Jesuit Collaborative

How many people are hidden martyrs for Christ each day, confessing the Lord Jesus with their deeds?

The people near Christchurch, New Zealand are still experiencing great challenges. Five days of frequent aftershocks and another earthquake on a different fault line is taking a toll on the inhabitants. Many people have had successive nights of undisturbed sleep and there is some toll on families who cannot weather these challenges. Current estimates of the cost of rebuilding are around four billion dollars.

Donations to Caritas for Christchurch earthquake relief can be made by:

• Phoning 0800 22 10 22 to make credit card donations or
• Donating online using a credit card at www.caritas.org.nz or
• Posting to Caritas, PO Box 12193, Thorndon, Wellington 6144, New Zealand.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is a member of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of 165 Catholic aid, development and social justice agencies active in over 200 countries and territories.

How is it that billions of stars can fly the heaven more speedily than light? Because an all-powerful Christ gives them being. Not once for all, but continuously, day after day. How is it that four thousand varieties of roses can grow and perfume our earth? Because an imaginative Christ gives them life. How is it that your long-haired Labrador can look hungrily at you, hear your faintest whistle, lay paws on your shoulders? Because a sensitive Christ gives it senses. How is it that you can shape an idea, construct the Capitol, transplant a human heart? Because a still human Christ gives you intelligence. How can you believe that the Son of God died a bloody death for you, how you can confidently expect to live forever, how can you give yourself unreservedly to God and to your sisters and brothers? Because a living Christ infuses faith in you, fills your flesh with hope, inflames your very bones with a unique love not of this world?

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, united substantially with the word of God, have mercy on us
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Divinity, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, rich to all who invoke you, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, saturated with revilings, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, crushed for our iniquities, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, made obedient unto death, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in you, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in you, have mercy on us.
Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord,
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. Jesus, meek and humble of heart.
R. Make our hearts become like yours.

Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the heart of your beloved Son and upon the praise and satisfaction he makes to you in the name of sinners; and in your great goodness, pardon those who seek your mercy, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

Lady, flower of alle thing, Rosa sine spina,
Thou bore Jesu, heavens king, Gratia divina.
Of all thou bear’st the prize,
Lady, queen of Paradise
Electa.

At last I made bold to ask him to tell us who we was.

‘An angel,’ he said, quite simply, and set another bird free and clapped his hands and made it fly away.

A kind of awe fell upon us when we heard him say that, and we were afraid again; but he said we need not be troubled, there was no occasion for us to be afraid of an angel, and he liked us, anyway. He went on chatting as simply and unaffectedly as ever… Then Seppi asked him what his own name was, and he said, tranquilly, ‘Satan’…

It caught us suddenly, that name did, and our work dropped out of our hands and broke to pieces… Satan laughed, and asked what was the matter. I said, ‘Nothing, only it seemed a strange name for an angel.’ He asked why.

‘Because it’s – it’s – well, it’s his name, you know.’
‘Yes, - he is my uncle.’
He said it placidly, but it took our breath for a moment and made our hearts beat… ‘Don’t’ you remember? – he was an angel himself, once.’

‘Yes – it’s true,’ said Seppi; ‘I didn’t think of that.’
‘Before the Fall he was blameless.’
‘Yes,’ said Nikolaus, ‘he was without sin.’
‘It is a good family – ours,’ said Satan; ‘there is not a better. He is the only member of it that has ever sinned.’

There was a woman who wanted peace in the world and peace in her heart and all sorts of good things, but she was very frustrated. The world seemed to be falling apart. She would read the newspapers and get depressed. One day she decided to go shopping, and she went into a mall and picked a store at random. She walked in and was surprised to see Jesus behind the counter. She knew it was Jesus, because he looked just like the pictures she’d seen on holy cards and devotional pictures. She look again and again at him, and finally she got up her nerve and asked “Excuse me, are you Jesus?” “I am.” “Do you work here?” “No,” Jesus said, “I own the sore.” “Oh, what do you sell in here?” “Oh, just about anything!” “Anything?” “Yeah, anything you want. What do you want?” She said, “I don’t know.” “Well,” Jesus said, “feel free, walk up and down the aisles, make a list, see what it is you want, and then come back and we’ll see what we can do for you.”

