Project BLACK MAMBA: Backlog Edition, Part I

Mea culpa! Mea culpa! Mea maxima culpa!

Friday, 23 June was the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Sacred Heart-link, Wikipedia-link Sacred Heart, & Wikipedia-link Solemnity.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter seven, verses six thru eleven;
Psalm One Hundred Three, verses one & two, three & four, six & seven, eight, & ten;
The First Letter of John, chapter four, verses seven thru sixteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eleven, verses twenty-five thru thirty.

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

Friends, today’s Gospel has been described as a Johannine bolt from the Matthean blue, meaning that Jesus speaks here in a manner much more characteristic of John’s Gospel than Matthew’s. We are being invited into very deep mysteries by this passage. Jesus addresses his Father and thereby reveals his own deepest identity within the Holy Trinity. He says, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to the little ones.”

It is important we keep in mind that this is not simply a good and holy man addressing God, but rather the very Son of God addressing his Father. We are being given a share in the inner life of God, the conversation between the first two Trinitarian persons.

Mass Readings—Vigil of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter one, verses four thru ten;
Psalm Seventy-one, verses one & two, three & four(a), five & six(a,b), & fifteen(a,b) & seventeen;
The First Letter of Peter, chapter one, verses eight thru twelve;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one, verses five thru seventeen.

Otherwise, 23 June would have been the festival of Saint Peter of Juilly, Priest & Religious, O.S.B. (died 1136): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also have been the festival of Saint Thomas Garnet, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (circa 1575-1608), martyred in the reign of the king James VI & I, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link XL.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also have been the festival of Saint Giuseppe Cafasso, Priest (1811-1860, Anglicized as Joseph Cafasso): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.