Saints + Scripture: XII Week in Tempus per annum

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

Religious Freedom Week '19
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: YouTube-link & U.S.C.C.B.-link.

'Tis the festival of Saint Prosper of Reggio (died circa 466), Bishop of Reggio Emilia: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Reggio Emilia.

'Tis also the festival of Saint William of Montevergine, Abbot, O.S.B. (1085-1142, A.K.A. of Vercelli), founder of the Benedictine Williamites, formally the Order of Monte Vergine, & the Abbey of Montevergine: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Order & Wikipedia-link Abbey.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Dorothea of Montau, Religious (1347-1394, A.K.A. Dorothea Swarte): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Genesis, chapter thirteen, verses two & five thru eighteen;
Psalm Fifteen, verses one(b), two & three(a), three(b/c) & four(a/b), & five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter seven, verses six, twelve, thirteen, & fourteen.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus warns, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.”

A question that people have been asking from time immemorial is this: “Will only a few people be saved?” Heaven, hell, salvation, damnation—who will be in and who will be out?

We have remained, understandably enough, fascinated with these issues and questions for a long time. But the official answer of the Church is that we don’t know. We are clearly warned about the real possibility of damnation. We do indeed know that there are many in heaven, for the saints are formally declared to be so. But there are no anti-saints in the Church; there is no one whom the Church has formally declared to be a denizen of hell.

Therefore, without succumbing for a moment to anything-goes presumption, we are permitted to hope that all people might be saved. Indeed, St. Paul writes to Timothy: “God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

So pray, hope, and strive to enter through the narrow gate.

Video reflection by Father Jack Ledwon: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Scripture Study—Day 91: Covenant Crag, Day 9
The Book of Genesis, chapter eight, verses one, two, three, & five thru twelve.

Commentary: The Flood Subsides (Genesis, 8:1-3, 5-12).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"The history of the human race in the world is not a procession of blind forces. It is a marvelous & vital working out of the actual history of the Divine Word."
—Pope Venerable Pius XII (1876-1958)

Little Flower Quote o' the Day

"How sweet is the way of love!"
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"The descent of the Holy Spirit on our Lord in the Jordan had a double effect. First, it prepared Him for combat, for battle. This is what the gospel states: 'Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit & by the Spirit He was led out into the wilderness where He remained forty days, tempted by the devil.' Just as soon as He received the Holy Spirit, He entered into the battlefield, into the conflict with Satan, who offered Him the three easy ways from the cross. The Holy Spirit did something else. The Spirit not only prepared Jesus for combat, but also prepared Him for preaching the kingdom of God. When our Lord, therefore, appeared at Nazareth, He said, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; He has anointed Me, sent Me out to preach the gospel to the poor, to restore the broken-hearted, to bid the prisoners go free, & the blind to have sight, to set the oppressed at liberty, to proclaim a year when men find acceptance in the Lord.' Now after our Lord had received the Spirit & fulfilled these two missions, He instituted a sacrament, the Sacrament of Confirmation, by which this power & energy & strength of being a soldier of Christ & witness to Christ & the kingdom of God passes into our souls."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)