Saints + Scripture

The Popish Plot
"Thanksgiving 2019"

'Tis the festival of Our Lady of Kibeho (apparitions 28 November 1981-28 November 1989): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Sosthenes of Colophon, Bishop & Martyr (died circa 68, A.K.A. of Corinth), inaugural Bishop of Colophon, martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Colophon.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Stephen the Younger, Abbot & Martyr (714-764), martyred in the reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine V, a foe of the Byzantine Iconoclastic heresy who rejected the heterodox Council of Hieria (754): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Heresy-link Iconoclasm, Wikipedia-link Iconoclasm, & Wikipedia-link Hieria.

'Tis also the festival of Saint James of the Marches, Priest, O.F.M. (circa 1391-1476, A.K.A. Dominic Gangala), who attended the Council of Florence (1439-1445): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Council-link Florence & Wikipedia-link Florence.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed James Thompson, Priest & Martyr (died 1582, A.K.A. James Hudson), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the one hundred fifty-eight Martyrs of Douai: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link Douai & Wikipedia-link Douai.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Catherine Labouré, Virgin, D.C. (1806-1876, A.K.A. Zoë Labouré), to whom Our Lady revealed the Medal of Our Lady of Graces, A.K.A. the Miraculous Medal: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Miraculous Medal.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Daniel, chapter six, verses twelve thru twenty-eight;
The Book of Daniel, chapter three (R/. fifty-nine[b]), verses sixty-eight, sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three, & seventy-four;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter twenty-one, verses twenty thru twenty-eight.

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

Friends, today’s Gospel recounts the Lord’s healing of ten lepers, only one of whom comes back to give thanks. Leprosy frightened people in ancient times, just as contagious and mysterious diseases frighten people today. But more than this, leprosy rendered someone unclean and therefore incapable of engaging in the act of worship. It is not accidental that the person responsible for examining the patient in ancient Israel was the priest. The priest’s job was to monitor the whole process of Israelite worship, very much including who could and couldn’t participate in the temple.

What is so important about worship? To worship is to order the whole of one’s life toward the living God, and in doing so, one becomes interiorly and exteriorly rightly ordered. To worship is to signal to oneself what one’s life is finally about. Worship is not something that God needs, but it is very much something that we need.

Mass Readings—Optional Memorial of Thanksgiving
The Book of Sirach, chapter fifty, verses twenty-two, twenty-three, & twenty-four;
Psalm One Hundred Forty-five (R/. cf. one), verses two & three, four & five, six & seven, eight & nine, & ten & eleven;
The Letter to the Colossians, chapter one, verses three thru nine;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter seventeen, verses eleven thru nineteen.

Commentary: Quoth the Holy Redeemer bulletin:

It began as a day of giving thanks & sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest & of the preceding year.

Video reflection by Marc DelMonico, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Video reflection by Father John Guthrie: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 91: Relativism Ridge, Day 24
The Book of Judges, chapter sixteen, verses twenty-three thru thirty-one.

Commentary: Samson's Death (Judges, 16:23-31).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Remember the past with gratitude. Live the present with enthusiasm. Look forward to the future with confidence."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, feast day: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"In all created things discern the providence & wisdom of God, & in all things give Him thanks."
—St. Teresa of Ávila, Doctor of the Church (1515-1582, feast day: 15 October)

Chesterton Quote o' the Day

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; & that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."
—G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)