Tuesday, May 23, 2023

- May 17, 2023

Tuesday in Octave of the Ascension

ST. JULIA OF CORSICA

Deuteronomy, Chapter 19, Verse 16-20

¹⁶ If a hostile witness rises against someone to accuse that person of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ the two parties in the dispute shall appear in the presence of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and judges in office at that time, ¹⁸and the judges must investigate it thoroughly. If the witness is a false witness and has falsely accused the other,¹⁹you shall do to the false witness just as that false witness planned to do to the other. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. ²⁰ The rest shall hear and be AFRAID, and never again do such an evil thing as this in your midst. ²¹ Do not show pity. Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot!

This is some pretty hard stuff. Yet, we should not be namby-pamby either. There should be a system of justice and we should be just people. Christ reminds us that if we want justice we must be just ourselves.

The Gospel of St. Matthew records these words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:

5:38 "You have heard that it was said, —An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

5:39 But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also;

5:40 and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well;

5:41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

5:42 Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you.

5:43 "You have heard that it was said, —You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

5:45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

5:47 And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Answer provided by Fr. John Echert^{^[1]} on 6/12/2001 via EWTN.

St. Julia of Corsica[2]

St. Julia was a noble virgin of Carthage, who, when the city was taken by Genseric in 489, was sold for a slave to a pagan merchant of Syria named Eusebius. Under the most mortifying employments of her station, by cheerfulness and patience she found a happiness and comfort which the world could not have afforded. All the time she was not employed in her master's business was devoted to prayer and reading books of piety. Her master, who was charmed with her fidelity and other virtues, carried her with him on one of his voyages to Gaul. Having reached the northern part of Corsica, he cast anchor, and went on shore to join the pagans of the place in an idolatrous festival. Julia was left at some distance, because she would not be defiled by the superstitious ceremonies which she openly reviled. Felix, the governor of the island, who was a bigoted pagan, asked who this woman was who dared to insult the gods. Eusebius informed him that she was a Christian, and that all his authority over her was too weak to prevail with her to renounce her religion, but that he found her so diligent and faithful he could not part with her. The governor offered him four of his best female slaves in exchange for her. But the merchant replied, "No; all you are worth will not purchase her; for I would freely lose the most valuable thing I have in the world rather than be deprived of her." However, the governor, while Eusebius was drunk and asleep, took upon him to compel her to sacrifice to his gods. He offered to procure her liberty if she would comply. The Saint made answer that she was as free as she desired to be as long as she was allowed to serve Jesus Christ. Felix, thinking himself derided by her undaunted and resolute air, in a transport of rage caused her to be struck on the face, and the hair of head to be torn off, and lastly, ordered her to be hanged on a cross till she expired. Certain monks of the isle of Gorgon carried off her body; but in 768 Desiderius, King of Lombardy, removed her relics to Breseia, where her memory is celebrated with great devotion. St. Julia, whether free or a slave, whether in prosperity or in adversity, was equally fervent and devout. She adored all the sweet designs of Providence; and far from complaining, she never ceased to praise and thank God under all his holy appointments, making them always the means of her virtue and sanctification. God, by an admirable chain of events, raised her by her fidelity to the honor of the saints, and to the dignity of a virgin and martyr.

Excerpted from Butler's Lives of the Saints

Apostolic Exhortation[3]

Veneremur Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling

of The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Part II

I. The Graces of Holy Communion

Holy Communion changes and transforms us into “Alter Christus”

33. The Eucharistic presence of Jesus is not only to be with us, but also to be our strength and nourishment. Jesus does this by choosing the elements of nature – bread and wine – the food and drink that man must consume to maintain his life. The Eucharist is precisely this food and drink for they contain in themselves all the power of the Redemption wrought by Christ. The Eucharist is the only nourishment that brings us true, lasting happiness and leads us to eternal life. It is capable of transforming man’s life and open before him the way to eternal life. How is this possible?

