'Tis also the festival of Saint Hilarius, Pope (died 468, also spelt Hilary), forty-sixth Bishop of Rome: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.
Commentary: Wayback Machine. Usually spelt St. Hilarius to help avoid confusion with the earlier bishop & Doctor of the Church St. Hilary of Poitiers [13 January], whose named is also spelt Hilarius.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Oswald of Worchester, Bishop, O.S.B. (died 992): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: St. Oswald died in 29 February 992. His festival is always observed on the last day of this month, 29 February in leap years & 28 February in non-leap years.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Daniel Brottier, Priest, C.Ss.P. (1876-1936): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Bl. Daniel served as a chaplain to the French army during the First World War, not suffering a single wound despite spending fifty-two months at the front, ministering to the sick, the wounded, & the dying in the thick of battle. He credited his safekeeping to the intercession of St. Thérèse of Lisieux [1 October], the "Little Flower of Jesus."
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Lenten Weekday
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter eighteen, verses eighteen, nineteen, & twenty;
Psalm Thirty-one, verses five & six, fourteen, & fifteen & sixteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty, verses seventeen thru twenty-eight.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today in our Gospel the mother of James and John asks Jesus on their behalf for high places of authority in his kingdom. Ah, there is the voice of ambition. Some people don’t care at all about money or power or pleasure—but they care passionately about honor. A lot of people can identify with James and John. They want to go places, they want to be movers and shakers in society. Perhaps a number of people reading this reflection are filled with these emotions.Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
But Jesus turns the tables on them: "You do not know what you are asking." He is indeed a King, and he will indeed rule Israel, but his crown will be made of thorns, and his throne will be a Roman instrument of torture.
And so he tries to clarify: "Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" The key to honor in the kingdom of God is to drink the cup of suffering, to be willing to suffer out of love, to give one’s life away as a gift. Look at the lives of the saints. It is not about aggrandizing the ego, but emptying it out.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Let us ask the Virgin Mary—who was humble all her life—to lead us every day on the way of humility… seeking nothing in return, so that we might become worthy of the divine reward."Little Flower Quote o' the Day
—Pope Francis
"O my God, my eternal Love, my whole Good, & my never-ending Happiness, I desire to reserve nothing to myself, but freely & most willingly to sacrifice myself & all that is mine to Thee."Saint Quote o' the Day
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
"I thought that continence was a matter of our own strength, & I knew that I had not the strength: for in my utter foolishness, I did not know the word of Your Scripture that none can be continent unless You give it."
—St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church (354-430, feast day: 28 August)
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