Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Saints + Scripture: Eastertide

'Tis the festival of Saint Pachomius, Abbot (circa 290-346, of Tabenna; A.K.A. the Great): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

'Tis also the festival of Blessed Thomas Pickering, Religious & Martyr, O.S.B. (circa 1621-1679), martyred in the reign of the Anglo-Scottish king Charles II, a victim of the perjurer Titus Oates' "Popish Plot" hoax: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Plot-link & Wikipedia-link Popish Plot.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Easter Weekday
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter seventeen, verse fifteen & twenty-two thru chapter eighteen, verse one;
Psalm One Hundred Forty-eight, verses one & two, eleven & twelve, thirteen, & fourteen;
The Gospel according to John, chapter sixteen, verses twelve thru fifteen.

Commentary: Reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):
Friends, today’s Gospel declares that when the Spirit comes, he will guide us into all truth. There is a story I’ve heard about Jean-Luc Marion that, if it isn’t true, should be. In the midst of a lively lecture on Descartes, a student asked a pointed question about God. Marion looked at her and said, "Go to Sunday Mass for a year and then return and ask me that question again."

Marion’s response was not just a clever one-liner. If true knowledge of God depends upon immersion in the Holy Spirit, then that knowledge is a function of an entire form of life, involving prayer, self-denial, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and the forgiveness of one’s enemies. We don’t think our way to an understanding of God so much as we live our way to it.

Thomas Aquinas always said that he owed his theology far more to the persistence of his prayer than to the acuity of his mind. His penetration of the divine mystery flowed from his life in the Holy Spirit. And so today we pray, "Come, Holy Spirit, come!"
Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.


Bible Study—Wisdom Books
The Book of Psalms, psalm seventh-two (verses one thru twenty).

Commentary: A Prayer for the King (Psalm 72).

Bible Study—Catholic Epistles
The Letter to the Hebrews, chapter eleven (verses one thru forty).

Commentary: The Faith of the Ancients (Hebrews, 11:1-40).

Papal Quote o' the Day
"We must not be afraid of finding ourselves one day in a minority if we are faithful. We must not be embarrassed by unpopularity if we are consistent. We must not care about being defeated if we are witnesses to truth & to the freedom of the children of God."
—Pope Bl. Paul VI (1897-1978, feast day: 26 September)
Little Flower Quote o' the Day
"I, who am but a little grain of sand, wish to set to work, though I have neither courage nor strength. Now this very want of power will make my task easier, for I wish to work for love."
—St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church (1873-1897, feast day: 1 October)
Saint Quote o' the Day
"True & subsistent life consists in this: the Father, through the Son & in the Holy Spirit, pouring out His heavenly gifts on all things without exception. Thanks to His mercy, we too, men that we are, have received the inalienable promise of eternal life."
—St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church (313-386, feast day: 18 March)

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