She did just that, walked up and down the aisles. There was peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty, peace in families, no more drugs, harmony, clean air, careful use of resources. She wrote furiously. By the time she got back to the counter, she had a long list. Jesus took the list, skimmed through it, looked up at her and smiled, “No problem.” And then he bent down behind the counter and picked out all sorts of things, stood up, and laid out the packets. She asked, “What are these?” Jesus replied “Seed packets. This is a catalogue store.” She said, “You mean I don’t get the finished product?” “No, this is a place of dreams. You come and you see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds. You plant the seeds. You go home and nurture them and help them grow and someone else reaps the benefits.” “Oh,” she said. And she left the store without buying anything.

September 5, 2010

The Wisdom of God may confound us. We seek it out, but it is difficult to comprehend, and yet we know we need it to stay on the straight path. Paul’s urging of Philemon, a slave owner, to accept his former slave, Onesimus, who is serving time in prison with Paul, as an equal fellow follower of Christ must have surely bent Philemon’s mind. All value in the ancient Middle Eastern world was based on status and honor. In the minds of the world, it would have been such a curiosity for a Christian to view another believer as equal in status. Such is the wisdom of God. Jesus stretches our comprehension of this wisdom when he tells us that we are to leave everything to become his disciples. We know that we want what Jesus offers us; the investment is great, but the cost is enormous and it seems difficult for many to accept. We know that we are to accept a new family of faith in which we treat everyone as a fellow equal in status, but what does he mean when he tells us to leave family, friends and loved ones, and even one’s very self?

St. Ignatius of Loyola would tell us that we are to become aware of our attachments and to allow Christ to be free of them so we can love, follow, and serve him more nearly. Jesus wants us to realize the extraordinary commitment we are making. Hearing him tell us that we must leave family is shocking when in reality he stays close to his family. What he is doing is creating a new family of faith and he is preparing us to be ready to accept strangers into the fold as if they are family. They are to be equal in status as Onesimus, the former slave, would become to his former master. Our attachment to Jesus must be greater than our attachment to our former way of life, which includes family, friends, and possessions. He wants our hearts free to grow in freedom; he wants our hearts to be able to grow in love and affection according to God’s wisdom, not the wisdom of the world. This new type of freedom is difficult to do because we have to examine those areas of our heart that closes down and inhibits growth and we have to actively work to set it right. To do this, we will undergo much pain. To do this, we will squarely hold the cross in our hands and place it on our shoulders. There is no getting around it. Yes, we will have to let go of things that have provided us comfort and security, and yes, it will hurt, and yes, we will be able to grow in charity and freedom in exponential ways.

Spend some time this weekend to ask Christ to reveal to you some of your attachments. Don’t do it on your own. Let him reveal to you those areas that inhibit your freedom. Through our upbringing, we form habits and adopt worldviews that are detrimental to our movement toward true freedom. We sometimes see ourselves as better than others; we sometimes see ourselves as inadequate and unworthy. Christ calls us to let go of all those things that detract from a spirit of free generosity where care for another is equal to care of oneself. We can trust the words of Scripture and the steadfastness of Jesus to repay us for all that we have given up. The load is lighter when we can move beyond those attachments that own us. We are healthier, happier, more loving, and we will inherit the many graces Christ longingly desires to give us. Give it up and enjoy new life! The cost is nowhere near the reward.

Quote for the Week

From Emily Dickinson

“Such good things can happen to people who learn to remember.”

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: Paul wisely counsels the Corinthians not to boast and act righteous when one of the Christians commits heinous acts of immorality, but to celebrate the Paschal feast with sincerity and truth. He takes issue with believers taking other believers to the world’s law courts because this world is a training ground for the ways believers will judge at the appointed time. Charity is the determinant of our behavior toward one another and knowledge is important for our right judgment so we must abstain from eating meat sacrificed to idols because we offend those with imperfect knowledge and weaken their understanding. We are to imitate Paul who preaches the Gospel free of charge – we are to imitate the runner, one out of many, who trains diligently to win the prize. Finally, Paul urges the community to refrain from idolatry, which occurs when one participates in the rituals of the pagans.

Gospel: In Luke, Jesus cures a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, which violates Jewish customs and infuriates the Pharisees. He then calls those men who will be the special Twelve and he begins to teach and heal all who are in need. He then gives the Sermon on the Plain – asking them to follow the Golden rule and to refrain from judging. He then further explains that we judge others harshly when we cannot even see the huge flaws in our own vision. Therefore, we are in no position to judge. God will judge us and will see that good fruit comes from a good tree; therefore we must build our foundation on a solid rock so we can weather the challenges that confront our faith.

