Churches of the Day

Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary time. Year 2

Saint of the Day: July 21 ; St Lawrence of Brindisi, priest, religious, doctor
C/f A short look at the life of this saint can be found below today’s Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of the Prophet Micah          7:14-15. 18-20
Throw all our sin to the bottom of the sea .

With shepherd's crook, O Lord lead your people to pasture the flock that is your heritage, living confined in a forest with meadow land all around. Let them pasture in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out of Egypt grant us to see wonders.

What god can compare with you:
taking fault away, pardoning crime,
not cherishing anger for ever but delighting in showing mercy? Once more have pity on us, tread down our faults, to the bottom of the sea throw all our sins.
Grant Jacob your faithfulness, and Abraham your mercy, as you swore to our fathers from the days of long ago.

The Word of the Lord             Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 84: 2-8. R/ v 
Response                               Let us see O Lord, your mercy.

1. O Lord, you once favoured your land and revived the fortunes of Jacob,
you forgave the guilt of your people and covered all their sins.
You averted all your rage, you calmed the heat of your anger.         Response

2. Revive us now, God, our helper! Put an end to your grievance against us.
Will you be angry with us for ever, will your anger never cease?     Response

3. Will you not restore again our life that your people may rejoice in you?
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy and give us your saving help.          Response

Gospel Acclamation        1 Jn 2: 5
Alleluia, alleluia!
When anyone obeys what Christ has said God's love comes to perfection in him.
Alleluia!

or                                             Ps 94: 8
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia

GOSPEL    

The Lord be with you.                                   And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew       12:46-50        Glory to you, O Lord
Stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers.'

Jesus was speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this Jesus replied,
'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?'
And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said,
'Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.'

The Gospel of the Lord        Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection         Tuesday         Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time       Matthew 12:46–50

Today’s gospel reading is the first mention of Jesus’ mother since the story of Jesus’ infancy in chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew’s Gospel. The last we heard of Jesus’ mother, Mary, and of his father, Joseph, was in the setting of the family’s escape to Egypt from the murderous intentions of King Herod and their return to Israel after the death of Herod. Joseph then made his home with Mary and Jesus in Nazareth. In the chapter following the one from which we are reading today, when Jesus returns to Nazareth for the first time since his baptism the townspeople will ask, ‘Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?’

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus makes clear that he has moved on from his blood family and is in the process of starting a new family of his disciples. The wish of Mary and other members of Jesus’ family to speak to Jesus is the opportunity for Jesus to declare who his true family now is, his true mother, brothers and sisters. This must have been a difficult reality for Mary to come to terms with. She had to let Jesus go to God’s greater purpose for his life. One of the great challenges of love is having the freedom to let go of the beloved when that is called for. We can assume that Mary had that freedom. Genuine love for another, the love inspired by the Holy Spirit, is always a love that surrenders to God’s purpose for the life of the loved one. Mary’s love for Jesus was no less when he moved on from his blood family to form a new family of disciples. As members of Jesus’ new family, we are called to love others in the same selfless way that Mary loved Jesus.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Gospel Reflection is available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings : My Words Will Not Pass Away by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookstore

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Saint of the Day: July 21 ; St Lawrence of Brindisi, priest, religious, doctor.

St Lawrence was born at Brindisi (Italy) in 1559; and died at Lisbon (Portugal) on this day in 1619. A presbyter in the Capuchin order and later its minister general. A noted biblical scholar and linguist, charged with preaching to Lutherans. He organised Christian princes against the incursions of the Ottomans. Noted for his zealous teaching and promotion of the Catholic reform that followed the Council of Trent.

Lawrence of Brindisi was a gifted linguist. He was also a brave Capuchin priest who played an important part in promoting the Catholic faith in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Patrick Duffy tells some of what is known about him.

Linguist and Evangeliser
Born Julius Caesar Rossi in Brindisi in Apulia, south-east Italy, into a family of Venetian merchants, his father died when he was twelve. He was educated at Saint Mark's College in Venice. At sixteen he joined the Capuchins in Verona as Br Lawrence, studied at the University of Padua, and became an accomplished linguist, speaking most European and Semitic languages fluently.

