Saints + Scripture: XII Week in Ordinary Time

The Popish Plot
Summer Book Club: "School's Not Out for Summer"

'Tis the festival of Saint William of Montevergine, Abbot, O.S.B. (1085-1142, A.K.A. of Vercelli), founder of the Benedictine Williamites, formally the Order of Monte Vergine: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Order.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Dorothea of Montau, Religious (1347-1394, A.K.A. Dorothea Swarte): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Monday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
The Second Book of Kings, chapter seventeen, verses five thru eight, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen(a), & eighteen;
Psalm Sixty, verses three, four & five, & twelve & thirteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter seven, verses one thru five.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus commands us to stop judging others. He asks, "Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?" We are exceptionally good at seeing the fault in others, but we are exceptionally adept at ignoring it in ourselves.

There was a very popular book that came out when I was a teenager. It was called, I’m Okay and You’re Okay. It represented the culture of exculpation and feel-good-about-yourself. Some years ago, Christina Aguilera crooned, "I am beautiful in every single way and words can’t bring me down." Look at so many of the debates today: the attitude that is winning is one of self-invention and self-assertion. Who are you to tell me how to behave?

In all of this, we are fundamentally looking away from our guilt, our fault, our darkness. We are effectively drugging ourselves, dulling the pain of real self-consciousness. In the process, we turn ourselves into God, pretending to be absolute, flawless, and impervious to criticism. So "remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye."

Video reflection by Msgr. James Vlaun (Telecare T.V.): United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Essential to the attainment of these national goals is the moral imperative of ensuring social justice & respect for human dignity. The great biblical tradition enjoins on all peoples the duty to hear the voice of the poor. It bids us to break the bonds of injustice & oppression which give rise to glaring, & indeed, scandalous social inequalities. Reforming the social structures which perpetuate poverty & the exclusion of the poor first requires a conversion of mind & heart."
—Pope Francis (born 1936, reigning since 2013)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"How sweet is the way of love!"
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Bonus! Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"I have reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering is sweet to me. My God, I love You."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

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Commentary: This is the first 25 June "Saints + Scripture" post to be published on 25 June. Three cheers for an all-too-rare BLACK MAMBA victory! Hip hip! Hooray! Hip hip! Hooray! Hip hip! Hooray!