Saturday, November 25, 2017

Project BLACK MAMBA: Saturday Late Edition

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin & Martyr (circa 287-306), martyred in the reign of the emperors Maxentius & Galerius, a victim of the Great Persecution; one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers: Martyr-link ūna, Martyr-link duae, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution & Wikipedia-link XIV.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
From a young age she devoted herself to study. A vision of the Madonna & Child persuaded her to become a Christian. When the persecutions began under Maxentius, she went to the emperor & rebuked him for his cruelty.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Peter of Alexandria, Bishop & Martyr (died 311, A.K.A. Pope Peter I of Alexandria), martyred in the reign of the emperors Maxentius & Galerius, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution.

Commentary: The bishop of Alexandria has been known as a "pope" since antiquity. The title—& St. Peter's martyrdom—predates the Coptic schism from the one, holy, catholic, & apostolic Church over Oriental Orthodoxy's rejection of the Council of Chalcedon: Wikipedia-link Chalcedon. For more on the different kinds of popes: Wikipedia-link Coptic Pope & Wikipedia-link Catholic Pope.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Elizabeth of Reute, Religious, T.O.R. (1386-1420) a stigmatic: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Stigmata.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The First Book of Maccabees, chapter six, verses one thru thirteen;
Psalm Nine, verses two & three, four & six, & sixteen & nineteen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter twenty, verses twenty-seven thru forty.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today's Gospel reports a conversation Jesus had with some of the Sadducees, who held that there is no life after death. We could practically hear their speech on the lips of secularists today. But Jesus is having none of it. The dead shall indeed rise, he says. Otherwise, how could Moses have spoken of God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of whom were long dead by Moses' time? But their risen existence, though in continuity, even bodily continuity, with what has gone before, will be transformed, transfigured, raised up.

Those who hold to the resurrection of the body are those who are most effective at working for justice and peace in this world. If you are a complete materialist and secularist, you hold that everything and everybody, in the end, just fades away. But if you believe in the resurrection of the body, then everything in this world is destined for redemption. Everything matters.
Video reflection by Sister Annie Bremmer: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.


Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria
The Book of Revelation, chapter twenty-one, verses five, six, & seven;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-four, verse seven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses twenty-eight thru thirty-three.

Saint Quote o' the Day
From "Heroes' Words" in 54-Day Basic Training in Holiness by Father Richard Heilman:
"It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey."
—St. Ignatius of Loyola (31 July)

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