'Tis still Christmas: Wikipedia-link Christmastide & Wikipedia-link Epiphanytide. Merry Christmas!
'Tis the festival of Saint Marciana of Mauretania, Virgin & Martyr (died circa 303), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Persecutions-link & Wikipedia-link Great Persecution.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Peter of Sebaste, Bishop & Abbot (circa 340-391), Bishop of Sebaste, a father of the First Council of Constantinople (381, the second [II] ecumenical council) which amended & reaffirmed the Nicene Creed: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Sebaste, Council-link Constantinople & Wikipedia-link Constantinople, & Wikipedia-link Creed.
Commentary: Wayback Machine. Grandson of St. Macrina the Elder [14 January[, son of Ss. Basil the Elder & Emmelia [30 May], & brother of Ss. Macrina the Younger [19 July], Naucratius [?], Basil the Great [2 January], & Gregory of Nyssa [10 January].
'Tis also the festival of Saint Adrian of Canterbury, Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 635-710, also spelt Hadrian), abbot of Saint Augustine's Abbey: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Saint Augustine's.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Berhtwald of Canterbury, Bishop & Abbot, O.S.B. (died 731, also spelt Brithwald, etc.), ninth (IX) Archbishop of Canterbury (693-731), abbot of the monastery at Reculver (679-693) & Glastonbury Abbey (circa 667-677): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Canterbury & Wikipedia-link Canterbury; & Wikipedia-link Reculver, Abbey-link Glastonbury, Wikipedia-link Glastonbury, & Wikipedia-link Abbots.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Giulia of Certado, Religious, O.S.A. (1319-1367, A.K.A. Giulia della Rena): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Józef Pawłowski, Priest & Martyr (1890-1942), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List, № 40); Martyrs-link Polska & Wikipedia-link Polska.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday after Epiphany
The First Letter of John, chapter four, verse nineteen thru chapter five, verse four;
Psalm Seventy-two (R/. see: eleven), verses one & two, fourteen & fifteen(b/c), & seventeen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter four, verses fourteen thru twenty-two.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus chooses to preach on Isaiah 61 for his inaugural address in his hometown synagogue. He felt that this text summed up who he was and what his mission was.Ruach Yahweh, the breath of God—this is what has seized and animated Jesus. After the Resurrection, he breathed on his disciples, symbolically communicating to them (and the Church) something of this spirit.
"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me," he declared. The
Animated by the Ruach Yahweh, what does he do? "He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly." The lowly hear this, those who are oppressed, the poor, the unjustly treated, the marginalized and forgotten. What is the good news? That God’s love is more powerful than the powers of this world.
This is the message of Christ. Therefore, when you place yourself on the side of this power, you are on the winning side, though dark powers gather around you. It is fully expressed in the Paschal Mystery. The world threw its entire power against Jesus, and God raised him up. Nothing can overwhelm or overcome the authority of the Lord God.Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.
Scripture Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of the Psalms, psalm nine (verses one thru twenty);
The Book of Sirach, chapter thirty-seven (verses one thru thirty-one).
Commentary: God's Power & Justice (Psalm 9) & Concerning Good Counsel, Reason, & Moderation (Sirach, 37:1-31).
Proverb o' the Day (Sirach, 37:27-28)
My son, test your soul while you live;Papal Quote o' the Day
see what is bad for it & do not give it that.
For not everything is good for everyone,
and not every person enjoys everything.
"[In marriage,] the souls of the contracting parties are joined & knit together more directly & more intimately than are their bodies, & that not by any passing affection of sense of spirit, but by a deliberate & firm act of the will; & from this union of souls by God's decree, a sacred & inviolable bond arises."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Pius XI (1857-1939, reigned 1922-1939)
"St John Adcock wrote a poem contrasting a child playing with a wooden lion and a Christian. He wonders what would happen if the wooden lion ever came to life, and what would happen to the Christian if Christ appeared.Commentary: Excerpt from the poem "The Divine Tragedy" by Arthur St John Adcock (1864-1930).
'When a blithe infant wrapped in careless joy,
sports with the wooden lion. If the toy
should come to life, the child so direly crossed
faced with this actuality were lost.
'Leave us our toys then; happier we shall stay
while they remain but toys, and we can play
with them and do with them as suits us best.
Reality would add to our unrest.
'We want no living Christ, whose Truth intense
[pretends to no belief in our pretense,]
and flashing on all folly and deceit,
would blast our world to ashes at our feet.
'We do but ask to see no more of Him below than is displayed
In the dead plaything our own hands have made
To lull our fears and comfort us in loss:
The wooden Christ upon the wooden cross.'
Forgotten is the reality of Christ Who chose a human nature and continues His Incarnation by choosing ours. He wants us, therefore, to be available so that He can display His power through us, His truth through us."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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