Saints + Scripture — Tuesday, 13 November

The Longest Road Back, Part XIX of XX | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Tuesday, 13 November was the Memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin, M.S.C. (1850-1917, "Mother Cabrini"), foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link; Order-link M.S.C. & Wikipedia-link M.S.C.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

She was [an] Italian-American religious sister, who founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Catholic religious institute that was a major support to the Italian immigrants to the United States. She was the first naturalized citizen of the United States to be canonized.

'Twas also the festival of Saint Brice of Tours, Bishop (circa 379-444): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twas also the festival of Saint Nicholas the Great, Pope (circa 800-867, A.K.A. Nicholas I), one hundredth fifth (CV) Bishop of Rome: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pontiff.

'Twas also the festival of Saint Didacus of Alcalá, Religious, O.F.M. (circa 1400-1463, A.K.A. Diego de San Nicolás) namesake of the Mission San Diego de Alcalá around which grew the city of San Diego: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Mission & Wikipedia-link City.

'Twas also the festival of Blessed Carl Lampert, Priest & Martyr (1894-1944), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to Titus, chapter two, verses one thru eight & eleven thru fourteen;
Psalm Thirty-seven, verses three & four, eighteen & twenty-three, & twenty-seven & twenty-nine;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter seventeen, verses seven thru ten.

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

Friends, as is often the case with Jesus’ more difficult parables, we have to pay careful attention to today’s Gospel story. It’s all about justice, which is rendering to each what is due—a good and noble thing. When justice is your primary consideration, you are basically in charge, morally speaking. But what Jesus is doing today in this striking and annoying story is to shake us out of that understanding of our relationship to God.

The point is this: God owes us precisely nothing. Everything we have, including our very existence, is a sheer gift. We are in absolutely no position ever to demand anything of God. To move into this space is to move out of the stance of faith. And so no matter what God asks, the proper response is: "I am an unprofitable servant; I have done what I was obliged to do."

Video reflection by Father Greg Dobson: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
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 Luke, chapter ten, verses thirty-eight thru forty-two.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Much to be envied are those who can give their lives for something greater than themselves in loving service to others. This, more than words or deeds alone, is what draws people to Christ."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"He will Himself come down, &, taking you in His arms, will carry you to His Kingdom never again to leave Him."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Catholic Quote o' the Day

"The Church is an old woman with many wrinkles & furrows. But she is my mother. And no one strikes my mother."
—Karl Rahner (1904-1984)