8th Week of Pentecost

Acts 16:25-34
About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew (his) sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.

Luke 11:9-13
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Prayer of the Faithful, vol.III
Safro – First Prayer
O holy One, you sanctify the saints who, through the Holy Spirit, proclaim your holiness; sanctify us, that we also may acknowledge you as all holy. Our Lord and God, in whom we place all our hope, we praise and call upon you, now and for ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day: Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Virgin Mary Saints Joaquin (sometimes spelled “Joachim,”) and Anne, are the parents of the Virgin Mary. There are no mentions of them in the Bible or Gospels, what we know comes from Catholic legend and the Gospel of James, which is an unsanctioned, apocryphal writing form the second century AD. We do know from scholarship that the Gospel of James was not written by James, the Brother of Jesus, despite its claim to be so authored.
Even the early Church fathers expressed skepticism about the Gospel of James in their writings. There are about 150 copies of the ancient manuscript which often have different titles, but tell the same story, that Mary was promised to Joaquin and Anne by an angel, was consecrated to God, and she remained a virgin all her life.
Naturally, there is plenty of room for scholarly debate about these saints. We have no true primary sources that prove they even existed, but certainly we can agree that Mary had parents. Likewise, we can agree that, Mary had good, faithful parents who raised her with a love and devotion to God like none other except Jesus Christ Himself. Joaquin and Anne serve as role models for parents and both deserve to be honored and emulated for their devotion to God and Our Lady Mary, the Mother of God.

Meditation:
The Second Vatican Council on Human Dignity:
The Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae (Human Dignity), was the last official topic addressed by Second Vatican Council, it was promulgated on December 7, 1965. While considered revolutionary by some for its unwavering proclamation of religious freedom, it actually expresses in modern nuances the same understanding of religious freedom taught in the Encyclical Sublimes Dei of Pope Paul III in 1537, that called for an Evangelization of the Native peoples of the newly discovered Americas. An Evangelization that would respect their freedom and dignity in accepting or rejecting the Gospel, without fear of coercion and possible enslavement.
The Council Fathers make it quite clear through Dignitatis Humanae, “that the human person has a right to religious freedom.” (paragraph 2) This statement is even more prophetic today then when it was written. In 1965, the Council Fathers had in mind primarily the loss of religious freedom in the Communist block of nations. Today however, we find a less overt but just as virulent movement against religious freedom in the Constitutional Democracies of the Western world. The anti-religious freedom movements of today seek to caste the image of traditional religious values on the human person, as archaic and bigoted. They propagate this message through the power of the media and social technology. Along with this they have discovered how to by-pass the slow deliberative process of legislative democracy by making direct attacks upon the “law courts,” to refigure the Constitutional foundations of society, so that they might reflect their new morality of non-religious values. (For a comprehensive examination of this topic as it relates to the unborn child, I would recommend The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and Childbirth: Exploring Moral Choices in Childbearing, by Helen Watt, Routledge Press, 2016)
The Pastoral Constitution On The Church In The Modern World – Gaudium Et Spes, which was promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on December 7, 1965, addressed also the dignity of human beings in the modern world. In acknowledging our shared humanity, those who have must care for those who have not: “Therefore, there must be made available to all people everything necessary for leading a life truly human, such as food, clothing, and shelter; the right to choose a state of life freely and to found a family, the right to education, to employment…” (paragraph 26)
The Council reminds us that Human Dignity is not merely a concept but a call to action, an integral part of the social doctrine and ministry of the Church. Modern men and women are convinced of the truth not only by words but especially by deeds; the members of Christ’s Body – the Church, must simultaneous preach the message of human dignity and minister to others with Christ-like love. “Coming down to practical and particularly urgent consequences, this council lays stress on reverence for humankind; everyone must consider their every neighbor without exception as another self, taking into account first of all his or her life and the means necessary to living it with dignity, so as not to imitate the rich man who had no concern for the poor man Lazarus.” (paragraph 27)