Saints + Scripture: X Week in Ordinary Time

The Popish Plot
"Catholic T-Shirt Club Unboxing: St. Maximilian Kolbe"

'Tis the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church: Wikipedia-link Mater Ecclesiae & Wikipedia-link Whit Monday.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

On Saturday, 3 March 2018, Pope Francis declared that, henceforth, the Monday after Pentecost Sunday will be celebrated as the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, & mother of the members of His Mystical Body which is the Church.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Bardo of Mainz, Bishop & Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 980-1051), abbot of Werden Abbey, abbot of Hersfeld Abbey, & then Archbishop of Mainz: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Werden, Wikipedia-link Hersfeld, & Diocese-link Mainz & Wikipedia-link Mainz.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Giovanni Dominici, Bishop, O.P. (circa 1355-1419, Anglicized as John Dominic), who attended the Council of Constance (1414-1418) & was instrumental in ending the Papal Schism (1378-1417): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Council, Schism-link, & Wikipedia-link Schism.

'Tis also the festival of Blesseds Thomas Green, Priest, & Walter Pierson, Religious, Martyrs, O.Cart. (died 1537, A.K.A. Thomas Greenwood), martyred in the reign of the English king Henry VIII, two of the Carthusian Martyrs of London: Martyr-link Tango Golf, Martyr-link Whiskey Papa, & Wikipedia-link (List); Martyrs-link Charterhouse & Wikipedia-link Charterhouse.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Eustachius Kugler, Religious, O.H. (1867-1946, A.K.A. Joseph Kugler): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
The Book of Genesis, chapter three, verses nine thru fifteen & twenty;
or, the Acts of the Apostles, chapter one, verses twelve, thirteen, & fourteen;
Psalm Eighty-seven, verses one & two, three & five, & six & seven;
The Gospel according to John, chapter nineteen, verses twenty-five thru thirty-four.

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

Friends, today we celebrate the new Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.

We hear in today’s Gospel that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus looked to his mother and the disciple whom he loved, and he said to Mary, "Woman, behold, your son," and then to John, "Behold, your mother." We are told that "from that hour the disciple took her into his home."

If Mary is the one through whom Christ was born, and if the Church is indeed Christ’s Mystical Body, then she must be, in a very real sense, the mother of the Church. She is the one through whom Jesus continues to be born in the hearts of those who believe. This is not to confuse her with the Savior, but it is to insist on her mission as mediator and intercessor. At the close of the great "Hail Mary" prayer, we Catholics ask Mary to pray for us "now and at the hour of our death," signaling that throughout one’s life Mary is the privileged channel through which the grace of Christ flows into the Mystical Body.

God delights in drawing secondary causes into the dense complexity of his providential plan, granting to them the honor of cooperating with him and his designs. The handmaid of the Lord, who is the mother of the Church, is the humblest of these humble instruments—and therefore the most effective.

Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"The real Church is being born today in the faithfulness & boldness of the Spirit, in the unity of Christ's Body. We do not ask you to praise her a priori, but to give these positive facts the place they deserve. Like the Lord, we say to you: Come & see."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 29 May)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"I have a desire, a desire so great that I shall be unable to be happy in heaven if it is not realized."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Commentary: I have no idea what to make of these words, no idea how to regard them as anything other than prideful heresy. I include them here only as an exercise in humility, because the Church has deemed St. Thérèse a Doctor; so, I must somehow be misunderstanding her words, or this so-very-short snippet has been plucked out of the context that would shed the necessary interpretive light. But heaven, as I understand it, is perfect union with God, the satisfaction of all human desire; so, how could any non-blasphemous desire be greater than perfect union with the Lord God?

Saint Quote o' the Day

"After seventy years of captivity in Babylon, 4,289 priests returned to Jerusalem. They were in rags, filthy, looking like anything but priests. At home there were the few who had stayed, & they were assisting Zerubbabel in the rebuilding of the Temple. Zechariah tells us that the high priest, the one who was chosen among them all, was brought before the angel of the Lord. And there stood the adversary, the accuser. That is what the devil is: he is that in the book of Job; he is that in the book of Revelation. And the accuser accused Joshua. 'Look at his filthy garments! Look at that! Is that a priest?' And the angel of the Lord replied, 'Is not this man a brand plucked out of the burning? Clothe him with new robes.' That's what we are. All brands plucked out of the burning."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)