A Carpe Diem Snapshot:
With the synod wrapping up, Bishop Barron was able to escape the daily grind at the Vatican to deliver a lecture at the Angelicum last night on the topic of "Does Our Idea of God Matter for Politics and Economics?" In keeping with his running themes and the Dominican charism of the Angelicum, he mainly spoke about Thomas Aquinas' ever relevant insight into the interconnectedness of all things. The actual title of Bishop Barron's talk was "Ipsum Esse in Relation to Social Thought," so, all about Aquinas. In case you were wondering, "As Ipsum Esse Subsistens, God is Ipsum Esse (i.e., Existence or Act of Existence Itself, subsistent of Itself or subsisting by Itself) (Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I, q. 4, a. 2).
As such, Ipsum Esse Subsistens contains within Itself or Himself the whole perfection of esse." Yes, it gave me a little bit of a headache, but in a good way. Read more about it here.
Liturgical: Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist
Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Bishop Barron's Gospel reflections today.
Sanctoral: Today is the Feast of St. Luke, the inspired author of the third Gospel and of the Acts of the Apostles, was a native of Antioch in Syria and a physician, and one of the early converts from paganism. He accompanied St. Paul on a considerable part of his missionary journey. He was also his companion while in prison at Rome on two different occasions. His account of these events, contained in the Acts, is firsthand history.
Luke's Gospel is, above all, the Gospel of the Merciful Heart of Jesus. It emphasizes the fact that Christ is the salvation of all men, especially of the repentant sinner and of the lowly. Legend says that Luke painted the Blessed Virgin's portrait. It is certainly true that he painted the most beautiful word-picture of Mary ever written.
Human: 33 AD – death of Agrippina the Elder, the wife of Germanicus. They had nine children. After the death of her husband, her dangerous opponent – Sedans- accused her of pursuing power and reported his suspicions to Tiberius. They wanted to eliminate her together as they feared she would like one of her descendants to usurp Tiberius. Agrippina died on the island of Pandateria by starvation, despite Tiberius’ order to feed her by force.
The Writer's Almanac today.
Natural: St. Luke's Little Summer
Lovely, summerlike days that occur around October 18 are called Saint Luke’s Little Summer in honor of the saint’s feast day. Around this time, Saint Luke’s feast day, there is a period brief period of calm, dry weather. Of course, it’s difficult to generalize today across the vast continent of North America, but the temperature is usually mild and the leaf colors are turning a gorgeous color. It’s a good time for a brief vacation or visit to a park. In Venice, Italy, they say: “San Luca, El ton va te la zuca” (Pumpkins go stale on St Luke’s Day), but here in North America, pumpkins are enjoying their finest hour. Saint Luke is the patron saint of physicians and surgeons so it seems only fitting that the good doctor give us these calm days. In olden days, St. Luke’s Day did not receive as much attention in the secular world as St. John’s Day (June 24) and Michaelmas (September 29), so it was to keep from being forgotten that St. Luke presented us with some golden days to cherish before the coming of winter, or so the story goes. Some folks call this Indian Summer, but that officially occurs between November 11 and November 20.
Italian: Respirare (to breathe)
Quote: “It has been suggested that the heart of sin is taking oneself too seriously.”
― Bishop Robert E. Barron, Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith
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