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October 21, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
WORLD MISSION SUNDAY
Center illustration:'The Temptation of St. Hilarion' was a subject of many paintings in the 16th-19th centuries.
ST HILARION THE GREAT (Hilarion of Gaza) (b Palestine ca 291, d Cyprus 371), Hermit and Abbot
Hilarion's life is known to us from a biography of him written by St. Jerome. Born to pagan parents in Gaza, Hilarion was sent to study in Alexandria, where he converted to Christianity, gave up all worldly pleasures in favor of going to church, and at age 15, sought out the future St. Anthony Abbot in his Egyptian hermitage. After a few months there, he returned to Palestine. When his parents died, he gave up his inheritance to his brothers and decided to be a hermit himself, choosing a spot in the Gaza desert between the coast and marshland. During his 22 years as a hermit, he was beset by temptations and demonic visions and starved himself to help fight them off. In the meantime, word spread about him and people came to see him for spiritual comfort and guidance. After curing a woman who had been barren for 15 years, more people came to him for healing and he performed a number of miracles. In time, a monastery grew around his cell, which was so beset by visitors, especially females, that Hilarion fled. After numerous adventures, always beset by enthusiastic visitors seeking his help, Hilarion died in Cyprus in 371 AD.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102112.cfm
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
Canonization of seven new saints and Mass in St. Peter's Square, followed by
the Sunday Angelus.
Sanctity and the new Evangelization
OCt. 21, 2012
While the Synod Fathers gathered in Rome continue their often difficult and complex reflections on the New Evangelization, looking for unifying themes and threads running through the literally hundreds of speeches made in the last few days by bishops, guests and observers, the canonisation ceremony this Sunday breaks onto the scene like a powerful beam of light and joy.
No fewer than seven Blesseds are being proclaimed as models of sanctity for the whole Church. Priests, men and women religious, lay men and women. They lived in Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Oceania. From the missionary Jesuit in distant lands who died a martyr in Madagascar to the priest who was an educator of troubled youth, to the sick woman who for decades carried out the invaluable spiritual mission of suffering in her bed. There is the young Filipino lay catechist – he, too, a martyr; there is the religious sister dedicated to caring for lepers; the religious sister who spent her energy for the education of children, young people and workers. Then, there is the true flower of this wonderful group, the young Kateri Tekakwitha, an extraordinary fruit of the first proclamation of the faith among the tribes of Native Americans.
Saints have always been the most credible witnesses of the Christian faith, of the living and working Spirit of the Risen Jesus, of the transformation of humanity thanks to the mysterious power of the Gospel. Without them, the Church cannot live, cannot at all effectively spread the Gospel in a world that perhaps has trouble accepting it, even though that same world has an immense need for it.
The world needs the saints, the world needs the Gospel: in order to rediscover the gratuitousness of love, joy and hope. The New Evangelization will also start again with the saints of our time.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/10/2012 00:37] |