Saints + Scripture — Friday, 1 June

The Long Road Back, Part I of VI
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Friday, 1 June was the Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr (circa 100-165), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius & Lucius Verus; author of, most notably, the First Apology, the Second Apology, & the Dialogue with Trypho: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link First Apology, Wikipedia-link Second Apology, & Wikipedia-link Dialogue.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

An early Christian apologist, he is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos (title of Jesus Christ, seen as the pre-existent Second Person of the Trinity).

'Twas also the festival of Saint Rónán of Locronan, Bishop (floruit sixth century; of Cornwall, of Quimper), around whose hermitage arose the town of Locronan: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Locronan.

'Twas also the festival of Saint Wystan, Confessor (died circa 849; of Evesham, of Mercia; also spelt Wigstan): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twas also the festival of Blessed John Storey, Martyr (1504-1571, also spelt Story), kidnapped from abroad & martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of That Day
Mass Readings—Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
The First Letter of Peter, chapter four, verses seven thru thirteen;
Psalm Ninety-six, verses ten, eleven & twelve, & thirteen;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter eleven, verses eleven thru twenty-six.

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

Friends, at the heart of today’s Gospel is the cleansing of the Temple. Jesus entered the great Temple in Jerusalem—which for a Jew of that time was everything—and began to tear the place apart. Precisely because the Temple was supposed to be so holy, Jesus was flabbergasted at what had happened to it, and how the trading of merchants had come to dominate.

From the earliest days, Christian writers and spiritual teachers saw the Temple as symbolic of the human person. In fact, didn’t Saint Paul himself refer to the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit? Your very self is meant to be a temple where God’s spirit dwells and where prayer, communion with God, is central.

But what happens to us sinners? The money changers and the merchants enter in. What is supposed to be a place of prayer becomes a den of thieves. And so the Lord must do in us now what he did in the Temple then: a little house-cleaning. What shape is the temple of your soul in? Suppose that Jesus has made a whip of cords, knotted with the Ten Commandments. What would he clear out of you?

Video reflection by Paula Trigo-Galan: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Justin
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter one, verses eighteen thru twenty-five;
Psalm Thirty-four, verse five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses thirteen thru nineteen.

Papal Quote o' That Day

"The Blessed Virgin made of her existence an unceasing & beautiful gift to God because she loved the Lord. Mary's example is an incentive to those who live in this home, & for all of us, to live in charity for our neighbor, not out of some sort of social duty, but beginning from the love of God, from the charity of God."
—Pope Francis (born 1936, reigning since 2013)

Little Flower Quote o' That Day

"My actions, my little sufferings, can make God loved all over the world."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' That Day

"As by the Word of God, Jesus our Savior was made Flesh & had both Flesh & Blood for our salvation, so also the food which has been blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him is both the Flesh & Blood of Jesus Incarnate."
—St. Justin Martyr (100-165, feast day: 1 June)