Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Tis also the festival of Saints Chrysanthus & Daria, Martyrs (died circa 283), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Numerian & Carinus: Martyr-link Charlie, Martyr-link Delta, & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Saints Crispin & Crispian, Martyrs (died circa 286), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian: Martyr-link P-I-N, Martyr-link P-I-A-N, & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy, Bishop (circa 1455-1492, the "White Martyr of Munster"): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Forty Martyrs of England & Wales (died 1535-1679), martyred in the reigns of the English & Anglo-Scottish monarchs Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, James VI & I, Charles I, & Charles II, & the warlord Oliver Cromwell: Martyrs-link XL & Wikipedia-link XL.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter three, verses fourteen thru twenty-one;
Psalm Thirty-three, verses one & two, four & five, eleven & twelve, & eighteen & nineteen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter twelve, verses forty-nine thru fifty-three.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, the statement of Jesus that we have in the Gospel for today is frightening: "I have come to cast a fire upon the earth; how I wish it were already kindled." He’s throwing fire down, much like the God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.Video reflection by Father Roger Lopez, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Okay, so how do we make sense of all this? I thought the angels on Christmas morning said that he had come as the Prince of Peace? Jesus is the Incarnation of the God who is nothing but love, but this enfleshment takes place in the midst of a fallen, sinful world. Therefore, it will appear as something threatening, strange, off-putting.
The world, on the Biblical reading, is a dysfunctional family. When Jesus comes, he necessarily comes as a breaker of the peace, as a threat to the dysfunctional family. Now we can begin to understand that strange language about setting three against two and two against three.
This is why Jesus wants to cast a consuming fire on the earth. He wants to burn away all that is opposed to God’s desire for us. He has to clear the ground before something new can be built. Is this utterly painful? Yes!
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Abortion isn't a lesser evil, it's a crime. Taking one life to save another, that's what the Mafia does. It's a crime. It's an absolute evil."Little Flower Quote o' the Day
—Pope Francis (born 1936, reigning since 2013)
"I ask Jesus to draw me into the fire of His love, & to unite me so closely to Himself that He may live and act in me."Saint Quote o' the Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"We are not the sum of our weaknesses & failures; we are the sum of the Father's love for us & our real capacity to become the image of His Son."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
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