Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Adulf of Maastricht, Bishop (died circa 680; also spelt Adolph, A.K.A. of Utrecht): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Brother of St. Botwulf of Thorney [17 June].
'Tis also the festival of Saint Rainerius of Pisa, Religious, Obl.S.B. (circa 115-1161; also spelt Rainier, Raniero, Regnier, etc.; A.K.A. Ranieri Scacceri): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Theresa of Portugal, Religious, O.Cist. (1178-1250), Queen of León: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Albert Chmielowski, Religious, T.O.S.F. (1845-1916, A.K.A. Adam Chmielowski), founder of the Albertine Brothers, formally known as the Brothers of the Third Order of Saint Francis, Servants of the Poor (C.F.A.P.U.); & the Albertine Sisters, formally known as the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis Serving the Poor (C.S.A.P.U.): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Order-link C.F.A.P.U., Wikipedia-link C.F.A.P.U., & Wikipedia-link C.S.A.P.U.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
The Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter six, verses one thru ten;
Psalm Ninety-eight, verses one & two(a/b), three(a/b), & three(c/d) & four;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses thirty-eight thru forty-two.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today’s Gospel gives Jesus’ teaching about nonresistance to evil people. We are continually wanting God to behave as we would—that is to say, withdrawing his love from those who don’t deserve it and giving his love to those who do deserve it. But this is just not the way God operates.Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Why should you pray for someone who is persecuting you? Why shouldn’t you be allowed at least to answer him in kind—an eye for an eye? Because God doesn’t operate that way, and you are being drawn into the divine life. Why should you turn the other cheek to someone who has struck you? Because it’s practical? No, because that’s the way God operates, and you’re being called into the divine life. Why should you go beyond simply loving those who love you? Because that’s the way God operates: he loves the saints and he loves the worst of sinners.
Is any of this easy to do? Of course not. Are we able to get to this state through willing it, through earnest practice? Of course not! That’s why love is referred to as a theological virtue. It is the sheerest participation in the divine life, and it can only come from God.
Scripture Study—Day 91: Covenant Crag, Day 1 (of 35)
The Book of Genesis, chapter four, verses one & two.
Commentary: Cain & Abel (Genesis, 4:1-2).
Papal Quote o' the Day
"Hear the voice of Christ, called you to join His workers: invest life with a direction, by making your own the concern of the Church for the elevation & progress of people. The Church fully understands the yearnings of your generous heart."Little Flower Quote o' the Day
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 29 May)
"I would like to fly as the eagle does, but I can only flutter my wings—it is beyond my feeble strength to soar."Commentary: It must be the way St. Thérèse's words have been chopped up into wee chunks, surely meant to increase their digestibility, that renders them so twee, so useless. I've encountered other quotations of the Little Flower's writings wherein she speaks of her inability to climb the ladder to holiness due to her littleness, thus prompting her to depend on being picked up by God, Who then lifts her to the heights, soaring above all those who strive to attain holiness by their own efforts. That is how we soar, by dependence on God, & the Little Flower knew that better than we do. My issue is not with St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus & the Holy Face, Virgin & Doctor of the Church; my issue is with the way she is being quoted, potentially misquoted. This is strike two—three strikes & you're out!
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
I remain, as ever, ornery, one might even say, quarrelsome.
Saint Quote o' the Day
"On the cross our Lord spoke to the atheists, to the communists, to the agnostics, to the unbelievers, to the fallen-away, all of whom live an inner kind of hell—particularly those who have had the faith & lost it. Hell does not begin in the next world. It begins here. How will an atheist, an agnostic, or an infidel ever be saved, if the Lord on the cross does not take means to redeem them? So our Blessed Lord now undertakes to suffer that loneliness, isolation, & separation from God that all atheists feel. He permitted Himself, therefore, to be without any divine consolation, to walk on the very brink of hell, to feel what it is to be damned. At that moment, when the sun hid its light, almost ashamed to shed its light on the crime of deicide, our Lord, now in that darkness of the very day, put on this darkness of soul & in reparation for all the atheists cried out, 'My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me?' That makes it possible for Brezhnev to save his soul: if Brezhnev hears that cry. The Lord felt the hell of Voltaire, of Camus, of Sartre, of Julian the Apostate, of all who deny their Lord. And from that day on, they need only cry to Him to be saved. But they must cry."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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