Daily Reading for Tuesday, June 28th, 2016

Reading 1, Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12 ¹ Listen, Israelites, to this prophecy which Yahweh pronounces against you, against the whole family which I brought up from Egypt:
² You alone have I intimately known of all the families of earth, that is why I shall punish you for all your wrong-doings.
³ Do two people travel together unless they have agreed to do so?
⁴ Does the lion roar in the forest if it has no prey? Does the young lion growl in his lair if it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird fall on the ground in a net unless a trap has been set for it? Will the net spring up from the ground without catching something?
⁶ Does the trumpet sound in the city without the people being alarmed? Does misfortune come to a city if Yahweh has not caused it?
⁷ No indeed, Lord Yahweh does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion roars: who is not afraid? Lord Yahweh has spoken: who will not prophesy?
¹¹ I overturned you as God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah; you were like a brand snatched from the blaze and still you would not come back to me -declares Yahweh.
¹² So this, Israel, is what I plan to do to you. Because I am going to do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!

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Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 5:4-6, 6-7, 8

⁴ You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil, no sinner can be your guest.
⁵ Boasters cannot stand their ground under your gaze. You hate evil-doers,
⁶ liars you destroy; the violent and deceitful Yahweh detests.
⁷ But, so great is your faithful love, I may come into your house, and before your holy temple bow down in reverence of you.
⁸ In your saving justice, Yahweh, lead me, because of those who lie in wait for me; make your way plain before me.

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Gospel, Matthew 8:23-27

²³ Then he got into the boat followed by his disciples.
²⁴ Suddenly a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep.
²⁵ So they went to him and woke him saying, 'Save us, Lord, we are lost!'
²⁶ And he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened, you who have so little faith?' And then he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
²⁷ They were astounded and said, 'Whatever kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?'

St. Irenaeus

Short Cuts

Author and Publisher - Catholic Online

Facts

Feastday: June 28
Death: 202

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The writings of St. Irenaeus entitle him to a high place among the fathers of the Church, for they not only laid the foundations of Christian theology but, by exposing and refuting the errors of the gnostics, they delivered the Catholic Faith from the real danger of the doctrines of those heretics.
He was probably born about the year 125, in one of those maritime provinces of Asia Minor where the memory of the apostles was still cherished and where Christians were numerous. He was most influenced by St. Polycarp who had known the apostles or their immediate disciples
Many Asian priests and missionaries brought the gospel to the pagan Gauls and founded a local church. To this church of Lyon, Irenaeus came to serve as a priest under its first bishop, St. Pothinus, an oriental like himself. In the year 177, Irenaeus was sent to Rome. This mission explains how it was that he was not called upon to share in the martyrdom of St Pothinus during the terrible persecution in Lyons. When he returned to Lyons it was to occupy the vacant bishopric. By this time, the persecution was over. It was the spread of gnosticism in Gaul, and the ravages it was making among the Christians of his diocese, that inspired him to undertake the task of exposing its errors. He produced a treatise in five books in which he sets forth fully the inner doctrines of the various sects, and afterwards contrasts them with the teaching of the Apostles and the text of the Holy Scripture. His work, written in Greek but quickly translated to Latin, was widely circulated and succeeded in dealing a death-blow to gnosticism. At any rate, from that time onwards, it ceased to offer a serious menace to the Catholic faith.
The date of death of St. Irenaeus is not known, but it is believed to be in the year 202. The bodily remains of St. Irenaeus were buried in a crypt under the altar of what was then called the church of St. John, but was later known by the name of St. Irenaeus himself. This tomb or shrine was destroyed by the Calvinists in 1562, and all trace of his relics seems to have perished.

Papa Francisko achonga na waandishi wa habari!

Baba Mtakatifu Francisko wakati akirejea kutoka Armenia amepata nafasi ya kuzungumza na kujibu maswali kumi kutoka kwa waandishi wa habari waliokuwa kwenye msafara wake.

Baba Mtakatifu Francisko anawataka wanahabari kuhakikisha kwamba, wanatekeleza kikamilifu dhamana hii kwani habari njema zinasaidia mchakato wa maendeleo ya watu: kiroho na kimwili. Baba Mtakatifu ameyasema haya, Jumapili tarehe 26 Juni 2016 alipokuwa anarejea kutoka katika hija yake ya kitume nchini Armenia. Akiwa njiani, Baba Mtakatifu aliweza kujibu maswali kumi kutoka kwa waandishi wa habari ambao wamekuwa kwenye msafara wake wakati wa hija yake ya kitume nchini Armenia kuanzia tarehe 24- 26 Juni 2016.