Today, September 9
Feast of the Day
No feast of the day
Saint of the Day
Born near Barcelona, Spain, in 1580, Peter Claver joined the Jesuits in 1600. Inspired by Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez, Peter resolved to work in the missions in the New World and was sent to Cartegena (now Columbia) in South America. Cartegena was then the centre of the slave trade and Peter tended to newly arrived Africans with food, water and medicine. For nearly 40 years, he ministered tirelessly to the slaves and pleaded with their owners to treat them humanely. In 1654, ill and neglected by his religious brothers, Peter Claver died. He was canonized in 1888. He is patron a of Colombia and of all missions to black peoples.
©2011 Living with Christ, Novalis - Bayard Press Canada Inc., http://www.livingwithchrist.ca/. Reprinted with permission.
Readings of the Day
First Letter to the Corinthians 7,25-31.
Brothers and sisters: In regard to virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. So this is what I think best because of the present distress: that it is a good thing for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek a separation. Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife. If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that. I tell you, brothers, the time is running out. From now on, let those having wives act as not having them, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully. For the world in its present form is passing away.
Psalms 45(44),11-12.14-15.16-17.
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, Forget your people and your father's house. So shall the king desire your beauty; for he is your lord. and you must worship him. All glorious is the king's daughter as she enters; Her raiment is threaded with spun gold. In embroidered apparel she is borne in to the king; behind her the virgins of her train are brought to you. They are borne in with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the king. The place of your fathers your sons shall have; You shall make them princes through all the land.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6,20-26.
Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”
Daily Reflection
"Blessed are those who possess poverty of spirit; who not only reject material goods—which is the first step—but rise much higher and completely empty their souls of every attachment, every taste, every desire, and every pursuit that does not have Me as its goal... This poverty of spirit creates a complete void within the soul, emptying it of the love of material things, of love for one’s neighbor, and of self-love; it drives everything—absolutely everything—out, leaving only a space entirely empty, which I fill completely... Then, I restore to them, divinized, that love for material creatures which they had cast out of their souls to make room entirely for Me... They have driven these loves from their souls; I alone occupy their souls—emptied of all else and filled with Me. Yet in Me, and for My sake, they will begin to love all these things again—no longer for themselves, nor for the sake of the things themselves, but for Me: this is charity rightly ordered. They will love all creatures for My sake... Blessed are those who are so poor in spirit, so empty of all else, so full of Me!..." "Blessed are those who hunger! Those who hunger for justice, for the reign of justice on earth, for My reign on earth, for My glory; who hunger to see Me glorified by every soul; who hunger to see My will perfectly accomplished by every being!... Therefore, always cherish this great hunger for justice—to see justice perfectly fulfilled, both by yourself and by all mankind; a hunger to see the will of God perfectly done by you and by all mankind;" ...the hunger for your perfect sanctification and for perfect holiness in all men… It is this hunger that presses upon My own Heart!… Cherish this hunger more and more—not for your own sake, nor for the sake of men, but for the sake of God, out of love for God… Blessed, then, shall you be! For you will be perfectly united to My own Heart!…