Universalis
Sunday 17 September 2023    (other days)
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Using calendar: England - Westminster. You can change this.

We are the people of the Lord, the flock that is led by his hand: come, let us adore him, alleluia.

Year: A(I). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: Green.

In other years: St Robert Bellarmine (1542 - 1621)

He was born in Montepulciano, in Tuscany, and became a Jesuit. He taught theology in Rome, and was active in disputation against the Protestants, where his effectiveness was increased by his charity and moderation. He was a moderating influence in the Galileo affair, and gave Galileo much friendly advice. In due course he was nominated a cardinal and archbishop of Capua; but it is for his writings that he is chiefly known. He did not only write controversial works: he also wrote two catechisms and some devotional commentaries on the Psalms and on the Seven Last Words.
  See the article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

In other years: Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Hildegard was born in Bermersheim in Germany in 1098, and in 1115 she entered the Benedictine abbey at the Disbodenberg. Around 1150 she founded the monastery at Rupertsberg, near Bingen, which she ruled as abbess.
  She was expert both in natural science and in music. In her contemplative prayer she received mystical revelations which she communicated in very many written works, directed at clergy and laity alike. She preached penitence and disproved doctrinal errors, so that even princes and Popes turned to her for advice. She died of an illness in 1179.

Other saints: St Albert of Jerusalem (c.1150-1214)

17 Sep (where celebrated)
St Albert of Jerusalem, as Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote the foundational document that constitutes the Carmelite Rule in the early thirteenth century, and is honoured as the rule or lawgiver of the Carmelites.
  Albert Avogadro was born in Castel Gualetri, Italy, during the middle of the twelfth century. He was educated in theology and law, and entered the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross at Mortara in 1180. Albert, gifted in leadership, was named Bishop of Bobbio in 1184, then Bishop of Vercelli in 1185, and then Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1205. In each of these roles he is noted for his pastoral leadership and skill as a conciliator and peace maker. While he was Patriarch of Jerusalem (1206-1214), Albert wrote a formula vitae, or way of life, for the hermits living on Mount Carmel, the founding community of the Carmelite Order. Often referred to as the Rule of St Albert, the document reveals a deep familiarity with Scripture and an authentic understanding and expression of Christian spirituality. On the 14th September 1214, Albert was attacked and killed during a procession of the Feast of the Holy Cross, in Acre, Israel.
MT

About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:

Second Reading: St Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430)

Augustine was born in Thagaste in Africa of a Berber family. He was brought up a Christian but left the Church early and spent a great deal of time seriously seeking the truth, first in the Manichaean heresy, which he abandoned on seeing how nonsensical it was, and then in Neoplatonism, until at length, through the prayers of his mother and the teaching of St Ambrose of Milan, he was converted back to Christianity and baptized in 387, shortly before his mother’s death.
  Augustine had a brilliant legal and academic career, but after his conversion he returned home to Africa and led an ascetic life. He was elected Bishop of Hippo and spent 34 years looking after his flock, teaching them, strengthening them in the faith and protecting them strenuously against the errors of the time. He wrote an enormous amount and left a permanent mark on both philosophy and theology. His Confessions, as dazzling in style as they are deep in content, are a landmark of world literature. The Second Readings in the Office of Readings contain extracts from many of his sermons and commentaries and also from the Confessions.

Liturgical colour: green

The theological virtue of hope is symbolized by the colour green, just as the burning fire of love is symbolized by red. Green is the colour of growing things, and hope, like them, is always new and always fresh. Liturgically, green is the colour of Ordinary Time, the orderly sequence of weeks through the year, a season in which we are being neither single-mindedly penitent (in purple) nor overwhelmingly joyful (in white).

Mid-morning reading (Terce)1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ©
Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God.

Noon reading (Sext)Deuteronomy 10:12 ©
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to fear the Lord your God, to follow all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul.

Afternoon reading (None)Song of Songs 8:6-7 ©
Love is strong as death,
jealousy as relentless as Sheol.
The flash of it is a flash of fire,
a flame of the Lord himself.
Love no floods can quench,
no torrents drown.

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Scripture readings taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. For on-line information about other Random House, Inc. books and authors, see the Internet web site at http://www.randomhouse.com.
 
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