This week we begin our move to Aston Hall, Aston-by-Stone, Staffordshire ST15 0BJ. Accordingly, the daily reflections from today till the end of the month are all on the one page, so do scroll down till you find the right date. Please remember us in your prayer, as we remember you.

Here is part of today’s Gospel, from St John: Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her’.

St Cyril of Alexandria related: ‘“But go unto My brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father, and My God and your God”. … Christ suffers not Mary to touch Him, though, in her love of God, she greatly yearned for this boon; but still rewards her for her watchful care, and doubly requites her for her passionate faith and love for Him, showing that those who are diligent in His service meet with a recompense’.

May we learn something of Mary Magdalene’s passionate faith and love of Christ, and be rewarded just as she was. May God bless you this day.

Tuesday 23 July 2024, St Bridget of Sweden, Religious and Patron of Europe, Feast.

Here is an extract from one of St Bridget’s revelations: ‘You, my daughter, whom I have chosen for myself, and with whom I now speak in spirit: love me with all your heart – not as you love your son or daughter or parents, but more than anything in the world – since I, who created you, did not spare any of my limbs in suffering for your sake! Yet, I love your soul so dearly that, rather than losing you, I would let myself be crucified again, if it were possible. Imitate my humility; for I, the King of glory and of angels, was clothed in ugly, wretched rags and stood naked at the pillar and heard all kinds of insults and ridicule with my own ears. Always prefer my will before your own, because my Mother, your Lady, has, from the beginning to the end, never wanted anything but what I wanted’.

May we indeed learn to love Christ with all our heart, and prefer His will to our own. May you be blessed this day in so doing.

Wednesday 24 July 2024, Feria in Ordinary Time.

Today is also the Optional Memoria of St Sharbel Makhluf, Lebanese Maronite monk and hermit. His devotion to the Holy Eucharist was total, spending hours beforehand preparing, and hours afterwards giving thanks.

He said: ‘The things that go on within you are more important than those that take place in your life’. Today, let us take time to listen to what is going on within our deepest selves, and take them first of all to the Lord who dwells within and who is closer to us than our deepest selves.

May He bless you abundantly and give you His peace.

25 July 2024, St James, Apostle, Feast.

James was one of the sons of Zebedee, who was called by the Lord with his brother John:

Here is St Mark’s account: ‘And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him’.

St James was one of the three disciples who were present at both the Transfiguration and the Agony of our Lord in Gethsemane. In sacred art, he is often shown with his scallop shell of pilgrimage.

In our own pilgrimage, we will have times both of light and of darkness. May we persevere faithfully, and so come by God’s grace to the Father’s house. May God bless you this day.

Friday 26 July 2024, Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Memoria.

The Protoevangelium of James tells the story: ‘And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world. And Anna said: As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the days of its life. And, behold, two angels came, saying to her: Behold, Joachim your husband is coming with his flocks. For an angel of the Lord went down to him, saying: Joachim, Joachim, the Lord God has heard your prayer. Go down hence; for, behold, your wife Anna shall conceive. … And, behold, Joachim came with his flocks; and Anna stood by the gate, and saw Joachim coming, and she ran and hung upon his neck, saying: Now I know that the Lord God has blessed me exceedingly …’

These two wonderful saints were the grandparents of the Lord, and God was with them. Today, as we remember the grandparents of Jesus, let us pray for all grandparents, whose task is so important today, and may God bless you in your own life and witness.

Saturday 27 July 2024, Feria in Ordinary Time.

In Staffordshire, the Memorial is kept today of Blessed Robert Sutton, Priest and Martyr. Born at Burton-on-Trent, he was martyred at Stafford on 27 July 1587. Originally Anglican Rector of Lutterworth in Leicestershire, he was converted by his younger brother, who became a Jesuit. He and another brother were trained for the Catholic priesthood at Douai. After their first Masses, they left for England.  In 1585, both were arrested and banished. Robert returned to England and was again arrested at Stafford whilst saying Mass, and was condemned to death.

May Blessed Robert Sutton pray for us, that we may show his same courage in the face of persecution, and may God bless you this day.

28 July 2024, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Here is part of today’s Gospel, from St John: ‘Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!”’

St John Chrysostom said: ‘But why when He was about to restore the paralytic did He not pray, nor when He was raising the dead, or bridling the sea, while He does so here over the loaves? It was to show that when we begin our meals, we ought to give thanks unto God. Moreover, He does it especially in a lesser matter, that you may learn that He does it not as having any need; for were this the case, much more would He have done so in greater things; but when He did them by His own authority, it is clear that it was through condescension that He acted as He did in the case of the lesser. Besides, a great multitude was present, and it was necessary that they should be persuaded that He had come according to the will of God. Wherefore, when He does miracles in the absence of witnesses, He exhibits nothing of the kind; but when He does them in the presence of many, in order to persuade them that He is no enemy of God, no adversary of Him who has begotten Him, He removes the suspicion by thanksgiving’.

St Paul would say, ‘In everything give thanks’. Let us do this at all times and in all places, that God may use seemingly unhelpful events for His glory and for our good. May He bless you this day.

Monday 29 July 2024, Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Hosts of the Lord, Memoria.

St John Cassian wrote: ‘To cling always to God and to the things of God—this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly. Any diversion, however impressive, must be regarded as secondary, low grade and certainly dangerous. Martha and Mary provide a most beautiful scriptural paradigm of this outlook and of this mode of activity. In looking after the Lord and his disciples, Martha did a very holy service. Mary, however, was intent on the spiritual teaching of Jesus, and she stayed by his feet, which she kissed and anointed with the oil of her good faith….’

We are called, many of us, to combine the two ways of Martha and Mary, in our ordinary lives. Lazarus remains as a kind of paradigm of the risen life promised to all of us. As we reach forward to eternal life, let us pray to draw closer to the Lord along the twin paths of action and contemplation; and may God bless you this day in so doing.

Tuesday 30 July 2024, Feria in Ordinary Time.

Here is today’s Gospel: ‘Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”  He answered, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear’.

St John Chrysostom declared: ‘For whereas He Himself is the sower, and that of His own field, and out of His own kingdom He gathers, it is quite clear that the present world also is His. But mark His unspeakable love to man, and His leaning to bounty, and His disinclination to punishment; in that, when He sows, He sows in His own person, but when He punishes, it is by others, that is, by the angels’.

Let us take good care that we are, or become by His grace, ‘good seed’; that we may root and grow, and bring forth fruit in our lives. May God bless you this day.

Wednesday 31 July 2024, St Ignatius Loyola, Priest, Memoria.

Today, St Ignatius is well known for his ‘Spiritual Exercises’, which have enriched the lives of so many across the world. There is also his prayer, which you may like to pray today: ‘Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as Thou deservest; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not for seek for rest; to labour and not to ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do Thy will’.

May St Ignatius pray for us, and may God bless you this day.