Saints + Scripture: XXVII Sunday in Ordinary Time

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

'Tis the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Genesis, chapter two, verses eighteen thru twenty-four;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-eight, verses one & two, three, four & five, & six;
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter two, verses nine, ten, & eleven;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter ten, verses two thru sixteen
(or, the Gospel according to Mark, chapter ten, verses two thru twelve).

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

Friends, in our Gospel Jesus defines the fundamental sacredness of marriage. I’m convinced that the deep sacramental and religious meaning of marriage—even within the Church—has been, in recent years, dramatically compromised. We say that marriage is a vocation, but do we mean it?

We can look at human sexual relationships at a number of different levels. Two people can come together purely for physical pleasure, for economic reasons, or for psychological companionship. And we might witness two people coming together out of authentic love.

But none of these levels is what the Bible means by marriage. When I was doing parish work, I would invariably ask young couples, “Why do you want to get married in church?” Most would say something like, “We love each other.” But I said, “Well, that’s no reason to get married in church.” Usually, they looked stunned. But I meant it.

You come to church to be married before God and his people when you are convinced that your marriage is not, finally, about you; that it is about God and about serving God’s purposes; that it is, as much as the priesthood of a priest, a vocation, a sacred calling.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Video reflection by Father Claude Burns: Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.

Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.

Mass Journal: Week Forty-one
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

This process of identifying strengths & weaknesses & transforming the weaknesses into strengths is classic Catholic spirituality. For two thousand years, the champions of Christianity, the men & women we call saints, have been going into the classroom of silence, taking a humble & honest look at themselves, & assessing their own strengths & weaknesses. Then, armed with this knowledge, they have bravely set forth to transform their weaknesses into strengths, their vices into virtues.

†

Otherwise, 7 October would be the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary (formerly, Our Lady of Victory), instituted to celebrate the miraculous Christian victory over the Muslim Turks in the Battle of Lepanto (1571): Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link; Rosary-link, Wikipedia-link Rosary, & Wikipedia-link Lepanto.

Commentary: Wayback Machine '17 & Wayback Machine "The Explorers' Club," № CDX.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Mark, Pope (died 336), thirty-fourth (XXXIV) Bishop of Rome: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Cynog ap Brychan, Martyr (circa 434-492, also spelt Canog): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Osyth, Abbess & Martyr (died circa 700; also spelt Osgyth, Sythe, etc.), martyred by pagan Anglo-Saxons (a cephalophore), foundress of the convent at Chich, around which arose a village named for her: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Cephalophore & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"I want to recommend the Rosary to you in a special way. It is a source of profound Christian life. Try to pray it every day alone or with your family. Meditate on those scenes of the life of Jesus & Mary of which the Joyful, Sorrowful, & Glorious Mysteries remind us."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"I am the smallest of creatures & I recognize my worthlessness, but I also know how hearts that are generous & noble love to do good."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"The Rosary means lingering in the sphere of Mary's life, the content of which is Christ"
—Romano Guardini (1885-1968)