Wednesday of the Seventh week in Ordinary Time

Letter of James

Beloved : Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town, spend a year there doing business, and make a profit"--
you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.
Instead you should say, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that."
But now you are boasting in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin.

Psalms

Hear this, all you peoples!
Give ear, all who inhabit the world,
You of lowly birth or high estate,
rich and poor alike.
Why should I fear in evil days,
when my wicked pursuers ring me round,
They trust in their wealth;
the abundance of their riches is their boast.
Yet in no way can a man redeem himself,
or pay his own ransom to God;
Too high is the price to redeem one?s life; he would never have enough
to remain alive always and not see destruction.
Anyone can see that the wisest die,
the fool and the senseless pass away too,
and must leave their wealth to others.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.

St. Polycarp(Bishop and Martyr (+ 167))

SAINT POLYCARP Bishop, Martyr(+ 167) St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of St. John. He wrote to the Philippians, exhorting them to mutual love and refuting heresy. When the apostate, Marcion, met St. Polycarp at Rome, St. Polycarp associated heresy with Satan. In 167 AD, a persecution erupted in Smyrna. When Bp. Polycarp heard his pursuers at the door, he resigned himself to the will of God, saying, "Not my will, but your will be done" (Lk. 22:42). After his arrest, Bp. Polycarp was offered freedom in exchange for cursing Christ. He replied, "Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never did me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?" When threatened with fire, Polycarp told the proconsul, "Your fire lasts only a little, but the fire prepared for the wicked lasts forever." During immolation, Bp. Polycarp was unharmed by the fire. He was then stabbed in the heart, and his dead body was burnt. The writers of his acts say, "we took up the bones, more precious than the richest jewels or gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, at which may God grant us to assemble with joy to celebrate the birthday of the martyr to his life in heaven!"

St. Serenus(Gardener and Martyr (+ 307))

SAINT SERENUS Gardener and Martyr(+ 307) St. Serenus was by birth a Grecian. He quitted estate, friends, and country to serve God in celibacy, penance, and prayer. With this design, he bought a garden in Sirmium in Pannonia, which he cultivated with his own hands, and lived on the fruits and herbs it produced. One day, there came thither a woman with her two daughters. Serenus, seeing them come up, advised them to withdraw, and to conduct themselves in the future as decency required of persons in their sex and condition. The woman, stung at our Saint's charitable remonstrance, retired in confusion, but resolved on revenging the supposed affront. She accordingly wrote to her husband that Serenus had insulted her. On receiving her letter, the woman's husband demanded justice from the Emperor. The emperor sent a letter to the governor of the province enabling the husband to obtain satisfaction. Serenus was then ordered to appear at court. Upon hearing the charge, he answered, "I remember that, some time ago, a lady came into my garden at an unseasonable hour, and I took the liberty to tell her it was against decency for one of her sex and quality to be abroad at such an hour." This plea of Serenus having put the officer to the blush for his wife's conduct, he dropped his prosecution. However, the governor suspected that Serenus was a Christian, and questioned him, saying, "Who are you, and what is your religion?" Serenus, without hesitating, answered, "I am a Christian." The governor burst into rage and said, "Since you sought to elude the emperor's edicts, and have positively refused to sacrifice to the gods, I condemn you to lose your head." The sentence was no sooner pronounced than the Saint was carried off and beheaded. St. Serenus entered heaven like Jesus on February 23, 307 AD.

misalcatolico.com

Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2022 / Catholic Missal of february 2022