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19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 7 August 2022 Note: Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I had been compiled for you after the Mass Readings below. Happy Reading! Liturgical Colour: Green.
Mass Readings from EWTN, USCCB, Universalis. See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-281. 8-) First Reading: Wisdom 18:6-9, Responsorial: Psalms 33:1, 12, 18-22, 2nd Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 & Gospel: Luke 12:32-48, Gospel Video, CCTNtv.
Others: Purgatory – Venerable Fulton John Sheen (audio) The Hell There Is - Venerable Archbishop Fulton John Sheen (audio)
COVID-19 Protection in Singapore. New!
1. Criminal Investigation Department, Singapore Police Force harassed Law-abiding Citizen. Latest! https://twitter.com/Michael65413248/status/1510086218851270658 (2 April 2022) #Singapore Police Force harassing the same law abiding business owner again from 92298844, 97397514, 83487591, 96645914, 63914706, 82825465, 97378102, 90360045, 92981234! They can’t perform to contain COVID, so they bully to appear busy? Shameless? You decide! 2. See another Police case to frame against the Innocent! Please spread the News to help them who commit no crime. Many Thanks. Till this day, the harassment continues and there is no apology from the Rulers and no compensation paid for damages inflicted. 3. See the Bloggers went MISSING before / after the Singapore General Election on 10 July 2020. Please pray for their safety as we search for them actively. Many Thanks.
Homilies, Angelus / Regina Caeli
1. Next Thursday will be the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, a particularly significant day, rich in memories. My venerable Predecessor, the Servant of God Paul VI, the centenary of whose birth is being celebrated today, died in Castel Gandolfo precisely on 6 August, 20 years ago. I will have another opportunity to pay a solemn tribute to his memory during my pilgrimage to Brescia on 20 September.
Today I would like to go back in spirit to 6 August 1964, when he had been Pope for little more than a year and published his first Encyclical, Ecclesiam suam, during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Although he himself said he merely wanted to offer the Church a “fraternal and informal message” (n. 7), this Encyclical is a programmatic document of his Pontificate and in a certain way sums up his whole personality as priest, teacher and attentive expert in humanity and in history.
2. Re-reading the pages of Ecclesiam suam, we realize how it is first and foremost an act of love for the Church and a profound reflection on three interrelated aspects: the Church’s conscience, her authentic renewal and her relationship with the world.
The third part, entitled “The Dialogue”, illustrates — as the Pontiff himself writes — an “attitude which the Catholic Church should adopt at this period in the history of the world” (n. 58). The document is largely concerned with the treatment of dialogue as a style and method of relating to modern society. This is why Ecclesiam suam is often described as the “Encyclical of dialogue” which is still totally up to date.
In our time, as we look towards the third millennium, it should be re-read with greater attention and deeper understanding in order to grasp its full prophetic value and to implement the Council’s directives in the best way.
3. When he closed the fifth session of the Council on 21 November that same year, Paul VI said that “knowledge of the true Catholic teaching on Mary will always be a key to the exact understanding of the mystery of Christ and of the Church” (AAS 56 (1964), 1115). Immediately afterwards he proclaimed Mary “Mother of the Church”.
Today, as I recall those moments of deep spiritual fervour which God has granted me to live, I would like to renew the entrustment of the entire ecclesial community of the whole world to Mary, Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Church.
Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 2 August 1998)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-282. 8-)
1. Two days ago, on the Feast of the Transfiguration, we commemorated the anniversary of the death of the Servant of God Paul VI. This anniversary has acquired special significance because exactly 40 years ago my venerable Predecessor published his first Encyclical, Ecclesiam Suam.
From the beginning of that memorable Document, he declared his passionate love for the Church, called to mirror the glorious light of the face of Christ; and he pointed out certain fundamental "paths of the Church": self-knowledge, renewal and dialogue. "The Church", he wrote, "is more alive today than ever before. But when we weigh the matter more closely we see that there is still a great way to go. In fact, the work which is beginning today will never come to an end" (Website of the Holy See, Ecclesiam Suam, n. 117; cf. also nn. 9, 11, 12).
These words retain their full timeliness and are an incentive to all believers to continue with awareness the authentic ecclesial renewal that began with the Second Vatican Council.
2. In a few days the 28th celebration of the Olympic Games will be inaugurated in Athens. I send my cordial greetings to the official delegations, to the national representatives, to the athletes and to all who will be taking part in the Olympics. As I remember the cordiality with which the Greek people welcomed me on the occasion of my pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, I would also like to greet with special warmth the City of Athens. I deeply hope that in the world today, disturbed and sometimes overwhelmed by so many forms of hatred and violence, the important sports event of the Games will be an opportunity for a friendly encounter and will serve to further peace and understanding among the peoples.
3. Upon the Olympics and upon the whole of the world of sport I invoke the maternal protection of the Most Holy Virgin.
I would also like to entrust to Mary the pilgrimage which, please God, I will be making to the Shrine of Lourdes next Saturday and Sunday, to celebrate the Assumption of Mary on the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 8 August 2004)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-282. 8-)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-282. 8-)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-282. 8-)
In the text of today’s Gospel (Luke 12:32-48), Jesus speaks to his disciples about the attitude to assume in view of the final encounter with him, and explains that the expectation of this encounter should impel us to live a life full of good works. Among other things he says: “Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys” (v. 33). It is a call to give importance to almsgiving as a work of mercy, not to place trust in ephemeral goods, to use things without attachment and selfishness, but according to God’s logic, the logic of attention to others, the logic of love. We can be so attached to money, and have many things, but in the end we cannot take them with us. Remember that “the shroud has no pockets”.
