Prayer of Saint Benedict of Nursia

O Lord, I place myself in your hands and dedicate myself to you. I pledge myself to do your will in all things: To love the Lord God with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength. Not to kill. Not to steal. Not to covet. Not to bear false witness. To honor all persons. Not to do to another what I would not wish done to myself. To chastise the body. Not to seek after pleasures. To love fasting. To relieve the poor. To clothe the naked. To visit the sick. To bury the dead. To help in trouble. To console the sorrowing. To hold myself aloof from worldly ways. To prefer nothing to the love of Christ. Not to give way to anger. Not to foster a desire for revenge. Not to entertain deceit in the heart. Not to make a false peace. Not to forsake charity. Not to swear, lest I swear falsely. To speak the truth with heart and tongue. Not to return evil for evil. To do no injury: yea, even to bear patiently any injury done to me. To love my enemies. Not to curse those who curse me, but rather to bless them. To bear persecution for justice' sake. Not to be proud. Not to be given to intoxicating drink. Not to be an over-eater. Not to be lazy. Not to be slothful. Not to be a murmurer. Not to be a detractor. To put my trust in God. To refer the good I see in myself to God. To refer any evil in myself to myself. To fear the day of judgment. To be in dread of hell. To desire eternal life with spiritual longing. To keep death before my eyes daily. To keep constant watch over my actions. To remember that God sees me everywhere. To call upon Christ for defense against evil thoughts that arise in my heart. To guard my tongue against wicked speech. To avoid much speaking. To avoid idle talk. To read only what is good to read. To look at only what is good to see. To pray often. To ask forgiveness daily for my sins, and to seek ways to amend my life. To obey my superiors in all things rightful. Not to desire to be thought holy, but to seek holiness. To fulfill the commandments of God by good works. To love chastity. To hate no one. Not to be jealous or envious of anyone. Not to love strife. Not to love pride. To honor the aged. To pray for my enemies. To make peace after a quarrel, before the setting of the sun. Never to despair of your mercy, O God of Mercy. Amen.

Saint Thomas, Apostle

From: saintvincentarchabbey.org

Eph 2:19-22; Ps 117:1-2; Jn 20:24-29

"Tell the Good News!"

Every Sunday in the Creed we call ourselves, one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Such a powerful self-awareness is so often lost in the day-to-day living out of the mystery we call Church. On the feasts of the Apostles, we are once again summoned to affirm and embrace our apostolic identity. What does it mean to be apostolic? At the very end of his gospel Saint Mark remembers the commission of the Lord Jesus, "Go out to all the world and tell the Good News." We are apostolic because we are sent, and we are sent because we have truly good news for the whole world. That good news echoes in our hearts every time we gaze upon the Body and Blood of Christ and joint the Apostle Thomas in praying, "My Lord and my God." Indeed, the good news we bear is the good news that we become in communion with the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. As a successor of the apostles, Saint Augustine, has taught us, when we eat any other kind of food that food becomes us, but when we eat the Body and Blood of Christ we become what we eat. The one we consume consumes us. Indeed, we are more like Christ than we are like ourselves. Our true identity is hidden with Christ in God. As we are sent out from every Eucharist we are sent to give apostolic witness: "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!" By what we say and do everyday, we reveal to all the nations that the LORD is here with us, and we are transformed by his steadfast kindness and tender fidelity. This divine love is at the center of our lives today, and it is the bright glory of our future. Christ Our God wants all men and women to share in the splendor of truth and the beauty of his love forever. This is truly good news for every nation all through history until the consummation to the ages and the end of the world as we know it. For the world as we know it is not totally transparent to the mystery of the Kingdom or the splendor of the Church. Indeed, it is the witness of the blood of the apostles in every age that is startling and constant before a harsh and violent world.

The Apostle Paul cries our to this brothers and sisters in every age to recognize our true dignity in the Body of Christ. Like Saint Thomas and the entire apostolic band we must summon all men and women to Christ. This is our apostolic identity. Indeed, we are no longer strangers and sojourners. We are fellow citizens of the heavenly Kingdom. We stand before the throne of God and of the Lamb along with all the Apostles and prophets. Indeed, we are at home and familiar with the saints in glory and we have a permanent home with these holy ones. We are not just passing guests in the court of heaven. Christ Jesus himself is the capstone of our lives. He is the very one who holds us together and binds us into one organic whole. Our very life is in the LORD; outside of Christ we have no life. Cut off from Christ, we are dead and dried up branches fit for the fire. Through Him, with Him, and in Him, we are growing into a temple sacred to the Lord. In Christ we are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Indeed, it is the very mystery of the Trinity that shines through the splendor of the Church at this time in history and forever in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the message of today's celebration, and this is the good news we have to offer all who are lost and in the shadow of death.

