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Joining me to discuss the readings for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time was Archbishop Augustine DiNoia, OP, the newly-appointed Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.  In the context of his own recent ordination to the episcopacy, Archbishop DiNoia explained the role of the bishop in the Church as a teacher and shepherd of souls.

At the end of the program Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, shared the homily he has prepared for this weekend.

“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.

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The Media Relations Office of the USCCB recently published out a list of ten pointers for Catholics looking to engage Scripture more intelligently and spiritually.  Compiled by Mary Elizabeth Sperry, the list is as follows:

1. Bible reading is for Catholics. The Church encourages Catholics to make reading the Bible part of their daily prayer lives. Reading these inspired words, people grow deeper in their relationship with God and come to understand their place in the community God has called them to in himself.

2. Prayer is the beginning and the end. Reading the Bible is not like reading a novel or a history book. It should begin with a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to the Word of God. Scripture reading should end with a prayer that this Word will bear fruit in our lives, helping us to become holier and more faithful people.

3. Get the whole story! When selecting a Bible, look for a Catholic edition. A Catholic edition will include the Church’s complete list of sacred books along with introductions and notes for understanding the text. A Catholic edition will have an imprimatur notice on the back of the title page. An imprimatur indicates that the book is free of errors in Catholic doctrine.

4. The Bible isn’t a book. It’s a library. The Bible is a collection of 73 books written over the course of many centuries. The books include royal history, prophecy, poetry, challenging letters to struggling new faith communities, and believers’ accounts of the preaching and passion of Jesus. Knowing the genre of the book you are reading will help you understand the literary tools the author is using and the meaning the author is trying to convey.

5. Know what the Bible is – and what it isn’t. The Bible is the story of God’s relationship with the people he has called to himself. It is not intended to be read as history text, a science book, or a political manifesto. In the Bible, God teaches us the truths that we need for the sake of our salvation.

6. The sum is greater than the parts. Read the Bible in context. What happens before and after – even in other books – helps us to understand the true meaning of the text.

7. The Old relates to the New. The Old Testament and the New Testament shed light on each other. While we read the Old Testament in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus, it has its own value as well. Together, these testaments help us to understand God’s plan for human beings.

8. You do not read alone. By reading and reflecting on Sacred Scripture, Catholics join those faithful men and women who have taken God’s Word to heart and put it into practice in their lives. We read the Bible within the tradition of the Church to benefit from the holiness and wisdom of all the faithful.

9. What is God saying to me? The Bible is not addressed only to long-dead people in a faraway land. It is addressed to each of us in our own unique situations. When we read, we need to understand what the text says and how the faithful have understood its meaning in the past. In light of this understanding, we then ask: What is God saying to me?

10. Reading isn’t enough. If Scripture remains just words on a page, our work is not done. We need to meditate on the message and put it into action in our lives. Only then can the word be “living and effective” (Hebrews 4:12).

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Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them;
we will come to them and make our dwelling with them, alleluia.

Today the Dominican Order celebrates the feast of Blessed Ceslaus of Poland, who knew St. Dominic and entered the Order of Preachers under his direction. Together with his brother, St. Hyacinth, Ceslaus helped to found the Order in Eastern Europe.

From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Born at Kamien in Silesia, Poland, about 1184; died at Breslau about 1232. Ceslaus was of the noble family of Odrowatz and a relative, probably a brother, of St. Hyacinth.  Having studied philosophy at Prague, he pursued his theological and juridical studies at the University of Bologna, after which he returned to Cracow, where he held the office of canon and custodian of the church of Sandomir.  About 1218 he accompanied his uncle Ivo, Bishop of Cracow, to Rome.  Hearing of the great sanctity of St. Dominic, who had recently raised to life the nephew of Cardinal Orsini, Ceslaus, together with St. Hyacinth, sought admission into the Order of Friars Preachers.  They received the religious habit from the hands of St. Dominic in the convent of Sabina. Their novitiate completed, St. Dominic sent they two young religious back as missionaries to their own country.  Establishing a monastery at Friesach in Austria, they proceeded to Cracow whence Ceslaus was sent by St. Hyacinth to Prague, the metropolis of Bohemia.

Laboring with much fruit throughout the Diocese of Prague, Ceslaus went to Breslau, where he founded a large monastery, and then extended his apostolic labors over a vast territory, embracing Bohemia, Poland, Pomerania, and Saxony.  Sometime after the death of St. Hyacinth he was chosen provincial of Poland.  Whilst he was superior of the convent of Breslau all Poland was threatened by the Tatars.  The city of Breslau being besieged, the people sought the aid of Celaus, who by his prayers miraculously averted the impending calamity.  Four persons are said to have been raised to life by him. Having always been venerated as a saint, his cult was finally confirmed by Clement XI in 1713.  His feast his celebrated throughout the Dominican Order on July 16.

For more on the life of Blessed Ceslaus, click here and here.

Loving God,
you gave Blessed Ceslaus
a burning zeal for the salvation of souls,
and filled him with wondrous grace to preach the gospel.
May we be true to his example,
and so be able to spread the faith
by our preaching and by the way we live.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.

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