Day 6 — July 27, 2020 — Blessed Mary Magdalene Martinengo (Capuchin Poor Clare) She invites us to open the door of our heart to discover God’s presence in the midst of our ordinary, unspectacular lives.
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches’” (Mt 13:31-32).
It may seem like the thoughts we think or the things we do at any particular moment don’t mean very much. Jesus tells us differently. The smallest of the seeds grows into a giant bush and supports the livelihood of the birds of the sky. The Lord said to us in the Sunday readings not so long ago, that the word “that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Is 55:11). The seeds of the Word of God within us will bloom into holy lives that love and nurture our neighbor, building His Kingdom through us.
Blessed Mary Magdalene Martinengo was an example of this phenomenon of God’s simple Word bearing fruit one hundred fold. She was a Capuchin nun with great mystical gifts founded in her total availability to the will of God in serving others. One scholar claimed that she “became dish-washer, kitchen hand, porter, gardener, baker, sweeper, wardrobe keeper, laundress, wool weaver, shoe maker, cellarer, seamstress, chancellor or secretary, embroiderer, sacristy assistant, and without ever having the task of nurse, she nevertheless spontaneously undertook the lowliest and most burdensome of services.” What may seem like a monotonous life bloomed into beatification by Pope Leo XIII in 1900.
Blessed Solanus Casey lived with a similar simplicity. He struggled with his studies and was ordained as a “priest simplex,” and therefore did not have the faculties to hear confessions or to preach. His humble response to this disappointment was to give one of the greatest gifts to others that one can give — a listening ear. His ministry of mercy was nourished by a deep love for Jesus, which he shared with everyone he met, and in every moment.
Today let us pray to notice the little blessings and to be grateful for them, knowing that they are building our lives in Christ.
Prayer for the Canonization of Father Solanus Casey
O God, I adore You. I give myself to You.
May I be the person You want me to be,
and may Your will be done in my life today.
I thank You for the gifts You gave Father Solanus.
If it is Your will, bless us with the Canonization of
Father Solanus so that others may imitate
and carry on his love for all the poor and suffering of our world.
As he joyfully accepted Your divine plans,
I ask You, according to Your will,
to hear my prayer for…(your intention)
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
“Blessed be God in all His designs.”
2uolord 