Saints + Scripture

The Popish Plot
"Fish Fry"

'Tis the festival of Saint Olcán of Derken, Bishop (died circa 480, also spelt Bolcan), Bishop of Armoy (474-480): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Armoy.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Leo of Catania, Bishop, O.S.B. (703-789, A.K.A. the Thaumaturgus ["Wonder-worker"]), fifteenth (XV) Bishop of Catania (778-789), who opposed the first bout of the Byzantine Iconoclastic heresy: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Catania, & Heresy-link & Wikipedia-link Iconoclasm.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Wulfric of Haselbury, Priest & Hermit (circa 1080-1154, also spelt Ulfrick, etc.): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Amata of Assisi, Religious, O.S.C. (died circa 1250): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Niece of St. Clare of Assisi [11 August], foundress of the Poor Clares (O.S.C.).

'Tis also the festival of Saints Francisco Marto & Jacinta Marto (1908-1919 & 1910-1920), two of the three visionaries to whom were revealed the apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima (13 May-13 October 1917): Saints-link, Saint-link Foxtrot, Saint-link Juliett, Saints-link Array of Hope, & Wikipedia-link; Madonna-link & Wikipedia-link Fátima.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Maria Julia Rodzińska, Religious & Martyr, O.P. (1899-1945, A.K.A. Stanislawa Rodzińska), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, one of the One Hundred Eight Blessed Polish Martyrs: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link (List, № 3); Martyrs-link Polska & Wikipedia-link Polska.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter of James, chapter two, verses one thru nine;
Psalm Thirty-four (R/. seven[a]), verses two & three, four & five, & six & seven;
The Gospel according to Mark, chapter eight, verses twenty-seven thru thirty-three.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

No other religious figure or founder would ask such a question. This is the primordial and peculiar question of the Christian faith. It has to do with him and who he is. And so the Church, for the first several centuries, fought intellectually over precisely this odd question.

The first group that "responds" is the general public, giving a range of opinion—and all of it wrong. And if we were to take a public opinion poll today, we would hear "teacher, prophet, guru, madman…"

Then that devastating question: "But who do you say that I am?" You who are closest to me, surely you have a clearer grasp than the common run of people. But the disciples don’t speak. Are they afraid? Perhaps. Are they ignorant? Probably.

Finally, Simon Peter speaks: "You are the Messiah." In Matthew’s version of the scene, Peter says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." This is the mystical faith that stands at the heart of Christianity. To hold this Petrine faith is to be a Christian; to deny it is not to be a Christian

Video reflection by Father Don Miller, O.F.M. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 39
The Book of Exodus, chapter sixteen, verses one, two, & three.

Commentary: Manna from Heaven (Exodus, 16:1-3).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"In a world that often reduces sex to the pursuit of pleasure, & in some cases to domination, the Church has a special mission. She is to place sex in the context of conjugal love & of generous & responsible openness to parenthood."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Thirty or forty years ago it was easy to be a Christian. The very air we breathed was Christian. Bicycles could be left on front lawns; doors could be left unlocked. Suddenly all this has changed; now we have to affirm our faith. We live in a world that challenges us. And many fall away. Dead bodies float downstream; it takes live bodies to resist the current. And this is our summons. We will have to begin to be a different church. We are for a moment on the trapeze. We are in between the death of an old civilization and culture and the swing to the beginning of the new. These are the times in which we live. They are therefore wonderful days, marvelous, we should thank God that we live in times like this."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)