Project BLACK MAMBA: Eastertide

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church (circa 295-373, A.K.A. the Great, of Alexandria): Doctor-link ūnus, Doctor-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Historian Cornelius Clifford said in his account: "Athanasius was the greatest champion of Catholic belief on the subject of the Incarnation that the Church has ever known & in his lifetime earned the characteristic title of 'Father of Orthodoxy,' by which he has been distinguished ever since." Athanasius is the first person to identify the same twenty-seven books of the New Testament that are in use today.

Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:

St. Athanasius was born in Alexandria. he received an excellent education & became an expert in Sacred Scripture. He was ordained a deacon at the age of twenty-one. As the theologian of his bishop, Athanasius attended the Council of Nicaea which promulgated the Nicene Creed & condemned Arianism which taught that Jesus Christ was not eternal with the Father, but was created in time. St. Athanasius became patriarch & dedicated his efforts to implementing the decrees of the Council of Nicaea. He was met with much opposition, being exiled for seventeen years. He was accused of every kind of evil from embezzlement & treason to murder & sacrilege. Purified by these trials & atoning for any excessive intransigence in the name of orthodoxy, he died at Alexandria in 373. He wrote the life of St. Anthony [the Great, 17 January] which is a model of hagiography & the eremitical life.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed William Tirry, Priest & Martyr, O.S.A. (circa 1608-1654), martyred in the reign of the lord protector Oliver Cromwell: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Bolesław Strzelecki, Priest & Martyr (1896-1941), martyred in the reign of the Führer Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Martyrs of World War II: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link CVIII.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Easter Weekday
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter seven, verse fifty-one thru chapter eight, verse one(a);
Psalm Thirty-one, verses three(c,d) & four, six & seven(b), eight(a), & seventeen & twenty-one(a,b);
The Gospel according to John, chapter six, verses thirty thru thirty-five.

Commentary: Easter Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron:

Friends, today’s Gospel continues the bread of life discourse: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” What God has wanted from the beginning is to sit down with his creatures in a fellowship banquet, sharing life and laughter, giving, receiving, and giving back again.

This is the loop of grace that I’ve often spoken of. The more we receive the divine life, the more we should give it away and thereby get more of it. Throughout the Old Testament, we find images of the holy banquet. On God’s holy mountain, Isaiah says, there will be good meats and pure choice wines. And throughout his ministry, Jesus hosts meals to which all are invited. God wants to share his life with us.

This comes to fullest expression at the Eucharist, where Jesus identifies himself so radically with the bread and the wine that they change into his body and blood, and then he invites all of us around this table to feast and share life, to give and to receive and to give again.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Athanasius
The First Letter of John, chapter five, verses one thru five;
Psalm Thirty-seven, verse thirty(a);
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses twenty-two thru twenty-five.

Bible Study
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter twelve (verses one thru twenty-nine).

Commentary: God our Father (12:1-13) & Penalties of Disobedience (12:14-29).

Mass Journal: Week 18
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

G. K. Chesterton wrote, "Christianity has not been tried & found wanting; it has been found difficult & not tried." This is particularly true of Catholicism. Of all the many [persons] I know who have rejected Catholicism, or who are critical of it, I do not know a single person who has truly explored & embraced the Catholic lifestyle. If you humbly open your heart, mind, & soul to the genius of Catholicism, you will not find it wanting.