Life's focal point...

    "The greatest tragedy would be to 

come to the end of our lives and 

realize that the Lord was so near, 

and yet we were so far away."

 - Ven. Fulton J. Sheen (Beatification 24 Sept 2026)

The Eucharist God Among Us 

Retreat on the Priesthood

"It is most important that the holy Eucharist

becomes life's focal point: that the 

Eucharistic Savior is the center of existence; 

that every day is received from His hand 

and laid back therein; that the 

day's happenings are deliberated with Him.

In this way, God is given the best opportunity

to be heard in the heart, to form the soul, 

and to make its faculties clear-sighted 

and alert for the supernatural."

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

in Essays on Woman 

Image above:  Artist unknown

Sharing in that saving joy...

    For I came not to call the righteous, 

but sinners, says the Lord. - Matthew 9:13

Prayer after Communion (Today’s Liturgy)

Sharing in that saving joy, O Lord,

with which Saint Matthew welcomed the Savior

as a guest in his home, we pray: 

grant that we may always be renewed 

by the food we receive from Christ, who came 

to call not the just, but sinners to salvation. 

Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

Saint Matthew

Nee - Capernaum

"And he got up and followed Him" (Mt 9:9b) ...

"leaving everything behind" (Lk 5:28)

Apostle and Evangelist

"the son of Alphaeus" (Mk 2:14)
Symbols associated w/St Matthew:
 Gospel, human/angel, sword (in re: martyrdom)

Feast Day - September 21

Painting above: The Calling of Matthew - Caravaggio (detail)

 

Imitate St Matthew - get up and follow Jesus.

Then invite sinners to meet Him.

"What reason can the Teacher 

have for eating with tax collectors and 

those who disregard the law?" —Matthew 9:11

Cause heaven to rejoice (Luke 15:7).

 

His life is somewhat shrouded, and ... There are not many facts ... But Matthew was a publican ... Who gathered in the tax ... Until that wondrous moment in ... His native Galilee ... When Jesus came upon him, and ... He told him, "Follow me" ... And Matthew followed Jesus then ... Wherever Jesus went ... Ignoring Pharisees and all ... The Roman government ... With eloquent sincerity ... This good apostle preached ... In distant lands wherever there ... Were souls that could be reached ... And he composed the gospel that ... Inspires us today ... To follow Jesus Christ and live ... According to His way.

From Poem Portraits of the Saints - James J Metcalfe (1956)

_________________________

Click here: Web Gallery of Art, searchable fine arts image database

(see Calling of St Matthew - Caravaggio)

Discovering our Saints - St. Matthew the Apostle - YouTube

St. Matthew - YouTube (Apostleship of Prayer)

 St Matthew, pray for us! 

Woven round like a robe...

   "Always remain close to the Catholic Church. 

because it alone can give you true peace,

since it alone possesses Jesus in the

Blessed Sacrament, the true Prince of Peace." 

St Padre Pio

"It is not sufficient to say that 
the Eucharist is at the center of the Church, 
because actually, the Eucharist makes the Church!  

It builds it from within 
and weaves it round itself like a robe.

It is said that two sacraments in particular 
"make" the Church:  Baptism and the Eucharist.  

But whereas Baptism makes the Church grow 

quantitatively, as it were, in size and number, 
the Eucharist makes her grow qualitatively, 
in strength, because it transforms her ever more 

deeply into the image of Christ, her Head."

Raniero Cantalamessa

The Eucharist, Our Sanctification

Christ at Last Supper - Tapestry - Virginia Museum of Fine Arts ~ Richmond, VA

____________________________

The Lord's Day is the lord of days... 

but TODAY also remembering 

these Korean martyrs...

11 priests and 92 laypersons

(farmers, merchants, wives, widows,

scholars and court officials)

Feast Day - September 20

St. Andrew Kim Taegon - YouTube

The blood of the holy Martyrs was poured out 

for Christ upon the earth:  therefore, they have 

gained everlasting rewards. (Today's Entrance Antiphon)

Sts Andrew Kim Tae-gon, 
Paul Chong Ha-Sang 
and Companions, pray for us!

Prospering the day...

 I rejoiced with those who said to me,

"Let us go to the House of the LORD."- Psalm 122:1

 

"Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day.

All your duties will be performed the better for it,

and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross.

The Mass is the most holy act of religion; you 

can do nothing that can give greater glory to God

or be more profitable for your soul than 

to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly.

It is the favorite devotion of the saints."  

St Peter Julian Eymard

 

Invite someone to pray the Mass with you -

and together reap both daily and eternal benefits!

Also remembering...

St Januarius

Feast Day:  September 19th

St Januarius, pray for us!

In His light we see light...

    For with you is the fountain of life; 

in your light we see light.

 Psalm 36:9

 

 

“If the Blessed Sacrament is Jesus all for us,

is it not the most legitimate of conclusions 

that we should be all for Him?

We should be all for Jesus, if Jesus is our all.

And what does this mean? Surely, among other things, 

that the Blessed Sacrament should be to us just

the single overpowering fact of the world.

 

Our hands hold Him; 

our words make Him;

our tongue rests Him;

our body compasses Him;

our souls feel Him;

our flesh feeds upon Him,

Him, the Infinite, the Incomprehensible,

the Immense, the Eternal.

 

Must not all life be looked at in this light,

just as the whole Church lies in this light

and has no other?"

Fr. Frederick W Faber

 

ABOVE: Photo image credit - Michael McGlothlen - Irelan