8/19/2016 – Friday of the 20th week of Ordinary Time – Psalm 107

       The psalmist sings praises to the Lord today – Give thanks to the Lord, for his love is everlasting.  The Lord delivers the faithful – he rescues them from the hands of their foes, he hears their distressful cries and he delivers them from their distress.  Sometimes we cannot imagine the struggles and the challenges that others experience on their journey of faith.  Sometimes in the midst of our struggles and sufferings, we can still give praise to the Lord, having faith and hope that he will deliver us. St Helena’s feast day is celebrated this week.  She is best remembered as the mother of the Emperor Constantine; he attributed a decisive victory he experienced in battle at the Milvian bridge to a vision of the cross that he had.  Helena, a woman who was born in humble origins, and who was divorced from Constantine’s father, embraced the Catholic faith after her son declared Christianity to be an officially recognized religion in his empire.  In her old age, Constantine commissioned Helena to travel to the Holy Land.  Legend has it that she discovered the cross on which Christ was crucified – slivers of that cross were distributed throughout the Roman empire.  Helena died in the year 330 after spending her final years in a convent in the Holy Land.  St Helena, in your humble faith, we unite our prayers to yours.