Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Saints + Scripture

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Paul Miki (S.J.) & Companions, Martyrs (died 1597, A.K.A. the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan, the Martyrs of Nagasaki): Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link Nagasaki & Wikipedia-link Nagasaki.


Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
St. Paul was a Roman catholic Japanese Jesuit seminarian, martyr, & saint, one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan. He preached his last sermon from the cross, & it is maintained that he forgave his executioners, stating that he himself was Japanese.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Dorothea of Caesarea, Virgin & Martyr (died 311) martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Galerius & Licinius, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution.

'Tis also the festival of Saints Ine & Æthelburg of Wessex (circa 673-740; also spelt Ina, Ini; & Æthelburh, Ethelburga), King & Queen of Wessex: Saint-link India & Wikipedia-link India; Saint-link Æ & Wikipedia-link Æ.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Hildegund, Abbess, O.Praem. (circa 1130-1183): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Mother of St. Hermann Joseph [24 May] & Bl. Hadewych [14 April], both also O.Praem.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel, Religious, S.S.F.P.A. (1830-1905; Anglicized as Mary Teresa Bonzel; A.K.A. Regina Christine Wilhelmine "Aline" Bonzel), foundress of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration (S.S.F.P.A.): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link S.S.F.P.A.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter twelve, verses four thru seven & eleven thru fifteen;
Psalm One Hundred Three, verses one & two, thirteen & fourteen, & seventeen & eighteen(a);
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter six, verses one thru six.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today in Mark’s account of the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth, Christ refers to himself as a prophet.

In the Old Testament tradition, the prophet is a religious visionary and truth-teller. The great Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel said that the prophet is someone who feels the feelings of God and then speaks out of that experience. He stubbornly reads the world through the lens of the word of God and speaks the divine truth. And this mission implies opposition, confrontation, and critique, since the keepers of worldly order are frequently looking through other lenses and listening to other words.

But Jesus is much more than one more prophet in a long line of prophets, one more speaker of the divine truth, one more reader of the divine word. Jesus is the Word made flesh; he is the Divine Truth in person.
Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.


Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Paul Miki & Companions
The Letter to the Galatians, chapter two, verses nineteen & twenty;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-six, verses one(b/c) & two(a/b, two(c/d) & three, four & five, & six;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-eight, verses sixteen thru twenty.


Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 17
The Book of Exodus, chapter seven, verses fourteen thru twenty-four.

Commentary: The First Plague: Water of the Nile Turned to Blood (Exodus, 7:14-24).

The Imitation of Christ
Book I: Useful Admonitions for the Spiritual Life
Chapter 21: "On Compunction of Heart"

Papal Quote o' the Day
"Suffering for the sake of the love, truth, & justice is a sign of fidelity to the God of life & of hope. It is the blessedness of those who suffer for Christ,who fall to the ground like grains of wheat & are promised life & resurrection."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
Little Flower Quote o' the Day
"And it is the Lord, it is Jesus, Who is my judge. Therefore I will try always to think leniently of others, that He may judge me leniently, or rather not at all, since He says: 'Judge not, & ye shall not be judged.'"
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
Saint Quote o' the Day
"Christ is our light. If we are walking away from the sun (for the sun is the symbol of Christ), the shadows are before us. This is one of the reasons why we have Catholics afflicted with every manner of psychosis & neurosis, afraid of these lengthening shadows, of these phantoms & fears & dreads. As we walk away from Christ, the further we go, the longer the shadows that appear before us—the resentment, the aggressiveness, just as soon as we are checked & told that we are walking from the light. If however, we walk toward the sun, & intensify our love of Christ, then all the shadows are behind us—all the remorse & regrets. As the sun comes more & more into our life, all these things pass away. Fears are gone, remorse is swallowed up in the intense love of Christ."
—Venerable Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)

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