Saint Joseph, The Worker, Feast Day - 1 May

Quoted from Catholic News Agency [1]:

St. Joseph has two feast days on the liturgical calendar. The first is March 19—Joseph, the Husband of Mary. The second is May 1—Joseph, the Worker.

“Saint Joseph is a man of great spirit. He is great in faith, not because he speaks his own words, but above all because he listens to the words of the Living God. He listens in silence. And his heart ceaselessly perseveres in the readiness to accept the Truth contained in the word of the Living God,” Pope John Paul II had once said.

There is very little about the life of Joseph in Scripture but still, we know that he was the chaste husband of Mary, the foster father of Jesus, a carpenter and  a man who was not wealthy. We also know that he came from the royal lineage of King David.

We can see from his actions in scripture that Joseph was a compassionate man, and obedient to the will of God. He also loved Mary and Jesus and wanted to protect and provide for them.

Since Joseph does not appear in Jesus' public life, at his death, or resurrection, many historians believe Joseph had probably died before Jesus entered public ministry.

[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/feast-of-st-joseph-the-worker-471#:~:text=Feast%20of%20St.%20Joseph%20the%20Worker%20Feast%20day%3A,Mary.%20The%20second%20is%20May%201%E2%80%94Joseph%2C%20the%20Worker.

Latin Mass Live

Link to Latin Masses live in various countries:  https://www.latinmass.live/

Saint Mark The Evangelist - 25 April

Quoted from RCL Benziger Saints Resource [1]:

Mark was an Evangelist—one of the four men who wrote the Gospels found in the New Testament. Mark’s Gospel was written first, and it is the shortest description of Jesus’ life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Mark’s writings helped both Matthew and Luke to write their Gospels.

Mark was not one of the original Apostles, and he probably never knew Jesus. Instead, we believe that he was a member of the first Christian community. In his writings, St. Peter refers to Mark as his “son.” Peter may have used this term to show his love for Mark, or he may have used it because he was the one who baptized Mark. It is believed that Peter was the primary source for Mark’s Gospel.

"Mark [the Evangelist] is said to have founded the Church of Alexandria, one of the most important episcopal sees of early Christianity. His feast day is celebrated on April 25." [2]

Similar to Saints Resource  quoted above, franciscan media  states: "Like another Gospel writer Luke, Mark was not one of the 12 apostles. We cannot be certain whether he knew Jesus personally." [3]

[1] http://saintsresource.com/mark-the-evangelist/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_the_Evangelist, quoted in part without hyperlinks.

[3] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-mark

Too Much Cheese

Quoted from an article dated March 26, 2021 from The Guardian [1]:

The Cîteaux Abbey, just south of Dijon, birthplace of the Cistercian Catholic order, usually sells its raw-milk, semi-soft discs only to restaurants or visitors to its on-site shop. But a drop in demand since the coronavirus crisis erupted last year has left the abbey’s 19 Trappist monks with 4,000 cheeses too many, a 2.8-tonne problem.

“We tried explaining to our 75 cows that they needed to produce less milk but they don’t seem to have understood,” said brother Jean-Claude, in charge of marketing at the monastery, which was founded in 1098.

“Our sales are down nearly 50%,” he said, with French restaurants still closed since 30 October as authorities try to stifle a third wave of cases. “We need to clear out our stock.”

Quoted from UNILAD [2]:

The Cîteaux Abbey’s cheese is award-winning, emerging with a silver medal at 2020’s international food and drink competition.

Fortunately, it appears business is booming with the latest online appeal. By Tuesday this coming week, March 30, the monastery hoped to have sold more than a tonne of cheese. Incredibly, it has already sold more than two tonnes. ‘We’re going to make it,’ Jean-Claude said.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/mar/26/french-monks-locked-down-tonnes-cheese-pray-buyers-online

[2] https://www.unilad.co.uk/food/monks-trapped-in-lockdown-with-2-8-tonnes-of-cheese-pray-for-buyers/

Readings For The Second Sunday After Easter - 18 April 2021

April 18, 2021, is the second Sunday  after  Easter (April 4) based on the Tridentine Mass (Traditional Latin Mass), but based on the Novus Ordo Mass (Post-Vatican II Mass) it is the third Sunday of  Easter, counting April 4 as the first Sunday of Easter.

