Saints + Scripture: Eastertide — Better Late than Never

The Popish Plot
Wacky Wednesday: "Gossip Is Murder!"

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr (1030-1079, of Szczepanów, of Kraków; also spelt Stanisław Szczepanowski), martyred personally by the Polish king Bolesław II "the Cruel:" Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

He was Bishop of Cracow. he incurred the enmity of King Boleslaus the Bold when he denounced the king's cruelties & injustices & especially his kidnapping of the beautiful wife of a nobleman. When Stanislaus excommunicated tje king & stopped services at the cathedral when Boleslaus entered, Boleslaus himself killed Stanislaus while the bishop was saying Mass in a chapel outside the city on 11 April. Stanislaus has long been the symbol of Polish nationhood.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Guthlac of Crowland, Priest & Hermit, O.S.B. (circa 673-715), atop whose cell was later built Crowland Abbey: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.

Commentary: Brother of St. Pega of Peakirk [8 January].

'Tis also the festival of Blessed George Gervase, Priest & Martyr, O.S.B. (1571-1608, also spelt Jervise), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king James VI & I, one of the Martyrs of Douai: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link Douai & Wikipedia-link Douai.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Gemma Galgani, Virgin, C.P. (1878-1903, the "Flower of Lucca" & the "Daughter of Passion"), stigmatist: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Stigmata-link & Wikipedia-link Stigmata.

Scripture of This Day
Mass Readings—Easter Weekday
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter five, verses seventeen thru twenty-six;
Psalm Thirty-four, verses two & three, four & five, six & seven, & eight & nine;
The Gospel according to John, chapter three, verses sixteen thru twenty-one.

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

Friends, maybe you've seen informal evangelists at football or baseball games holding up a sign: “John 3:16.” Did you ever wonder what that means?

Well, we hear this verse from the Gospel of John in today’s reading: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

I think it's good that those people hold up that sign, because in many ways that is the whole Gospel, and even the whole Christian tradition, in miniature. Every cathedral, every church, every poem, every drama, the life of every saint—that's what they're all about.

Christianity does not announce, primarily, our virtue; it doesn't sing our praises; it doesn't exult in human civilization. What it primarily does is announce that message: that even in our sin—you might say, especially in our sin—God loved us. And so what did He do? He broke open His Own Heart and He sent His Own self into our humanity to heal us and offer us eternal life.

Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop & Martyr
The Book of Revelation, chapter twelve, verses ten, eleven, & twelve(a);
Psalm Thirty-four, verse five;
The Gospel according to John, chapter seventeen, verses eleven(b) thru nineteen.

Papal Quote o' This Day

"I believe in God—not in a Catholic God; there is no Catholic God. There is God, & I believe in Jesus Christ, His Incarnation. Jesus is my teacher & my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light & the Creator. This is my being."
—Pope Francis (born 1936, incumbent since 2013)

Little Flower Quote o' This Day

"It is trust, & nothing but trust, that must bring us to Love… Fear brings us only to Justice."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' This Day

"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us."
—St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church (354-430, feast day: 28 August)