Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:
Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, where the faithful gather three times a year in Naples Cathedral to witness the liquefaction of what is claimed to be a sample of his blood kept in a sealed glass ampoule.Wikipedia-link Cathedral & Wikipedia-link Blood Miracle
'Tis also the festival of Our Lady of La Salette (apparition 1846): Madonna-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Saints Constantia & Felix of Nocera, Martyrs (died 68), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero: Martyr-link Charlie, Martyr-link Foxtrot, & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Theodore of Canterbury, Bishop (circa 602-690, the "Second Founder of Canterbury," A.K.A. of Tarsus), seventh (VII) Archbishop of Canterbury, who convened the Council of Hereford (672): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Canterbury, Wikipedia-link Canterbury, Wikipedia-link Archbishops, & Wikipedia-link Council.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Émilie de Rodat, Religious (1787-1852), foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Villefranche: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Sisters.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Tempus per annum
The First Letter to Timothy, chapter four, verses twelve thru sixteen;
Psalm One Hundred Eleven, verses seven & eight, nine, & ten;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter seven, verses thirty-six thru fifty.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, our Gospel today tells the story of a woman who—in the house of Simon the Pharisee—approaches Jesus, weeping onto his feet and anointing them with oil. She is filled with a love for Christ that overflows in acts of self-offering and service; she breaks open her own heart in gratitude. But Simon has shown scant hospitality to his guest, offering little if anything of himself to Christ.Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The abundance of the woman’s love discloses something to Jesus that had obviously been invisible to Simon: she has been forgiven much. “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love.” It is most important to note that Jesus does not, strictly speaking, forgive her sins; rather, he notices that she has been forgiven. And the evidence for it is her self-forgetting love. She loves so passionately and so courageously (risking the disapproval of Simon’s elegant guests) precisely because she has been so graciously and abundantly forgiven.
It is decidedly not the case, Jesus implies, that love precedes divine forgiveness as a sort of prerequisite; on the contrary, forgiveness precedes love as the condition for its possibility. It is not the case that one’s moral life must be upright in order to win divine favor; rather, the sheer gift of God’s favor tends to produce an upright moral life, a life of love.
Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of St. Januarius
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter ten, verses thirty-two thru thirty-six;
Psalm One Hundred Twenty-six, verses one(b/c) & two(a/b), two(c/d) & three, four & five, & six;
The Gospel according to John, chapter twelve, verses twenty-four, twenty-five, & twenty-six.
Papal Quote o' the Day
"The devotion of Our Lady of La Salette ought to spread, for it is a devotion that goes straight to the heart."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922)
"Remember that you have been created for greater things. Never stoop lower than that ideal. Let nothing satisfy you but God."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997, feast day: 5 September)
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