Catholic Missal of the day: Wednesday, February 1 2017

Wednesday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time

Wednesday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time

1. Reading

Letter to the Hebrews

12,4-7.11-15.

]Brothers and sisters: In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
]You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him;
]for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges."
]Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline?
]At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.
]So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
]Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.
]Strive for peace with everyone, and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
]See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God, that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble, through which many may become defiled,

Psalm

Psalms

103(102),1-2.13-14.17-18a.

]Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
]Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
]As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
]For he knows how we are formed,
remembers that we are dust.
]But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity
to eternity toward those who fear him,
and his justice toward children's children
]among those who keep his covenant.

Gospel

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

6,1-6.

]Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,  accompanied by his disciples.
]When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
]Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
]Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house."
]So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
]He was amazed at their lack of faith.

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St. Bridgid of Ireland(Foundress († 523))

SAINT BRIDGID Abbess and Patroness of Ireland (c. 453-523) St. Bridgid was the spiritual daughter of St. Patrick. She was born circa 453 in Fochard, Ulster, Northern Ireland. Her pious mother saw a vision of holy persons in radiant garments pouring a sacred unguent on her head. St. Bridgid longed for perfection after listening to St. Patrick's preaching. She rejected several suitors before suffering a malady in her eye that repulsed others. When she received St. Patrick's habit, she was miraculously healed. That miracle also changed the altar to its orginal beauty. Other women joined St. Bridgid and together they founded a religious residence. With the bishop's blessing, the first convent was established in Ireland. St. Bridgid assumed leadership of the community and was obedient to the prelate. Ireland's bishops later established similar institutes in their respective dioceses. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary who travelled to assist her pregant cousin Elizabeth, St. Bridgid worked tirelessly so others could encounter Christ. While working in the province of Connaught, St. Bridgid received a deputation to take up residence in Leinster. The prospect of calling more souls to Christ emboldened her. She took some spiritual daughters with her and founded an institute at the site of present-day Kildare. St. Bridgid relieved the poor considerably. When their needs surpassed her finances, she sacrificed the movables of the convent. On one occasion, imitating the burning charity of St. Ambrose and other servants of God, she sold the sacred vestments and relieved the poor. She sometimes tended cattle on land belonging to the monastery. St. Bridgid's holiness drew multitudes. They came seeking her prayers and advice. Their numbers increased so much that the Sisters provided accommodations in the surrounding neighborhood. This was the foundation and origin of the town of Kildare.The town soon became an episcopal see and St. Bridgid elected Conlath, a holy ascetic, as it first bishop. In time, the diocese became the province's ecclesiastical metropolis. After fifty years as a religious, St. Bridgid sensed that her time was drawing to an end. Her last illness was soothed by the presence of Nennidh, a holy priest who she had edified. On February 1, 523, after receiving the Eucharist, her soul was taken to Heaven. Her relics were interred in the church adjoining the convent and later enshrined near the altar. In the ninth century, when Ireland was attacked by the Danes, St. Bridgid's relics were transferred to Down-Patrick and deposited with those of St. Patrick. Their relics, together with those of St. Columba, were later transferred to the Cathedral. St. Bridgid's head is now enshrined at the Jesuits' church in Lisbon.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2017 / Catholic Missal of february 2017