Saints + Scripture: Quadragesima

The Popish Plot
vLent 2019: "Bible Bites for March 30th, 2019"

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
The Book of Hosea, chapter six, verses one thru six;
Psalm Fifty-one, verses three & four, eighteen & nineteen, & twenty & twenty-one(a/b);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter eighteen, verses nine thru fourteen.

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

Friends, today Jesus tells us of the Pharisee and the tax collector—so, a stereotypically righteous person and unrighteous person—who both enter the Temple to pray. But what a world of difference in their manner of praying!

The entire point of religion is to make us humble before God and to open us to the path of love. Everything else is more or less a footnote. Liturgy, prayer, the precepts of the Church, the Commandments, sacraments, sacramentals—all of it—are finally meant to conform us to the way of love. When they instead turn us away from that path, they have been undermined.

Both St. Paul and the Gospel writers—as well as Jesus himself, of course—are intensely aware of this danger. This is precisely why Paul speaks of the dangers of the law. He knew that people often use the law as a weapon of aggression: since I know what is right and wrong in some detail, then I am uniquely positioned to point out your flaws. And when I point out your flaws, I elevate myself. In short, the law, which is a gift from God, has been co-opted for the purposes of the ego.

Reflect: How can pride stand in the way of love? Why does true humility encourage love?

Video reflection by Father Bill Quinlivan: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 69
The Book of Exodus, chapter thirty, verses one thru ten.

Commentary: The Altar of Incense (Exodus, 30:1-10).

'Tis the commemoration of Saint John Climacus, Abbot (circa 579-649; A.K.A. John Scholasticus, John Sinaites), author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Ladder.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. "Climacus" is St. John's epithet, meaning "of the ladder."

'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Peter de Regalado, Priest, O.F.M. Conv. (1390-1456, also spelt Peter Regalatus): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the commemoration of Blessed Amadeus of Savoy (435-1472, A.K.A. Duke Amadeus IX "the Happy" of Savoy): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Ludovico of Casoria, Priest, O.F.M. (1814-1885, A.K.A. Arcangelo Palmentieri), founder of the defunct Gray Friars of Charity & the enduring Gray Sisters of Saint Elizabeth: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the commemoration of Blessed Mary Restituta Kafka, Virgin & Martyr (1894-1943, A.K.A. Helena Kafková), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Above all it is my conviction that all work is a fundamental dimension of human existence on the earth. This is true of all work—from the simplest to the most difficult, from the less paying to the most rewarding."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"I thirst after Heaven, that blessed abode where our love for Jesus will be without bounds."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"The one who has put on the faith of the Cross despises even what is naturally fearful, & for Christ's sake is not afraid of death."
—St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church (296-373, feast day: 2 May)