Catholic Missal of the day: Sunday, February 24 2019
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
1. Reading1st book of Samuel
26,2.7-9.12-13.22-23.]So Saul went off down to the desert of Ziph with three thousand picked men of Israel, to search for David in the desert of Ziph.
]So David and Abishai went among Saul's soldiers by night and found Saul lying asleep within the barricade, with his spear thrust into the ground at his head and Abner and his men sleeping around him.
]Abishai whispered to David: "God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need a second thrust!"
]But David said to Abishai, "Do not harm him, for who can lay hands on the LORD'S anointed and remain unpunished?
]So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul's head, and they got away without anyone's seeing or knowing or awakening. All remained asleep, because the LORD had put them into a deep slumber.
]Going across to an opposite slope, David stood on a remote hilltop at a great distance from Abner, son of Ner, and the troops.
]But David answered: "Here is the king's spear. Let an attendant come over to get it.
]The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness. Today, though the LORD delivered you into my grasp, I would not harm the LORD'S anointed.
Psalms
103(102),1-2.3-4.8.10.12-13.]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.
]He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
]He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
]Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
]Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
]As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
]As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
First Letter to the Corinthians
15,45-49.]So, too, it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being," the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
]But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual.
]The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven.
]As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
]Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
6,27-38.]Jesus said to his disciples : "To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
]bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
]To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.
]Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
]Do to others as you would have them do to you.
]For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
]And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
]If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit (is) that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount.
]But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
]Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful.
]Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.
]Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."
Bl. Tommaso (Thomas) Maria Fusco(Founder (1831-1891))
Blessed Tommaso (Thomas) Maria Fusco Priest and Founder of the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood (1831-1891) Bl. Thomas was the seventh of eight children. He was baptized on the day he was born, December 1, 1831, in Pagani, the Diocese of Nocera-Sarno, Italy. His parents were Dr. Antonio, a pharmacist, and Stella Giordano, of noble descent. His mother died of cholera in 1837 and his father died four years later in 1841. Fr. Guiseppe, an uncle on his father's side and a primary school teacher, took charge of his education. Since 1839, the year of St. Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori's canonization, Thomas felt drawn to the priesthood. In 1847, he entered the diocesan seminary of Nocera, where his brother Raffaele was ordained in 1849.He received the Sacrament of Confirmation on April 1, 1851, and was ordained to the priesthood on December 22, 1855, by Bp. Agnello Giuseppe D'Auria. The deaths of his uncle in 1847 and younger brother Raffaele in 1852 were deeply sorrowful. However, devotion to the Patient Christ and to His Blessed Sorrowful Mother took root. His biographers wrote, "He had a deep devotion to the crucified Christ, which he cherished throughout his life." Fr. Thomas opened a morning school in his own home for boys' education and spiritual formation. For young people and adults, he organized evening prayers at the parish church of S. Felice e Corpo di Cristo. This was a true place of conversion and prayer, just as it had been for St. Alphonsus. In 1857, Fr. Thomas was admitted to the Congregation of the Missionaries of Nocera and worked in southern Italy.In 1860, he was appointed chaplain at the Shrine of our Lady of Carmel in Pagani. He set up the altar of the Crucified Christ and established the Pious Union for the Adoration of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus.In 1862, he opened a school of moral theology in his own home to train priests for confession. That same year, he founded the (Priestly) Society of the Catholic Apostolate for missions among the people. In 1874, he received the approval of Pope Pius IX, now blessed. Deeply moved by the sorrowful plight of an orphaned girl, Fr. Thomas founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood on January 6, 1873, the Solemnity of the Epiphany. The institute was inaugurated at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the presence of Bp. Raffaele Ammirante. With the religious habits of the first three sisters, Bp. Ammirante blessed the first orphanage for seven poor orphan girls. It was not long before the new religious family and the orphanage received the pope's blessing. Fr. Thomas continued his priestly ministry, spiritual retreats and popular missions. From his apostolic travels sprung foundation-houses and orphanages. He was also parish priest at the principal church of S. Felice e Corpo di Cristo in Pagani (1874-1887), extraordinary confessor to the cloistered nuns in Pagani and Nocera and spiritual father of the lay congregation at the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In 1880, a brother priest accused him out of envy. He lovingly carried the cross that Bp. Ammirante had foretold at the time of the institute's foundation: "Have you chosen the title of the Most Precious Blood? Well, may you be prepared to drink the bitter cup." Fr. Thomas bore the trials meekly. He repeated, "May work and suffering for God always be your glory; and in your work and suffering, may God be your consolation on this earth and your recompense in heaven. Patience is the safeguard and pillar of all the virtues." Fr. Thomas passed away on February 24, 1891, from liver disease. He was only 59 years old. In the notice issued by the town council of Pagani on February 25, 1891, the witness of his life was summarized in these words: "Tommaso Maria Fusco, Apostolic Missionary, Founder of the Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood, an exemplary priest of indomitable faith and ardent charity, worked tirelessly in the name of the Redeeming Blood for the salvation of souls: in life he loved the poor and in death forgave his enemies." Fr. Thomas' life was directed to the highest devotion of Christian virtues by the priestly life, lived in constant meditation on the Father's love, and contemplated in the crucified Son, whose Blood is "the expression, measure and pledge" of divine Charity. He was an Apostle of the Most Precious Blood, a friend of young people, and attentive to every kind of poverty and human and spiritual misery. He enjoyed the fame of holiness among the diocesan priests, among the people and among his spiritual daughters. The Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood witness the Founder's charism in various parts of the world. The cause for the beatification of Fr. Thomas was initiated in 1955; and the decree of his heroic virtues was published on April 24, 2001. The miraculous healing of Mrs. Maria Battaglia on August 20, 1964, in Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicily, through the intercession of Fr. Thomas was recognized on July 7, 2001. With his beatification, Pope John Paul II presented Fr. Thomas as a guide to holiness for priests, the people of God and his Spiritual Daughters.
St. Ethelbert()
Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2019 / Catholic Missal of february 2019
Published: 2026-07-14T18:16:35Z | Modified: 2026-07-14T18:16:35Z