Reflection MONDAY, 20th Week, Ordinary Time.
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Assistant Parish Priest, Manjeshwar, Kasargod
Memory of Pope Pius X
Gospel Passage of the Day
Matthew 19:16-22
There was a man who came to Jesus and asked, ‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ He said, ‘Which?’ ‘These:’ Jesus replied ‘You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness. Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbour as yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’ Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
Reflection on the Readings of the day
There is no doubt that we desire to have a good life.
A good life would probably mean that life is comfortable, there is financial security and life is generally stable.
But human beings won’t be contented with just that. They will strive for more.
When the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land, their days of wandering in the desert also came to an end.
They settled in the land of milk and honey and life became comfortable and stable.
But that is also when problems began.
They became unfaithful to God and practiced idolatry and did what was displeasing to God.
Their comfort and their security became their downfall as they strayed away from the God who led them out of slavery into freedom and provided for them in the desert.
In other words, they forgot about the hard life and they also took God’s love for granted.
May we always remember the goodness that the Lord our God has blessed us with.
May we always give thanks with a grateful heart, and God will bless us and keep us safe.
Saint of the day
✠ St. Pius X ✠
257th Pope:
Born: June 2, 1835
Riese, Treviso, Lombardy-Venetia, Austrian Empire
Died: August 21, 1914 (Aged 79)
Apostolic Palace, Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Venerated in: Roman Catholic Church
Beatified: June 3, 1951
Pope Pius XII
Canonized: May 29, 1954
Pope Pius XII
Feast: August 21
Pope Saint Pius X was head of the Catholic Church from August 1903 to his death in 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox theology. He directed the production of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive and systemic work of its kind.
The life of St. Pius X speaks to us in so many ways that it is difficult to choose the one with a more formative character. But we can begin by stressing a curious facet of his life that also signifies an aspect of the life of the Church.
The times of Pius IX and Leo XIII:
We know that Pius IX, the predecessor of St. Pius X, was a prototype of a counter-revolutionary Pope. He proclaimed the dogmas of Papal Infallibility and the Immaculate Conception; he fought on every front of combat and was attacked on all of them by the Revolution. His pontificate closed at the apex of his confrontation with the Revolution, with the troops of Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel taking Rome as well as the Pontifical Territories from the Pope.
After Pius IX, whose process of canonization is ongoing, came Leo XIII. I have never heard anyone propose a process of canonization for him. There is no record that even his greatest enthusiasts ever considered this possibility. Recently (these comments were made in 1966), an ensemble of letters by Leo XIII to his family was published by a German scholar, who, with that delightful naiveté of many Germans, presented them exactly as they were written. I believe that those letters destroyed any possibility of the canonization of Leo XIII.
From a small perspective – because those letters reflect only a very small part of his life – Leo XIII revealed in them his great concern about the glory of the Pecci family, that is, his own family. He had been Count Pecci. So, there are letters to his sister, his mother, and other members of the family remarking how he did this and that as Pope, and that his actions would bring great glory for the Pecci family. The lackluster name of the Pecci family, he noted, would now be immortal! The publication of these candid letters found an icy reception from the Italian press, and given its inconvenience, the book was more or less set aside and forgotten.
St. Pius X discovered this conspiracy and fulminated against it with his documents. This is the first great characteristic of his pontificate, which would be enough to immortalize him. Imagine if he had failed to do so. Today, any reaction against Communism and Progressivism would be impossible. We are still in this fight because he smashed Modernism at the beginning of the 20th century. We are here now, because of the fierce energy of St. Pius X.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice day.