Saints + Scripture

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 Optional Memorial of Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop & Doctor of the Church (circa 376-444), twenty-sixth (XXVI) Patriarch of Alexandria & a Father of the Church who played a crucial role at the Council of Ephesus (431, the third ecumenical council): Doctor-link ūnus, Doctor-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Alexandria & Wikipedia-link Alexandria: Doctors-link & Wikipedia-link Doctors; Fathers-link & Wikipedia-link Fathers; & Council-link Ephesus & Wikipedia-link Ephesus.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Nephew of St. Theophilus of Alexandria [28 October].

Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

He was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He was enthroned when the city was at the height of its influence & power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively & was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies.

'Tis also the festival of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (A.K.A. Our Lady of Perpetual Succor): Madonna-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Arialdo of Milan, Deacon & Martyr (circa 1010-1066), martyred by partisans of the simoniac archibshop Guido da Velate, a leader of the pataria: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Pataria.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Ladislaus (circa 1040-1095, King Ladislaus I of Hungary; A.K.A. László, Lancelot): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Genesis, chapter sixteen, verses one thru twelve, fifteen, & sixteen
(or, the Book of Genesis, chapter sixteen, verses six[b] thru twelve, fifteen, & sixteen);
Psalm One Hundred Six, verses one(b) & two, three & four(a), & four(b) & five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter seven, verses twenty-one thru twenty-nine.

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

Friends, today’s Gospel asks how we apply the Lord’s teaching. "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse." This is the heart of it: if you are rooted in God, then you can withstand anything, precisely because you are linked to that power which is creating the cosmos. You will be blessed at the deepest place, and nothing can finally touch you.

But the one who does not take Jesus’ words to heart "will be like the fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined." When the inevitable trials come, the life built on pleasure, money, power, or fame will give way.

So the question is a simple one: Where do you stand? How goes it with your heart? On what, precisely, is the whole of your life built?

Video reflection by the Reverend John Crossin, O.S.F.S.: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria
The Second Letter to Timothy, chapter four, verses one thru five;
Psalm Eighty-nine, verses two & three, four & five, twenty-one & twenty-two, & twenty-five & twenty-seven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses thirteen thru nineteen.

Scripture Study—Day 91: Covenant Crag, Day 11
The Book of Genesis, chapter nine, verses one thru thirteen.

Commentary: The Covenant with Noah (Genesis, 9:1-13).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Our religion, which is truth, is Divine reality in human history. It cannot be discovered or invented. It is received &, ancient though it is, it is always alive, always new."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 29 May)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"t is interesting to make a comparison between Peter & Judas. Our Lord warned both that they would fail. They both failed. They both denied or betrayed the Lord. They both repented. But the difference in the word repent is that Judas repented unto himself & Peter repented unto the Lord. They were the same up to that point. St. Paul, therefore, says there were two kinds of sorrow, the sorrow of the world & the sorrow of true faith. Judas no longer had any hope, having refused to return to the Savior. He took a rope & went out to some rocky ground, we know not where it was. He walked over the rocky ground, & those rocks seemed just as hard & cruel as his own heart, & the limb of every tree seemed like a pointing finger. Traitor, traitor, traitor. And the knot in every tree seemed like an accusing eye. And he hanged himself. And as the Acts of the Apostles tells us, 'His bowels burst asunder.' And he went to his own place. That is all."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)