Saints + Scripture

The Popish Plot
Taco Tuesday: "Day 365"

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop & Doctor of the Church (354-430, of Hippo): Doctor-link ūnus, Doctor-link duo, Doctor-link The True Enlightenment!, & Wikipedia-link; Doctors-link & Wikipedia-link Doctor.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Son of St. Monica [27 August].

Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

He was a Roman African, early Christian theologian & philosopher from Numidia whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity & Western philosophy. Among his most important works are The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, & Confessions.

Wikipedia-link The City of God, Wikipedia-link On Christian Doctrine, & Wikipedia-link Confessions.

'Tis also the festival of Blesseds James Claxton, William Dean, & Thomas Felton (O.F.M.), Priests; & Henry Webley, Martyrs (died 1588, Claxton A.K.A. James Clarkson), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, Bl. Henry one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales, Bl. James one of the Martyrs of Douai: Martyr-link Juliett Charlie, Martyr-link Tango Foxtrot & Wikipedia-link Tango Foxtrot, Martyr-link Whiskey Delta & Wikipedia-link Whiskey Delta, & Martyr-link Hotel Whiskey; Martyrs-link LXXXV & Wikipedia-link LXXXV, Martyrs-link Douai & Wikipedia-link Douai.

Commentary: Bl. Thomas, son of the martyr Bl. John Felton [8 August].

'Tis also the festival of Saint Edmund Arrowsmith, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (1585-1628, A.K.A. Brian Arrowsmith, Edmund Rigby), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king Charles I, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link XL & Wikipedia-link XL.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
The Second Letter to the Thessalonians, chapter two, verses one, two, three(a), & fourteen thru seventeen;
Psalm Ninety-six, verses ten, eleven & twelve, & thirteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-three, verses twenty-three thru twenty-six.

Commentary: Video reflection by Father Peter Drilling: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Augustine
The First Letter to the John, chapter four, verses seven thru sixteen;
Psalm One Hundred Nineteen, verse twelve;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-three, verses eight thru twelve.

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

Friends, on this feast day of St. Augustine, we reflect on the development of Catholic teaching. In one very real sense, the Father speaks all he can possibly speak in his Son, rightly called the Logos. There is no more to be revealed, no more to be said, than what is expressed in Jesus. Nevertheless, the fullness of that revelation unfolds only over space and time, much the way that a seed unfolds very gradually into a mighty oak.

A lively mind takes an idea, turns it over, considers it, looks at it from various viewpoints, questions it. Then, in lively conversation, that mind throws the idea to another mind, who performs a similar set of operations.

This "play of lively minds" goes on over the centuries. St. John threw the idea of the Incarnation to St. Polycarp, who threw it to St. Irenaeus, who threw it to Origen, who threw it to Augustine, who passed it to Thomas Aquinas, who shared it with Robert Bellarmine, who spoke it to John Henry Newman and others, who have given it to us.

Now who guarantees that this process moves forward? The answer is the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to the Church.

Bible Study—Prophetic Books
The Book of Ezekiel, chapter one (verses one thru twenty-eight);
The Book of Ezekiel, chapter two (verses one thru ten);
The Book of Ezekiel, chapter three (verses one thru twenty-seven).

Commentary: I. Call of the Prophet: The Vision: God on the Cherubim (Ezekiel, 1:1-28ab), Eating of the Scroll (1:28cd-3:16), the Prophet as Watchman (3:17-21), & Ezekiel's Dumbness (3:22-27).

Bible Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of Psalms, psalm sixty-two (verses one thru thirteen);
The Book of Psalms, psalm sixty-three (verses one thru twelve);
The Book of Psalms, psalm sixty-four (verses one thru eleven);
The Book of Psalms, psalm sixty-five (verses one thru fourteen);
The Book of Proverbs, chapter twenty-seven (verses one thru twenty-seven);
The Book of Proverbs, chapter twenty-eight (verses one thru twenty-eight).

Commentary: Trust in God Alone (Psalm 62), Ardent Longing for God (Psalm 63), Treacherous Conspirators Punished by God (Psalm 64), & Thanksgiving for God's Blessings (Psalm 65); V. Second Collection of the Proverbs of Solomon (cont'd; Proverbs, 27:1-28:28).

Proverb o' the Day (Proverbs, 28:4)

Those who abandon the law praise the wicked man,
but those who keep the law war against him.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"We have our individual personal duty to be good. That does not mean to be weak. It means to be capable of breaking the sad logical chain of evil by patience & forgiveness. It means to love, that is, to be Christians."
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)

Little Flower Poem o' the Day

"I long to fly to Mary's mother arms,
To rest upon that spotless throne of bliss;
And, sheltered there from troubles and alarms,
For the first time to feel her gentle kiss."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Late have I loved You, O beauty ever ancient & ever new!"
—St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church (354-430, feast day: 28 August)