Project BLACK MAMBA: Late Edition

Late again? Mea culpa! Mea culpa! Mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest, S.J. (1491-1556), founder of the Jesuits, formally the Society of Jesus: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link S.J.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. I lent my copy of St. Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises to Santa Claus some months hence (a year & a half) & fear I shan't receive it back. No worries, that must just mean he needs it more than I do.

Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

He was a Spanish Basque priest & theologian, who founded the religious order called the Society of Jesus & became its first Superior General. The Jesuit order served the pope as missionaries, & they were bound by a special vow of obedience to the sovereign pontiff in regard to the missions.

The use of the past tense regarding the Jesuits strikes me as odd. "Served the pope," past tense, not the present tense "serves"? "Were bound by a special vow of obedience," not "are bound"?

Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:

St. Ignatius spent his early years at court & as a soldier. Later, he was converted to God & undertook theological studies at paris where he attracted his first followers & afterwards at Rome he joined them together as the first members of the Society of Jesus. His spirituality is expressed in the Jesuit motto, ad majorem Dei gloriam—"for the greater glory of God." In his concept, obedience was to be the prominent virtue, to assure the effectiveness & mobility of his men. All activity was to be guided by a true love of the Church & unconditional obedience to the Holy Father, for which reason all professed members took a fourth vow to go wherever the pope should send them for the salvation of souls.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Neot, Religious, O.S.B. (died circa 877), the "Pygmy Saint:" Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Cecília Schelingová, Religious & Martyr, S.C.S.C. (1916-1955, A.K.A. Zdenka), martyred by the Czechoslovakian Communists in the reign of the general secretary Antonín Novotný: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The Book of Exodus, chapter thirty-two, verses fifteen thru twenty-four & thirty thru thirty-four;
Psalm One Hundred Six, verses nineteen & twenty, twenty-one & twenty-two, & twenty-three;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter thirteen, verses thirty-one thru thirty-five.

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

Friends, in our Gospel Jesus tells us that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, we could uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea. What is being communicated here is something simple: faith is power. When our lives are aligned to God we become the conduits of enormous power.

Attachments block us and break this flow. An attachment is anything you don't need but which you cannot live without. This idea is central to the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola. What are the attachments that block the divine power from flowing through us? In most cases it is some form of wealth, pleasure, honor, or power.

Love what Jesus loved on the cross; and despise what he despised. This is the direction we get from St. Thomas Aquinas. Reorienting our priorities to align with Christ on the cross is the key to a spiritually successful life, and to the unleashing of divine power.

Unfortunately, Bishop Barron & the good folks at Word on Fire Ministries appear to be confused, or at the very least to have crossed their wires. Today's Gospel reading (Matthew, 13:31-35) does include a parable about a mustard seed as a simile for the kingdom of heaven (cf. Mark, 4:30-32; Luke, 13:18-19), but the parable of a mustard seed as a simile for faith & being able to command a mulberry tree is from Luke, not Matthew, found in Luke, 17:6. Disappointing, but to err is human.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter ten, verse thirty-one thru chapter eleven, verse one;
Psalm Thirty-four, verse two;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter fourteen, verses twenty-five thru thirty-three.

Mass Readings—Requiem for Dr. Edwin Novak, Deacon
The Book of Micah, chapter six, verses six, seven, & eight;
Psalm One Hundred Thirty-nine, verses one thru eighteen, twenty-three, & twenty-four;
The Letter to the Philippians, chapter one, verses three thru eleven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-six, verses thirty-one thru forty.

Bible Study—Project PANDORA
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter seven (verses one thru forty).

Commentary: III. Answers to the Corinthians' Questions: A. Marriage & Virginity: Advice to the Married (7:1-16), the Life That the Lord Has Assigned (7:17-24), & Advice to Virgins & Widows (7:25-40).