Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
She established the Congregation of the Visitation. The order accepted women who were rejected by other orders because of poor health or age. During its first eight years, the new order also was unusual in its public outreach.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
When she was thirty-two, she met St. Francis de Sales [24 January] who vecame her spiritual director, softening some of the severities imposed by her former diretor. She wanted to become a nun but he persuaded her to defer this decision. She took a vow to remain unmarried & to obey her director. After three years, Francis told her of his plan to found an institute of women which would be a haven for those whose health, age, or other considerations barred them from entering the already-established communities.'Twas also the festival of Blessed Innocent XI, Pope (1611-1689), two hundred fortieth Bishop of Rome, the "Savior of Hungary:" Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twas also the festival of Blessed Karl Leisner, Priest & Martyr (1915-1945), martyred by the regime of the Führer Adolf Hitler, the demise of which he lived to see: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
Scripture of that Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter six, verses four thru thirteen;
Psalm Eighteen, verses two & three(a), three(b,c) & four, & forty-seven & fifty-one;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter seventeen, verses fourteen thru twenty.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today in our Gospel we meet a boy driven mad by a demon and the disciples could not heal him. They asked Jesus why they had failed, and he said, "Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal
In all circumstances, you have to pray with faith. Have you noticed how Jesus, time and again, says to people before working a miracle, "Do you believe I can do this?" Once, Matthew tells us, Jesus was unable to perform many miracles because he was met with so little faith among the people.
Lots of people today, especially in the healing ministry, seem able to reproduce what Jesus did, precisely because of the purity of their faith. Is part of our problem simply a lack of faith? We allow our skepticism to get the better of us; we're just a little embarrassed by asking God for things, or we're convinced that he is a distant power only vaguely connected to our lives. But God is far greater than that.
The Book of Proverbs, chapter thirty-one, verses ten thru thirteen, nineteen, twenty, thirty, & thirty-one;
Psalm One Hundred Thirty-one;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter three, verses thirty-one thru fifty-five.
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