Monday, November 20, 2017

Project BLACK MAMBA

'Tis the festival of Saints Edmund the Martyr & Humbert of Elmham, Bishop; Martyrs (died 869; A.K.A. King Edmund of the East Angles; also spelt Humbertus), martyred at the hands of the Great Heathen Army: Martyr-link Echo & Wikipedia-link Echo, Martyr-link Hotel & Wikipedia-link Hotel; Wikipedia-link Great Heathen Army.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Bernward of Hildesheim, Bishop (circa 960-1022): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Maria Fortunata Viti, Religious, O.S.B. (1827-1922, A.K.A. Anna Felicia Viti): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feria
The First Book of Maccabees, chapter one, verses ten thru fifteen; forty-one, forty-two, & forty-three; fifty-four thru fifty-seven; sixty-two; & sixty-three;
Psalm One Hundred Nineteen, verses fifty-three, sixty-one, one hundred thirty-four, one hundred fifty, one hundred fifty-five, & one hundred fifty-eight;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter eighteen, verses thirty-five thru forty-three.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today in the Gospel passage we see Jesus' mercy toward the blind man as a hallmark of his ministry. Jesus comes as healer, savior, inaugurator of the kingdom. He is the embodiment of hope. Jesus wanted to connect human suffering to the very source of life and health. The energy of God pours through him to the needy.

Now I realize a question may be forming in your mind: "Well, why doesn't he simply cure everyone, then?" The answer is obviously wrapped up in the mystery of God's will, but the important point is this: Jesus is healer in many senses, but ultimately in the sense that he heals us from sin and death, not only physical maladies. What appears historically in Jesus is an eschatological anticipation, a hint and foreshadowing of what is coming in God's time and in God's way.
Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun (Telecare T.V.): U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.


Saint Quote o' the Day
From "Heroes' Words" in 54-Day Basic Training in Holiness by Father Richard Heilman:
"Pray, hope, & don't worry."
—St. Pio of Pietrelcina (23 September)

Yesterday's BLACK MAMBA post, for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, has been "unsimplex-ed": Wayback Machine.

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