Definitor-General for the Capuchins
Lawrence was appointed definitor-general for the Capuchins in Rome in 1596; Pope Clement VIII assigned him the task of converting the Jews in the city. He was so fluent in Hebrew that many rabbis thought he had been a Jew who converted to Christianity. In 1599, he was sent to establish Capuchin monasteries in Germany and Austria, and converted many Protestants to the Catholic faith.

Leads Army against the Turks
In 1601, Lawrence was the imperial chaplain for the army of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, and successfully recruited Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercoeur, to help fight against the Ottoman Turks. He then led the army during the capture of Székesfehérvár from the Ottoman Empire, armed only with a crucifix.

Minister-General of the Capuchins
In 1602 Lawrence was elected minister-general of the Capuchins. He was elected again in 1605, but declined the office this time and entered the service of the Holy See, becoming nuncio to Bavaria. After serving as nuncio to Spain, he retired to a monastery in 1618.

Death in Lisbon
An effort to achieve peace for kingdom of Naples took him off again on a journey to Lisbon to visit the king of Spain, but here he contracted a serious illness and died in 1619.

Influence
Lawrence was beatified in 1783 by Pope Pius VI, canonized in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII. In 1956 the Capuchins completed a 15-volume edition of his writings and sermons.

In 1959 Pope John XXIII declared him a doctor of the church.

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Memorable Saying for Today

“Defending the faith to the best of our ability
is not a luxury or an indulgence in intellectual vanity.
It is the task given to each one of us
as we bear witness to our faith before the world.”

~R.C. Sproul ~

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- Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year A

FIRST READING

A reading from the First Book of Kings 3:5. 7-12
You have asked for a discerning judgement for yourself, here and now I do what you ask.

 At Gibeon the Lord appeared in a dream to Solomon during the night. God said,
'Ask what you would like me to give you'.
Solomon replied,
Lord my God, you have made your servant king in succession to David my father. But I am a very young man, unskilled in leadership. Your servant finds himself in the midst of this people of yours that you have chosen, a people so many its number cannot be counted or reckoned.
Give your servant a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil, for who could govern this people of yours that is so great?'
It pleased the Lord that Solomon should have asked for this.
'Since you have asked for this' the Lord said 'and not asked for long life for yourself or riches or the lives of your enemies, but have asked for a discerning judgement for yourself, here and now I do what you ask.
I give you a heart wise and shrewd as none before you has had and none will have after you.

The Word of the Lord.              Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm            Ps 118: 57. 72. 76-77. 127-130 R/ v 97
Response                                Lord how I love your law!

1. My part, I have resolved, O Lord, is to obey your word.
The law from your mouth means more to me. than silver and gold.                 Response

2. Let your love be ready to console me by your promise to your servant.
Let your love come to me and I shall live for your law is my delight.               Response

3. That is why I love your commands more than finest gold.
That is why I rule my life by your precepts: I hate false ways.                            Response

4. Your will is wonderful indeed; therefore I obey it.
The unfolding of your word gives light and teaches the simple.                         Response


SECOND READING

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to Romans           8:28-30
God intends us to become true images of his Son.

We know that by turning everything to their good God co-operates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose. They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory. 

The Word of the Lord.                      Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation                  Jn 15: 15
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!

Or                                                    Mt 11:25
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL  

The Lord be with you                        And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew    13:44-52      Glory to you, O Lord
He sells everything he owns and buys it.

Jesus spoke to the crowds:
'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

'Have you understood all this?'
They said, 'Yes'.
And he said to them, 'Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old'.

The Gospel of the Lord    Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Shorter form of the Gospel

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you                         And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew   13:44-52        Glory to you, O Lord
He sells everything he owns and buys it.

Jesus spoke to the crowds:
'The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

The Gospel of the Lord.      Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers.