Saints + Scripture

The Popish Plot
Wordy Wednesday: "Your Bible Was Meant to Be Read"

'Tis the festival of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, Bishop & Martyr (died circa 95, of Athens; A.K.A. Denis), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Husband of St. Damaris of Athens [4 October].

'Tis also the festival of Saint Cyprian of Toulon, Bishop (476-526), who opposed the Semipelagian heresy: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Heresy-link & Wikipedia-link Heresy.

'Tis also the festival of Saints Ewald the Black & Ewald the Fair, Priests & Martyrs (died circa 692, also spelt Hewald), martyred by pagan Saxons: Martyr-link Black, Martyr-link Fair, & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Gérard of Brogne, Priest & Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 895-959, also spelt Djuråd), founder of Brogne Abbey: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Theodora Guérin, Religious, S.P. (1798-1856 also spelt Théodore Guérin, A.K.A. Anne-Thérèse Guérin), foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods & Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College: Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link S.P. & Wikipedia-link S.M.W.C.

Scripture of This Day
Mass Readings—Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Job, chapter nine, verses one thru twelve, fourteen, fifteen, & sixteen;
Psalm Eighty-eight, verses ten(b/c) & eleven, twelve & thirteen, & fourteen & fifteen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter nine, verses fifty-seven thru sixty-two.

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

Friends, our Gospel for today is an especially good exemplification of the principle of detachment. When Jesus is the unambiguous center of your life, then everything else finds its place around him, in relation to him. And anything that would assert itself and take his position must be resisted wholeheartedly as an idol and a temptation.

We watch as Jesus clarifies for his disciples how a number of worldly goods fall away, once he is recognized as Lord. I want to look closely at one of these. As Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem, a man approaches him and says, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus makes the laconic remark, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." One of the things, quite naturally, that we savor is home, a place to stay, a nest, a man cave. There is just something uniquely awful about being displaced, about starting all over. We all want a place to lay our heads.

But if Jesus is first in our lives, then we cannot absolutize this good thing. We have to be willing to follow him wherever he wants us to go.

Papal Quote o' This Day

"Arriving at a deeper awareness of Christ demands also a deeper awareness of the Holy Spirit. 'To know Who Christ is' & 'to know Who the Spirit is' are two indissolubly linked requirements, the one implying the other."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' This Day

"The good God says to me, "Give always without concerning yourself with results.""
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' This Day

"He became what we are, so that He might make us what He is."
—St. Athanasius the Great, Doctor of the Church (295-373, feast day: 2 May)