Jesus’ lesson continues with three short parables on the theme of vigilance. This is important: vigilance, being alert, being vigilant in life. The first is the parable of the servants waiting for their master to return at night. “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes” (v. 37): it is the beatitude of faithfully awaiting the Lord, of being ready, with an attitude of service. He presents himself each day, knocks at the door of our heart. Those who open it will be blessed, because they will have a great reward: indeed, the Lord will make himself a servant to his servants — it is a beautiful reward — in the great banquet of his Kingdom He himself will serve them. With this parable, set at night, Jesus proposes life as a vigil of diligent expectation, which heralds the bright day of eternity. To be able to enter one must be ready, awake and committed to serving others, from the comforting perspective that, “beyond”, it will no longer be we who serve God, but He himself who will welcome us to his table. If you think about it, this already happens today each time we meet the Lord in prayer, or in serving the poor, and above all in the Eucharist, where he prepares a banquet to nourish us of his Word and of his Body.
The second parable describes the unexpected arrival of the thief. This fact requires vigilance; indeed, Jesus exhorts: “You also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (v. 40).
The disciple is one who awaits the Lord and his Kingdom. The Gospel clarifies this perspective with the third parable: the steward of a house after the master’s departure. In the first scene, the steward faithfully carries out his tasks and receives compensation. In the second scene, the steward abuses his authority, and beats the servants, for which, upon the master’s unexpected return, he will be punished. This scene describes a situation that is also frequent in our time: so much daily injustice, violence and cruelty are born from the idea of behaving as masters of the lives of others. We have only one master who likes to be called not “master” but “Father”. We are all servants, sinners and children: He is the one Father.
Jesus reminds us today that the expectation of the eternal beatitude does not relieve us of the duty to render the world more just and more liveable. On the contrary, this very hope of ours of possessing the eternal Kingdom impels us to work to improve the conditions of earthly life, especially of our weakest brothers and sisters. May the Virgin Mary help us not to be people and communities dulled by the present, or worse, nostalgic for the past, but striving toward the future of God, toward the encounter with him, our life and our hope. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 7 August 2016)
Angelus, 11 August 2019 Extracts: Jesus recounts the parable of the servants who await the return of their master from the marriage feast (v. 36-40), thus presenting another aspect of vigilance: being ready for the last and definitive encounter with the Lord. Each of us will encounter, will find him/herself in that day of encounter. Each of us has their own date for the definitive encounter. The Lord says: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; ... If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!” (v. 37-38). With these words the Lord reminds us that life is a journey towards eternity; therefore, we are called to employ all the talents that we have, without ever forgetting that “here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). In this perspective, every instant becomes precious, and thus we must live and act on this earth, while longing for Heaven: our feet on the ground, walking on the ground, working on the ground, doing good on the ground and the heart longing for Heaven.
We cannot truly understand in what this supreme joy consists. However, Jesus lets us sense it with the analogy of the master who, finding his servants still awake on his return: “will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them” (v. 37). The eternal joy in heaven is manifested this way: the situation will be reversed and it will no longer be the servants, that is, we who will serve God, but God himself will place himself at our service. And Jesus does this as of now: Jesus prays for us, Jesus looks at us and prays to the Father for us. Jesus serves us now. He is our servant. And this will be the definitive joy. The thought of the final encounter with the Father, abundant in mercy, fills us with hope and stirs us to constant commitment, for our sanctification and for the building of a more just and fraternal world. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 11 August 2019)
Angelus, 7 August 2022 Video, Video (American Sign Language). Angelus Text. Extracts: And at the end of our life, he will call us to account for the goods he has entrusted to us. Therefore, being vigilant also means being responsible, that is, safeguarding and administering those goods faithfully. We have received so much: life, faith, family, relationships, work, but also the places where we live, our city, creation. We have received so many things. Let us try to ask ourselves: Do we take care of this inheritance the Lord has left us? Do we safeguard its beauty or do we use things only for ourselves and for our immediate convenience? We have to think a little about this – are we guardians of the creation that has been given to us?
Brothers and sisters, let us walk without fear, in the certainty that the Lord accompanies us always. And let us stay awake lest we be asleep when the Lord passes by. Saint Augustine used to say, “I am afraid that the Lord will pass by and I will not notice”. To be asleep, and not to notice that the Lord passes by. Stay alert! May the Virgin Mary help us, who welcomed the Lord’s visit and readily and generously said, “Here I am”. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 7 August 2022)
Daily Blessings to You from Emmanuel Goh & Friends
Note: This webpage has many hyperlinks to the Vatican Webpage. The above extracts were compiled for your easy reading. This Publication is aimed to encourage all of Goodwill around the World. It is not for business or profit purposes but it is our way to thank our Creator for His continuous blessings!
Compiled on 4 August 2019 Last updated: 7 August 2022, 22:00 SGT
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