The Popish Plot
"Christians Who Hate Halloween Hate Heaven"
'Tis All Hallows' Eve (also spelt Hallowe'en, A.K.A. All Saints' Eve), the vigil of the Solemnity of All Saints: All Hallows' Eve-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Allhallowtide.
Commentary: Wayback Machine.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Quentin of Amiens, Martyr (circa 211-287), martyred in the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian & Maximian: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Foillan, Bishop & Martyr (died 655; A.K.A. Faélán, Feuillien, etc.), inaugural abbot at Fosses (653-655), abbot at Cnobheresburg (643-651), martyred by bandits: Martyr-link ūnus, Martyr-link duo, & Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: Brother Ss. Fursey [16 January] & Ultan [1 May].
'Tis also the festival of Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg, Bishop, O.S.B. (circa 924-994, the "Great Almoner"), thirteenth (XIII) Bishop of Regensburg (972-994, Anglicized as Ratisbon): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, Saint-link trēs, & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link Regensburg & Wikipedia-link Bishops.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Tommaso of Florence, Religious, T.O.S.F. (1370-1447, A.K.A. Tommaso Bellacci): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Saint Alphonsus Rodríguez, Religious, S.J. (1532-1617): Saint-link ūnus, Saint-link duo, Saint-link trēs, & Wikipedia-link.
'Tis also the festival of Blessed Irene Stefani, Religious, I.S.M.C. (1891-1930, "Nyaatha" ["Merciful Mother"]; A.K.A. Aurelia Mercede Stefani): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Philippians, chapter one, verses eighteen(b) thru twenty-six;
Psalm Forty-two (R/. cf. three), verses two, three, & five(c/d/e/f);
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter fourteen, verses one & seven thru eleven.
Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus notices people jockeying for the highest place at a banquet. So do you see what Jesus does? He notices how this game interrupts God’s intention for his people and so he endeavors to interrupt the interruption. What he is urging in his parable is that we have the courage not to play the game of honor at all.Video reflection by Marc DelMonico, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.
When every instinct in your body says to take the higher place, you should in fact take the lowest place, the place where you are least likely to be noticed. What if you tried this on the sports field, at work, in your family, among your friends? It would be like breaking yourself of an addiction.
Then he pushes it even further. Sometimes we invite people to parties or we are kind to them so that we might be repaid. So, the Lord says, don’t invite people who can invite you back; don’t be kind to people who are likely to be kind to you. Love your enemies; invite the poor, the forgotten, the homeless.
The quest for honor is an addiction like any other. It interrupts what God wants for us. Pray for the grace to break it.
Scripture Study—Day 91: Havel Highlands, Day 41
The Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter twelve, verses one thru eight.
Commentary: Advice to the Young (Ecclesiastes, 12:1-8).
Papal Quote o' the Day
"The person who does not feel indebted to God remains entangled in restless inclination toward self. But to the heart of the truly humble believer the Lord reveals His presence, His sovereignty in saving power, His justice in the infinite greatness of His mercy."Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day
—Pope St. John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)
"All my years of service to the poor have helped me to understand that they are precisely the ones who better understand human dignity. If they have a problem, it is not a lack of money, but the fact that their right to be treated humanely & with tenderness is not recognized."Saint Quote o' the Day
—St. Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)
"God is truth, & whoever seeks the truth is seeking God, whether he knows it or not."Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day
—St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, O.C.D. (1891-1942, feast: 9 August)
"In Yugoslavia some years ago a young boy was serving Mass, & he dropped the cruet. The priest slapped him, & said, 'Get out & never come back.' He never came back. He became the communist leader of Yugoslavia, Tito. If that priest had ever come to the good Lord in order to review what he had done, there would have been, perhaps, some remission & an altering of the effect. I can remember when I was a boy serving at the cathedral under Bishop John L. Spalding. I was about seven years of age, & I dropped the wine cruet at the offertory. Now let me tell you that there is no atomic explosion which can equal in intensity the sound of a cruet falling on a marble floor. I was frightened to death because we altar boys thought he was a stern man. After Mass, he said, 'Come here, young man. Where are you going to school when you get big?'
"To a seven-year-old, big is high school. I said, 'Spalding Institute.' That was the high school named after him, a much more diplomatic answer than I thought at the time.
"He said, 'I said when you get big. Did you ever hear of Louvain?'
"I said, 'No.' 'Well, you go home & tell your mother that I said that when you got big, you were to go to the University of Louvain, & some day you will be just as I am.'
"So I went home & told my mother what he had said, & she said, 'Yes, that's a great university in Europe.' I never once thought of that incident until I had been ordained two years & stepped off a train in Louvain. I said, 'Oh, this is where Bishop Spalding told me to go.' It was an event that in some way altered my life as it altered the life of Tito in the opposite way"
—Ven. Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)
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