Project BLACK MAMBA

Today is the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Our Lady-link ūna, Our Lady-link duae, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Quoth the bulletin:

Belief in the incarnation of God the Son through Mary is the basis of calling her the Mother of God. The feast celebrating Mary's Immaculate Conception, 8 December (a liturgy instituted later), was set to correspond to nine months before Mary's birth.

Scripture of the Day (Today)
Personal Reading
The Letter to the Romans, chapter twelve;
The Letter to the Romans, chapter thirteen.

Commentary: Romans, 13:1-7 seems to say that our Heavenly Father has appointed the Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant (I.S.I.L., A.K.A. the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria [I.S.I.S.] or simply the Islamic State), the Salafi jihadist terror group, to rule the areas that the self-styled "caliphate" currently controls. Therefore, if I.S.I.L. demands that a Christian renounce his faith & deny the divinity of Christ, if it right & proper for the Christian to do so, in obedience to the earthly authority God has ordained to rule over the Christian. Such earthly authority cannot act contrary to our Heavenly Father's will, Romans seems to say. This rather literal reading is clearly nonsense, running contrary to St. Paul's own life & martyrdom, & the Lord Jesus's teaching about reserving to Caesar what is Caesar's & to God what is God's. Much prayer & pondering will be necessary to understand what it is that this divinely-inspired Scripture is actually trying to teach us.

Mass Readings
The Book of Micah, chapter five, verses one thru four(A);
or, the Letter to the Romans, chapter eight, verses twenty-eight thru thirty;
Psalm Thirteen, verse six & the Book of Isaiah, chapter sixty-one, verse ten;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter one, verses one thru sixteen, eighteen thru twenty-three;
(or, the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter one, verses eighteen thru twenty-three).

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On 7 September, we remembered Saint John of Lodi, O.S.B. (1025-1106), hermit & later bishop: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

We also remembered Blessed Ralph Corby, S.J. (1598-1644, A.K.A. Corbie or Corbington), priest, martyred under King Charles I: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day (Monday)
Personal Reading
The Letter to the Romans, chapter eleven.

Mass Readings
The Letter to the Colossians, chapter one, verse twenty-four thru chapter two, verse three;
Psalm Sixty-two, verses six & seven, nine;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter six, verses six thru eleven.