Saints + Scripture

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Saints of the Day
'Tis the Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot, O.S.B. (circa 480-547, of Nursia), founder of the Abbey of Saint Scholastica (A.K.A. Subiaco Abbey) & the Abbey of Monte Cassino, & author of the Rule of Saint Benedict.

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Brother of St. Scholastica (10 January).

'Tis the Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Book of Isaiah, chapter six, verses one thru eight;
Psalm Ninety-three (R/. one[a]), verses one(a/b), one(c/d) & two, & five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter ten, verses twenty-four thru thirty-three.

Commentary: Daily Readings.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Through the power of his being, he has linked us to the creative source of all existence. And in that “place,” loved in the Spirit by the Father and the Son, we are safe—even from those who would kill the body.

But this means that our perspective can and must change. Most of us spend most of our lives defending ourselves against assaults on the “body”—keen, almost every waking moment, to protect our psyches, our emotions, our fortunes, our health, our reputations.

When we do that, we warp ourselves, turning our lives defensively inward, living in a very small spiritual space. But when we live out of the divine center, we breathe the air of real spiritual freedom. No longer cramped fearfully around the “body,” we can move into the wide expanse of the divine will, following God however he prompts us. And this state of affairs, this great soul, is simultaneously alluring in its beauty and terrifying in its demand.

Video reflection by Deacon Bernard Nojadera (U.S.C.C.B.): Daily Reflection.

Mass Readings—Memorial of Saint Benedict
The Book of Proverbs, chapter two, verses one thru nine;
Psalm Thirty-four (R/. two, or: nine), verses two & three, four & five, six & seven, eight & nine, & ten & eleven;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter nineteen, verses twenty-seven, twenty-eight, & twenty-nine.

Commentary: Memorial Readings.

Saint Quote o' the Day

"Whatever good work you begin to do, beg of God with most earnest prayer to perfect it."
—Saint Benedict of Nursia, O.S.B. (480-547, feast: 11 July)