Saints + Scripture

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

The Popish Plot
Theology Thursday: "The Mathematics of Sin"
&
Summer Book Club: "Saints, Saints, & Then Some More Saints"

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin & Martyr, O.C.D. (1891-1942, A.K.A. Edith Stein), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyr-link ūna, Martyr-link duæ, YouTube-link The True Enlightenment!, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

On 9 August, the Catholic Church remembers St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein. St Teresa converted from Judaism to Catholicism in the course of her work as a philosopher, & later entered the Carmelite Order. She died in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in 1942.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Nathy, Priest (floruit sixth century, of Achonry; also spelt Nath Í, A.K.A. Crumnathy): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blesseds Thomas Palasor, Priest; John Norton; & John Talbot; Martyrs (died 1600), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, three of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link Tango Papa & Wikipedia-link Tango Papa, Martyr-link Juliett November, Martyr-link Juliett Tango & Wikipedia-link Juliett Tango; Martyrs-link LXXXV & Wikipedia-link LXXXV.

'Tis also the festival of Blesseds Michał Tomaszek & Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski, Priests & Martyrs, O.F.M. Conv. (died 1991), martyred by the Shining Path Communists, two of the Three Martyrs of Chimbote: Martyr-link Mike Tango, Martyr-link Zulu Alpha Sierra, & Wikipedia-link III.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter thirty-one, verses thirty-one thru thirty-four;
Psalm Fifty-one, verses twelve & thirteen, fourteen & fifteen, & eighteen & nineteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter sixteen, verses thirteen thru twenty-three.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus asks his disciples that devastating question: "But who do you say that I am?" But the disciples don’t speak. Are they afraid? Perhaps. Finally Simon Peter speaks: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." You are the Messhiach, the anointed one, the long-awaited Savior, but more to it, you are the Son of God, not just a human hero. This is the mystical faith that stands at the heart of Christianity. To hold this Petrine faith is to be a Christian; to deny it is to deny Christianity.

And then those amazing words of Jesus: "Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father." This insight did not come from Simon’s own intelligent speculation. It came from above, through grace, from God. And this is why Peter is a rock.

The Church is built not on a worldly foundation of any kind but on a mystical foundation, born of Peter’s faith in the revealing God. The Church is neither democratic nor aristocratic—it is charismatic. And this is where its power comes from.

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

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
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.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Every apostolate is an action of Christ Himself; it cannot be exercised except under the impulse of the Spirit. The Spirit searches out the deep things of God. The Spirit also arouses in us an ineffable prayer & continues the salvific action of Christ through the Church's members."
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (-, feast day:)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"We must forget ourselves, & put aside our tastes & ideas, & guide souls not by our own way, but along the path which Our Lord points out."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. I have an ever deeper & firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to the smallest details has been marked out for me in the plan of Divine Providence & has a completely coherent meaning in God’s all-seeing eyes. And so I am beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me."
—St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891-1942, feast day: 9 August)