Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin, Martyr
Saturday of week 18 in Ordinary Time
Saturday memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
First reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-13
Today’s reading draws us into the mystical depth of what it means to live wholly immersed in the Word of God. Moses urges the people not simply to hear the commandments, but to let them be written on the heart, engraved in the deepest place of the soul where God and the human spirit meet. This is not mere memorization but a continual abiding, where the Word shapes our thoughts as we rest, guides our steps as we walk, accompanies us in the night, and awakens with us in the morning. To fasten it on our hands is to let every action flow from divine truth; to bind it on our foreheads is to let it illuminate the mind with God’s wisdom. Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, whose life was steeped in contemplation and sacrifice, embodied this mystical union with the Word, carrying it through study, prayer, suffering, and ultimately, martyrdom. Such a life reveals that the Word is not a text to be visited but a living presence to be inhabited, until our very being becomes a dwelling place where God’s voice continually speaks and His light never fades. Let’s reflect: Is the Word of God so deeply written on my heart that it shapes my thoughts, actions, and very being in every moment of my life?
Don Giorgio