Saints + Scripture: Holy Week (Quadragesima)

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

The Popish Plot
vLent 2019: "Spy Wednesday"

'Tis the Wednesday of Holy Week: Holy Week-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Wednesday of Holy Week
The Book of Isaiah, chapter fifty, verses four thru nine(a);
Psalm Sixty-nine, verses eight, nine, & ten; twenty-one & twenty-two; & thirty-one, thirty-three, & thirty-four;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twenty-six, verses fourteen thru twenty-five.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus asks his disciples to go into Jerusalem and prepare a Passover supper.

At the heart of the Passover meal was the eating of a lamb, which had been sacrificed, in remembrance of the lambs of the original Passover, whose blood had been smeared on the doorposts of the Israelites in Egypt. Making his Last Supper a Passover meal, Jesus was signaling the fulfillment of John the Baptist’s prophecy that he, Jesus, would be the Lamb of God and the definitive sacrifice.

This sacrifice is made sacramentally present at every Mass—not for the sake of God, who has no need of it, but for our sake. In the Mass, we participate in the act by which divinity and humanity are reconciled, and we eat the sacrificed body and drink the poured-out blood of the Lamb of God.

Reflect: Bishop Barron has said, "In a world gone wrong, there is no communion without sacrifice." Reflect on Christ’s sacrifice and the communion it accomplished. What sacrifices have you made to restore communion in one or more of your relationships?

Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 87
The Book of Numbers, chapter one, verses one thru four, seventeen, eighteen, & nineteen;
The Book of Numbers, chapter ten, verses eleven & twelve;
The Book of Numbers, chapter eleven, verses four, five, & six.

Commentary: The First Census of Israel (Numbers, 1:1-4 & 17-19), Departure from Sinai (Numbers, 10:11-12), & Complaining in the Desert (Numbers, 11:4-6).

†

Otherwise, 17 April would be the commemoration of Saint Arnoald of Metz, Bishop (circa 540-611, also spelt Arnual), Bishop of Metz: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Metz & Wikipedia-link Bishops.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Father of St. Arnulf [18 July], also bishop of Metz. St. Arnoald's uncle & St. Arnulf's great-uncle, Agilulf, though not a canonized saint, was also a bishop of Metz.

'Twould also be the commemoration of Saint Donnán of Eigg, Priest & Martyr (died circa 617, also spelt Donan), founder & namesake of the Monastery of Kildonnan: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Kildonnan.

'Twould also be the commemoration of Blessed Paul of Saint Magdalene, Priest & Martyr, O.F.M. Rec. (circa 1599-1643, A.K.A. Henry Heath), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king Charles I, one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"As Christians we should offer our memories to the Lord. Thinking about the past will not alter the reality of your sufferings or disappointments, but it can change the way you look at them."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"Be not afraid… He is here at hand. He is watching."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Let us prepare ourselves for death; we have not a minute to lose: it will come upon us at the moment when we least expect it…."
—St. John Vianney (1786-1859, feast day: 4 August)