Perhaps Saint Thomas had to struggle with the good news so that we could hear the good news. Perhaps, we never would have had the blessing upon us that we hear after Thomas received his blessing. "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Indeed, it is the gift of faith that enabled Saint Thomas to see what no man can see-my Lord and my God. No human eyes alone can behold the face of God in Christ. It takes faith that alone can expand our vision beyond its natural capacity to behold in faith the revelation of God in the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus, crucified and raised. The Lord Jesus blessed his disciple Thomas and in this blessing he became an apostle. Before one can be sent out with the good news, one must taste and see that the Lord is good. Before Saint Thomas was ready for his blessing and commission, he had to spend a week waiting for the Lord to come through the locked doors. Indeed, we lock the doors out of fear that someone would take advantage of our weakness and vulnerability. We have been disappointed and we feel abandoned just like the apostles. Disappointed that we did not have enough courage and faith to stand at the foot of the cross with the beloved and his mother. Abandoned by the teacher who had promised to remain with us and had proclaimed that we need not fear, anyone or anything. This Lord Jesus was executed in public before the scorn and mockery of the leaders. This Lord Jesus was absent for a whole week while many had given witness and proclaimed his resurrection. It is impossible to believe. Indeed, without faith no one could see him come through locked doors and breathe, "peace". Just as the Apostle Thomas doubted, even longer and more intensely have we doubted. Just as the Apostle Thomas believed because he saw, we believe without seeing. Only with eyes of faith can we see and cry out, "My Lord and my God!"

Saints Peter and Paul

From: The Apostleship of Prayer

St. Paul's Bones

By Stephen Brown (VOA news)

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict announced on Sunday that fragments of bone from the first or second century had been found in a tomb in the Basilica of St Paul in Rome, which he said confirmed the belief that it housed the apostle's remains.

"This seems to confirm the unanimous and undisputed tradition that these are the mortal remains on the Apostle Paul," the pontiff said at St Paul's-Outside-the-Walls, on the eve of the Feasts of St Peter and St Paul celebrated on Monday.

Peter and Paul are revered by Christians as the greatest early missionaries. Converting on the road to Damascus following a blinding vision of Jesus, Paul took the Gospel to pagan Greeks and Romans and met his martyrdom in Rome in about AD 65.

Christian tradition had it that St Paul was buried together with St Peter in a catacomb on the Via Appia, before being moved to the basilica erected in his honor. For centuries it was believed that his remains were buried beneath the altar.

But it was not until a stone sarcophagus was discovered there in 2006 that Vatican archeologists could apply scientific research to the religious tradition.

The first results come during the "Pauline Year," when the Roman Catholic church has been celebrating the second millennium of the birth of the "Apostle of the Gentiles."

Pope Benedict gave details of the discovery, saying a tiny hole had been drilled in the sarcophaguus to permit inspection of the interior, revealing "traces of a precious linen cloth, purple in color, laminated with pure gold, and a blue colored textile with filaments of linen."

"It also revealed the presence of grains of red incense and traces of protein and limestone. There were also tiny fragments of bone, which, when subjected to Carbon 14 tests by experts, turned out to belong to someone who lived in the first or second century," said the pope.

FRESCOED IMAGE

The discovery of the bone fragments coincided with news that Vatican archaeologists had discovered what they believe is the oldest image in existence of St Paul, dating from the late 4th century, on the walls of catacomb beneath Rome.

Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, revealing the find on Sunday, published a picture of a frescoed image of the face of a man with a pointed black beard on a red background, inside a bright yellow halo. The high forehead is furrowed.

Experts of the Ponitifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology made the discovery on June 19 in the Catacomb of Santa Tecla in Rome and described it as the "oldest icon in history dedicated to the cult of the Apostle," according to the Vatican newspaper.

Early Christians in Rome buried their dead in catacombs dug into the soft rock under the city and decorated the underground walls with devotional images, often in the Pompeian style.

(Writing by Stephen Brown; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

For more great homilies by the monks of St. Vincent Archabbey: Click here

 Is 49:1-6; Ps 139:1b-3,13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66,80

"You knit me in my mother's womb."

