Project BLACK MAMBA

'Tis the Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary: Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duae, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

This feast is a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (January 3). Its object is to commemorate all the privileges bestowed upon Mary by God & all the graces received through her intercession & mediation. The entry in the Roman Martyrology about the feast speaks of it in the follow terms: "The Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a day on which the inexpressible love of the Mother of God for her Holy Child is recalled, & the eyes of the faithful are directed to the figure of the Mother of the Redeemer, for them to invoke with devotion."

'Tis also the festival of Saint Ailbe, Bishop (died circa 528, of Emly; A.K.A. Elvis): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Guy of Anderlecht, Confessor (circa 950-1012, also spelt Guido, A.K.A. Wye of Láken), the "Poor Man of Anderlecht:" Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The Letter to the Colossians, chapter two, verses six thru fifteen;
Psalm One Hundred Forty-five, verses one(b) & two, eight & nine, & ten & eleven;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter six, verses twelve thru nineteen.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, after Jesus names his twelve apostles in today’s Gospel, he heals a multitude of people. And that multitude represents us, for we all stand in need of the Savior’s healing touch.

We are made for love and connection and justice and nonviolence, but at every turn and in every way we are twisted in the direction of hatred, separation, injustice, and violence. We are, as St. Augustine put it, wandering in the land of dissimilitude and in the grip of the libido dominandi. The contemporary philosopher Rene Girard has reminded us that all of our social arrangements are marked by scapegoating and oppression.

The human race is best characterized as a dysfunctional spiritual family, all of us having been marked from birth by the effects of sin. Sin has found its way into every aspect of human life, personally and institutionally. We would be hopelessly naïve to think otherwise.

And so we need, not just a philosopher or social theorist or political activist or military hero, but a Savior, someone who can break into our dysfunction from the outside and heal us.

Video reflection by Sister Johnice Rzadkiewicz, C.S.S.F.: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary
The Letter to the Galatians, chapter four, verses four thru seven;
or, the Letter to the Ephesians, chapter one, verses three thru six, eleven, & twelve;
R/. "O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the Eternal Father;"
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one, verses thirty-nine thru forty-seven.

Bible Study—Parish Mission
The Letter to the Romans, chapter eight (verses one thru thirty-nine).

Commentary: The Flesh & the Spirit (Romans, 8:1-13), Children of God through Adoption (8:14-17), Destiny of Glory (8:18-27), & God's Indomitable Love in Christ (8:28-39).