all day and night. Isn’t it interesting that, of all the people, he is the first one that the Lord sends out on a mission to go and preach the Gospel?

…Now this can give us great hope in one form or another. If the world tends to reject us because of the way we are living our lives (as long as we are not doing something that is utterly foolish) then if it is because of faith that we do what we do, it is pleasing to God and it is fully acceptable in the sight of God. We do not need to be doing great things; we do not need to be extraordinary…

At the same time, what we can also do is look back at our own lives and we can see the sinfulness of our lives. And we can wonder, as so often we do, whether God could even have mercy on such a rotten sinner as ourselves...“Why would God ever want such a horrible person like me to be doing anything good for Him? Why would He want it?” Precisely because we are such horrible sinners. Can any of us suggest that we are possessed by hundreds of demons, living among the tombs and gnashing ourselves day and night? Yet this is the man that God sent to preach the Gospel to the pagans. And it is precisely because they all knew who he was. They saw him in his possessed form. They knew that he could not be bound and chained even with the strongest chains and that nothing could hold this man down. Now that he had been healed, once again, nothing could hold him down – not physically anymore, but spiritually; he was going to preach the Gospel no matter what it cost...

So if we look at our own sinfulness and we wonder what God would want with somebody like us, it is to live and to preach the Gospel precisely because if other people knew what a horrible life we have lived, then how can they reject the message of the Lord when they see that we are trying now to live a life of faith, that we have been healed by Jesus Christ? If, on the other hand, we have lived a holy life and by faith God has drawn us aside and made us a little bit odd according to the ways of the world and different in the eyes of those around us, praise God! That means the world is not worthy of you, but God has found you worthy; and it is a purification as He prepares you for the ultimate resurrection and for the glory of Heaven.

Regardless of our situation, what we need to do is stop fighting with God and accept the fact that He has chosen us. He has chosen to heal us and now He is simply asking us to do His Will. We need to ask Him what His Will is for us and we need to seek to do it. When we see the examples that we hear of in the readings today, we realize that, one way or the other, not only are we no different from these people on one level, but we cannot even compare with them on either end of the spectrum. And so if that is the case, and God could choose these people, He can choose us as well. And He has. So it is time that we stop questioning God and it is time that we stop fighting with Him, and instead that we accept His choice, His call, and that we respond with our whole heart and seek to do His Will and to live and to preach the Gospel to others.
--Fr. Robert Altier

Vocations Holy Hour

Come join us for a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament to pray for vocations!

All are welcome!

Date: Tuesday, Jan. 30

Time: 7:30-8:30 pm

Where: Cathedral Basilica--map

Blessed Sacrament Chapel

Questions? Email: sttheresesociety@gmail.com

Memorial of Sts. Timothy & Titus

Saint Timothy was a convert of Saint Paul, born at Lystra in Asia Minor…. Saint Paul at once saw his fitness for the work of an evangelist, and Timothy was ordained a priest. From that time on he was the constant and much-beloved fellow-worker of the Apostle.

In company with Saint Paul he visited the cities of Asia Minor and Greece, once hastening on ahead as a trusted messenger, at another time lingering behind to confirm in the faith a recently founded church. Eventually he was made the first Bishop of Ephesus; and there he received the two epistles of his master which bear his name, the first written from Macedonia and the second from Rome… Not many years after the death of Saint Paul, Timothy, who had surely profited from these counsels, won a martyr’s crown at Ephesus, when on a feast day of the goddess Diana, whose temple stood in that city, he entered into the ungovernable crowd to calm it, exhorting these souls, deprived of the light of truth, to renounce vain worship and embrace Christianity.

--Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

“He who would keep the grace of God, let him be grateful for grace when it is given, and patient when it is taken away. Let him pray that it may be given back to him, and be careful and humble, lest he lose it."

--Thomas a Kempis

Memorial of St. Francis de Sales

Imitate a little child, whom one sees holding tight with one hand to its father, while with the other it gathers strawberries or blackberries from the wayside hedge. Even so, while you gather and use this world’s goods with one hand, always let the other be fast in your Heavenly Father’s Hand, and look round from time to time to make sure that He is satisfied with what you are doing, at home or abroad. Beware of letting go, under the idea of making or receiving more—if He forsakes you, you will fall to the ground at the first step. When your ordinary work or business is not specially engrossing, let your heart be fixed more on God than on it; and if the work be such as to require your undivided attention, then pause from time to time and look to God, even as navigators who make for the haven they would attain, by looking up at the heavens rather than down upon the deeps on which they sail. So doing, God will work with you, in you, and for you, and your work will be blessed.

--St. Francis de Sales

The Example of Mary

For all Christ's disciples, Mary is the model par excellence of Christian life. She prepares our hearts to receive Christ, instructing us, just as she did the servants at the wedding at Cana, to do whatever he tells us. She invites us to reach out to those who need our help, as she herself did with her cousin Elizabeth. Thus from our beloved Mother we receive a "taste" of the encounter with God and the mission among our brethren, which are the two aspects of Christian love.

