Saints + Scripture: The Conversion of Saint Paul

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

9 Days for Life: Day 5
May each person suffering from the loss of a child through abortion find hope and healing in Christ.

'Tis the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle (circa 36): Apostle-link ūnus, Apostle-link duo, Apostle-link Array of Hope, Wikipedia-link Apostle, & Wikipedia-link Conversion.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth Minute Meditations from the Popes:

Paul's conversion reminds us that a sincere change of heart is essential for the spiritual progress of individual Christians as well as for full unity among them. Only be a change of attitude & behavior toward one another can Christ's disciples remove the obstacles to such unity.
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast day: 22 October)

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter twenty-two, verses three thru sixteen;
or, the Acts of the Apostles, chapter nine, verses one thru twenty-two;
Psalm One Hundred Seventeen, verses one(b/c), two
(R/. the Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verses fifteen);
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter sixteen, verses fifteen thru eighteen.

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

Friends, today in our Gospel Jesus commissions the Apostles to evangelize all people: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.”

To evangelize is to proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. When this kerygma, this Paschal Mystery, is not at the heart of the project, Christian evangelization effectively disappears, devolving into a summons to bland religiosity or generic spirituality. When Jesus crucified and risen is not proclaimed, a beige and unthreatening Catholicism emerges, a thought system that is, at best, an echo of the environing culture.

Peter Maurin, one of the founders of the Catholic Worker movement, said that the Church has taken its own dynamite and placed it in hermetically sealed containers and sat on the lid. In a similar vein, Protestant theologian Stanley Hauerwas commented that the problem with Christianity is not that it is socially conservative or politically liberal, but that “it is just too damned dull”!

For both Maurin and Hauerwas, what leads to this attenuation is a refusal to preach the dangerous and unnerving news concerning Jesus risen from the dead.

Video reflection by Monsignor James Vlaun (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 13
The Book of Exodus, chapter five, verse twenty-two thru chapter six, verse twelve.

Commentary: Bricks without Straw (concluded; Exodus, 5:22-6:1) & God Promises Deliverance (Exodus, 6:2-12).

'Tis also the festival of Saint Ananias of Damascus, Martyr (floruit the Conversion of Saint Paul), whose house persists into these latter days: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link House of Saint Ananias.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Dwynwen, Hermitess (circa 460), atop whose hermitage was later build Saint Dwynwen's Church (Welsh: Eglwys Santes Dwynwen); her feast, Dydd Santes Dwynwen, is now celebrated as a Welsh Valentine's Day: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Saint Dwynwen's & Wikipedia-link Lovers of Loving Love.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Poppo of Stavelot, Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 977-1048, A.K.A. of Deinze; also spelt Popon, Poppone), the "second founder" & abbot of the Imperial Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy (1021-1048) & abbot of the Imperial Abbey of Saint Maximin: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Stavelot-Malmedy & Wikipedia-link Saint Maximin.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Heinrich Seuse, Priest, O.P. (1295-1366; A.K.A. Heinrich von Berg, Amandus; Anglicized as Henry Suso): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives & in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator & lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group & association, from every family & from the heart of every believer."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great, Evangelium vitae № 100 (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast day: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children & women against men. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts—a child—as a competitor, an intrusion & an inconvenience."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997, feast day: 5 September)