Saints + Scripture

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

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin (1656-1680, the "Lily of the Mohawks"): Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

She contracted smallpox in an epidemic; her family died & her face was scarred. She converted to Roman Catholicism at age nineteen, when she was renamed Kateri, baptized in honor of Saint Catherine of Siena [29 April]. Refusing to marry, she left her village & moved for the remaining five years of her life to the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Deusdedit of Canterbury, Bishop, O.S.B. (died circa 664,; also spelt Adeodatus, A.K.A. Frithona): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Francisco Solano, Priest, O.F.M. (1549-1610, Anglicized as Francis Solanus, the "Wonder Worker of the New World"): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of This Day
Mass Readings—Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Isaiah, chapter six, verses one thru eight;
Psalm Ninety-three, verses one(a/b), one(c/d) & two, & five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses twenty-four thru thirty-three.

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

Friends, Jesus instructs his disciples in today’s Gospel, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.”

What is the greatest fear we have? Undoubtedly, the fear of losing our own lives; we fear the death of the body. But Jesus is telling us not to worry about those paper tigers that can only affect the body and its goods.

When I am in love with God, when I am “fearing” him above all things, I am rooted in a power that transcends space and time, a power that governs the universe in its entirety, a power that is greater than life and death.

More to it, this power knows me intimately and guides me according to his purposes: “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid.” Because of this we have nothing to fear from anything or anybody here below.

Video reflection by Harry Dudley, D.Min.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha
The Book of Hosea, chapter two, verses sixteen(b/c), seventeen(c/d), twenty-one, & twenty-two;
Psalm Forty-five, verse eleven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-five, verses one thru thirteen.

Bible Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter seven (verses one thru twenty-nine).

Commentary: Critique of Sages on the Day of Adversity (Ecclesiastes, 7:1-14), Critique of Sages on Justice & Wickedness (7:15-25), & Critique of Sages on Women (7:26-29).

Proverb o' This Day (Ecclesiastes, 7:2)

It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of every man,
and the living should take it to heart.

Papal Quote o' This Day

"Man's unique grandeur is ultimately based on his capacity to know the truth. And human beings desire to know the truth. Yet truth can only be attained in freedom. This is the case with all truth, as is clear from the history of science; but it is eminently the case with those truths in which man himself, man as such, is at stake, the truths of the spirit, the truths about good & evil, about the great goals & horizons of life, about our relationship with God. These truths cannot be attained without profound consequences for the way we live our lives."
—Pope Benedict XVI (born 1927, reigned 2005-2013)

Little Flower Quote o' This Day

"Jesus wishes to own your heart completely."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' This Day

"One of the most striking aspects of the public ministry of Jesus was His special love for those who were suffering. He touched, blessed, & healed them. He forgave their sins. He offered them consolation & hope by proclaiming to them the Gospel of salvation."
—Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)