Saints + Scripture: Paschaltide

The Popish Plot
"'My Relationship with Mary' Collab"

'Tis the Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter: Wikipedia-link.

'Tis the festival of Saint Joan of Arc, Virgin & Martyr (circa 1412-1431, the "Maid of Orléans"), martyred in the reign of the English king Henry VI: Martyr-link ūna, Martyr-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Luke Kirby, Priest & Martyr (circa 1549-1582), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyr-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.

'Tis also the festival of Blesseds Thomas Cottam (S.J.), William Filby, & Lawrence Richardson, Priests & Martyrs (died 1582), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, three of the one hundred sixty Martyrs of Douai: Martyr-link Tango Charlie & Wikipedia-link Tango Charlie, Martyr-link Whiskey Foxtrot & Wikipedia-link Whiskey Foxtrot, & Martyr-link Lima Romeo & Wikipedia-link Lima Romeo; Martyrs-link Douai & Wikipedia-link Douai.

Commentary: St. Luke & Bls. Thomas, William, & Lawrence were all martyred together at Tyburn on 30 May 1582. Bl. Maurus was martyred there thirty years to the day later. Wikipedia-link Tyburn

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Maurus Scott, Priest & Martyr, O.S.B. (circa 1579-1612, A.K.A. William Scott), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king James VI & I: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter eighteen, verses one thru eight;
Psalm Ninety-eight, verses one, two & three(a/b), & three(c/d) & four;
The Gospel according to John, chapter sixteen, verses sixteen thru twenty.

Commentary: Video reflection by Father Roger Lopez, O.F.M.: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In most of these United States, today is an Easter Weekday; in a few Ecclesiastical Provinces, principally in the Northeast, today is the Solemnity of the Ascension, traditionally observed on the Thursday forty days after Resurrection Sunday & ten days before Pentecost Sunday. In the majority of the country, the observance of Ascension has been transferred to the following Sunday, displacing the Seventh Sunday of Easter.

Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter one, verses one thru eleven;
Psalm Forty-seven, verses two & three, six & nine;
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter one, verses seventeen thru twenty-three;
or, the Letter to the Hebrews, chapter nine, verses twenty-four thru twenty-eight & chapter ten, verses nineteen thru twenty-three;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter twenty-four, verses forty-six thru fifty-three.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus is taken up to his Father in heaven. We tend to read the Ascension along essentially Enlightenment lines, rather than biblical lines—and that causes a good deal of mischief. Enlightenment thinkers introduced a two-tier understanding of heaven and earth. They held that God exists, but that he lives in a distant realm called heaven, where he looks at the human project moving along, pretty much on its own steam, on earth.

On this Enlightenment reading, the Ascension means that Jesus goes up, up, and away, off to a distant and finally irrelevant place. But the biblical point is this: Jesus has gone to heaven so as to direct operations more fully here on earth. That’s why we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Jesus has not gone up, up, and away, but rather—if I can put it this way—more deeply into our world. He has gone to a dimension that transcends but impinges upon our universe.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Ideals, if they are authentic, if they are human, are not dreams: they are duties, especially for us Christians. The more the sounds of the storm disturb the horizon of our history, the more such ideals must grip our attention. And ideals are energies; they are hopes."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 29 May)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"I know that all the eagles of heaven have pity on me & that they guard & defend me, putting to flight the vulture-like temptations which would destroy me."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"I am not afraid. I was born to do this."
—St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431, feast day: 30 May)