Saints of the Day
'Tis the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, & Lazarus (Martha: died circa 80, of Bethany, the "Wonder Worker of Southern Gaul;" Lazarus: died circa 96; A.K.A. the Resurrected, of the Four Days), inaugural Bishop of Marseille, martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, a victim of his persecution (89-96).
Quoth Minute Meditations from the Popes:
Lord Jesus, You taught Saint Martha a lesson in the true meaning of love. Help me to realize that You have called me to be Your friend & enable me to respond to that call with all my heart, soul, & strength.'Tis the Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter twenty-six, verses one thru nine;
Psalm Sixty-nine (R/. fourteen[c]), verses five; eight, nine, & ten; & fourteen;
The Gospel according to John, chapter eleven, verses nineteen thru twenty-seven;
or, the Gospel according to Luke, chapter ten, verses thirty-eight thru forty-two.
Commentary: Daily Readings.
Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.
Jesus came primarily as a warrior whose final enemy is death. It is easy to domesticate Jesus, presenting him as a kindly moral teacher. But that is not how the Gospels present him. He is a cosmic warrior who has come to do battle with those forces that keep us from being fully alive.
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus deals with the effects of death and a death-obsessed culture: violence, hatred, egotism, exclusion, false religion, phony community. But the final enemy he must face down is death itself. Like Frodo going into Mordor, he has to go into death’s domain, get into close quarters with it, and take it on.
Coming to Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus feels the deepest emotions and begins to weep. This is God entering into the darkness, confusion, and agony of the death of sinners. He doesn’t blithely stand above our situation, but rather takes it on and feels it at its deepest level.
Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Daily Reflection.
Mass Readings—Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, & Lazarus
The First Letter of John, chapter four, verses seven thru sixteen;
Psalm Thirty-four (R/. two; or, nine), verses two & three, four & five, six & seven, eight & nine, & ten & eleven;
The Gospel according to John, chapter eleven, verses nineteen thru twenty-seven;
or, the Gospel according to Luke, chapter ten, verses thirty-eight thru forty-two.
Commentary: Memorial Readings.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Lord Jesus, grant that those You have called Your friends may come to know in fullness the joy You have promised. May they know the joy of praising You, the joy of serving their brothers & sisters,the joy of abiding in Your love."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Ávila, O.C.D., Doctor of the Church (1515-1582, feast: 15 October)
"Prayer is necessary as air to breathe, as necessary as the blood in our bodies, as necessary as anything. We think so many things are necessary, but we are wrong. We have been deceived & we deceive ourselves. So few things are necessary, & prayer is one of them."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"If we direct our work towards God, weshall work better than we know."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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