Saints + Scripture

Better Late than Never
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Popish Plot
Fermentation Friday: "Countdown to 'Made for Happiness,' Part Deux"

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop (circa 354-431, A.K.A. Pontius Meropius Anicius Paulinus): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Paulinus retained much of the style of the old classical poets, & composed most of the poems in honor of the feast of St. Felix [of Nola, 14 January]. He is the author of a body of extant works including fifty-one letters, thirty-two poems, & several prose pieces.

'Tis also the Optional Memorial of Saints John Fisher, Bishop, & Thomas More, Martyrs (died 1535): Martyr-link Juliett Foxtrot ūnus, Martyr-link Juliett Foxtrot duo, YouTube-link The True Enlightenment!, & Wikipedia-link Juliett Foxtrot; Martyr-link Tango Mike ūnus, Martyr-link Tango Mike duo, & Wikipedia-link Tango Mike.

Commentary: Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Ss. John Fisher & Thomas More—It is fitting that these two men have the same feast day, because they were both Englishmen martyred within [a fortnight] of each other, for the same cause, religious freedom; on the same occasion, defending the sanctity of marriage & Papal authority against state usurpation; & at the hands of the same man, King Henry VIII.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Alban, Martyr (died circa 303, of Verulamium), the protomartyr of Britain, martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Persecution.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Innocent V, Pope, O.P. (circa 1225-1276, A.K.A. Pierre of Tarentaise), one hundred eighty-fifth (CLXXXV) Bishop of Rome, who attended the Second Council of Lyon (1274): Blessed-link ūnus, Blessed-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff & Wikipedia-link Council.

Commentary: Not to be confused with St. Pierre of Tarentaise, O.Cist. [1102-1174, 14 September].

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
The Second Book of Kings, chapter eleven, verses one thru four, nine thru eighteen, & twenty;
Psalm One Hundred Thirty-two, verses eleven, twelve, thirteen & fourteen, & seventeen & eighteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter six, verses nineteen thru twenty-three.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples not to store up treasures for themselves on earth, but to store up treasures in heaven, "where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal."

St. Augustine once said that since every creature is made ex nihilo, it carries with it the heritage of non-being. There is a kind of penumbra or shadow of nothingness that haunts every finite thing.

This is a rather high philosophical way of stating what all of us know in our bones: no matter how good, beautiful, true, or exciting a thing or state of affairs is here below, it is destined to pass into non-being. Think of a gorgeous firework that bursts open like a giant flower and then, in the twinkling of an eye, is gone forever. Everything is haunted by non-being; everything, finally, is that firework.

But this is not meant to depress us; it is meant to redirect our attention precisely to the treasures of heaven, to the eternity of God. Once we see everything in light of God, we can learn to love the things of this world without clinging to them and without expecting too much of them. Think of how much disappointment and heartache could be avoided if we only learned this truth!

Video reflection by Barbara Forde: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Paulinus of Nola
The Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter eight, verses nine thru fifteen;
Psalm Forty, verses eight(a) & nine(a);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter twelve, verses thirty-two, thirty-three, & thirty-four.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of Ss. John Fisher & Thomas More
The First Letter of Peter, chapter four, verses twelve thru nineteen;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-six, verse five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses thirty-four thru thirty-nine.

Mass Readings—Requiem for Juliett Victor November
The Book of Sirach, chapter three, verses one thru six, eight, nine, fourteen, fifteen, eighteen, & nineteen;
Psalm Twenty-seven;
The First Letter to the Thessalonians, chapter four, verses thirteen thru eighteen;
The Gospel according to John, chapter fourteen, verses one thru six.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"In the present-day confusion of the notion of good & evil, licit & illicit, just & unjust, in the demoralizing spread of crime & immorality, we will do well to preserve & deepen the sense of natural law. This mans the sense of justice, of integrity, & of the good."
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"Jesus bore with me patiently, for He does not unfold everything at once to the soul. He gives His light little by little."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first."
—St. Thomas More (1478-1535, feast day: 22 June)