Saints + Scripture

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

'Tis the Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop & Doctor of the Church, C.Ss.R. (1696-1787), Bishop of Sant'Agata de' Goti (1762-1775) & founder of the Redemptorists (1732, C.Ss.R.), formally the Congregation of the Most Holt Redeemer: Doctor-link ūnus, Doctor-link duo, Doctor-link trēs, & Wikipedia-link; Diocese-link & Wikipedia-link Sant'Agata de' Goti; Doctors-link & Wikipedia-link Doctors; & Order-link C.Ss.R. & Wikipedia-link C.Ss.R.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Peter in Chains (circa 44, A.K.A. the Liberation of Saint Peter): Apostle-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Saint Peter Faber, Priest, S.J. (1506-1546, the "Apostle of Germany"), co-founder of the Jesuits (1534, S.J.), formally the Society of Jesus: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link; Order-link S.J. & Wikipedia-link S.J..

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Thomas Welbourne, Martyr (died 1605), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king James VI & I: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Gerhard Hirschfelder, Priest & Martyr (1907-1942), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.

'Tis also the festival of the eleven Blessed Martyrs of Nowogródek, C.S.F.N. (died 1943), martyred in the reign of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler: Martyrs-link Nowogródek & Wikipedia-link Nowogródek.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Jeremiah, chapter twenty-six, verses eleven thru sixteen & twenty-four;
Psalm Sixty-nine (R/. fourteen[c]), verses fifteen & sixteen, thirty & thirty-one, & thirty-three & thirty-four;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter fourteen, verses one thru twelve.

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

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Herod has John the Baptist beheaded, making him a protomartyr of Christ’s followers, the first of many martyrs to come.

Can we read that terrible and wonderful book of martyrs, the book of Revelation, without seeing the power of bold, truthful proclamation in the early Christian Church? And the cloud of witnesses grows up and down the Christian centuries. Today, from Pakistan to Nigeria, from Egypt to Iraq, ordinary Christians routinely risk their lives simply by declaring their faith and worshiping according to their conscience.

They are walking in the footsteps of great martyrs of the tradition, from Stephen, Peter, and Paul to Miguel Pro shouting “Viva Cristo Rey” to his executioners; Martin Luther King Jr. taking an assassin’s bullet because he insisted on being a drum major for New Testament justice; and [Bl.] Franz Jaggerstätter, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Edith Stein [St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross] challenging to their dying breaths the lies of Nazism.

And what we see in these martyrs is not ordinary courage but a courage elevated and transfigured through love. We see a willingness to give away even one’s life out of love for Christ and his people.

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

Mass Readings—Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori
The Letter to the Romans, chapter eight, verses one thru four;
Psalm One Hundred Nineteen (R/. twelve), verses nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, & fourteen;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses thirteen thru nineteen.

Scripture Study—Bible in a Year: Day 1
The First Letter of John, chapter one (verses one thru ten);
The First Letter of John, chapter two (verses one thru twenty-nine);
The First Letter of John, chapter three, verses one thru ten;
Psalm One (verses one thru six);
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter one, verses one thru seventeen.

Commentary: The Word of Life (1 John, 1:1-4), God Is Light (1 John, 1:5-10), Christ Is Our Advocate (1 John, 2:1-6), a New Commandment (1 John, 2:7-17), Warning against the Antichrist (1 John, 2:18-27), & Children of God (1 John, 2:28-3:10); the Two Ways (Psalm 1); & the Genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matthew, 1:1-17).

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Catholics must become closer to the 'unchurched' & help them discover their true vocation in Christ. This is the best service we can render to them & the best expression of solidarity & friendship."
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly & with confidence & love, as to the dearest & most loving of friends."
—St. Alphonsus Liguori, C.Ss.R., Doctor of the Church (1696-1787, feast: 1 August)

Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day

"One day right in the beginning, we had no rice for dinner & then a lady came & brought rice. She said she was coming back from the office '& something in me told me to go to Mother Teresa & bring her rice.' How beautiful it is when we listen to the Holy Spirit."
—St. Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)

Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day

"The Mass is not a new sacrifice. It is the re-presentation in space & time of redemption. Why should we be penalized by the eternal God because of the accident of time? Are there not women today who want to be Veronicas & to offer veils to the suffering Christ? Are there not men like Simon who want to help carry the cross? Do we not want to take our own sufferings, to have them united with Him in order that they might be considered part of the expiation for our sins? It is said that science might someday be able to go back & pick up all the sounds that were ever spoken because they still exist someplace in space. That means that we might recover the voice of Alexander & Gregory & Demosthenes, even the voice of Christ; but what is that compared to going back & finding & repeating the very sacrifice of the cross? What compares to taking the cross of Calvary & transplanting it to New York, London, Tokyo, & Berlin, & applying the benefits of redemption to our souls now? What a mystery of love! This is the Mass."
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

Mass Matters
Through 31 July, the two hundred thirteenth day of Anno domini 2020 (MMXX), I heard the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in person one hundred thirty-six times, seventy-seven fewer than at this point in 2019 (MMXIX).