'Tis the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.
Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Isaiah, chapter fifty-six, verses one, six, & seven;
Psalm Sixty-seven (R/. four), verses two & three, five, & six & eight;
The Letter to the Romans, chapter eleven, verses thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, & twenty-nine thru thirty-two;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter fifteen, verses twenty-one thru twenty-eight.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus praises the faith of the Canaanite woman who persisted in her prayer for her daughter.Video reflection by Father Joseph Pisaneschi (U.S.C. of Catholic Bishops): Sunday Reflection.
St. Augustine offers a perspective on petitionary prayer. God wants us to ask persistently—not in order that he might be changed but that we might be changed. Through the initial refusal to give us what we want, God compels our hearts to expand in order to receive adequately what he wants to give.
In the very process of hungering and thirsting for certain goods, we make ourselves worthy vessels. It is not as though, in petitioning God, we are approaching a stubborn pasha or big city boss who we hope might be persuaded by our persistence. Rather, it is God who works a sort of spiritual alchemy in us by forcing us to wait.
In his treatment of the Lord’s Prayer, Thomas Aquinas tells us, very much in the spirit of Augustine, that the initial petition of the Our Father, "hallowed be thy name," is not asking for something to change in God, for God’s name is always holy; rather, it is asking that God might work a change in us so that we hallow God above all things.
Video reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire): Sunday Sermon.
Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.
Scripture Study—Pierced Hands Bible Reading Plan: Day 16
The Book of Genesis, chapter twenty-nine (verses one thru thirty-five);
The Book of Genesis, chapter thirty (verses one thru forty-three);
Psalm Sixteen (verses one thru eleven);
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eight, verses eighteen thru thirty-four.
Commentary: Jacob Meets Rachel (Genesis, 29:1-14), Jacob Marries Laban's Daughters (Genesis, 29:15-30:24), & Jacob Prospers (Genesis, 30:25-43); Song of Trust & Security in God (Psalm 16); & Would-be Followers of Jesus (Matthew, 8:18-22), Jesus Calms the Storm at Sea (Matthew, 8:23-27), & Jesus Heals the Gadarene Demoniacs (Matthew, 8:28-34).
Scripture Study—Day 91: Decapitation Rock, Day 14
The Second Book of Samuel, chapter seventeen, verses one thru eight & eleven thru fourteen.
Commentary: The Counsel of Ahithophel (cont'd; 2 Samuel, 17:1-4) & the Counsel of Hushai (2 Samuel, 17:5-8, 11-14).
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Otherwise, 16 August would be the festival of Saint Arsacius of Nicomedia, Hermit (died 358, also spelt Ursacius): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link (final paragraph).
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Armel of Brittany, Abbot, O.S.B. (died circa 570, also spelt Armagillus; A.K.A. Arthfael, Erme, etc.), founder of monasteries at Plouarzel & Saint-Armel: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Kinsman of Ss. Samson of York [28 July] & Cadfan [1 November].
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Stephen of Hungary (circa 975-1038, King Stephen I, also spelt István, Štefan; A.K.A. Vajk): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, Saint-link trēs, & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Husband of Bl. Gisela of Hungary [7 May] &, with her, father of St. Emeric of Hungary [4 November]; brother-in-law of St. Henry [13 July].
'Twould also be the festival of Saint Roch, T.O.S.F. (circa 1295-1327; also spelt Rocco, Roque, etc.): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Angelo Agostini Mazzinghi, Priest, O.Carm. (circa 1377-1438): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Juan Santamarta, Priest & Martyr, O.F.M. (1578-1616), martyred in the reign of the Japanese warlord Tokugawa Hidetada, one of the two hundred five Martyrs of Japan: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List); Martyrs-link Nihon & Wikipedia-link Nihon.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Mary's greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself. She is lowly: her only desire is to be the handmaid of the Lord (cf. Lk 1:38, 48). She knows that she will only contribute to the salvation of the world if, rather than carrying out her own projects, she places herself completely at the disposal of God's initiatives."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Benedict XVI (b. 1927, r. 2005-2013)
"Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the next…"Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—St. Stephen of Hungary (975-1038, feast: 16 August)
"If you are successful you will win some false friends & true enemies: Succeed anyway."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—St. Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"I really cannot imagine anything more cold & more enslaved, more paralyzing to human reason or destructive of freedom than that thing to which millions of people are prostrating themselves every day, namely, the terrible, anonymous authority of 'they.' 'They say.' 'They are wearing green this year.' 'They say that Catholics adore Mary.' 'They say that the hair will be worn shorter this year.' 'They say that Freud is the thing.' Who are they? Countless slaves & puppets are bowing down daily before that invisible, tyrannical myth of they. No wonder dictatorships arose to personalize that terrible slavery. These millions will not accept the authority of Christ who rose from the dead, who continues to live in the Church. We know whom we obey. Millions do not know whom they are obeying. They cannot point to the persons or the object behind that terrible, anonymous 'they.' But thank God we know. We obey our Lord in the Church."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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