Thursday, July 9, 2020

Saints + Scripture

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

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest, & Companions, Martyrs (died 1648-1930, A.K.A. the one hundred twenty Martyr Saints of China), martyred under the Qing dynasty, various warlords, & the Republic of China: Martyr-link Alpha Zulu Romeo ūnus, Martyr-link Alpha Zulu Romeo duo, & Wikipedia-link Alpha Zulu Romeo (List, № 8); Martyr-link Golf Golf ūnus, Martyr-link Golf Golf duo, & Wikipedia-link Golf Golf; & Martyrs-link China ūnus, Martyr-link China duo, & Wikipedia-link China.


Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá (painted 1560, A.K.A. La Chinita): Madonna-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Giovanna Scopelli, Religious, O.Carm. (1428-1491, of Reggio; Anglicized as Jane Scopelli) founding prioress of the Priory of Santa Maria del Popolo (1480): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Nicolaas Pieck, Priest (O.F.M.), & Companions, Martyrs (died 1572, A.K.A. the nineteen Martyrs of Gorkum), martyred by Calvinist heretics: Martyr-link November Papa & Wikipedia-link November Papa, Martyr-link Juliett Charlie & Wikipedia-link Juliett Charlie, Martyr-link Golf Mike & Wikipedia-link Golf Mike, & Martyr-link Alpha Whiskey & Wikipedia-link Alpha Whiskey; Martyrs-link Gorkum & Wikipedia-link Gorkum.


'Tis also the festival of Saint Veronica Giuliani, Abbess, O.S.C. Cap. (1660-1727, A.K.A. Orsola Giuliani), stigmatic: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duae, & Wikipedia-link; Stigmata-link & Wikipedia-link Stigmata.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Marija of the Crucified Jesus, Religious (1892-1966, A.K.A. Marija Petković), foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mercy (1920): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Hosea, chapter eleven, verses one thru four, eight(e), & nine;
Psalm Eighty (R/. four[b]), verses two(a/c) & three(b), fifteen & sixteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses seven thru fifteen.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus sent the twelve to evangelize the countryside. To evangelize is to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. When this kerygma, this Paschal Mystery, is not at the heart of the project, Christian evangelization effectively disappears, devolving into a summons to bland religiosity or generic spirituality.

When Jesus crucified and risen is not proclaimed, a beige and unthreatening Catholicism emerges, a thought system that is, at best, an echo of the environing culture. Peter Maurin, one of the founders of the Catholic Worker movement, said that the Church has taken its own dynamite and placed it in hermetically sealed containers and sat on the lid.

In a similar vein, Protestant theologian Stanley Hauerwas commented that the problem with Christianity is not that it is socially conservative or politically liberal but that “it is just too damned dull”! For both Maurin and Hauerwas, what leads to this attenuation is a refusal to preach the dangerous and unnerving news concerning Jesus risen from the dead.
Video reflection by Father Roger Lopez, O.F.M. (U.S.C. of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Video reflection by Becket Ghioto (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Daily Reflection.


Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong & Companions
The First Letter of John, chapter five, verses one thru five;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-six (R/. five), verses one & two(a/b), two(c/d) & three, four & five, & six;
The Gospel according to John, chapter twelve, verses twenty-four, twenty-five, & twenty-six.

Scripture Study—Day 91: Contentness Plateau, Day 18
The Second Book of Samuel, chapter six, verses one thru five.

Commentary: David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel, 6:1-5).

Papal Quote o' the Day
"God is present, no matter how often humanity may forget God. Christianity has the living & modern spiritual energy, ready to confront the negations of a materialistic world."
—Pope St. John XXIII (1881-1963, r. 1958-1963; feast: 11 October)
Saint Quote o' the Day
"Remember when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received only what you have given: a heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, & courage."
—St. Francis of Assisi, O.F.M. (1181-1226, feast: 4 October)
Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
"One by one, my former students began to arrive. They wanted to give everything to God. With what joy they put away their colorful saris in order to put on our poor cotton one."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
"Our Lord was hopeful about humanity. He always saw men the way He originally designed them. He saw through the surface, the grime & the dirt, the real man underneath. He never identified a person with sin. He saw sin as something alien & foreign, something that did not belong to a man, something that mastered him but from which he could be freed in order to be his real self. Just as every mother sees her own image & likeness beneath the dirt on the face of her child, so God always saw the divine image & likeness beneath our sin. He looked on us much the same way a bride looks on a bridegroom the day of marriage, & as a bridegroom looks on a bride: each to the other looks the best."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

No comments: