Saints + Scripture: Christmastide — Friday, 4 January

The Long Road Back, Part V of V | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Joy to the world, the Christmastide rolls on: Wikipedia-link Christmastide. Merry Christmas!

Friday, 4 January was the Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious, S.C. (1774-1821, "Mother Seton"), foundress of the Sisters of Charity & Saint Joseph's Academy & Free School: Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link S.C., Wikipedia-link Federation, & Wikipedia-link Academy; Wikipedia-link Shrine.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

First citizen born in the United States to be given the title of "Saint."

Quoth Minute Meditations from the Popes:

Lord, you called St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to share her life in charitable service to Your people. Teach me at the same school of love & help me to follow her example of generosity.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Áedh of Kildare, Bishop & Abbot (died 639; also spelt Aidus, Áedh Dubh, Áed Dub mac Colmáin), King of Leinster, abbot of the Abbey of Kildare: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Abbey & Wikipedia-link Abbots.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Rigobert of Rheims, Bishop & Abbot, O.S.B. (died circa 743): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Thomas Plumtree, Priest & Martyr (died 1570), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, a chaplain to the Rising of the North: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Rising.

Scripture of That Day
Mass Readings—Christmas Weekday
The First Letter of John, chapter three, verses seven thru ten;
Psalm Ninety-eight, verses one, seven & eight, & nine;
The Gospel according to John, chapter one, verses thirty-five thru forty-two.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus invites his first disciples to come and stay with him. I think that this command of Jesus is a bit like an initiation ritual. In order to prepare themselves for a lifetime of discipleship, his followers must first pass through an intensive period of spiritual formation, much like a novitiate in a monastery or training camp in football or boot camp in the army. During this concentrated time, they were to learn, in their bones, the essentials of this new way of life. So the disciples learn a new way of radical dependency upon God.

Now what does all of this have to do with us? You say, "I’m a fifty-year-old man with a wife and kids and job and responsibility; I can’t very well go drifting off in a boat, trusting in the providence of God."

True enough. But you can, for instance, go on a retreat every year; spend a week once a year at a monastery or a retreat center, living the spiritual life intensely; live Lent more severely and more radically this year, perhaps undertaking a difficult fast or giving alms until it hurts. These are things that any of us can do.

Video reflection by the Reverend Christopher Murphy: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter ten, verses eight & nine;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-eight;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eleven, verses twenty-five thru thirty.

Papal Quote o' That Day

"Loving is not easy. It presupposes affective maturity, willpower, the capacity for self-control, & an attitude of self-denial & giving."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Life Is Worth Living Quote o' That Day

"Reconciliation is inseparable from the death of Christ. That is important to understand. In other words, we never have reconciliation without the passion, death, & resurrection of our Lord.

"For example, Romans 5:10: 'For if we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son.'

"Again, 2 Corinthians 5:14: 'For the love of Christ leaves us no choice, when once we have reached the conclusion that one man died for all & therefore mankind has died. His purpose in dying for us was that all men, while still in life, should cease to live for themselves, & should live for Him Who for their sake died & was raised to life.'

"Then again in Colossians 1:22: 'But now by Christ's death in His body of flesh & blood God has reconciled you to Himself so that He may present you before Himself as dedicated men without blemish & innocent in His sight.'

"Reconciliation therefore comes through redemption"
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

Saint Quote o' That Day

"In spite of all our defects, God is in love with us & keeps using us to light the light of love & compassion in the world."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta ("Mother Teresa," 1910-1997; feast day: 5 September)