Readings for the Tridentine Mass can be accessed here:  https://www.divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl

Select Rubics 1960 (second column from the left below), a language (the next column but not all languages listed are available on this day) then click on Santa Missa (on top).

Readings for the Novus Ordo Mass can be accessed here: https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Feast Of Saint Justin The Martyr - 14 April

Quoted from Divinum Officium [1]

April 14th 2021, the 2nd day of the Moon, were born to better life:

On the morrow we keep the feast of the holy martyr Justin, the admirable philosopher. He had presented to the Emperors Marcus Antoninus Verus and Lucius Aurelius born modus his second book [2] in defence of our religion, and was then earnestly spreading the same at Rome by his disputations when he was accused of Christianity through the devices of Crescens the Cynic, whose life and infamous manners he had rebuked, and for a reward of his faithful speaking he received upon this day the crown of martyrdom.

[1] https://www.divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl, on 13 April 2021, under Prima, Reduced 1955, section Martyrologium

[2] Quoted from Wikipedia  without hyperlinks:

"The Dialogue  is a later work than the First Apology; the date of composition of the latter, judging from the fact that it was addressed to Antoninus Pius and his adopted sons Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, must fall between 147 and 161. In the Dialogue with Trypho, after an introductory section, Justin undertakes to show that Christianity is the new law for all men."  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Martyr

Orthodox Monk In Turkey Sentenced To 25 Months In Prison For Doing God's Work

God's work:

"For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in:"  Matthew 25:35 [1]

"...Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink?"  Matthew 25:37 [2]

"Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me."  Matthew 25:40 [3]

Quoted in part from La Croix International [4]:

A Turkish court has sentenced Syrian Orthodox monk to 25 months in prison on terrorism charges after he gave a piece of bread to two people who had turned up at the gates of his monastery.

The Mardin Criminal Court found Syrian Orthodox monk Sefer Bileçen guilty of complicity with terrorist organizations and activities as the people he helped were members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) that the Ankara government classifies as a terrorist organization.

The monk is custodian of the old Syrian Orthodox monastery of Mor Yakup (St Jacob) in Nusaybin (formerly Nisibi, now part of the Turkish province of Mardin).

Quoted in part from Aid To The Church In Need ACN Ireland [5]:

On the 7th April, a court in Turkey sentenced a Syriac Orthodox monk to prison for giving “help to a terrorist organisation”. Father Sefer Bileçen, informally known as Fr. Aho, was sentenced to 25 months in prison after being found guilty on trumped up charges of assisting PKK fighters. The trial was held behind closed doors. Fr. Aho was not at the courtroom and categorically rejects the charges. Fr. Aho gave bread to two PKK fighters who visited his monastery to request food. The PKK, or in English the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is an outlawed Kurdish Maoist terrorist organisation, which has previously carried out suicide bombs and is involved in fighting in Syria. 

Fr. Aho is an Assyrian priest in the Syriac Orthodox Church. He was serving as the custodian the Monastery of St. Jacob at the time of the incident....

Fr. Aho does not deny giving bread to the PKK fighters but is rightly insistent that his actions were not political but rather Christian charity. He said that he would have given food to anyone who asked for it at the monastery as he is commanded to do so by the Christian Faith. He has also said he will not lie about giving the PKK members food as the Faith commands him to tell the truth. 

Fr. Aho is plainly not a terrorist sympathiser, but rather a man of God....

[1] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A35+&version=DRA

[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A37&version=DRA

[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A40&version=DRA

[4] https://international.la-croix.com/news/world/syrian-orthodox-monk-in-turkey-gets-prison-sentence-for-offering-bread/14101

[5] https://www.acnireland.org/journal/2021/4/9/turkey-imprisons-syriac-monk-for-act-of-charity, quoted without bold emphasis.