St Claire of Assisi - click here for details
This Sunday accentuates Baptism and Holy Eucharist. We reflect upon the fact in the Introit that the church is actually the dwelling place of God. It is here that “He shall give power and strength to His people.”
Only in the church, and strengthened by the Sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Penance in particular, can we gain strength to withstand the onslaught of the World, the Flesh and the Devil.
The Epistle renews our faith in the doctrines of the Catholic Church. St. Paul lists proofs for the Resurrection of Our Lord from the dead. St. Paul recalls his own Baptism wherein he received the Grace of the Sacrament which “did not remain fruitless within me.” The joy of our own Baptism is recalled in the Gradual and Alleluia of the Mass.
The Gospel emphasizes that we are spiritually deaf and dumb and need the graces of God through the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist to open our ears to the teachings of Christ and then use our tongue to spread His Word. The Church since earliest times has used this Gospel as a symbol of Baptism. By extension the Holy Eucharist continues what Baptism initiated.
Today is Feast of St. Bernard Abbot and Doctor which falls in the Octave of the Assumption. Of royal blood, St. Bernard at age 22 became a monk and attracted 30 other noblemen to his Cistercian Order in early XII Century France, later founding the great monastery of Clairvaux where 700 monks eventually gathered. St. Bernard fought heretics and preached the II Crusade against the Turks. Upon his death, the Saint left 165 monasteries in both Europe and Asia. Although not commemorated in the Mass using the 1962 rubrics, we should pray though the intercession of St. Bernard for wisdom today in spreading the Catholic Faith to others.