On the day of 5 August


The dedication of the basilica of Santa Maria* in Rome, erected on the Esquiline, that Pope Sixtus III presented to the people of God in commemoration of the Council of Ephesus at which the Virgin Mary was acclaimed the Mother of God.

*Saint Mary Major
**Saint of the day segment copied from the USSCB NAB website

Prayer for the Basilica:
I couldn't find a specific prayer for the Basilica, so I thought that this might be appropriate:

Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.
Amen.

Reading 1: Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22

I was having a lot of trouble with this one, and then a light bulb just went off in my head. It seems pretty simple now, actually. God is saying that he punished his people in a big way. He seriously beat them down for their sins, but not to worry, he will make it all better. And by the way, he wants it all recorded in a book so that future generations can learn from the mistakes that his early people made. If that's not it, I still don't got it.


Gospel Reading: Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14

Well, there is no link to the reading because the USCCB website went down the the middle of me writing this. I hope it comes back up soon.

This reading seems pretty simple to me today, also. Jesus is trying to show the Pharisees and scribes that they place too much importance on empty traditions, and not enough on actions and words. It reminds me of the Isaiah readings last month, when God was angry that people were having festivals in his name, and making sacrifices, but weren't feeling the worship. It was all empty, just going through the motions. Going to church and taking communion and following all the right motions are great, but it doesn't mean anything if I spend the whole time thinking about what I'm gonna do later, then fuss out the family behind me for making too much noise. It's our actions and words that count, all of the ceremony and tradition is there to help us remember that, not excuse us from that.

I cut and paste this from the USCCB website:


The commemoration of Saint Jean Marie Vianney, priest, who, for more than forty years served the parish entrusted to him in the town of Ars near Belley in France wondrously by energetic preaching, prayer and the example of penance; daily catechizing children and adults, reconciling penitents, aglow with ardent charity drawn from the holy Eucharist as from a font, he made such great progress that his counsels spread far and wide and many were brought to God through his wisdom.

This is a new segment I'm gonna try. A saint-prayer for every saint of the day: Today's is copied from SAINTS.SQPN.COM

Prayer to Saint John Vianney
Saintly Pastor of Ars and splendid model of all servants of souls, you were considered not very bright, but you possessed the wisdom of the Saints. You were a true pontifex, a bridge-builder, between God and his people as countless penitents streamed to your confessional. Inspire all priests to be dedicated mediators between God and his people in our day.

First Reading: Jeremiah 28:1-17

First of all, everybody must have thought that Jeremiah was nuts. When Hananiah was speaking in the temple, Jeremiah shows up with a YOKE around his neck. I'm sure everybody wanted to hear what Hananiah had to say, because he was all happy endings and butterflies. Apparently, the reason for the yoke was that Jeremiah was illustrating a point he had been making about submitting voluntarily to the Babylonian power. Jeremiah's point was that only God could free the Israelite people.

Anyway, this passage is really about Jeremiah proving that Hananiah was a false prophet. Hananiah was telling everyone what they wanted to hear, and encouraging people to act against God's will. Jeremiah was mocked by his own people, and Hananiah was loved. This seems to be the life of the prophet and the saint. The bible tells us over and over that one of our tests is the misunderstanding of our faith by the people around us.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 14:22-36

To me, this reading is almost more about Peter than Jesus. Of course Jesus can walk on water. He's God. But with a little faith, Peter was walking on water for a second also. Then the wind scared him, and he sank. Both readings today tell me that thinks will look bleak often, and we will feel bad even when we are doing God's will, but we are supposed to have faith and stay on the right path no matter what.

I have added a news section to this page, so instead of my news for the day being here at the bottom, they are at the top right. I tried a Google news gadget for a minute, but it was coming up with stories I didn't like. So, every day I will hand pick a few. If you see any you like, send me the link, and I will put it up.