Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C
In my family, there are two organized religions: Roman Catholicism, and the Pennsylvania State Lottery. (Some interfaith family members also attend the Church of Powerball.) I recall the first time the jackpot went over one hundred million dollars. It was in the late 80s, and although I was living in Washington at the time, my brother, Matt, was giving me regular updates on the effects of this huge prize. There were long lines to buy tickets; people taking trains from New York, Baltimore, and Washington, others flying in from California and Europe and even Japan; and a level of general excitement that continued to rise every time there was a drawing without a winner. He assured me that he had purchased a fair number of tickets himself, and asked me if I would pray for one of them to win. I dodged the question by asking him what he would do if he won, and he revealed to me a very detailed plan of action. He had obviously given the matter a great deal of thought.
Augustine For Today
AUGUST 2 – BLESSED JOHN OF RIETI, O.S.A.
“The visible things that are delightful, they’re beautiful, they’re good; seek the one who made them, he it is that is your hope. He it is that is now your hope, he it is that will later on be the reality you will possess; your hope while you believe, your possession when you see.”
Sermon 313F, 3
This Day in Province History: August 2, 1932
The thirty-one year old Villanova monastery was totally destroyed by a disastrous fire on this date. Everyone escaped safely, and plans to rebuild were made soon after.
