A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 12:38-42
A reading from
the holy Gospel according to Matthew 12:38-42Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Saint Who?
Saints Who Taught about Prayer
Saint Who?
Saints Who Taught about Prayer
Saint Robert Bellarmine
Bishop and Doctor († 1621) Feast: September 17
Robert Bellarmine spent almost his entire life defending the teachings of the Church. As a young Jesuit priest, he carefully studied both Catholic and Protestant arguments, and then he publicly explained the Catholic response to Protestant positions and had his lectures printed to reach a wider audience. One of his books, known as the Controversies, was so effective a Catholic apologetic that it was illegal to possess a copy in Elizabethan England.
Robert did not respond to angry opponents with anger. In fact, he was a warm, joyful man with a wide circle of friends. Those friends included many Jesuits who studied in Rome: holy men such as Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, who died before ordination, and English priests who died as martyrs after returning to their home country. He was widely loved and trusted by multiple popes, and he only narrowly escaped being named a pope himself.
One of Robert’s spiritual writings was called The Mind’s Ascent to God by the Ladder of Created Things. In this work, he reminded the reader that all of creation—water, fire, the earth, the stars—speaks to us about God. Signs of God’s power, wisdom, mercy, and justice surround us, and those signs lead us to ascend to him in prayer.
God of truth, may our love for the created world help us to raise our minds and hearts to you.
