Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Saints + Scripture: Lent — Better Late Than Never

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Damian, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, O.S.B. (circa 988-1073): Doctor-link ūnus, Doctor-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.


Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
Saint Peter Damian was a reforming Benedictine monk & cardinal in the circle of Pope [Saint] Leo IX [19 April]. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of Paradiso as a great predecessor of Saint Francis of Assisi [4 October] & he was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1828.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Pepin of Landen, Confessor (circa 575-646), Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, Duke of Brabant: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Husband of St. Itta of Metz, O.S.B. [8 May] & father of Ss. Begga, O.S.B. [17 December]; Bavo of Ghent [1 October]; & Gertrude of Nivelles, O.S.B. [17 March]

'Tis also the festival of Saint Robert Southwell, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (circa 1561-1595), martyred in the reign of the queen Elizabeth I, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link XL & Wikipedia-link XL.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Noël Pinot, Priest & Martyr (1747-1794), martyred in the reign of the French National Convention for refusing an oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Constitution.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Lenten Weekday
The Book of Jonah, chapter three, verses one thru ten;
Psalm Fifty-one, verses three & four, twelve & thirteen, & eighteen & nineteen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter eleven, verses twenty-nine thru thirty-two.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus tells the crowds who seek a sign that they will only receive the sign of Jonah: "Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation."

Jonah is called by God to preach to Nineveh, which is described as an enormously large city. It takes, they say, three days to walk through it. I can’t help but think of Nineveh as one of our large, modern cities, a center of all sorts of worldly activity and preoccupation.

What would its conversion look like? A turning back to God as the only enduring good. After hearing the word of Jonah, the Ninevites proclaim a fast, and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. What is the purpose of these ascetic practices? To wean people away from an attachment to worldly pleasures.

Go beyond the mind that you have. Repent. Live as though nothing in this world finally matters. And you will be living in the kingdom of God!
Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.


Papal Quote o' the Day
"You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance & error: let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, & forgiven by God."
—Pope Francis
Saint Quote o' the Day
"Peace is better than a fortune."
—St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church (1567-1622, feast day: 24 January)

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