Sunday, September 1, 2019

Saints + Scripture: XXII Sunday in Tempus per annum

Better Late than Never | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time during the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Sirach, chapter three, verses seventeen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-eight, & twenty-nine;
Psalm Sixty-eight, verses four & five, six & seven, & ten & eleven;
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter twelve, verses eighteen, nineteen, twenty-two, twenty-three, & twenty-four(a);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter fourteen, verses one & seven thru fourteen.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, our Gospel today is the famous passage from Luke’s Gospel dealing with honor at a banquet. Jesus has been invited to the home of a prominent person, one of the “leading Pharisees,” and he notices how people jockey carefully for position, status, prominence.

Who will notice me? Who can I impress? And Jesus puts his finger on the most desperate scenario for an egotist. Trying as hard as he can to be noticed, he gets noticed but for all the wrong reasons! His egotistic games backfire dreadfully, as everyone sees him reduced to embarrassment. So what’s the solution? Stop playing the game. Take the lowest place on purpose. Opt out.

Another strategy is suggested at the end of the parable. It’s also a strategy of noncooperation with evil. I’ll have a dinner for people, but only so that they can pay me back with another dinner. So opt out! Don’t play. Invite people to a party who have no capacity whatsoever to invite you in return. “Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.”
Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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.


Mass Journal: Week 40
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:
A tree with dep roots can weather any storm. In your life & mine it is only a matter of time before the next storm gets here: an illness, the death of a loved one, unemployment, financial difficulties, a troubled child, natural disaster, marital strife, or any number of other things. The storms of life are inevitable. The question is not whether there will be another storm. The question is: When will the next storm get here? And when the next storm gets here, it's too late to sink the roots. When the next storm gets here, you either have the roots or you don't.


Otherwise, 1 September would be the festival of Saint Terentian of Todi, Bishop & Martyr (died 118), Bishop of Todi, martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Todi.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Vibiana, Virgin & Martyr (third century): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Sixtus of Reims, Bishop (died circa 300), inaugural (I) Bishop of Reims: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Reims & Wikipedia-link Reims.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Verena of Zurich (circa 260-320, A.K.A. of Zurzach): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Kinswoman of the martyr St. Viktor of Xanten [10 October].

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Giles, Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 650-710, the Hermit; also spelt Aegidius), founder of the Abbey of Saint-Giles (original, of Ss. Peter & Paul), one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey; & Holy Helpers-link & Wikipedia-link Holy Helpers.

Papal Quote o' the Day
"Be witnesses to the love of the Eucharistic Christ, a love that spurs us on to unlimited generosity. It also spurs us on to total surrender to Him, & through Him to all those who seek Him with a true heart."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
Saint Quote o' the Day
"Whatever good work you begin to do, beg of God with most earnest prayer to perfect it."
—St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547, feast day: 11 July)

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