Saints + Scripture: Octave of Easter (Pascha)

'Tis the Tuesday within the Octave of Easter: Easter-link, Octave-link, & Wikipedia-link Octave.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday within the Octave of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter two, verses thirty-six thru forty-one;
Psalm Thirty-three, verses four & five, eighteen & nineteen, & twenty & twenty-two;
The Gospel according to John, chapter twenty, verses eleven thru eighteen.

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

Friends, today’s Gospel reveals St. John’s report of Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the risen Jesus. An interesting lesson follows from the disquieting fact of the Resurrection, namely that this world is not it. What I mean is that this world is not all that there is. We live our lives with the reasonable assumption that the natural world as we’ve come to know it is the final framework of our lives and activities. And one of the most powerful and frightening features of the natural world is death. Every living thing dies and stays dead.

But what if death and dissolution did not have the final say? What if, through God’s power, and according to his providence, a "new heavens and a new earth" were being born? The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows as definitively as possible that God is up to something greater than we had imagined or thought possible.

And therefore we don’t have to live as though death were our master. In light of the Resurrection, we can begin to see this world as a place of gestation, a place of growth and maturation toward something higher, more permanent, and more splendid.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Video reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D.: Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

†

Otherwise, 23 April would be the festival of Saint George, Martyr (circa 280-303), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution; one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Saint George's Day; Wikipedia-link Persecution; & Helpers-link & Wikipedia-link Helpers.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. A Golden Legend: Wikipedia-link Saint George & the Dragon

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Gerard of Toul, Bishop (circa 935-994): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Toul & Wikipedia-link Toul.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Adalbert, Bishop & Martyr, O.S.B. (circa 956-997, of Prague; A.K.A. Vojtěch), second (II) Bishop of Prague, martyred by pagan priests of the Old Prussians: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Prague & Wikipedia-link Prague.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Adalbert III of Salzburg, Bishop, O.Praem. (1145-1200, A.K.A. Vojtěch, of Bohemia), Archbishop of Salzburg: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Salzburg & Wikipedia-link Salzburg.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Giles of Assisi, Religious, O.F.M. (circa 1190-1262, the "Knight of [the early Franciscans'] Round Table;" also spelt Aegidius): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Teresa Maria of the Cross, Religious, O.C.D. (1846-1910, A.K.A. Teresa Adelaide Cesina Manetti), foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of Saint Teresa of Florence: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"All the pure in heart are, in a certain sense, mystics, because, as Christ proclaimed, they are condidates to 'see God.' But they should all be pure in heart, all good, simple, & childlike. We should all be able to want, be able to yearn, be able to receive."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"I would like to love Jesus so much… to love Him more than He has ever been loved! My only desire is to always do the will of Jesus!"
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Someone gave me a canary to be my companion during a long sickness. If I told that bird, 'You are in this tiny, little cage and you have wings, but this is the right place for you,' I'm sure the bird would be depressed. If, however, the bird could understand, & I said to him, 'You're in the wrong place. You have a gift of song that should mount to the heavens, and you have wings that should fly' the bird would then be happier. So we are unhappy when we are locked in this little cosmos, which could be shattered by a bomb. But if we are told that there is another world, then life becomes a little bit happier."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)