Saints of the Week

Wednesday: The Birth of Mary is set nine months after the Immaculate Conception on December 8th. No details are known of her birth, her family life, or where she lived as a young girl. Honoring Mary’s birth was first an Eastern Church tradition practice that soon caught up in popularity in the Roman Church.

Thursday: Peter Claver, S.J., priest, was from Catalonia when he joined the Jesuits in 1600. Peter was sent to the New World missions in South America and settled in Cartagena in Colombia, the seat of the slave trade. Peter ministered to the new arrivals of slaves providing them with food and medicine. In 1654, he fell ill as we wore himself out in his ministry. He died shortly afterwards. His name became acclaimed across the country when he died and many slaves and those in the slave trade paid him great honor by using his name as an intercessor in their prayers.

Saturday: The Holy Name of Mary is celebrated a few days after Mary’s birth. For a Jewish male, the giving of the name to the infant is done in conjunction with the circumcision. Mary’s name may originate from the word ‘beloved.’ Mary was a popular name for Jewish girls, mostly in memory of Miriam, the sister of Moses.

This Week in Jesuit History

• Sep 5, 1758. The French Parliament issued a decree condemning Fr. Busembaum's Medulla Theologiae Moralis.
• Sep 6, 1666. The Great Fire of London broke out on this date. There is not much the Jesuits have not been blamed for, and this was no exception. It was said to be the work of Papists and Jesuits. King Charles II banished all the fathers from England.
• Sep 7, 1773. King Louis XV wrote to Clement XIV, expressing his heartfelt joy at the suppression of the Society.
• Sep 8, 1600. Fr. Matteo Ricci set out on his journey to Peking (Beijing). He experienced enormous difficulties in reaching the royal city, being stopped on his way by one of the powerful mandarins.
• Sep 9, 1773. At Lisbon, Carvalho, acting in the king's name, ordered public prayers for the deliverance of the world from the "pestilence of Jesuitism."
• Sep 10, 1622. The martyrdom at Nagaski, Japan, of Charles Spinola and his companions.
• Sep 11, 1681. At Antwerp, the death of Fr. Geoffry Henschen (Henschenius). A man of extraordinary learning, he was Fr. Jan von Bolland's assistant in compiling the Acts of the Saints.

Happy Labor Day

In the U.S., Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer when a new academic year begins. Labor Day is a respite before the flurry of autumn activities. It is a day of rest to honor the major contributions of laborers in building the infrastructure of our society. May today be a time of celebration, renewal, and festivities with friends and loved ones. Thanks for all the hard work you provide throughout the remainder of the year. You deserve this day of rest.

Back to School

Blessings to all teachers and students who return to school for the fall semester! May it be a year when your hearts, minds, and imagination become inflamed with the love of knowledge and may that knowledge be put to good use to improve the health of our world. We rely upon you to build a new future for us.

Memorial of the 2001 Attacks on the U.S.

Saturday, September 11th marks the anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and New York City. Many of our national policies have been strengthened since that date to provide for greater security of our citizens. It is a day in which we sadly remember innocent citizens and foreign nationals who became victims of such deadly attacks. It is a day in which we can continue to pray for peace in our world – a peace that arises from people of good will coming together so that we can erase the major tensions and all sources of violence that cause such actions to occur. We need this peace so that the entire world can live in security with a respectful listening ear to those who are in need.

A test of our tolerance and good will is the proposed building of a Muslim house of worship in lower Manhattan.

Mid-East Peace Talks

Let us pray for President Obama, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Palestines’ Prime Minister Abbas as they sit down to reconcile differences so they can build peace and security for their respective nations. May they see each other’s good will and desire to live as neighbors who prosper and celebrate each other’s good humanitarian progress for their citizens!

Father’s Day in Australia and New Zealand

Happy Father’s Day to those who have been a meaningful paternal presence to someone in their lives! Father’s Day is celebrated on Sunday, September 5th in the Anzac nations of Australia and New Zealand. Good on ya, mates!

Earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand

Please pray for the people on the South Island on New Zealand who just experienced a 7.4 magnitude earthquake twenty miles north of Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island. Fortunately, the quake occurred while most people were still sleeping so injuries are low, but many houses, shops, and building are destroyed.

