Saints + Scripture: XXV Sunday in Tempus per annum

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

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

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Amos, chapter eight, verses four thru seven;
Psalm One Hundred Thirteen, verses one & two; four, five, & six; & seven & eight;
The First Letter to Timothy, chapter two, verses one thru eight;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter sixteen, verses one thru thirteen
(or, the Gospel according to Luke, chapter sixteen, verses ten thru thirteen).

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

Friends, today’s Gospel focuses on prudence. Luke gives us the parable of the dishonest steward, who seeks the favor of his master’s creditors by reducing what they owed him. And the master even “commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.”

In the Middle Ages, prudence was called “the queen of the virtues” because it was the virtue that enabled one to do the right thing in a particular situation. Prudence is a feel for the moral situation, something like the feel a quarterback has for the playing field, or a politician for the voters in his district.

Courage, justice, and temperance are wonderful virtues, but without prudence, they are blind and finally useless. For a person can be as courageous as possible, but if he doesn’t know when, where, and how to play out his courage, that virtue is useless.

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 43
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

I am a sinner & I need to be saved. I need to be saved from myself & from my sin. There are many people who love me deeply—parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, & neighbors—but they cannot save me. I need a savior. it is the clarity of this realization that is life changing. This is what makes me eligible for membership in the Catholic Church. Jesus didn't come for the healthy; He came for the sick, & He established the Church to continue His work (cf. Mark, 2:17). I am imperfect, but I am capable of change & growth. We are all imperfect but perfectible. The Church holds me in my weakness, comforts me in my limitations, endeavors to heal me of my sickness, & nurtures me back to full health, making me whole again. And throughout this process, the Church manages to harness all my efforts & struggles, not only for my own good, but for the good of the entire Church & indeed humanity. This is just a tiny part of the incredible mystery of the Church.

†

Otherwise, 22 September would be the festival of Saint Maurice & the Theban Legion, Martyrs (died circa 287, A.K.A. the Martyrs of Agaunum), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian: Martyr-link Mike & Wikipedia-link Mike; Martyrs-link Legion & Wikipedia-link Legion.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Emmeram of Regenbergs, Bishop & Martyr (died circa 652, A.K.A. Haimhramm, etc.), martyred by Lantpert of Bavaria while shielding another from Lantpert's wrath: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: My sources give St. Emmeram's see as either Poitiers, Aquitaine or Regensberg, Bavaria. I do not have enough data to render a judgment.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Sadalberga, Abbess (circa 605-670, also spelt Salaberga), founding abbess of the Abbey of Saint John at Laon (originally of Our Lady): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.

Commentary: Sister of the bishop St. Leudinus Bodo [11 September], wife of St. Blandinus of Laon [?], & mother of Ss. Baldwin [16 October] & Anstrudis [17 October].

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Otto of Freising, Bishop & Abbot, O.Cist. (circa 1114-1158), twenty-second (XXII) Bishop of Freising: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Freising & Wikipedia-link Freising.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Thomas of Villanova, Bishop, O.S.A. (1488-1555, "the Father of the Poor;" A.K.A. the Almsgiver, Tomás García y Martínez) eighth (VIII) Archbishop of Valencia: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Valencia.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Ignatius of Santhià, Priest, O.F.M. Cap. (1686-1770, A.K.A. Lorenzo Maurizio Belvisotti): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"If today we are living in a climate of public freedom & personal responsibility, we will have an increased duty to exercise our own critical moral judgment with vigilant assiduousness. Temptations are very widespread & aggressive in our day."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997, feast day: 5 September)