Saints + Scripture: VII Sunday in Tempus per annum

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

'Tis the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that, always pondering spiritual things,
we may carry out in both word & deed
that which is pleasing to you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives & reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever & ever.
—Collect, Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Book of Leviticus, chapter nineteen, verses one, two, seventeen, & eighteen;
Psalm One Hundred Three (R/. eight[a]), verses one & two, three & four, eight & ten, & twelve & thirteen;
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter three, verses sixteen thru twenty-three;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses thirty-eight thru forty-eight.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus commands us to love our enemies.

And Jesus showed us how to do it. Immediately after being fixed to the cross, he said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." One of the most important elements of Jesus’ kingdom ethic was, accordingly, the praxis of forgiveness: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

As Walter Wink has pointed out, these recommendations have nothing to do with passivity in the face of evil. Rather, they embody a provocative but nonviolent manner of confronting evil and conquering it through a practice of coinherent love. By forgiving those putting him to death, Jesus is awakening them to the truth in which they already stand: their connectedness to him and to each other in God.

Video reflection by Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M. (U.S. Confer. of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Video reflection by Father Claude Burns (uCatholic): Weekend Reflection with Father Pontifex.

Audio reflection by Scott Hahn, Ph.D. (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Breaking the Bread.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 42
The Book of Exodus, chapter seventeen, verses one thru seven.

Commentary: Water from the Rock (Exodus, 17:1-7).

Scripture Study—The 3:16 Project
The Book of Genesis, chapter chapter three, verse sixteen.

To the woman He said,
"I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
Yet your desire shall be for your husband,
& he shall rule over you."

Commentary: "John 3:16" signs are common sights at sporting events. With today's Second Reading beginning with 1 Corinthians, 3:16, on this week's podcast The Lanky Guys jested about 3:16. Thus, the 3:16 Project. We'll see how this goes. This might be a terrible idea.

†

Otherwise, 23 February would be the festival of Saint Polycarp, Bishop & Martyr (circa 69-155, of Smyrna), Bishop of Smyrna, author of a Letter to the Philippians, one of the Apostolic Fathers; martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, as attested in the Martyrdom of Polycarp: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link Smyrna & Wikipedia-link Smyrna; Wikipedia-link Letter to the Philippians, Apostolic Fathers-link, & Wikipedia-link Apostolic Fathers; & Wikipedia-link Martyrdom of Polycarp.

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

St. Polycarp was so in love with You, Lord Jesus, that nothing else was important to him, not even his life, for he died a Martyr. Grant me the same single-mindedness & that same courage.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Serenus the Gardner, Martyr (died circa 305, of Billom; A.K.A. Sirenatus, Cerneuf, etc.), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian, a victim of the Great Persecution: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Persecutions-link & Wikipedia-link Great Persecution.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Willigis of Mainz, Bishop (circa 940-1011), Archbishop of Mainz (975-1011): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Mainz & Wikipedia-link Archbishops.

'Twould also be the festival of Saint Giuseppina Vannini, Religious, F.S.C. (1859-1911, A.K.A. Giuditta Vannini), co-foundress of the Daughters of Saint Camillus (F.S.C.): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link F.S.C.

Commentary: St. Giuseppina Vannini was canonized on 13 October 2019, to little fanfare alongside the more celebrated, at least in American Catholic circles, St. John Henry Newman [9 October].

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Ludwik Mzyk, Priest & Martyr, S.V.D. (1905-1940, also spelt Ludvig), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyrs-link Polska & Wikipedia-link Polska.

'Twould also be the festival of Blessed Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski, Priest & Martyr (1913-1945), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"It is He, it is only He Who can quench the deep & mysterious thirst of your spirits. Jesus, Jesus; He is the light & salvation of the world & of each of us."
—Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978, r. 1963-1978; feast: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Here we come to a lesson that God teaches us concerning our treasure. The treasure we hold in our earthen pot is grace. We turn here to the prophet Jeremiah in the forty-eighth chapter: 'All his life long, Moab has lain undisturbed, like wine settled on its lees, not emptied from vessel to vessel; he has not gone into exile. Therefore the taste of him is unaltered, & the flavor stays unchanged.' Jeremiah is here describing the way the Jews made wine. They would pour the grape wine into a vessel, allow it to settle, & when the lees (the dregs) began to form, then the wine would be poured into another vessel. After the dregs had settled there, it would be poured into still another, & still another, & another, until it was perfect wine. God says here of Moab, the people that did not allow the Israelites to pass through their land, 'Moab has settled on its lees.' Moab never went into exile. There was no pouring out of a vessel, no change, no taking on of a new challenge, & for that reason it lost its taste. This is the reason we should make a daily holy hour, so that we'll not settle on our lees. The rest of our life we'll consider as dregs. Now we'll begin to be poured from vessel to vessel in order to be enriched with grace."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)