Project BLACK MAMBA: XII Sunday in Ordinary Time

Backlog Edition, Part III
Mea culpa! Mea culpa! Mea maxima culpa!

Sunday, 25 June was the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter twenty, verses ten thru thirteen;
Psalm Sixty-nine, verses eight, nine, & ten; fourteen; seventeen; & thirty-three, thirty-four, & thirty-five;
The Letter to the Romans, chapter five, verses twelve thru fifteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses twenty-six thru thirty-three.

Commentary: Video Gospel reflection by Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus gives us the biblical antidote for fear. What are you afraid of? What do you have to lose? Does it terrify you to think that you might lose your wealth? Your social status? The affection of others? Your health? Your power and influence? Your reputation and good name? Your life? I’ve spoken often of my favorite movie, A Man For All Seasons. What frustrated Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII about Thomas More is that they couldn’t manipulate him. And why couldn’t they do that? He wasn’t afraid. There was nothing they could threaten him with.

In time, Henry took away More’s job, status, money, reputation, friends, family, freedom—each time hoping that he would give in—until finally the King took away his life. Everyone else he could intimidate, but not More.

And Thomas More’s last words are instructive here: “I die the King’s good servant; but God’s first.” Thomas More did fear someone. He had that holy fear that the Bible speaks of often: the fear of the Lord. There was something he feared losing—and that was intimacy and friendship with God. Compared to that, everything else was straw.

Mass Journal: Week 26
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

Only one thing is necessary for Catholicism to flourish—authentic lives. Throughout history, wherever you find men & women genuinely striving to live the Christian life, the Church has always blossomed. If we wish to speak effectively to the modern world about God, the Christian life, & Catholicism, we must be thriving, blossoming, & flourishing in that life. The best way to speak about God is to thrive in the life He calls us to live. The authentic life begins with the simple desire to be who God created us to be & cooperate with God by playing the part He has designed for us in human history. The adventure of salvation begins when we stop asking, "What's in it for me?" & turn humbly to God in our hearts & ask, How may I serve? What work do you wish for me to do with my life? What is Your will for my life?

Otherwise, 25 June would have been the festival of Saint William of Montevergine, Abbot, O.S.B. (1085-1142, A.K.A. of Vercelli), founder of the Williamites, formally the Congregation of Monte Vergine: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Monte Vergine.

Commentary: Last year, amidst a seasonal flurry of activity, I neglected Project BLACK MAMBA for three weeks. I put in extra time over the following weeks to make up the lost ground, but it appears that I simply overlooked 25 June. In 2015, late June/early July was also saw the nadir of BLACK MAMBA activity, with a conspicuous absence of posts. So, even as we approach the third anniversary of what was originally Objective BLACK MAMBA, this albeit belated post is the first honoring 25 June's saints. "Better late than never" is cold comfort, but it shall have to suffice. Next year, BLACK MAMBA or bust!