Thursday, June 8, 2017

Project BLACK MAMBA

'Tis the festival of Saint William of York, Bishop (circa 1090-1154, A.K.A. William FitzHerbert): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed John Davy, Deacon & Martyr, O.Cart. (died 1537), martyred in the reign of the king Henry VIII, one of the Carthusian Martyrs of London: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (list); Wikipedia-link Charterhouse.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Weekday
The Book of Tobit, chapter six, verses ten & eleven; chapter seven, verses one(b,c,d,e) & nine thru seventeen; & chapter eight, verses four thru nine(a);
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-eight, verses one & two, three, & four & five;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter twelve, verses twenty-eight thru thirty-four.

Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, our Gospel for today features the Word of God himself telling us what stands at the heart of the law. A scribe posed, as a kind of game, the following question: “Which commandment is the greatest?” There were hundreds of laws in the Jewish system. So it was a favorite exercise of the rabbis to seek out the single rule that somehow clarified the whole of the law.

So Jesus gives his famous answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” What does that mean? The law is finally about love, and the love of God and neighbor are inextricably bound to one another. If we love God, but hate our neighbors, we’re wasting our time.

Why are the two loves so tightly connected? Because of who Jesus is. Jesus is not just a human being, and he is not just God. He is the God-man, the one in whom divinity and humanity come together. Therefore, it’s impossible to love him as God without loving the humanity that he’s created and embraced.
Bible Study
The Book of Genesis, chapter twelve (verses one thru twenty);
The Book of Genesis, chapter fifteen (verses one thru twenty-one);
The Book of Genesis, chapter sixteen (verses one thru sixteen);
The Book of Genesis, chapter seventeen (verses one thru twenty-six);
The Book of Genesis, chapter eighteen (verses one thru thirty-three);
The Book of Genesis, chapter twenty-two (verses one thru twenty-four).

Commentary: Abram's Call & Migration (12:1-9), Abram & Sarai in Egypt (12:10-20), the Covenant with Abram (15:1-21), Birth of Ishmael (16:1-16), Covenant of Circumcision (17:1-26), Abraham's Visitors (18:1-15), Abraham Intercedes for Sodom (18:16-33), the Testing of Abraham (22:1-19), & Nahor's Descendants (22:20-24).

I attempted to read all this, or at least part of it, yesterday before Mass. Mass was at 6:30 P.M. & I arrived at the church at roughly 5:45. However, I was undone when a child I know, nicknamed Rocket, glommed onto me. My Bible was already open when she sat down next to me & started talking at me. (Not so much to me as at me.) Once, she said she'd let me get back to my reading, but no more than two minutes passed before she again said, "Mr. Wilson..." & launched into a mumbled story about some or another going-on at her school. God bless the child for her obliviousness to the suffering of another.

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