The month of October each year is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary. This is primarily due to the fact that the liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated annually on October 7th. It was instituted to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in gratitude for the protection that she gives the Church in answer to the praying of the Rosary by the faithful.

Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43.45.47-48

John said to Jesus, «Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.» Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Mark 9:38-43.45.47-48

RADICAL SURGERY

Jesus makes what seems to be a strange suggestion. He tells us to dismember ourselves rather than allow sin to cast us into hell. Obviously, he is not commanding us to do self-mutilation. This would be morally wrong, because Christianity teaches respect for the body. We are stewards for all that God has given us. Christ challenges us to radical spiritual "surgery" to our sense of values. We must root out all that entices us away from God and from heaven. This implies not mortification, but modification of what we want out of life. Instant pleasures bring long-term suffering. (By R. Lonsdale)

The following day of the formation program of our young sisters was marked by a great event, which will be written with golden letters in the pages of the history of our Congregation. On September 15, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, at the Church of SS. Salvatore in Onda and at the feet of St. Vincent Pallotti, Sr. Marie Louize from Rwanda took her perpetual vows.

Luke 9:18-22

The gospel selection today is one that proves the adage, “The Gospel is ever new.” The “newness” is not that the words we read or hear were never there before (and thus new. Rather, the “newness” is that I have changed and the gospel passage is being heard, in a sense, by a new me.

Jesus first asks his disciples a factual question, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” The people who have been listening to Jesus consider him a prophetic presence like John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the ancient prophets. They see Jesus as a man of God and thus special like the prophets were.

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 or Revelation 12:7-12ab; John 1:47-51

In a Hebrew spirituality, full of a sense of reverence and awe before God, there was a reverence about even talking about God directly.  The angels made it possible to talk about attributes and the activities of God - that was both indirect, and full of faith.  The hand of God, the arm of God, the mouth of God, the messenger of the Lord, the justice of the Most High.

"El" is one of the Hebrew words for "God."  "Mica-el" means "who is like God."  "Gabri-el" means "God is strong."  "Rapha-el" means "God heals."

Ecclesiastes 1:2-11; Luke 9:7-9

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart.”

Though sometimes viewed as overly pessimistic, the author of Ecclesiastes may instead be classified as a keen observer of “the way things are.” For example, any sincere student of human life can only agree with the observation made in today’s text: “One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.”

Prov 30:5-9; Ps 119:29, 72, 89, 101, 104, 163; Lk 9:1-6

“Take nothing for the journey…”

The authority Luke speaks of is the authority of relationship.  Jesus gave his apostles the authority, to “cure diseases… proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”  Jesus offered nothing beyond themselves; who they were in relationship to him.  He offered them no healing herbs, no potions, no medical skills, no additional anything.  He sent them off with “… nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,…no second tunic.” But neither did Jesus say anything about his expectations or results.  In fact, he says, “…as for those who don’t welcome you, shake the dust from your feet.”  He does not say to stick around, try and try again, or be persistent. He says to keep going, to keep moving on, to stay faithful to the mission, the journey. Stay faithful to me, to us, to what we have together. Don’t get bogged down in stuff or baggage. It is not about the quality of the hospitality offered; rather it is about faithfulness to Jesus himself. Staying faithful to the relationship.

Proverbs 3:27-34; Psalm 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5; Luke 8:16-18

The Readings today, surely give us a real “Invitation to live our lives to the fullest”. In the First Reading we are encouraged to be generous and to be generous “in the moment” and not just on our own time or when we decide to be generous.  The First Reading encourages us to be light hearted, confident in our faith and see the goodness and the joy in life.  We are also reminded to live our lives in a just and righteous way, being humble and grateful for the blessings in life that we receive daily.