Monday of the Second week in Ordinary Time

1st book of Samuel

Samuel said to Saul: "Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." Saul replied, "Speak!"
Samuel then said: "Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king of Israel
and sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.'
Why then have you disobeyed the LORD? You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD."
Saul answered Samuel: "I did indeed obey the LORD and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal."
But Samuel said: "Does the LORD so delight in holocausts and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he, too, has rejected you as ruler."

Psalms

"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold."
"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"
"When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, "Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins."

St. Paul(the first Hermit († 342))

SAINT PAUL The First Hermit (c. 230-342) St. Paul was born in Upper Egypt circa 230. At 15, he was orphaned. He was wealthy and educated. Fearing that a persecution would endanger his Christian perseverance, he retired to a remote village. However, his pagan brother-in-law denounced him. Hence he entered the barren desert, trusting that God would supply his needs. St. Paul's confidence was rewarded: On the spot where Providence led him, he found the fruit of the palm-tree for food and its leaves for clothing, and water from a spring. His first thought was returning when the persecution was over, but tasting great delights in prayer and penance, he remained the rest of his life - ninety years - in penance, prayer and contemplation. God revealed his existence to St. Antony, who sought him for three days. Seeing a thirsty she-wolf run through an opening in the rocks, St. Antony followed her to look for water, and found St. Paul. They knew each other at once, and praised God together. When St. Antony visited, a raven brought them a loaf, and St. Paul said, "See how good God is! For sixty years this bird has brought me half a loaf every day; now thou art come, Christ has doubled the provision for His servants." Having passed the night in prayer, at dawn St. Paul told St. Antony that he was about to die, and asked to be buried in a cloak given to St. Antony by St. Athanasius. St. Antony hastened to fetch it, and on his way back saw St. Paul rise to heaven in glory. He found St. Paul's dead body kneeling as if in prayer, and two lions digging a grave.

St. Remigius(Archbishop (438-533))

SAINT REMIGIUS Archbishop (438-533) St. Remigius, or Remi, had pious, patrician parents. At 22, in spite of the canons and of his own reluctance, he was consecrated archbishop of Rheims. He was unusually tall, his face impressed with blended majesty and serenity, and his bearing was gentle, humble and retiring. He was learned and eloquent, and had the gift of miracles. His charity was boundless, and in toil he knew no weariness. His body was the outward expression of a noble and holy soul, with a spirit of meekness and compunction. For so choice a workman, God had fitting work. Southern France was in the hands of Arians, and the pagan Franks were wresting the North from the Romans. St. Remigius met Clovis, the king of the Franks, and converted and baptized him on Christmas day, 496. The event is credited to Clovis' holy wife, Clotilda. With Clovis, Jesus Christ gained the whole Frankish nation. The altars of idols were toppled, churches were built and bishops were consecrated. For his part, St. Remigius evangelized the Arians, and converted so many that he left France a Catholic kingdom. St. Remigius passed away in 533 after an episcopate of 74 years: the longest on record. He was reunited with his flock and the saints in heaven after shaping western history.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2024 / Catholic Missal of january 2024