Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
He presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon, or official list, of Sacred Scripture. He spoke out against major heresies in the church & encouraged production of the Vulgate Bible with his support for St. Jerome [30 September].Wikipedia-link Council of Rome & Wikipedia-link Vulgate.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Daniel the Stylite, Hermit (circa 409-493): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Stylite.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Arthur Bell, Priest & Martyr, O.F.M. (1590-1643), martyred under the auspices of the Roundhead Parliament, one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link LXXXV.
Commentary: The Parliamentarian ("Roundhead") side of the English Civil War (1642-1651) was composed of a broad coalition of factions, with political views ranging from constitutional monarchism to proto-anarchism & religious views ranging from Anglicanism to Presbyterianism to Puritanism. Puritans formed the core of the New Model Army & thus imposed their congregationalist view of church governance on the whole country after Parliament's victory & the execution of King Charles I. Interesting to note that their belief in individual conscience before the Lord God did not extend to Catholics; the martyr Bl. Arthur was put to death for no crime other than simply being a priest.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Advent Weekday
The Book of Isaiah, chapter thirty-five, verses one thru ten;
Psalm Eighty-five, verses nine(a/b) & ten, eleven & twelve, & thirteen & fourteen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter five, verses seventeen thru twenty-six.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, our Gospel for today tells that wonderful story of the healing of the paralytic. People gather by the dozens to hear Jesus, crowding around the doorway of the house. They bring him a paralyzed man, and because there is no way to get him through the door, they climb up on the roof and open a space to lower him down.Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun (Telecare T.V.): U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Can I suggest a connection between this wonderful narrative and our present evangelical situation? There are an awful lot of Catholics who are paralyzed, unable to move, frozen in regard to Christ and the Church. This might be from doubt, from fear, from anger, from old resentment, from ignorance, or from self-reproach. Some of these reasons might be good; some might be bad.
Your job, as a believer, is to bring them to Christ. How? A word of encouragement, a challenge, an explanation, a word of forgiveness, a note, a phone call. We notice the wonderful urgency of these people as they bring the sick man to Jesus. Do we feel the same urgency within his mystical body today?
Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Damasus I
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter twenty, verses seventeen, eighteen(a), twenty-eight thru thirty-two, & thirty-six;
Psalm One Hundred Ten, verse four(b);
The Gospel according to John, chapter fifteen, verses nine thru seventeen.
Saint Quote o' the Day
"If we keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, then our hearts are filled with hope, our minds are washed in the light of truth, & we come to know the fullness of the Gospel with all its promise & life."A Humble Contribution to the New Evangelization
—Pope St. John Paul II (22 October)
The Popish Plot—Marian Monday: "Our Lady of Guadalupe"
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