Project BLACK MAMBA: The Long Road Back, Prelude

'Tis the festival of Saint Evaristus, Pope (died circa 107, also spelt Aristus), fifth Bishop of Rome: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Cuthbert of Canterbury, Bishop & Abbot (died circa 760): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Fulk of Pavia, Bishop (1164-1229, A.K.A. of Piacenza): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Celine Chludzińska Borzęcka, Religious, C.R. (1833-1913), co-foundress (alongside her own daughter) of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link C.R.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The Letter to the Romans, chapter six, verses nineteen thru twenty-three;
Psalm One, verses one & two, three, four, & six (& Psalm Forty, verse five);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter twelve, verses forty-nine thru fifty-three.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, the statement of Jesus that we have in the Gospel for today is frightening: “I have come to cast a fire upon the earth; how I wish it were already kindled.” He’s throwing fire down, much like the God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Okay, so how do we make sense of all this? I thought the angels on Christmas morning said that he had come as the Prince of Peace? Jesus is the Incarnation of the God who is nothing but love, but this enfleshment takes place in the midst of a fallen, sinful world. Therefore, it will appear as something threatening, strange, off-putting.

The world, on the Biblical reading, is a dysfunctional family. When Jesus comes, he necessarily comes as a breaker of the peace, as a threat to the dysfunctional family. Now we can begin to understand that strange language about setting three against two and two against three.

This is why Jesus wants to cast a consuming fire on the earth. He wants to burn away all that is opposed to God’s desire for us. He has to clear the ground before something new can be built. Is this utterly painful? YES!

Video reflection by Father Don Miller, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bible Study—Proverbs in a Month
The Book of Proverbs, chapter twenty-four (verses one thru thirty-four);
The Book of Proverbs, chapter twenty-five (verses one thru twenty-eight).

Commentary: III: Sayings of the Wise (concluded, 24:1-22), IV: Other Sayings of the Wise (24:23-34), & V: Second Collection of the Proverbs of Solomon (25:1-28).

A Humble Contribution to the New Evangelization
The Popish Plot—Wordy Wednesday: "The Bible, Read It, Mark Is Short"