Tuesday, 19 December was the festival of Saint Anastasius I, Pope (died circa 401), thirty-ninth Bishop of Rome: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twas also the festival of Blessed Konrad of Lichtenau, Priest & Abbot, O. Praem. (died 1240): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twas also the festival of Blessed Urban V, Pope, O.S.B. (1310-1370, A.K.A. Guillaume de Grimoard), two hundredth Bishop of Rome, one of the good Avignon Popes: Blessed-link ūnus, Blessed-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff & Wikipedia-link Avignon.
'Twas also the festival of Blessed Maria Marta of Jesus, Prioress & Martyr (1879-1942; A.K.A. Kazimiera Wołowska, Marta Wołowska), martyred in the reign of the Führer Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (list); Wikipedia-link CVIII.
'Twas also the festival of Blessed René Dubroux, Priest & Martyr, M.E.P. (1914-1959), martyred by the Panthet Lao Communists, one of the seventeen Martyrs of Laos: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (list); Wikipedia-link XVII.
Commentary: Bl. René & the other Martyrs of Laos were beatified in December 2016.
Scripture of That Day
Mass Readings—Advent Weekday
The Book of Judges, chapter thirteen, verses two thru seven, twenty-four, & twenty-five(a);
Psalm Seventy-one, verses three & four(a), five & six(a/b), & sixteen & seventeen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one, verses five thru twenty-five.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Luke tells us about John the Baptist’s parents. We see with utter clarity that John is a priestly figure. Zechariah, his father, is a Temple priest and Elizabeth, his mother, is a descendant of Aaron, the very first priest.Video reflection by Father David Baker: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Now flash forward thirty years and see John emerging in the desert. The first question is, "Why is this son of a priest not working in the Temple?" And the second is, "Why are the people going out from Jerusalem to commune with him?" The answer to the first is that he is engaging in a prophetic critique of a Temple that has gone bad. And the answer to the second is that he is performing the acts of a purified Temple priest out in the desert. His baptism was a ritual cleansing and a spur to repent, precisely what a pious Jew would have sought in the Temple.
And the picture becomes complete when Jesus arrives to be baptized and John says, "Behold, the Lamb of God." This is explicitly Temple talk. He is saying that the one who is to be sacrificed has arrived. He is the fulfillment of priesthood, Temple, and sacrifice. The priestly figure has done his work, and now he fades away.
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