Saints + Scripture

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

The Popish Plot
"The Pope's Prayer Intentions for August"

'Tis the First Friday o' the month: Wikipedia-link First Friday & Wikipedia-link Sacred Heart.

'Tis the Optional Memorial of Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop (circa 283-371), first (I) Bishop of Vercelli, who opposed the Arian heresy: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Vercelli & Wikipedia-link Vercelli; & Heresy-link Arianism & Wikipedia-link Arianism.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Eusebius of Vercelli was a bishop from Sardinia & is counted a saint. Along with [St.] Athanasius [of Alexandria, 2 May], he affirmed the divinity of Jesus against Arianism.

'Tis also the Optional Memorial of Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest, S.S.S. (1811-1868, the "Apostle of the Eucharist"), founder of the Sacramentinos (S.S.S.), formally the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, & the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament (also S.S.S.): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Sacramentinos & Wikipedia-link Servants.

Commentary: Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Saint Peter Julian Eymard, S.S.S., was a French Catholic priest & founder of two religious institutes: the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament for men & the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament for women.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Stephen I, Pope (died 257), twenty-third (XXIII) Bishop of Rome: Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Pontiffs-link & Wikipedia-link Pontiff.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Juana of Aza (circa 1135-1205, Anglicized as Joanna, Joan, Jane): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Mother of Ven. Antonio de Guzmán, Bl. Manés de Guzmán [30 July], & St. Dominic de Guzmán [8 August], founder & namesake of the Dominicans (O.P.), formally the Order of Preachers.

Wikipedia-link O.P.

'Tis also the festival of Dedication of the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels (A.K.A. the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels): Dedication-link & Wikipedia-link Basilica, & Wikipedia-link Portiuncola; Indulgence-link & Wikipedia-link Indulgence.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Leviticus, chapter twenty-three, verses one, four thru eleven, fifteen, sixteen, twenty-seven, & thirty-four(b) thru thirty-seven;
Psalm Eighty-one, verses three & four, five & six, & ten & eleven(a/b);
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter thirteen, verses fifty-four thru fifty-eight.

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

Friends, today in Matthew’s account of the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth, Christ refers to himself as a prophet.

In the Old Testament tradition, the prophet is a religious visionary and truth-teller. The great Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel said that the prophet is someone who feels the feelings of God and then speaks out of that experience. He stubbornly reads the world through the lens of the word of God and speaks the divine truth. And this mission implies opposition, confrontation, and critique, since the keepers of worldly order are frequently looking through other lenses and listening to other words.

But Jesus is much more than one more prophet in a long line of prophets, one more speaker of the divine truth, one more reader of the divine word. Jesus is the Word made flesh; he is the Divine Truth in person.

Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli
The First Letter of John, chapter five, 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 one thru twelve(a).

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Peter Julian Eymard
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter four, verses thirty-two thru thirty-five;
Psalm Thirty-four, verses two & three, four & five, six & seven, eight & nine, & ten & eleven;
The Gospel according to John, chapter fifteen, verses one thru eight.

Scripture Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of Sirach, chapter eight (verses one thru nineteen);
The Book of Sirach, chapter nine (verses one thru eighteen).

Commentary: Prudence (Sirach, 8:1-19) & On Conduct toward Others (9:1-18).

Scripture Study—Day 91: Progeny Point, Day 5
The Book of Genesis, chapter twenty-five, verses twenty-nine thru thirty-four.

Commentary: Esau Sells His Birthright (Genesis, 25:29-34).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"We must be open, listen, seek to understand. We must go beyond the limits, because all that is Divine, that is revealed, is superior to the human, to our limits. Many people do not accept it because they do not see or because they cannot go beyond these limits."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"How does God know? God does not know the way we know. We know by looking at things. God knows by looking at Himself. We can get a faint idea of God's knowledge from an architect. Before an architect puts up a building, he can tell you the size of the building, its dimensions, the location of each room, its height, the number of elevators it will have, & so forth. How does he know all of this before the building is built? Because he is the designer of the building. Now God is a designer too, but God is not just a designer of the the human universe. He's the cause of the very being of the universe. And just as an architect need only look into his own mind to understand the nature of his building & as a poet knows his verses in his own mind, so God knows all things by looking at Himself. He does not need to wait for you to turn a corner before He knows that you are doing so. He does not see little boys putting their fingers into the cookie jar & conclude they are stealing. Everything is naked & open to the eyes of God."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)