A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
We caught this Carpe Diem moment just this morning when we took over toddler chasing duties so that my friend could finally experience an uninterrupted Mass all by herself. It's not so easy being a "mother with child"! Speaking of which, this one here is by the Scottish sculptor Hew Lorimer. The original is an absolute giant, dramatically posed on an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. My parents received this little model from the artist, who was a very good friend to my Dad during his early days as a bachelor and doctoral student in St. Andrews.
Liturgical: Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
"If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve,
the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Bishop Barron's Homily: Do You Accept This Teaching?
Fr. Plant's Homily: You Have the Words of Eternal Life
Sanctoral: St. Louis IX (1215-1270), who became King of France at the age of twelve, had been religiously brought up by his mother, Blanche of Castile. Throughout his life, he remained deeply devout and as a king, his conduct was that of a real saint. He devoted himself to the affairs of his kingdom and to those of Christendom and was a great peacemaker — kings and princes constantly sought his aid in settling disputes. He was humble and upright, helpful to the needy, and in-person nursed lepers and the sick. St. Louis gave to all the example of a life overflowing with charity and sovereign justice. He was a tertiary of the Order of the Holy Trinity and Captives (the Trinitarians) and a strong supporter of the Franciscan Orders and other mendicant orders as well. A full decade before he died in Tunis, in honor of the King's support and Catholic manner of life, St. Bonaventure proposed to the Franciscans' General Chapter that suffrages be prayed for the King annually (essentially a feast day, as for those already sainted!), the Chapter approved the proposal three years later. Immediately after Louis IX's death, the Franciscans began an active campaign for his canonization, and he was venerated by the Secular Franciscan Order and the Third Order Regular as protector and advocate as soon as he was canonized. He died near Tunis, lying on a bed of ashes, during a crusade for the deliverance of the Holy Land.
Human: 79 AD – Pliny the Elder, Roman commander, writer and philosopher died today during the eruption of Vesuvius, when he rushed to help the people as a commander of the squadron of Roman ships. He also wanted to take a closer look at the effects of volcano’s activity. His death was described by Pliny the Younger in the letters to Tacitus. His only work that survived is Naturalis Historia (Natural History), a kind of encyclopedia in 37 books (cosmology, geography, botany, physiology, mineralogy, etc.). It is a mine of knowledge of Roman times.
Another possible date of Pliny’s death is October 25, if we assume the date of the eruption of Vesuvius as October 24.
The Writer's Almanac edition today.
Natural: National Park Service established– 1916
Italian: Arrampicarsi sugli specchi (to clutch at straws)
Quote: "The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach."
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