'Tis the feast of Saint Ismael, Bishop (sixth century, A.K.A. Isfael): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings
The Book of Sirach, chapter forty-eight, verses one thru fourteen;
Psalm Ninety-seven, verses one thru seven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter six, verses seven thru fifteen.
Commentary: Today's reading from Sirach speaks of the prophet Elijah, star of the last fortnight's reading from 1 Kings, & the prophet Elisha, Elijah's successor. This year, my parish is running a program called the Alpha Course, developed & hosted by the Anglican "priest" Nicky Gumbel. One of my objections is that we, an at least nominally Catholic parish, are distributing literature that affirms the Protestant culling of the Bible & denies that the deuterocanonical books are rightly part of Sacred Scripture. Sirach is one of the books that we, through the distribution of the Alpha literature, have been denying is divinely revealed, & yet here it is in the daily readings, in the official teaching of Holy Mother Church, affirmed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Whose teaching ought I trust as being true & authoritative, the bishops, very the successors of the Apostles, or Nicky Gumbel? That is a rhetorical question, of course.
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