Project BLACK MAMBA: Friday Late Edition

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc, Priest, & Companions, Martyrs (died 1745-1862; A.K.A. the Martyrs of Vietnam, of Tonkin, of Annam, of Indochina), martyred in the reigns of the Lê, Tây Sơn, & Nguyễn dynasties: Martyr-link Alpha Delta Lima & Wikipedia-link Alpha Delta Lima; Martyrs-link ūnus, Martyrs-link duo & Wikipedia-link CXVII.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Andrew was one of one hundred seventeen people martyred in Vietnam between 1820 & 1862. Members of the companions group gave their lives for Christ in the seventeenth, eighteenth, & nineteenth centuries, & received beatification during four different occasions between 1900 & 1951.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Chrysogonus, Priest & Martyr (died circa 304), martyred in the reign of the emperors Diocletian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution.

'Tis also the festival of Saints Flora & María of Córdoba, Martyrs (died 851), martyred in the reign of the emir Abd ar-Rahman II, two of the forty-eight Martyrs of Córdoba: Martyr-link Foxtrot, Martyr-link Mike, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link XLVIII.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The First Book of Maccabees, chapter four, verses thirty-six, thirty-seven, & fifty-to thru fifty-nine;
The First Book of Chronicles, chapter twenty-nine, verses ten(b/c/d), eleven(a/b/c), eleven(d) & twelve(a), & twelve(b/c/d);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter nineteen, verses forty-five thru forty-eight.

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

Friends, in today's Gospel we see Jesus cleansing the Temple. What did it mean for a provincial prophet to come into the holy city of Jerusalem and make a ruckus in the Temple? Well, you can probably imagine. To make matters worse, as we heard yesterday, Jesus says something that is as shocking as his actions. He says, "I will destroy this temple and in three days rebuild it." No wonder that it was precisely this act that led to his crucifixion.

So what was he doing and why? First, in showing his lordship over even this most sacred symbol, he was announcing who he was. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus acts in the person of God. Secondly, he was instituting a new temple, the temple of his crucified and risen body. Jesus himself is the place where God dwells, and we, in the measure that we are grafted on to him, are temples of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is passing judgment on all of the inadequate, corrupt forms of human religion and is establishing the new and eternal covenant, the new temple, in his own person.

Video reflection by Paula Trigo-Galan: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—St. Andrew Dũng-Lạc & Companions
The Book of Sirach, chapter fifty-one, verses one thru eight;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-six, verse five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses twenty-eight thru thirty-three.

Saint Quote o' the Day
From Joyfully Living the Gospel Day by Day by Father John Catoir:

"Those who deem themselves to be Christian must be aware of the following obligation that is theirs. They are bound by conscience to the basic, imperative duty of bearing witness to the truth in which they believe & to the grace that has transformed their soul."
—Pope St. John XXIII (11 October)