The preaching of Saint John the Baptist is still vital in the life of the Church. We take full advantage of his message during our season of Advent each year. His summons to repentance and to make way for the Messiah is still necessary for each believer. If we are honest with ourselves our maturation in Christ is still yet to come. The Responsorial Psalm for today's solemnity is a summons to meditate upon the origins of our humanity for we are wonderfully made. Even in the womb the LORD has known us and He continues to probe us and know us better than we know ourselves. Like Saint John the Baptist we are fully known because the LORD has probed us. The LORD knows when we sit and when we stand, and He understands our thoughts from afar. Before we open our mouths, the LORD already knows what we are going to say. Such knowledge is too wonderful for us too high for us to understand. How can anyone know us so well? Only the Father who loves us so much would be willing and able to know us so well. All our wandering and all our resting the LORD scrutinizes. Even when we move ever so slightly away from Him and His Will, the LORD continues to be present and interested in our every pondering. It is in our mother's womb that we are given our human dignity. Our value is beyond all price from the very moment of conception. This is the foundational human right, and without it, without the right to life we can have no other rights. This is why our Church at this time in history has such a prophetic role in society that has bought into the lie that a child within the womb is not yet human and can be disposed of when he or she is an "inconvenience." Indeed, this celebration of the birth of Saint John is a liturgical moment for celebrating the truth that human dignity is a gift from God from the first moment of conception to the natural ending of life. With all who believe we give thanks that we are fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are all the works of the LORD! When each of us was being made in secret, when our frame was yet unknown, we are precious in the sight of the LORD! Our rejoicing and gladness at the birth of Saint John is a summons to renew our commitment to human rights. We are being called by today's liturgy to take up arms against a sea of troubles in our culture of death and to affirm life from its very beginning. We arm ourselves with the weapons of truth. Indeed, these are the only weapons a Disciple of Christ is given by the gospel. We can never feel comfortable with violence to promote the truth. Any kind of violence already denies the truth it attempts to promote. This includes the violence of silencing our protest, and the violence of destroying the life of those who promote or perform abortions. Today, we pray for the intercession of Saint John the Baptist for the courage to proclaim the truth even when we are threatened by rejection or imprisonment.

The proclamation of the Prophet Isaiah invites us to realize the dignity of our call in Baptism. By our being plunged into the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ we are made new. We are given the role and dignity of the prophet. From the baptismal womb of Mother Church we are given a name, given an identity, given a dignity. Indeed, the Lord God has made us a sharp-edged sword and concealed us within the shadow of his arm. He formed us in the truth of His Word to cut through the deceptions of the world in which we live. Indeed, we are in the world but not of the world. The truth we speak is from the Truth himself, and it has power to cut through the lies we encounter everywhere around us. The Lord God has made us a polished arrow and hidden us in his quiver. We are polished, strong and straight. We are ready and able to be shot from his bow into the heart of darkness. Into the beast that breathes the deadly fire of deception, we are shot to give witness to his truth that can alone destroy the lies and half-truths that poison the body politic. The witness we bear is necessary for the salvation of the nations. We cannot limit our proclamation of the truth to just the survivors of Israel. Our prophetic role is a light for all nations so that the salvation of God might reach to the ends of the earth. Indeed, we are caught up in the very mystery of the Father's loving kindness and boundless concern for the dignity and freedom of all his children, even those who deny this dignity and freedom. Indeed, our proclamation is the truth that sets everyone free.

In his preaching Saint Paul testifies to the history of the LORD's plan for salvation. Saint Paul sees in the witness and ministry of King David a model and a promise from God. The LORD found the Son of Jesse to be in is deepest self a man after God's own heart. Indeed, King David wanted what the LORD wanted. He desired to carry out every wish of his Father in Heaven. This is the model of everyone who is grafted onto the family tree of King David. Indeed, the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise that the LORD made to his people through King David; Christ is the perfect son of David. Unlike his ancestor, King David, the Lord Jesus never turned away from the Father’s will and purpose. He never experienced lust; he never acted out of lust to seduce or murder. The Lord Jesus is sinless and immaculate from the womb of his Mother, the Immaculate Conception. As she cooperated with the Father's will in giving her "yes" to the Archangel Gabriel, so too, Saint John fulfilled the Father's will by his call to repentance. In this prophetic witness Saint John knew his place; he was the voice in the wilderness announcing the arrival of the Word of God. Though not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet, Saint John was sent to unfasten the bonds of sin to set us free to follow the Way. This message of good news is intended, as Saint Paul preached for all the sons and daughters of the Father of Faith and for all God's children not yet grafted onto the family tree of King David. It is this very word of salvation that the Church continues to proclaim to us and through us who live out the mystery of our baptism.

On this solemnity of the birth of Saint John the Baptist we too are summoned to take to heart the wonderful things the LORD has done in sending his Son and in sending the Prophet John. This mouth of the LORD, Saint John, grew in the womb of Saint Elizabeth, he was called by the name the Angel had given him. The custom of the day was to name him after his father, but even Zechariah wrote, "John is his name." Such a new and wondrous event revealed the movement of the LORD in the lives of his humble people. He loosed the tongue of his priest to give word to his praise. No longer did his doubt silence him; Zechariah blessed the LORD God who is faithful to his promise through the Archangel. Saint John grew in grace and wisdom from his childhood with his saintly parents, and when he became strong in spirit he lived in the solitude of the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel. During the days of his wilderness sojourn Saint John listened in prayer to the Word of the LORD and was nourished by the LORD on a prophet's diet, locust and wild honey. These days of desert formation are necessary for all of us who are summoned to prophetic ministry. We must fast and pray to prepare for our day of manifestation when we are given the Word to announce, "Prepare the way of the LORD!"