This Psalm is to be read antiphonally by two of more people at a slow and measured pace with a pause after the first line. Too often we rush through our devotional prayers.

O LORD, you have probed me, you know me: ( …pause…)
you know when I sit and stand; you understand my thoughts from afar.

My travels and my rest you mark; with all my ways you are familiar. ( …pause…)
Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all.

Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. ( …pause…)
Such knowledge is beyond me, far too lofty for me to reach.

Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? (…pause…)
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.

If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea, ( …pause…)
Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --( …pause…)
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.

You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. ( …pause…)
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;

My bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. ( …pause…)
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.

How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! ( …pause…)
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity.

If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me! ( …pause…)
Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths.

Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe? ( …pause…)
With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own.

Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my concerns. ( …pause…)
See if my way is crooked, then lead me in the ancient paths.

Glory be to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit ( …pause…)
As it was in the beginning it is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

And at that centre, with their wings expanded,
More than a thousand jubilant Angels saw I,
Each differing in effulgence and in kind.
I saw there at their sports and at their songs
A beauty smiling, which the gladness was
Within the eyes of all the other saints;
And if I had in speaking as much wealth
As in imagining, I should not dare
To attempt the smallest part of its delight.

You are God, you are Father, you are Spirit, and you are also love. Never, never will I tire of calling you with this name of love.

After a period of intense prayer, Inigo de Loyola sat on the banks of the Cardoner River in Manresa, Spain where he daydreamed. He received an illumination from God that was so intense that he personally appropriated the mysteries of the faith.

He writes in his autobiography:

While he was seated there, the eyes of his understanding began to be opened; not that he saw any vision, but he understood and learned many things, both spiritual matters and matters of faith and scholarship, and this with so great an enlightenment that everything seemed new to him.

This left his understanding so enlightened that he felt as if he were another man with another mind.

We dedicate this home to love and understanding.
May its joys and sorrows be shared
and the individuality of each person
who lives and visits here appreciated.
We light a candle to love. (Light a candle.)

We dedicate this home to work, and rest, and play.
May our home have joy and high fellowship,
with kindness in its voices and laughter running within its walls.
We light a candle to joy. (Light a candle.)

We dedicate this home to friendly life.
May its doors open in hospitality
and its windows looks out with kindness toward other homes.
We light a candle to friendship. (Light a candle.)

We dedicate this home to cooperation.
May its duties be performed in love.
Its furnishings bear witness that the work of others
ministers to our comfort,
and its table remind us that God works with us
for the supply of daily needs.
We light a candle to cooperation. (Light a candle.)

We dedicate this home to appreciation
of all things good and true.
May the books brings wisdom,
the pictures symbolize things beautiful,
and the music bring joy and inspiration.
We light a candle to appreciation. (Light a candle.)

We dedicate the time and talent of those who live here
to help build a world in which every family
may have a home of comfort and fellowship.
We light a candle to Christian service. (Light a candle.)

We dedicate this home as a unit in the Church universal,
an instrument of the Kingdom of God,
a place of worship and Christian training
and a threshold to the life eternal.
We light a candle to spiritual enrichment. (Light a candle.)

As the flames point upward, so our thoughts rise in gratitude
to God for this home, and in prayer for God’s blessings upon it.

When I entered the Catholic Church I made a venture that appeared foolhardy in the eyes of most of my family and friends. As a vowed religious, I took up a career that would make no sense unless the Catholic faith were true. If the Kingdom is the pearl of great price, the treasure buried in the field, one should be prepared to give up everything else to acquire it. It has always seemed to me that if God is God, his honor and glory must be the first priority. Although I cannot rival the generous dedication of Sts. Paul and Ignatius of Loyola, I am, like them, content to be employed in the service of Christ and the gospel, whether in sickness or in health, in good repute or ill repute. I am immeasurably grateful for the years in which the Lord has permitted me to serve him in a society that bears as its motto: Ad majorem Dei Gloriam. I trust that his grace will not fail me, and that I will not fail his grace, in the years to come.

August 29, 2010

The elders of the community wrote instructions within Wisdom literature to help a young man or woman, who is about to start out in life, follow the path of righteousness so that one would enjoy a long life with many descendants. Humility would be a key ingredient in the recipe of success and happiness for the Lord God would favor one who rightly knows his or her position in God’s world. Humility was regarded as an especially a key element in an honor/shame/status-driven society of the ancient world. Jesus gave instructions at a dinner banquet in such a world. First, Jesus addresses the invited guests about choosing places of honor at the table that would defy societal conventions and would reveal humility as a new honored value. (I wonder at which seat Jesus was assigned.) Next, Jesus addresses the dinner party host with instructions on how to assemble a guest list that is compatible with one’s religious assertions.

