Project BLACK MAMBA: XXI Sunday in Ordinary Time

'Tis the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time: Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Isaiah, chapter twenty-two, verses nineteen thru twenty-three;
Psalm One Hundred Thirty-eight, verses one & two, two & three, & six & eight;
The Letter to the Romans, chapter eleven, verses thirty-three thru thirty-six;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter sixteen, verses thirteen thru twenty.

Commentary: Video reflection by Jeff Cavins: Encountering the Word.

Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today's Gospel Jesus asks his disciples that devastating question: "But who do you say that I am?" But the disciples don't speak. Are they afraid? Perhaps. Finally Simon Peter speaks: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." You are the Meshiach, the anointed one, the long-awaited savior, but more to it, you are the Son of God, not just a human hero. This is the mystical faith that stands at the heart of Christianity. To hold this Petrine faith is to be a Christian; to deny it is to deny Christianity.

And then those amazing words of Jesus: "Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." This insight did not come from Simon's own intelligent speculation. It came from above, through grace, from God. And this is why Peter is a rock.

The Church is built, not on a worldly foundation of any kind, but on a mystical foundation, born of Peter's faith in the revealing God. The Church is neither democratic nor aristocratic—it is charismatic. And this is where its power comes from.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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

The saints were remarkable men & women, but surprisingly what made them remarkable was rarely anything too spectacular. What made them extraordinary was the ordinary. They strove to grow in virtue through the ordinary things of everyday life. If they were caring for the sick they were growing in humility. When they were educating children they were growing in patience. As Saint Thérèse of Lisieux [1 October] said, "Do the little things with great love." There is nothing more attractive than holiness. Throughout history, whenever men & women of holiness have lived, the Church has blossomed. This is the answer to all of our questions & the solution to all of our problems: holiness of life. What are you willing to live for?

Just before her death, [Saint] Joan of Arc [30 May] wrote, "I know this now. Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, & yet they give their lives for little or nothing. One life is all we have, & we live it as we believe in living it & then it's gone. But to surrender what you are & to live without belief is more terrible than dying—even more terrible than dying young." What are you willing to give your life for?

Otherwise, 27 August would be the festival of Saint Monica (circa 322-387, of Hippo): Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duae, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. The mother of St. Augustine of Hippo [28 August].Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:

Monica had at least three children who survived infancy. The oldest, [St.] Augustine (August 28), is the most famous. At the time of his father's death, Augustine was seventeen & a rhetoric student in Carthage. Monica was distressed to learn that her son had accepted the Manichean heresy (all flesh is evil) & was living an immoral life. For a while, she refused to let him eat or sleep in her house. Then one night she had a vision that assured her Augustine would return to the faith. From that time on, she stayed close to her son, praying & fasting for him. In fact, she often stayed much closer than Augustine wanted.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Roger Cadwallador, Priest & Martyr (circa 1566-1610), martyred in the reign of the king James VI & I, one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link LXXXV.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint David Lewis, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (1616-1679, A.K.A. Charles Baker), martyred in the reign of the king Charles II, a victim of the perjurer Titus Oates's "Popish Plot" hoax, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link P.P. & Wikipedia-link XL.