Thursday of the First week in Ordinary Time

1st book of Samuel

4,1-11.

The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel. Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel. After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.
When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the LORD from Shiloh that it may go into battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies."
So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God.
When the ark of the LORD arrived in the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded.
The Philistines, hearing the noise of shouting, asked, "What can this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?" On learning that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,
the Philistines were frightened. They said, "Gods have come to their camp." They said also, "Woe to us! This has never happened before.
Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with various plagues and with pestilence.
Take courage and be manly, Philistines; otherwise you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they were your slaves. So fight manfully!"
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated; every man fled to his own tent. It was a disastrous defeat, in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
The ark of God was captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead.

Psalms

44(43),10-11.14-15.24-25.

Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace,
and you go not forth with our armies.
You have let us be driven back by our foes;
those who hated us plundered us at will.
You made us the reproach of our neighbors,
the mockery and the scorn of those around us.
You made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
Why do you hide your face,
forgetting our woe and our oppression?
For our souls are bowed down to the dust,
our bodies are pressed to the earth.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

1,40-45.

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them."
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

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St. Hilary of Poitiers(Bishop and Doctor of the Church (c. 315- c. 367))

SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS Bishop and Doctor of the Church (c. 315-c. 367) St. Hilary was a native of Poitiers in Aquitaine. Born and educated a pagan, it was not till middle age that he embraced Christianity, moved thereto by God presented in the Holy Scriptures. He soon converted his wife and daughter, and detached himself from anti-Christian company. At the beginning of his conversion, St. Hilary would not eat with Jews or heretics, nor salute them by the way; but he relaxed his severity for their sake - like a mirror of Christ. He entered Holy Orders, and in 350 was chosen bishop of his native city. The Arian heresy, under the protection of Emperor Constantine, was then at the height of its power. St. Hilary supported the orthodox cause in several Gallic councils, where Arian bishops formed an overwhelming majority. In consequence, he was banished to Phrygia. He spent four years in exile composing his great Treatise on the Trinity and many others works. In 359, he attended the Council of Seleucia, in which Arians, semi-Arians, and Catholics contended for mastery. With the deputies of the council, he proceeded to Constantinople, and there so dismayed the heads of the Arian party that they prevailed upon the emperor to let him return to Gaul. He traversed Gaul, Italy, and Illyria, disproving heresies in their incompleteness and procuring the triumph of orthodoxy. "Heresy sets the mood against the mind." After seven or eight years of missionary travel, St. Hilary returned to Poitiers, where he passed away peacefully in 368.

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St. Veronica of Binasco(Religious (c. 1445-1497))

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SAINT VERONICA OF BINASCO Religious (c. 1445-1497) Veronica's parents were peasants from a village near Milan. From childhood, Veronica toiled in the fields and home, but cheerfully performed every menial task. Gradually, the desire for perfection grew within her. She became deaf to the jokes and songs of her companions, and sometimes, would hide her face and weep. Knowing no letters, she began to be anxious about her learning, and rose secretly at night to teach herself to read. Our Lady told her that other things were necessary, but not this. She showed Veronica three mystical letters which would teach her more than books. The first signified purity of intention; the second, abhorrence of murmuring or criticism; the third, daily meditation on the Passion. By the first, she learned to begin her daily duties for no human motive, but God alone; by the second, she finished what she had begun by attending to her own affairs - never judging her neighbor, but praying for those who manifestly erred. By the third, she forgot her own pains and sorrows in those of the Lord - weeping hourly, but silently, for sins. She experienced ecstasies, and saw in successive visions the whole life of Jesus, and many other mysteries. Yet, by a special grace, neither her raptures nor her tears ever interrupted her labors. After three years' patient waiting, Veronica was received as a lay-sister in the convent of St. Martha at Milan. The community was extremely poor, and Veronica's duty was to beg through the city for their daily food. Three years after receiving the habit, she was afflicted with a secret but constant bodily pain, yet never consented to be relieved of her labors. By exact obedience, she became a living copy of the rule, and obeyed with a smile the least hint of her Superior. She sought the hardest and most humbling occupations, but through cheerful giving enjoyed the highest favors granted to the Saints. St. Veronica passed away in 1497, after a six-months illness, in the thirtieth year of her religious profession.

misalcatolico.com

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