34. While going through a period of conversion, one day Saint Augustine was granted a vision in which a voice said to him: “I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me” (Confessions, VII, 10, 18). There is a popular saying that goes, “You are what you eat.” How true this is when we apply this to the Eucharist. Ordinary food is absorbed by us and becomes a part of our bodies. But when we receive the Eucharist, it absorbs us; a Christian becomes truly what he eats; he is transformed into Christ. Centuries ago, Saint Leo the Great wrote: “Our partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ tends only to make us become what we eat”.

35. The Fathers of the Church took the example of physical food to explain this mystery. We know that the stronger form of life normally assimilates the weaker and not vice versa. The vegetative world assimilates the minerals, and the animals assimilate the vegetables, and the spiritual assimilates the material. When we receive the Body of Christ, we do not change Christ into our own substance. Instead, we are changed into Christ Himself. The normal food that we eat is not a living thing and therefore cannot give us life. It is a source of life only because it sustains the life we have. Instead, the Bread of Life, that is Jesus, is the living Bread and those who receive it, live by it. So, while the normal food that nourishes the body is assimilated by the body and becomes a part of it, the complete opposite takes place with the Bread of Life.

Devotions for Holy Communion[4]

PRAYER BEFORE COMMUNION.

O compassionate Lord Jesus Christ, I, a sinner, nothing presuming on my own merits, but trusting in Thy mercy and goodness, draw near with awe and trembling to the table of Thy sweetest banquet. For my heart and my body are stained with many sins, my mind and my tongue have not been kept with fitting diligence and circumspection. "Wherefore, O compassion ate Godhead, O dread and awful Majesty, I, Thy wretched creature, who am fallen into a great strait, betake myself to Thee, the Fountain of mercy; to Thee I hasten that I may be healed; beneath Thy protection I make my refuge; I long to have Thee for my Savior, before Whom I can in no wise stand as my Judge. To Thee, O Lord, I now show my wounds; before Thee I lay bare all this my shame. I know my sins, so many and so great, by reason of which I am afraid. I hope in Thy mercies, which are past numbering. Look on me with the eyes of Thy mercy, O Lord Jesus Christ, everlasting King, God and man, Who wast crucified for man. Graciously hear me who hope in Thee; have mercy on me who am full of miseries and of sins, O Thou full and over-flowing Fountain of pity and of mercy. Hail, Thou saving Victim, offered for me and all mankind upon the tree of the cross. Hail, thou noble and precious blood, which dost ever flow forth from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ, and wash away the sins of the whole world. Remember Thy creature, O Lord, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thine own blood. I grieve that I have sinned; I do earnestly desire to amend what I have done amiss. Wherefore, O most merciful Father, take away from me all my iniquities and my sins, that, being cleansed in soul and in body, I may worthily receive the holy food of the holy; and grant that the sacred taste of Thy body and blood, which I unworthy am about to receive, may be to me the remission of my sins, the perfect expiation and cleansing of all my faults, and the putting to flight of evil thoughts, the quickening and renewal of all good feelings, the healthful energy of all good works, the most assured protection of my body and soul from all the snares of my enemies. Amen.

>>>Today is Day 6 of the Pentecost Novena to the Holy Spirit.<<<

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART ONE:

THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION ONE

"I BELIEVE" - "WE BELIEVE"

CHAPTER ONE-MAN'S CAPACITY FOR GOD

IN BRIEF

44 Man is by nature and vocation a religious being. Coming from God, going toward God, man lives a fully human life only if he freely lives by his bond with God.

45 Man is made to live in communion with God in whom he finds happiness: When I am completely united to you, there will be no more sorrow or trials; entirely full of you, my life will be complete (St. Augustine, Conf. 10, 28, 39: PL 32, 795}.

46 When he listens to the message of creation and to the voice of conscience, man can arrive at certainty about the existence of God, the cause and the end of everything.

47 The Church teaches that the one true God, our Creator and Lord, can be known with certainty from his works, by the natural light of human reason (cf. Vatican Council I, can. 2 # 1: DS 3026),

48 We really can name God, starting from the manifold perfections of his creatures, which are likenesses of the infinitely perfect God, even if our limited language cannot exhaust the mystery.

49 Without the Creator, the creature vanishes (GS 36). This is the reason why believers know that the love of Christ urges them to bring the light of the living God to those who do not know him or who reject him.