When we turn to Mary our hope is revived. Indeed, she is a part of our humanity, and in her we contemplate the glory God promises to those who respond to his call. I therefore invite the faithful to put their trust in our common Mother, often invoked under the title Star of the Sea, so that, amid the storms of sin and the sometimes painful events of history, they will remain firmly anchored to Christ and bear witness to his love. "Following her, you will never lose your way; imploring her, you will never know despair; thinking of her, you will avoid all errors. With her support, you will not fall; with her protection, you will have nothing to fear; under her guidance, you will never be tired; thanks to her favour, you will reach the goal." (St. Bernard, Second Homily on the Gospel passage: "The Angel Gabriel was sent”).

--Pope John Paul II, August 1999

Humility & Prayer

To be holy we need humility and prayer.

Jesus taught us how to pray,

and He also told us to learn form Him to be meek and humble of heart.

Neither of these can we do unless we know what silence is.

Both humility and prayer grow from an ear, mind, and tongue

that have lived in silence with God,

for in the silence of the heart God speaks.

--Blessed Mother Teresa

Vocational discernment is not the same things as planning one's life. Planning is good and necessary, but it should be done within the framework of the vocation one has discerned, not in place of discernment. Typically, people who plan but don't discern organize their lives in light of goals that promise personal satisfaction. This may even be the satisfaction that comes from generous, altruistic deeds. But even where that's so, the difference between discerning and planning stands. The central issue for people who plan is: "What will make me happy? How can I get the most satisfaction for myself?" For those who discern, the fundamental question is: "What does God want from me?"

— Russell Shaw

If you were to find a gold coin, would you ask yourself, "Why has no one else found it?" Of course not. You would not hesitate to take it as your own. Likewise, when you find a brother in need, realize that you have found something more valuable than any treasure - the opportunity to care for one another. Let us not fail to do so!
--Blessed Mother Teresa

Memorial of St. Anthony

Now whilst he [St. Anthony] was meditating…the Lesson was being read, and when the Scriptures were ended the Gospel was read, and he heard the words of our Lord, who said unto the rich man, "If thou wishest to be perfect, go and sell everything which thou hast, and give to the poor, and take thy cross, and come after Me, and there shall be unto thee treasure in heaven." And the blessed Anthony received the word of the Gospel as a sign to himself, and he reflected that this reading had not taken place as a matter of chance, but in order that the righteous idea which had taken up its abode in him might be confirmed. And straightway he went out from the church, and departed and set in order his house and the possessions which he had inherited from his parents. Now he had three hundred fields, a great estate which produced abundant crops, and these he handed over to the people of his village, so that they might trouble neither himself nor his sister; but the remainder of his other possessions which were in the house he sold, and gathered in money not a little, which he distributed among the poor, but he laid by a little which was sufficient for his sister's wants…

--St. Athanasius

Each individual is endowed with gifts for building up the community; learning is also a precious gift, especially when it is profound and systematic. To bear fruit that benefits those who possess it and their brethren, it also needs to be enriched with love, without which the possession of all knowledge is useless.
Love should be accompanied by simplicity of heart, which belongs to those whom the Gospel, echoing the Lord Jesus' words, calls "children". "I offer you praise, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children." This marvelous blessing, which springs from Christ's heart, reminds us that genuine intellectual maturity always goes hand in hand with simplicity. The latter does not consist in a superficiality of life and thought nor in denial of the problematic nature of reality, but rather in knowing how to go to the heart of every question and to discover its essential meaning and relationship to the whole. Simplicity is wisdom.
--Pope John Paul II, November 1998

On Faith

“Faith is contact with the mystery of God,” to quote Pope John Paul II because “to believe means ‘to abandon oneself’ to the truth of the word of the living God, knowing and humbly recognizing ‘how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.’” Faith is the gift, given to us in Baptism, which makes our encounter with God possible. God is hidden in mystery; to claim to understand him would mean to want to confine him within our thinking and knowing and consequently to lose him irremediably. With faith, however, we can open up a way through concepts, even theological concepts, and can “touch” the living God. And God, once touched, immediately gives us his power. When we abandon ourselves to the living God, when in humility of mind we have recourse to him, a kind of hidden stream of divine life pervades us. How important it is to believe in the power of faith, in its capacity to establish a close bond with the living God! We must give great attention to the development of our faith, so that it truly pervades all our attitudes, thoughts, actions and intentions. Faith has a place, not only in our state of soul and religious experiences, but above all in thought and action, in everyday work, in the struggle against ourselves, in community life and in the apostolate, because it ensures that our life is pervaded by the power of God himself. Faith can always bring us back to God even when our sin leads us astray.

