I must be acclimating to watching Mass via internet live-stream, because this morning I showed up late, logging in during the Psalm Response.
'Tis the Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent (meaning "Spring;" the Latin name is Quadragesima, meaning "fortieth"): Quadragesima-link & Wikipedia-link Quadragesima.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
The Book of Numbers, chapter twenty-one, verses four thru nine;
Psalm One Hundred Two (R/. two), verses two & three; sixteen, seventeen, & eighteen; & nineteen, twenty, & twenty-one;
The Gospel according to John, chapter eight, verses twenty-one thru thirty.
Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus predicts his death on the cross.Video reflection by Father Michael F. Tunney, S.J. (U.S.C. of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.
We are meant to see on that cross not simply a violent display, but rather our own ugliness. What brought Jesus to the cross? Stupidity, anger, mistrust, institutional injustice, betrayal of a friend, denial, unspeakable cruelty, scapegoating, fear, etc. In other words, all of our dysfunction is revealed on that cross.
So far so awful. But we can’t stop telling the story at this point. Dante and every other spiritual master know that the only way up is down. When we live in convenient darkness, unaware of our sins, we will never make spiritual progress. So we need the light, however painful it is—then we can begin to rise.
On the cross of Jesus, we meet our own sin. But we also meet the divine mercy that has taken that sin upon himself in order to swallow it up. We have found, in that cross, the way up. We want to hold up this thing that was considered too horrible to look at. We want to embrace and kiss the very source of our pain.
Reflect: What do you do to move out of the "convenient darkness" and shed the light of Christ on your own attitudes and behaviors?
"Easter of Hope" Reflection (Array of Hope):
In today’s Gospel, Jesus affirms His divinity and astonishes the Pharisees in the process. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, it’s extremely obvious what Jesus is saying, yet the Pharisees, who knew every detail of the law, couldn’t grasp Jesus’s words. Jesus is the Word of the Father made flesh; He and the Father are one. Jesus makes it clear that unless you believe He is the Christ, you cannot go where He’s going: Heaven. Does this mean Jesus is being exclusive with His invitations to the Eternal Banquet? No, of course not! Jesus implored the Pharisees time and again to repent and be saved but they continued to persist in their hardness of heart.E.W.T.N.-link Litany of Humility
What does it mean to believe in Jesus? He makes it clear that if we believe in Him and obey His commands, the Holy Trinity will dwell within us. Believing in Jesus is not just an intellectual knowing, rather it means we accept all that He has shared with us. By accepting His Word into our hearts, our hearts can be transformed and become like His Heart. This transformation cannot take place without humility, something the Pharisees severely lacked. It is only through true humility that we can empty and dispose ourselves to receive the gift of God, which is His very life. No longer do we have to dwell in darkness like the Pharisees because Christ is our light and salvation!
Today’s Tip: Pray the Litany of Humility. Ask for the grace of humility that you might be ready to not only hear when Jesus speaks to you, but also understand His words, and ponder these words within your hearts.
Scripture Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of Sirach, chapter fifty-one (of fifty-one, verses one thru thirty).
Commentary: The Search for Wisdom (Sirach, 51:1-30).
Scripture Study—Exodus 90: Day 79
The Book of Exodus, chapter thirty-four, verses ten thru twenty-one, twenty-seven, & twenty-eight.
Commentary: The Covenant Renewed (Exodus, 34:10-21, 27-28).
Scripture Study—The 3:16 Project
The Book of Obadiah, verse sixteen.
For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain,Commentary: The Book of Obadiah isn't divided in chapters. The above is simply Obadiah, 16 (not even Obadiah, 1:16).
all the nations round about shall drink;
they shall drink, & stagger,
& shall be as though they had not been.
'Tis the commemoration of Saint Balbina of Rome, Virgin & Martyr (died circa 130), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperor Hadrian: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Wayback Machine '18. Daughter of the martyr St. Quirinus of Rome (30 April).
My records indicate that there is a "Saints + Scripture" post for 31 March 2019, but I cannot find it, despite diligent searching. Given unlimited time, I might be able to locate it, but for the nonce we must consider it lost, a casualty of the worst time in the six-year history of Project BLACK MAMBA. We appreciate your patience with the echoes of that fiasco.
'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Acacius Agathangelos of Melitene, Bishop & Confessor (died circa 251, the "Good Angel," A.K.A. Acathius), Bishop of Melitene: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Benjamin, Deacon & Martyr (circa 329-424), martyred in the reign of Persian emperor Bahram V (A.K.A. Varanes V): Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Stephen of Mar Saba, Priest & Hermit (circa 725-794, A.K.A. the Sabaite, the Hymnographer): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Nephew of the Doctor of the Church St. John Damascene [4 December].
'Tis also the commemoration of Saint Gilla Mo Chaidbeo, Abbot (died 1174, A.K.A. Machabeus), abbot of the monastery of Ss. Peter & Paul in Armagh (1143-1174): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the commemoration of Blessed Christopher Robinson, Priest & Martyr (circa 1568-1598), martyred in the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I, one of the Eighty-five Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Martyr-link England & Wales & Wikipedia-link England & Wales.
Proverb o' the Day (Sirach, 51:8)
Then I remembered Your mercy, O Lord,Papal Quote o' the Day
& Your work from of old,
that You deliver those who wait for You
& save them from the hand of their enemies.
"It is not enough for us to reach out & help those in need. We must discover the values that enable them to buld new life & to take their rightful place in society with dignity & justice."Saint Quote o' the Day
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"On the cross we no longer have Christ & His Mother, or Jesus & Mary. I know we speak of the sorrowful Mother at the foot of the cross, but I don't think she was sorrowful, I think she was suffering. I cannot imagine the mother of the Maccabees as being sorrowful when she sent her seven sons to death. There must have been a certain joy in the mother's heart as she gives her son. But there's something different here. At this moment on the cross we no longer have Jesus & Mary. We have the new Adam & the new Eve. Our Lord on the cross is the new Adam, the Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross is the new Eve. And we're going to have the consummation of a marriage, & out of the consummated marriage of the new Adam & the new Eve is going to begin the new Church of which John will be the symbol. And so the new Adam looking down now to the woman, says: 'Woman, your son.' And to the son, he did not say 'John' (he would have then been only the son of Zebedee), but 'Son, your mother.' Here is the begetting of a new life. The Blessed Mother becomes the symbol of the Church. And as Eve was the mother of the living, so Mary becomes the Mother of the new living in the order of grace."Chesterton Quote o' the Day
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
"Sow in our souls, like living grass,
The laughter of all lowly things."
—G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
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