Saints + Scripture: Christmas

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

'Tis still Christmas: Wikipedia-link Christmastide & Wikipedia-link Epiphanytide. Merry Christmas!

'Tis the festival of Our Lady of Prompt Succor (A.K.A. the Madonna of New Orleans): Madonna-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Apollinaris Claudius, Bishop (died circa 177, A.K.A. the Apologist), Bishop of Hierapolis: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Hierapolis.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Severinus of Noricum, Abbot (circa 410-482, the "Apostle to Noricum"): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Lorenzo Giustiniani, Bishop, C.R.S.A. (1381-1456, Anglicized as Lawrence Justinian), first (I) Patriarch of Venice (1451-1456), last Bishop of Castello (1433-1451): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Patriarchs, Wikipedia-link Venice, & Wikipedia-link Castello.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Edward Waterson, Priest & Martyr (died 1594), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the one hundred sixty Martyrs of Douai: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link Douai & Wikipedia-link Douai.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Wednesday after Epiphany
The First Letter of John, chapter four, verses eleven thru eighteen;
Psalm Seventy-two (R/. see: eleven), verses one & two, ten, & twelve & thirteen;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter six, verses forty-five thru fifty-two.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus demonstrates his control over nature by walking on the sea.

What we see here on vivid display is Jesus the miracle-worker. Modern thinkers tend to be put off by this dimension of the Gospel. Thomas Jefferson took a razor to the Gospels, cutting out everything that smacked of the supernatural. The problem is that he had to make an absolute mess of Mark’s Gospel, which is positively chock-a-block with such things.

Jefferson’s contemporary, the great modern philosopher David Hume, claimed that since the laws of nature were set, miracles were, strictly speaking, impossible. Following these Enlightenment era prompts, an awful lot of contemporary Christian theologians and Bible commentators have tried to explain away Jesus’ miracles as spiritual symbols.

N.T. Wright argues that it’s hard to explain the enormous popularity of Jesus apart from this fascination with his wonder-working. More to it, though God typically lets the universe run according to its natural rhythms and patterns, what is to prevent God from shaping it and influencing it occasionally in remarkable ways in order to signal his purpose and his presence?

Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Scripture Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of the Psalms, psalm eight (verses one thru nine);
The Book of Sirach, chapter thirty-six (verses one thru twenty-six).

Commentary: Divine Majesty & Human Dignity (Psalm 8) & A Prayer for God's People; Wise Sayings (Sirach, 36:1-26).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Christian charity ought not to be content with not hating our enemies & loving them as brothers; it also demands that we treat them with kindness."
—Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922, reigned 1914-1922)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Love of man is God's hell. Our Lord had a hell, and it was because He loved us. Love of mankind was Christ's hell. So in these days when the word 'reconciliation' has become popular, let us not reduce it to sociological reconciliation, political reconciliation, or any other kind of reconciliation until we have first sounded the profound depths of this great mystery. The word 'reconciliation' is never mentioned in scripture apart from the death of Christ.

"I slipped His fingers, I escaped His feet.
I ran and hid for Him I feared to meet.
One day I passed Him, fettered on the tree.
He turned His head and looked and beckoned me,
Neither by speed nor strength could He prevail,
Each hand and foot was pinioned by a nail.
He could not run, nor clasp me if He tried,
But with His eyes He bade me reach His side.
For pity's sake, thought I, I'll set you free.
'Nay take this cross,' said He, 'and follow Me.
'This yoke is easy, this burden light,
'Not hard nor grievous if you wear it tight.'
So did I follow Him who could not move,
An uncaught captive in the hands of love."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)