--Pope Benedict XVI, May 2006

Come & See Retreats

2007

Jan. 3-7: Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, Nashville, TN
Jan. 5-7: School Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, Panhandle, TX
Jan. 5-7: Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, Haledon, NJ
Jan. 13-14: Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (Central Province), St. Louis, MO
Jan. 26-28: Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, St. Joseph Monastery, Portsmouth, OH

Feb. 2-4: Ursuline Sisters, Houston, TX
Feb. 9-11: School Sisters of Christ the King, Lincoln, NE
Feb. 16-18: Fransiscan Sisters, T.O.R., of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother Steubenville, OH (Discernment Retreat)
Feb. 23-25: Daughters of St. Joseph, Thibodaux, LA (Vocational Discernment Retreat)
Feb. 23-25: Religious Sisters of Mercy, Alma, MI
Feb. 24-25: Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Ann Arbor, MI
Feb. 25: Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart, Chatsworth, CA

Mar. 2-4: Fransiscan Sisters of Christian Charity, Manitowoc, WI (Young Adult Women's Retreat)
Mar. 3-7 or 10-14 or 17-21 or 24-28: Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Clyde, MO (Spring Break Monastic Experience)
Mar. 9-11: Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, Nashville, TN (Jesu Caritas Retreat)
Mar. 9-11: Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, Alton, IL
Mar. 9-11: Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Hamden, CT
Mar. 11: Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, Mendham, NJ (Discernment Retreat Day)
Mar. 15-18: Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Justice, IL Contact Sr. Margaret Lekan, OP (708-458-3030 or srmargaret@sistersop.com)
Mar. 16-18: Religious Sisters of Mercy, Alma, MI
Mar. 16-18: Religious Adrian Dominican Sisters, Adrian, MI
Mar. 16-18: Ferdinand Benedictines, Ferdinand, IN
Mar. 22-25: Sisters of Life, New York, NY
Mar. 23-25: Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, Prayer Town, TX
Mar. 23-25: Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Harwichport, MA
Mar. 23-25: Little Sisters of the Poor, Denver, CO
Mar. 24-25: Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (Central Province), St. Louis, MO (Holiness Retreat)
Mar. 29-Apr. 1: Fransiscan Sisters, T.O.R., of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother, Steubenville, OH (Come & See Retreat)
Mar. 30-Apr. 1: Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, Mishawaka, IN

Apr. 4-9: Daughters of St. Paul, Boston, MA
Apr. 13-15: Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, St. Louis, MO
Apr. 21: Sisters of Mercy, Cedar Rapids, IA (Come & See)
Apr. 21-23: Religious Sisters of Mercy, Alma, MI
Apr. 27-29: Daughters of Charity, St. Louis, MO
Apr. 27-29: Capuchin Sisters of Nazareth, Williamsport, PA
Apr. 29: Sisters of Mercy, Nashville, TN (Come & See)

May 5-6: Dominican Sisters of Great Bend, Denver, CO (Prayer Retreat) Contact Sr. Terri (303-922-2997, teriop@msn.com)
May 11-13: Religious Sisters of Mercy, Alma, MI
May 12-14: Dominican Sisters of Great Bend, Great Bend, KS (Discernment Retreat) Contact Sr. Terri (303-922-2997, teriop@msn.com)
May 19-26: Sisters of Mercy, Cincinnati, OH (Week-long Live-in Experience)
May 21-24: Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart, Los Angelas, CA
May 23-27: Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, Nashville, TN
May 26-27: Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Ann Arbor, MI

June 2-3: Daughters of St. Joseph, Thibodaux, LA (Growth in Holiness Retreat)
June 8-10: Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, Prayer Town, TX
June 15-17: Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart, Los Angelas, CA (Young Adult Silent Retreat)
July 13-15: Little Sisters of the Poor, Gallup, NM
July 21-28: Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Clyde, MO (Summer Monastic Experience)
Aug. 16-19: Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (Central Province), St. Louis, MO (Vocations Retreat)
Aug. 17-19: Cistercian Nuns of Mount St. Mary's Abbey Wrentham, MA (Monastic Experience Weekend)

Sept. 1-3: Dominican Sisters of Great Bend, Denver, CO (Discernment Retreat) Contact Sr. Terri (303-922-2997, teriop@msn.com)
Oct. 19-21: Ferdinand Benedictines, Ferdinand, IN
Oct. 19-21: Little Sisters of the Poor, San Pedro, CA
Oct. 27-28: Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (Central Province), St. Louis, MO (Holiness Retreat)
Nov. 3-4: Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Ann Arbor, MI
Nov. 23-25: Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart, Los Angelas, CA (The Courage to Be Catholic Retreat)
Dec. 1-2: Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, Ann Arbor, MI (Women's Retreat)

Mass for Vocations

Sunday, Jan. 14, 2007, 10 am

Cathedral Basilica

Archbishop Raymond L. Burke will celebrate a Mass for Vocations 10 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 14, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Lindell Boulevard and Newstead Avenue in the Central West End. The Mass is an archdiocesanwide sign of support for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. It is sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Vocations and coincides with the close of National Vocation Awareness Week...After the Mass, the archbishop will hold a private reception in nearby Boland Hall for young religious in formation, seminarians and teens and young adults who would like to learn more about a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.
Complete article here