Today St Paul says: “May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened.” Amen.

Today we celebrate Saints John de Brébeuf and companions.  I think I reda htat St. John de Brebeuf converted some 7000 people.  “To convert” someone is not a politically correct thing to say these days, but Jesus tells us to go teach all nations and baptize them all. It isn’t easy to convert someone. We pray that we can.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Luke. He was a doctor, of course, and he wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Perhaps because of his intelligence, his is the most polished of all the gospels, and his mind might also be what compelled him to write the only real “history” book we have in the bible (the Acts).  His symbol is the ox, because he his gospel pays special attention to the sacrifice Christ made for us and the life of sacrifice we must offer back to him.

Saint Ignatius of Antioch is our saint today.  The first time we hear the word “catholic” used to refer to the community of disciples was by this man in 107 AD.  Jesus broke down every barrier.  First he influenced the lives of his disciples, then the Palestinian Jews (those in the “homeland”), then the Hellenistic Jews and those in the diaspora, then the Samaritans, then the Gentiles.  The word “gentile” simple means “nations.”  Jesus came to touch the lives of everyone, all the nations. The movement he began–it was quite extraordinary.  It became known as a “catholic” movement because it was intended for everybody, not just those in one particular region or ethnic group, and in those days people generally didn’t live too much outside of their groups. The first Jerusalem Council congregated to basically consider: how will we take this message, the message of Christ, to everyone, to all the gentiles, all the lands. The Catholic Church could have no better name. We are the church for everyone and everywhere. The arms are open to everyone, which is why St. Peter’s Square looks like it does: the arms are open to everyone.

Today we celebrate St. Margaret Mary.  During a series of revelations, Christ informed her that she was His chosen instrument to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart.  The Lord instructed her in her visions about the devotion that was to become known as First Fridays.  Jesus also asked that the feast of the Sacred Heart be established.  It eventually did.

The First Friday of each month was designated by our Savior Himself as a day to be consecrated to honoring His Sacred Heart. First Fridays is comprised of:

1. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
2. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
3. The Sacrament of Reconciliation
4. Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
5. Act of Reparation
6. The Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:

1. “I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.”
2. “I will establish peace in their homes.”
3. “I will comfort them in their afflictions.”
4. “I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all in death.”
5. “I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.”
6. “Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.”
7. “Tepid souls shall grow fervent.”
8. “Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.”
9. “I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.”
10. “I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.”
11. “Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.”
12. “I promise thee in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.”

Today we celebrate St. Teresa of Avila. Our Gospel tells how we are always in search of one thing, but then we are confronted with “something better.”  The Gospel today notes that people were willing to go to the ends of the earth to hear the words of Solomon, but there is “something greater than Solomon here.”  And we hear about the powerful preaching of Jonah, but we also then hear how there is “something greater than Jonah here.” Teresa of Avila was always looking for that “something greater.”  Let’s do the same.