Saints + Scripture

'Tis the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (circa 12 B.C.): Madonna-link ūna, Madonna-link duæ, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

Mary's parents, [Ss.] Joachim & Anne [26 July], who had been childless, received a heavenly message that they would have a child. In thanksgiving for the gift of their daughter, they brought her, when still a child, to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God.

Quoth Minute Meditations from the Popes:

Blessed Mother Mary, teach me about your Son. Instruct me in His ways; protect me from those things that separate me from Him; & lead me home to Him in heaven with you forever.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Gelasius I, Pope (died 496), forty-ninth (XLIX) Bishop of Rome (492-496), first pope to be titled Vicar of Christ, a foe of the Acacian Schism (484-519): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Pontifex-link, Wikipedia-link Pontifex, & Wikipedia-link Vicarius Christi; & Wikipedia-link Schism.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Gelasius Ó Cuileanáin, Priest & Martyr, O.Cist. (died 1580, Anglicized as O'Cullenan), abbot of Boyle Abbey, martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Irish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Boyle, & Martyrs-link Éire & Wikipedia-link Éire.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Maria of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Religious, C.S.F.N. (1842-1902, A.K.A. Maria Franciszka Siedliska), foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth (C.S.F.N.): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link C.S.F.N..

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Clelia Merloni, Religious, A.S.C.J. (1861-1930), foundress of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (A.S.C.J.): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link A.S.C.J..

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
The First Book of Maccabees, chapter two, verses fifteen thru twenty-nine;
Psalm Fifty (R/. twenty-three[b]), verses one(b) & two, five & six, & fourteen & fifteen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter nineteen, verses forty-one thru forty-four.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel passage, Jesus laments over Jerusalem because it failed to acknowledge him. He said, "They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." This is a thunderclap, a shock, a highly subversive thing to say. It would be something like a president-elect coming upon the White House in the midst of a crowd of his supporters and saying, "All of this will be destroyed."

But this is precisely what Jesus does here. I know I’ve said it to you before, but I will say it again, because it belongs to the heart of the Gospel and it is repeated by Jesus over and over again: nothing in this world lasts. Nothing in this world should, therefore, be the object of our deepest longings or of our most powerful commitments.

The temple represented all of the glitter and glamor of this world, the best it can offer; and the people standing there, entranced by it, stand for all of us down through the ages who stand staring up at the goods of this world. So we must free ourselves from worldly attachments and live for God alone.

Mass Readings—Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Book of Zechariah, chapter two, verses fourteen thru seventeen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one (R/. forty-nine), verses forty-six & forty-seven, forty-eight & forty-nine, fifty & fifty-one, fifty-two & fifty-three, & fifty-four & fifty-five;
(or, R/. "O Blessed Virgin Mary, you carried the Son of the eternal Father.");
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twelve, verses forty-six thru fifty.

Commentary: Video reflection by Harry Dudley, D.Min.: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 91: Relativism Ridge, Day 17
The Book of Judges, chapter eleven, verses one thru eleven.

Commentary: Jephthah (Judges, 11:1-11).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Before Jesus ever spoke about Himself & His mission, Mary spoke of Him to those who came to visit the Child. And they were amazed to learn how much God had done for the salvation of Israel & the entire humanity."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Whoever sees God has obtained all the goods of which he can conceive."
—St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-395, feast day: 10 January)

Chesterton Quote o' the Day

"The family cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilisations which disregard it."
—G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)