Project BLACK MAMBA: Eastertide

'Tis the festival of Saint Florian, Martyr (died circa 304), martyred in the reign of the emperor Diocletian: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Due to St. Florian's patronage of firefighters, the St. Florian's Cross remains a universally recognizable symbol of firefighting even in non-Catholic countries such as the U.S.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Michael Giedroyc, Hermit, O.S.A. (circa 1425-1485): Blessed-link ūnus, Blessed-link duo, & Wikipedia-link List.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. On the Wikipedia page, listed twenty-second from the bottom, just above St. Nicholas of Flüe [21 March].

'Tis also the festival of Saint Robert Reynolds, Martyr, O.Ss.S. (1492-1535), martyred in the reign of the king Henry VIII, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link XL.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Easter Weekday
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter eight, verses twenty-six thru forty;
Psalm Sixty-six, verses eight & nine, sixteen & seventeen, & twenty;
The Gospel according to John, chapter six, verses forty-four thru fifty-one.

Commentary: Easter Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron:

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus offers himself as food for the soul. There is a great truth revealed in the bread of life discourse. It is the law of the gift. This personal, incarnating God wants to be eaten and drunk, wants to be radically and fully for the other. Why were the gods of the ancient world so popular? Because they were projections of ourselves—vain, arrogant, resentful, violent. This means that they put little moral pressure on us. They were frightening, but not morally demanding.

But this God who shows that he is totally love and who wants us in relation to him, wants us to eat and drink him in, is the God who wants us to be like him. As he is food and drink for the world, we must be food and drink for the world. As he gave himself away utterly, so we must give ourselves away fully.

We’re not to cling to the goods, honors, and values of the world, all those things that aggrandize the ego, but rather give ourselves away. That’s what we learn from the God of the gift.

Bible Study
The First Letter of Peter, chapter one (verses one thru twenty-five);
The First Letter of Peter, chapter two, verses one thru ten.

Commentary: I. Address: Greeting (1:1&2), II. The Gift & Call of God in Baptism: Blessing (1:3-12), Obedience (1:13-16), Reverence (1:17-21), Mutual Love (1:22-25), & God's House & People (2:1-10).