Catholic Missal of the day: Friday, February 1 2019

Friday of the Third week in Ordinary Time

Friday of the Third week in Ordinary Time

1. Reading

Letter to the Hebrews

10,32-39.

]Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering.
]At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated.
]You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession.
]Therefore, do not throw away your confidence; it will have great recompense.
]You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.
]"For, after just a brief moment, he who is to come shall come; he shall not delay.
]But my just one shall live by faith, and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him."
]We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.

Psalm

Psalms

37(36),3-4.5-6.23-24.39-40.

]Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
]Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart's requests.
]Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
]He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.
]By the LORD are the steps of a man made firm,
and he approves his way.
]Though he fall, he does not lie prostrate,
for the hand of the LORD sustains him.
]The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
He is their refuge in time of distress.
]The LORD helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

Gospel

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

4,26-34.

]Jesus said to the crowds: "This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
]and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.
]Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
]And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come."
]He said, "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it?
]It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
]But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade."
]With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
]Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

---

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.

misalcatolico.com

---

Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2019 / Catholic Missal of february 2019