Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Saints + Scripture

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr, O.S.B.M. (circa 1580-1623, A.K.A. Ioann Kuntsevych), third (III) Archeparch of Polotsk-Vitebsk, martyred by a conspiracy of Orthodox schismatics & Protestant heretics: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Polotsk-Vitebsk.


Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
Throughout his adult life, he was distinguished by his extraordinary zeal in performing the Church services & by extraordinary devotion during the Divine Liturgy. Not only in the church did he preach & hear confessions, but likewise in the fields, hospitals, prisons, & even on his personal journeys. This zeal, united with his kindness for the poor, led great numbers of Eastern Orthodox confession Ruthenians to a religious conversion to the Eastern Catholic confession & Catholic unity.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Machar of Aberdeen, Bishop (died circa 540, the "Apostle to the Picts"): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Cuimín Fada of Kilcummin, Abbot (died 662; also spelt Cumméne, Cummian), founder of a monastery at Kilcummin (Cill Chuimín, "church of Cuimín"): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Kilcummin.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Cunibert of Cologne, Bishop (circa 600-663, A.K.A. of Trier; also spelt Cunipert, Honoberht), third (III) Bishop of Cologne (Colonia Agrippina): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Cologne & Wikipedia-link Cologne.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Ymar of Reculver, Religious & Martyr, O.S.B. (died circa 830), martyred by Viking Danes: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Margarito Flores García, Priest & Martyr (1899-1927), martyred in the reign of the Mexican strongman Plutarco Elías Calles, one of the twenty-five Saints of the Cristero War (A.K.A. the Martyrs of the Mexican Revolution): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link México & Wikipedia-link México.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Wisdom, chapter two, verse twenty-three thru chapter three, verse nine;
Psalm Thirty-four (R/. two[a]), verses two & three, sixteen & seventeen, & eighteen & nineteen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter seventeen, verses seven thru ten.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, as is often the case with Jesus’ more difficult parables, we have to pay careful attention to today’s Gospel story. It’s all about justice, which is rendering to each what is due—a good and noble thing. When justice is your primary consideration, you are basically in charge, morally speaking. But what Jesus is doing today in this striking and annoying story is to shake us out of that understanding of our relationship to God.

The point is this: God owes us precisely nothing. Everything we have, including our very existence, is a sheer gift. We are in absolutely no position ever to demand anything of God. To move into this space is to move out of the stance of faith. And so no matter what God asks, the proper response is: "I am an unprofitable servant; I have done what I was obliged to do."
Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.


Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Josaphat
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter four, verses one thru seven, eleven, twelve, & thirteen;
Psalm One (R/. two[a]), verses one & two, three, & four & six;
(or, R/. Psalm Forty, verse five[a]);
(or, R/. Psalm Ninety-two, verses thirteen & fourteen);
The Gospel according to John, chapter seventeen, verses twenty thru twenty-six.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 91: Relativism Ridge, Day 8
The Book of Judges, chapter three, verses twelve, fourteen thru seventeen, twenty-one, twenty-two, & twenty-six thru thirty.

Commentary: Ehud (Judges, 3:12, 14-17, 21-22, & 26-30).

Proverb o' the Day (Wisdom, 1:14)
For He created all things that they mighty exist,
& the creatures of the world are wholesome
& there is no destructive poison in them;
& the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Only by becoming more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ can we hope to travel the path of unity under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Only by accepting Jesus as Lord of our lives can we empty ourselves of negative thinking about each other."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)
Saint Quote o' the Day
"My brethren, let us convince ourselves… that God does not afflict us in this life for our injury but for our good, in order that we may cease from sin, & by recovering His grace escape eternal punishment… God says within Himself, 'If I allow those sinners to enjoy their pleasures undisturbed, they will remain in the sleep of sin: they must be afflicted, in order that, recovering from their lethargy, they may return to Me.'"
—St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church (1696-1787, feast day: 1 August)
Chesterton Quote o' the Day
"Science invents conveniences by design & inconveniences by accident."
—G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

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