Saints + Scripture

The Popish Plot
Summer Book Club: "Faith Family"

'Tis the festival of Saint Methodius of Constantinople, Bishop (circa 788-847, A.K.A. Methodios I), exiled as an opponent of the heresy of Byzantine iconoclasm: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Heresy-link & Wikipedia-link Heresy.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, Bishop (circa 810-886, the "sweet-voiced nightingale of the Church," A.K.A. of the Studium), exiled as an opponent of the heresy of Byzantine iconoclasm: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Heresy-link & Wikipedia-link Heresy.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Walter Eustace, Martyr (died 1583), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Irish Martyrs: Martyr-link; Martyrs-link Irish & Wikipedia-link Irish.

Scripture of This Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
The First Book of Kings, chapter eighteen, verses forty-one thru forty-six;
Psalm Sixty-five, verses ten, eleven, & twelve & thirteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses twenty thru twenty-six.

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

Friends, our Gospel for today is taken from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has symbolically established himself as the new Moses, giving a law upon a mountain. His “you have heard it said...but I say...” has revealed that he has authority even over the Torah.

To be clear, the Law is not being abrogated here; it is being intensified. The Law was always meant to bring humanity into line with divinity. In the beginning, this alignment was at a fairly basic level. But now that the definitive Moses has appeared, the alignment is becoming absolute, radical, complete.

And so Jesus teaches, “You have heard it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.” Killing is an action, but that action is rooted in a more fundamental dysfunction: a hateful attitude, a disordered soul, a basic misperception of reality. To utterly be like God, we obviously have to eliminate cruel and hateful actions; but we have to go deeper, eliminating cruel and hateful thoughts and attitudes. For God is love, right through.

Video reflection by Fr. Roger Lopez, O.F.M. (Franciscan Media): U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Papal Quote o' This Day

"It was then that I thought of St. Francis… I thought of wars & about peace & that's how the name came to me—a man of peace, a poor man… & how I would like a church of the poor, for the poor."
—Pope Francis (born 1936, reigning since 2013)

Little Flower Quote o' This Day

"There is no need for me to grow up. In fact, just the opposite: I must become less and less."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' This Day

"O, my God!"
—St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556, feast day: 31 July)