Saints + Scripture: Better Late Than Never

'Tis the festival of Saint Felix IV, Pope (died 530, actually Felix III), fifty-fourth (LIV) Bishop of Rome: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. The numbering of the Popes Felix is a mess. Pope St. Felix I [30 December] reigned in the third century; Antipope Felix II pretended in the fourth, & his memory is sometimes conflated with a faithful martyr, Felix [29 July], accounting for the miscounting; Pope St. Felix III [1 March] was the truly only the second Pope Felix; & Pope St. Felix IV [30 January] was truly only the third Pope Felix. To further muddy the already murky waters, a fifteenth century antipope styled himself Felix V.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Hyacintha of Mariscotti, Virgin, T.O.R. (1585-1640, A.K.A. Clarice Mariscotti), foundress of the Oblates of Mary: Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duae, & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Zygmunt Pisarki, Priest & Martyr (1902-1943), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (list, № 78); Martyrs-link CVIII & Wikipedia-link CVIII.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The Second Book of Samuel, chapter eighteen, verses nine, ten, fourteen(b), twenty-four, twenty-five(a), & thirty thru chapter nineteen, verse three;
Psalm Eighty-six, verses one & two, three & four, & five & six;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter five, verses twenty-one thru forty-three.

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

Friends, the centerpiece of today’s Gospel is Jesus healing the hemorrhaging woman. Having a flow of blood for twelve years meant that anyone with whom she came in contact would be considered unclean. She couldn’t, in any meaningful sense, participate in the ordinary life of her society.

The woman touches Jesus—and how radical and dangerous an act this was, since it should have rendered Jesus unclean. But so great is her faith that her touch, instead, renders her clean. Jesus effectively restores her to full participation in her community.

But what is perhaps most important is this: Jesus implicitly puts an end to the ritual code of the book of Leviticus. What he implies is that the identity of the new Israel, the Church, would not be through ritual behaviors but through imitation of him. Notice, please, how central this is in the New Testament. We hear elsewhere in the Gospels that Jesus declares all foods clean, and throughout the letters of Paul we hear a steady polemic against the Law. All of this is meant to show that Jesus is at the center of the new community.

Video reflection by Father Joseph Gatto: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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Bible Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of Psalms, psalm forty-four (verses one thru twenty-seven);
The Book of Sirach, chapter three (verses one thru thirty);
The Book of Sirach, chapter four, verses one thru ten.

Commentary: God's Past Favor & Israel's Present Need (Psalm 44); Duties toward Parents (3:1-16), Humility (3:17-28), & Alms for the Poor (3:29-4:10).

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Charity is the form, mover, mother, & root of all the virtues."
—St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church (1225-1274, feast day: 28 January)