I thought about these passages as I observed people queuing up to board a plane. Everyone hoped for the best or most comfortable seat assignments. No one wanted to sit in the back because it meant that you did not want to pay for better seats or you were late in purchasing the tickets. The most honorable people could afford first class or business seats. These were the categories of people you hoped you could sit near because they obviously achieved a higher degree of status. If you sat in the back, you dreaded who might sit next to you because you would not be able to escape. We seem to be caught up in a similar type of honor/shame/status-driven society that existed in biblical times and we seek affirmation and glory from humans, rather than from God. When we work hard, we desire comfort, honor, status and power and we want to hang out with those who can benefit us. We want to live in the best city, to be in the best community, attend the most prestigious schools, or work at an esteemed institution. We simply want the best – and it elevates our esteem. We share the same types of desires as our biblical cousins. We operate by the same principles as found in any human society: Grab what you want first before all the selfish people take it.

Jesus challenges us to care for those who sit at the back of the plane. These are the people who do not advance our position and are people with whom few would want to associate, but we know of the unexpected delights that we might experience when we open our attitudes up to the unexpected. We might find that we profit through mutual enrichment, that we might become a friend to someone who can give us nothing back but friendship, or that we simply might like the person beside us. Jesus is teaching us about God’s attitude towards us because all people, no matter their situations in life, are equally loved by God. God wants the best for us and God wants us to know that we are all connected to each other in our humanity. Sure, equality does not exist in human standards, but in the kingdom of Christ, this new order is a preview of the kingdom of heaven. Let’s try out this humility thing a little more often to see what we can learn from it. I bet our unsuspecting neighbor’s life will be touched deeply by our compassionate actions, and the enrichment that we create will help bring about the desired social order of the kingdom. It is worth the risk to step outside ourselves to see the opportunities.

Quote for the Week

From Luke 14:14

Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Themes for this Week’s Masses

First Reading: Paul continues in 1st Corinthians by saying that the community’s faith is a demonstration of God’s power and spirit. The Spirit searches for other similar spirits and finds a home, which allows us to speak, not with human wisdom, but though as taught by the Spirit. Paul calls the people to become people of the Spirit and he outlines the way in which they still act as people who follow the ways of the flesh. God uses the ways that the world finds foolish as an example of wisdom, therefore we are to refrain from making judgments against our neighbor because the judgment of the Lord is the one in which we are to be concerned. When we believe in Christ, we are not to draw distinctions among ourselves so as to earn favor from men. Become fools for Christ.

Gospel: Upon reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue, Jesus declares that in the people’s hearing of the scripture, it is being fulfilled in their presence. Jesus leaves for Capernaum and amazes the people as he teaches with such authority that even supernatural demons recognize his great power. Jesus then heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law and all the townspeople who come to him. When the crowd leaves and Jesus goes to Lake Gennesaret, he calls Peter as a disciple, who protests because he knows he is a sinful man. The scribes and Pharisees notice that Jesus does not observe the dietary customs and practices as other teachers do, by which he answers, “can the wedding guests fast while the bridge-groom is with them?” The Pharisees again approach him. This time they ask about his disregard for Sabbath observance of dietary laws to which he responds, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Saints of the Week

Friday: Gregory the Great, pope and Doctor of the church, was a wealthy judge who resigned to become a monk, where he later became abbot of his monastery and then pope in 590. He was acclaimed for his greatness because of his exceeding charity to the poor, his commitment to justice, and his protection of Jewish rights. He produced a document that dealt with guidelines for pastoral care and wrote many scriptural commentaries, homilies, and explanations for liturgical rites.

