Friday of the First week in Ordinary Time

1st book of Samuel

All the elders of Israel came in a body to Samuel at Ramah
and said to him, "Now that you are old, and your sons do not follow your example, appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us."
Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them. He prayed to the LORD, however,
who said in answer: "Grant the people's every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.
Samuel delivered the message of the LORD in full to those who were asking him for a king.
He told them: "The rights of the king who will rule you will be as follows: He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses, and they will run before his chariot.
He will also appoint from among them his commanders of groups of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers. He will set them to do his plowing and his harvesting, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
He will use your daughters as ointment-makers, as cooks, and as bakers.
He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his officials.
He will tithe your crops and your vineyards, and give the revenue to his eunuchs and his slaves.
He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best oxen and your asses, and use them to do his work.
He will tithe your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves.
When this takes place, you will complain against the king whom you have chosen, but on that day the LORD will not answer you."
The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel's warning and said, "Not so! There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations, with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare and fight our battles."
When Samuel had listened to all the people had to say, he repeated it to the LORD,
who then said to him, "Grant their request and appoint a king to rule them."

Psalms

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
For you are the splendor of their strength,
and by your favor our horn is exalted.
For to the LORD belongs our shield,
and to the Holy One of Israel, our King.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home.
Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them.
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven."
Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?
Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts?
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'?
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth"--
he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home."
He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

Bl. Peter Donders(Priest (1809-1887))

Blessed Peter Donders Priest (1809-1887) Peter Donders was born in Tilburg (Holland), on October 27, 1809. From his youth, he felt himself called to the priesthood, but, because of the poverty of his family, his schooling was cut short. However, at the age of 22, with the help of his parish priest, he entered the minor seminary of St. Michael-Gestel as a seminarian. He was ordained on June 5, 1841. He was thus able to follow his missionary vocation, setting out for Suriname, which was then a Dutch colony. He arrived in Paramaribo, the principal city of the colony, on September 16, 1842 and applied himself at once to the pastoral works that were to occupy him until his death. His letters express his indignation at the harsh treatment of the African peoples forced to work on the plantations. In 1856, he was sent to the leper station of Batavia; and this was to be, with very few interruptions, the scene of his labors for the rest of his life. When the Redemptorists arrived in 1866 to take charge of the mission of Surinam, Peter Donders applied for admission into the Congregation. He professed his vows on June 24, 1867. Religious profession, in associating him with a missionary congregation, gave him a more vivid sense of the apostolic life in community, allowing him to leave Batavia more often to give himself to the conversion of the native Americans and Africans. But the name of Donders remained bound to the leprosarium of Batavia. He died among lepers, poor among the poor, on January 14, 1887, mourned as their benefactor and invoked as a saint. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.

St. Sava(Abbot and patron of Serbia (+ 1255))

SAINT SAVA Abbot and Patron of Serbia(+ 1255) Sava was the son of Stephen I, founder of the Nemanydes dynasty. He became a monk on Mount Athos in Greece when he was seventeen. With his father, he founded Khilandrai Monastery on Mount Athos for Serbian monks, and became its Abbot. He returned home in 1207 when his brothers, Stephen II and Vulkan, began quarrelling and civil war broke out. Sava brought many of his monks with him, and from their headquarters at Studenitsa Monastery, he founded several monasteries and began the reformation and education of the country, where religion and education had fallen to a low state. He was named metropolitan of a new Serbian hierarchy by Emperor Theodore II Laskaris; and was unwillingly consecrated by Patriarch Manuel I. He returned in 1219, bringing more monks from Mount Athos. In 1222, he crowned his brother Stephen II King of Serbia. Through Sava's efforts, his countrymen were united. He translated religious works into Serbian, and gave his people a native clergy and hierarchy. After his second pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Fr. Sava passed away in Tirnovo, Bulgaria, on January 14. He is the patron Saint of Serbia.

St. Felix of Nola()

misalcatolico.com

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