'Tis the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time during the year"): Wikipedia-link.
Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter thirty-eight, verses four, five, six, eight, nine, & ten;
Psalm Forty, verses fourteen(b), two, three, four, & eighteen;
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter twelve, verses one thru four;
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 Greg Friedman, 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!
Video reflection by Father Claude Burns (uCatholic): Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.
Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.
Scripture Study—Day 91: Progeny Point, Day 21
The Book of Genesis, chapter thirty-nine, verses one thru four.
Commentary: Joseph & Potiphar's Wife (Genesis, 39:1-4).
Mass Journal: Week 38
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
Yesterday I was visiting a friend in Atlanta. He lives in a beautiful neighborhood & as we drove past these magnificent homes, one after another, I began to ask myself, "If your spiritual life were a house, what would it be like?" I would like to place the question before now. If your spiritual life were a house, what would it be like? What street would it be on? What part of town would it be in? What would it look like? Would it be a house or a home? Is it in need of renovations? Is it peaceful, noisy, distracting, well organized, messy?†
Otherwise, 18 August would be the festival of Saints Florus & Laurus of Illyria, Martyrs (second century): Martyr-link Foxtrot, Martyr-link Lima, & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Agapitus of Palestrina, Martyr (circa 259-274), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Aurelian, a victim of his persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Persecutions-link.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Helena of Constantinople (circa 246-330), who discovered the True Cross (320): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link True Cross.
Commentary: Mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, who is considered a saint in the East.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Inan of Ayrshire, Hermit (ninth century, also spelt Evan; A.K.A. Tennant, etc.): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Martín Martínez Pascual, Priest & Martyr (1910-1936), martyred by Spanish Communist "Republicans" (Rojos): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (en español).
Papal Quote o' the Day
"In the interior life we are not alone, but live with Christ. We share His thoughts & actions, & we associate with Him as a friend, a disciple, &, as it were, a collaborator."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Ven. Pius XII (1876-1958)
"Be humble in this life that God may raise you up in the next."
—St. Stephen of Hungary (975-1038, feast day: 16 August)
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