This Week in Jesuit History

• Aug. 29, 1541: At Rome the death of Fr. John Codure, a Savoyard, one of the first 10 companions of St. Ignatius.
• Aug. 30, 1556: On the banks of the St. Lawrence River, Fr. Leonard Garreau, a young missionary, was mortally wounded by the Iroquois.
• Aug. 31, 1581: In St. John's Chapel within the Tower of London, a religious discussion took place between St. Edmund Campion, suffering from recent torture, and some Protestant ministers.
• Sep 1, 1907. The Buffalo Mission was dissolved and its members were sent to the New York and Missouri Provinces and the California Mission.
• Sep 2, 1792. In Paris, ten ex-Jesuits were massacred for refusing to take the Constitutional oath. Also in Paris seven other fathers were put to death by the Republicans, among them Frs. Peter and Robert Guerin du Rocher.
• Sep 3, 1566. Queen Elizabeth visited Oxford and heard the 26-year-old Edmund Campion speak. He was to meet her again as a prisoner, brought to hear her offer of honors or death.
• Sep 4, 1760. At Para, Brazil, 150 men of the Society were shipped as prisoners, reaching Lisbon on December 2. They were at once exiled to Italy and landed at Civita Vecchia on January 17, 1761.

Last Days of Summer/Winter

As winter brightens to early spring in the southern hemisphere, the northern hemisphere savors the last days of summer that customarily end on Labor Day, September 6th. Enjoy this transitional time as the calendar moves into a new phase of life.

Pray and Give Alms - Pakistan Relief Efforts

The floods in Pakistan continue to devastate one-sixth of the country’s population leaving many people displaced and without adequate food and shelter. Worldwide aid has been a pittance compared to the response we gave to Haiti and Chile in their disasters. We acknowledge that we may sometimes have ambivalent feelings toward the inhabitants because they are men and women of a different faith tradition halfway around the world and the U.S. and its military allies have been engaged in an armed conflict with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban for almost a decade. Nonetheless, our brothers and sisters need our aid. If we can reach them first and take care of their basic needs, we can gain their sympathies before our enemies promise to take care of them and devote them to their militant cause. Regardless of all of that, they are our brothers and sisters in need. If you would like to make a donation, please consider contacting the Jesuit Refugee Services USA at www.jrsusa.org or to Catholic Charities in your diocese.

Let them praise Thy Name, let the praise Thee, the supercelestial people, Thine angels, who have no need to gaze up at this firmament, or by reading to know of Thy word. For they always behold Thy face, and there read without any syllables in time, what willeth Thy eternal will; they read, they choose, they love. They are ever reading; and that never passes away which they read; for by choosing, and by loving, they read the very unchangeableness of Thy counsel. Their book is never closed, nor their scroll folded up; seeing Thou Thyself art this to them, and art eternally; because Thou hast ordained them above this firmament of the lower people, where they may gaze up and learn Thy mercy, announcing in time Thee Who madest times. For Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. The clouds pass away, but the heaven abideth.

Blessed are all thy Saints, O God and King, who have travelled over the tempestuous sea of this mortal life, and have made the harbor of peace and felicity. Watch over us who are still in our dangerous voyage; and remember such as lie exposed to the rough storms of trouble and temptations. Frail is our vessel, and the ocean is wide; but as in thy mercy thou hast set our course, so steer the vessel of our life toward the everlasting shore of peace, and bring us at length to the quiet haven of our heart’s desire, where thou, O our God, are blessed, and livest and reignest forever and ever.

May Thy Heart dwell always in our hearts!
May Thy Blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts, Thou givest life to all things by the rays of Thy goodness!
I will not go until Thy Heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!
May the Heart of Jesus be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God. Amen.

Lord, open our eyes to our true destiny and make us understand that seeking to glorify you on earth in our first duty and is the surest means of reaching our true greatness in eternity.

Jesus, you are the only and true Friend; not only do you participate in all my sufferings but you take them on yourself and know the secret of how to change them into joy for me. You listen to me kindly and when I tell you my afflictions you never fail to sweeten them.

I find you everywhere, you never go away, and if I am obliged to change dwellings I find you everywhere I go. You do not suffer from boredom when you listen to me, nor are you ever weary of doing me good.

If I love you, I am sure of receiving your love; you do not need my belongings nor are you impoverished by giving me yours.

Even though I am a poor man, nobody (however noble, intelligent or holy) can steal your friendship from me. Death itself, which divides all friends, will reunite me with you.

No adversity of age or change will succeed in drawing you away from me; on the contrary, I will never so fully enjoy your presence and you will never be close to me as when everything seems to conspire against me.

Only you, with wonderful patience, can bear with my faults. Even if my unfaithfulness and ingratitude offend you, they do not prevent you from always being ready, if only I want it, to grant me your grace and your love.