Catholic News Agency - Daily Gospel

Look at this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return. Through you My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth." from  Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque’s  vision of Jesus   Born at Lehautecour, France, July 22, 1647; died at Paray-le-Monial, France, October 17, 1690; canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.   Margaret Mary was born to virtuous parents, and was herself an uncommonly pious child, being intensly drawn to silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.  She practiced severe physical mortifications after her first Communion at age nine until she was struck with paralysis and bed-ridden for four years.   After she made a vow to the Blessed Virgin to enter religious life, she was instantly cured. However, in the ensuing years she had become intent on living in the world following a request of her mother.   On returning from a ball one night she had a vision of Jesus during His scourging at the pillar, in which he reproached her for her infidelity to her vow. He had usually appeared to her throughout her childhood as the Crucified or being condemned to death. She decided to fulfill the vow she made to Mary and entered the Visitation Convent at Paray in 1671.   Her life in the convent was marked by intense suffering stemming from the harsh work she opted to do, and also by frequent visions and visits to her by Jesus who soon confided to her the mission to establish devotion to His Sacred Heart.   He promised that, in response to those who consecrate themselves and make reparations to His Sacred Heart, that:     ·        He will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life. ·        He will establish peace in their homes. ·        He will comfort them in all their afflictions. ·        He will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death. ·        He will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings. ·        Sinners will find in His Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy. ·        Lukewarm souls shall become fervent. ·        Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection. ·        He will bless every place in which an image of His Heart is exposed and honored. ·        He will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts. ·        Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in His Heart. ·        In the excessive mercy of His Heart that His all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in His disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. His divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.   The initial opposition and criticism she received from her congregation at the outset of this mission eventually turned into support due to her heroic example of obedience and charity, especially to the sisters most opposed to her. The devotion was violently opposed by the Jansenist heretics (who rejected the truth of God’s merciful love), but it is credited as having decisively defeated Jansenism in France.   When the tomb was opened after Margaret Mary’s death, miracles immediately took place, and she has obtained countless graces from the millions of pilgrims who have visited her resting place in the chapel of Paray-le-Monial since her death.   “This divine heart is an abyss filled with all blessings, and into the poor should submerge all their needs. It is an abyss of joy in which all of us can immerse our sorrows. It is an abyss of lowliness to counteract our foolishness, an abyss of mercy for the wretched, an abyss of love to meet our every need.” Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Born November 26, 1800 in Ponikva, Slovenia; died September 24, 1862 in Maribor, Slovenia; beatified September 19, 1999 by Pope John Paul II. Anton Martin Slomshek who was born November 26, 1800 at Ponikva, Slovenia is the first Slovenian to be beatified. Slomshek is known as a great educator, largely responsible for the nearly 100% literacy rate among Slovenians, a remarkable turn around from the very poor state of the nation's educational levels at the turn of the nineteenth century. In the late 18th and early 19th century, the Slovenian education system had been crippled by the Austrian empire's suppression of their native language and culture.  This left them without their own schools, texts and magazines and newspapers. As bishop, Anton Martin Slomshek reformed the schools in Slovenia, and rebuilt the education system, giving it as a foundation Catholicism and Slovene history.  He wrote many textbooks, began a weekly review, and wrote many books and essays concerning whatever questions he considered relevant to the intellectual needs of his people. He founded a society for the spread of Catholic literature, an organization responsible in large part for making possible the rejuvenation of the Catholic cultural base of the Slovenian nation. He was known as a simple and humble man, posessed of a childlike purity, and was loved by his priests and his flock. Blessed Anton once remarked, "When I was born, my mother laid me on abed of straw, and I desire no better pallet when I die, asking only tobe in the state of grace and worthy of salvation."

Born in 1246 in Sant' Angelo, Italy, Nicholas became an Augustinian friar at the age of 18 after hearing an Augustinian hermit preach. He was ordained 7 years later and quickly gained a reputation as a great preacher and confessor.He practiced severe mortifications and fasted strictly. He was known for obtaining healings for many of the sick who lived in Tolentino, where he spent the last 30 years of his life. St. Nicholas' bread, a roll of dough with a Cross in the center, has it's origin in the bread he used to give to the sick to eat after he had prayed for the Virgin Mary's healing intercession.St. Nicholas died September 10, 1306 and was canonized by Pope Eugene IV in 1446.

On this day, the universal Church marks the beheading of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus. As an adult, he lived as a hermit in the wilderness. After the Spirit inspired him, he went about preaching that people should repent for their sins and be baptized to prepare for the Messiah. Herod imprisoned John because John had condemned Herod for committing adultery by living with his brother's wife, Herodias. The daughter of Herodias danced for Herod on his birthday. Herod was so impressed that he said he would offer her anything she liked. She consulted with Herodias who told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And so John was beheaded.

This feast celebrates the Virgin Mary's assumption into heaven, that is, that Mary was taken up into heaven body and soul at the end of her life on earth. The Western Church adopted it as an annual feast day in the year 650.

St. Nicodemus was a secret disciple of Jesus. A member of the Sanhedrin, he would meet Jesus by night. Eventually, it was Nicodemus who reminded the Sanhedrin that Jesus had the right to a trial. With St. Joseph of Arimathea, he prepared Jesus' body and placed him in the tomb. Tradition holds that St. Nicodemus was martyred, though no record remains.