Saints + Scripture: XXXI Sunday in Ordinary Time

'Tis the Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time: Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Week
Mass Readings—Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter six, verses two thru six;
Psalm Eighteen, verses two & three, three & four, & forty-seven & fifty-one;
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter seven, verses twenty-three thru twenty-eight;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter twelve, verses twenty-eight(b) thru thirty-four.

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

Friends, our Gospel features what the ancient Israelites referred to as the shema: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is Lord alone." Could I invite everyone to make an examination of conscience on the basis of the shema? Is God the one Lord of your life? Who or what are his rivals for your attention, for your ultimate concern? Or, to turn the question around: Does absolutely everything in your life belong to God?

But people might ask: How do we give ourselves to a reality that we cannot see? This is where the second command of Jesus comes into play. When asked which is the first of all the Commandments, Jesus responded with the shema, but then he added something to the tradition: a second command, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

There is a strict logic at work here. When you really love someone, you tend to love, as well, what they love. Well, what does God love? He loves everything and everyone that he has made. So, if you want to love God, and you find this move difficult because God seems so distant, love everyone you come across for the sake of God.

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-five
Reflection by Matthew Kelly, founder of the Dynamic Catholic Institute:

The truth is, I do things every day that are contrary to the ways of God, things that stop me from being the best version-of-myself, & so do you—every day. Then we carry all this baggage around with us & it affects us in ways that we are often not even aware of. Our sins affect us physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, & psychologically. They affect our relationships, our work, our health, our intellectual clarity, & our ability to genuinely embrace & experience all of life. Sin limits our future by chaining us to the past. Yet, most people are able to convince themselves either that sin doesn't exist, that they don't sin, or that their sins are not affecting them. But if we take an honest inventory of our thoughts, words, & actions, it becomes abundantly clear that every one of us does things that are self-destructive, offensive to others, contrary to the natural laws of the universe, & in direct conflict with the ways of God. If we really think we can carry all this around inside us & that it is not affecting us, then we are only deceiving ourselves.

†

Otherwise, 4 November would be the festival of Saint Gregor of Burtscheid, Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 940-999; also spelt Gregory, A.K.A. of Calabria, of Cassano), inaugural abbot of the Burtscheid Abbey: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Elena of Arcella, Religious, O.S.C. (circa 1207-1242, A.K.A. Elena Enselmini, Anglicized as Helen): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop (1538-1584)), founder of the Oblates of Saint Ambrose & of Saint Charles, a leader of the last sessions of the Council of Trent (1545-1563) & of the Catholic Reformation (1545-1648): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo & Wikipedia-link; Oblates-link & Wikipedia-link O.SS.C.A; & Wikipedia-link Council & Wikipedia-link Reformation.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Teresa Manganiello, T.O.S.F. (1849-1876, A.K.A. Maria Luisa Manganiello): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"To live the Christian life well there is need of continual repairing, of recurring reforms, of repeated renewals. The Christian life is not soft or easy. It is not blindly optimistic. It is joyous but it is not happy-go-lucky."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"The Creator of the universe awaits the prayer of one poor little person to save a multitude of others, redeemed like her at the price of His Blood."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Atheist Quote o' the Day

"When faith in the Mother of God declines, faith in the Son of God & God the Father declines also."
—Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872)