Saints + Scripture

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

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, associated with & venerated through the Brown Scapular, formally the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Madonna-link & Wikipedia-link; Scapular-link, Feast-link, & Wikipedia-link Scapular.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

This is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late twelfth & early to mid-thirteenth century. They built in the midst of their hermitages a chapel which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.

Wikipedia-link O.Carm.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Irmgard of Chiemsee, Abbess, O.S.B. (circa 831-866, also spelt Irmengard), abbess of the abbey on the isle of Frauenchiemsee: Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Frauenchiemsee.

Commentary: Great-granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Bl. Charlemagne [28 January].

'Tis also the festival of Saint Bartolomeu dos Mártires, Bishop, O.P. (1514-1590, of Braga; A.K.A. Bartolomeu Fernandes, Anglicized as Bartholomew), Archbishop of Braga, who attended the Council of Trent (1545-1563, the nineteenth ecumenical council): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Braga & Wikipedia-link Braga, & Wikipedia-link Council.

Commentary: Canonized way back on 5 July 2019.

'Tis also the festival of Blesseds John Sugar, Priest, & Robert Grissold, Martyrs (died 1604), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king James VI & I, two of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link Juliett Sierra & Wikipedia-link Juliett Sierra, Martyr-link Romeo Golf & Wikipedia-link Romeo Golf; Martyrs-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Exodus, chapter two, verses one thru fifteen(a);
Psalm Sixty-nine, verses three, fourteen, thirty & thirty-one, & thirty-three & thirty-four;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter eleven, verses twenty thru twenty-four.

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

Friends, today Jesus declares judgment on the towns of Galilee that did not believe in him and repent. He stands at the end of the long line of prophets God sent in order to reconcile his people to himself. Like the prophets before him, Jesus is ignored, mocked, and rejected.

What happens as a result of man’s refusal of God? Not nothing. God’s judgment falls on the unfaithful nation. What is the instrument of God’s justice? One of the heathen nations, the Chaldeans, come and destroy the city of Jerusalem, burn the temple, carry off its most sacred objects, and force the Israelites into exile. And then the Romans follow suit in the first century.

Is this bad luck? Just the typical give and take of geopolitical forces? No! The Bible insists that this should be read as God’s action—more specifically, as God’s judgment and punishment. Mind you, this is not an arbitrary punishment, something cruel and vindictive; rather, it is God allowing the fallen nation to feel the effects of its sin.

So what’s the lesson? Sin has consequences, and we rarely have to wait for the next world to experience them.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
The Book of Zechariah, chapter two, verses fourteen thru seventeen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one, verses forty-six & forty-seven, forty-eight & forty-nine, fifty & fifty-one, fifty-two & fifty-three, & fifty-four & fifty-five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twelve, verses forty-six thru fifty.

Scripture Study—Day 91: Covenant Crag, Day 30
The Book of Genesis, chapter twenty-one, verses one thru seven.

Commentary: The Birth of Isaac (Genesis, 21:1-7).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Mother of the incarnate Word! You are the human heart's immaculate sensitivity to all that is of God. This means all that is true, good, & beautiful, all that has its source & fulfillment in God."
—Pope St.John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Teach me what is most pleasing to God, that I may do it."
—St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680, feast day: 14 July)