Saints + Scripture: Saturday w/in the Octave of Easter

The Long Road Back, Part II of V

Saturday, 7 April was the Saturday within the Octave of Easter: Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of That Day
Mass Readings—Saturday within the Octave of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter four, verses thirteen thru twenty-one;
Psalm One Hundred Eighteen, verses one, fourteen, & fifteen(a/b); sixteen, seventeen, & eighteen; & nineteen, twenty, & twenty-one;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verses nine thru fifteen.

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

Friends, in today’s passage Jesus commissions his disciples to “go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

The Church doesn’t have a mission; the Church is a mission. A passionate Catholicism brings people to Christ, like the four people who lowered the paralytic through the roof to get him to Jesus. An evangelizing Catholicism shouts from the rooftops, grabs people by the lapels, and speaks with urgency and energy about Jesus.

Obviously, this has to be done with great respect and love; but very often, obstacles that come from our “get-along” culture, and perhaps from an exaggerated ecumenism, keep it from getting done at all. We have not been successful in our Christianity unless and until we have brought others to the Lord. “Where are the others?”

Video reflection by Deacon Bernard Nojadera: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

†

Otherwise, 7 April would have been the festival of Blessed Notker the Stammerer, Priest, O.S.B. (circa 840-912; A.K.A. the Poet, of Saint Gall): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also have been the festival of Saint Henry Walpole, Priest & Martyr, S.J. (1558-1595), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link XL & Wikipedia-link XL.

'Twould also have been the festival of Blessed Alexander Rawlins, Priest & Martyr (died 1595), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also have been the festival of Blesseds Edward Oldcorne, Priest, & Ralph Ashley, Martyrs, S.J. (died 1606), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king James VI & I, in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot: Martyr-link Echo Oscar & Wikipedia-link Echo Oscar; Martyr-link Romeo Alpha & Wikipedia-link Romeo Alpha; Plot-link & Wikipedia-link Plot.

'Twould also have been the festival of Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, Priest, F.S.C. (1651-1719), founder of the De La Salle Brothers, A.K.A. the Christian Brothers, formally the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link F.S.C.

Papal Quote o' That Day

"He who is chaste in flesh should not be proud, for he should know that he owes the gift of continence to another."
—Pope St. Clement I (35-99, feast day: 23 November)

Little Flower Quote o' That Day

"How good God is to have given wings to my soul & lifted it up!"
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' That Day

"Charity is no substitute for justice withheld."
—St. Augustine of Hippo, Doctor of the Church (354-430, feast day: 28 August)