Catholic Missal of the day: Tuesday, January 17 2017

Tuesday of the Second week in Ordinary Time

Tuesday of the Second week in Ordinary Time

1. Reading

Letter to the Hebrews

6,10-20.

]Brothers and sisters: God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones.
]We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end,
]so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises.
]When God made the promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, "he swore by himself,"
]and said, "I will indeed bless you and multiply" you.
]And so, after patient waiting, he obtained the promise.
]Human beings swear by someone greater than themselves; for them an oath serves as a guarantee and puts an end to all argument.
]So when God wanted to give the heirs of his promise an even clearer demonstration of the immutability of his purpose, he intervened with an oath,
]so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us.
]This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm, which reaches into the interior behind the veil,
]where Jesus has entered on our behalf as forerunner, becoming high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Psalm

Psalms

111(110),1-2.4-5.9.10c.

]I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
]Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
]He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
]He has given food to those who fear him;
He will forever be mindful of his covenant.
]He has sent deliverance to his people;
he has ratified his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
]His praise endures forever.

Gospel

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

2,23-28.

]As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
]At this the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?"
]He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
]How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?"
]Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
]That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath."

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St. Anthony the Abbot((251-356))

SAINT ANTONY Patriarch of Monks (251-356) St. Antony was born in Upper Egypt. After hearing at Mass, "If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor," he gifted his estate to the church. He received spiritual direction from an aged hermit and visited various solitaries to emulate their virtues. St. Antony discerned a monastic vocation and entered the desert. While living in a ruin, he was tempted and attacked by fallen angels. They took the form of monsters and wounded him, but his courage never flagged; and he overcame them through the Cross. Prayer is most pleasing to God when performed in spite of darkness and desolation. One night, after St. Antony was attacked by demons, a friend found him half dead and carried him to a house. When St. Antony came to himself, he returned immediately. Alban Butler narrates that he said: "I fear you not; you cannot separate me from the love of Christ"; whereupon Jesus appeared in glory. Like Bartimaeus whom Christ cured of blindness, we sometimes must cry out more than once to be self-assured of our faith and sincerity; and learn to persevere in prayer (St. Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God). St. Antony fasted daily on bread and water, only eating after sunset. Sometimes, he ate only once in two, three or four days. He wore sackcloth and sheepskin and often knelt in prayer from sunset to sunrise. Many souls flocked to him for advice; and after twenty years of solitude, he consented to guide them. Thus, he founded the first monastery. St. Antony's miracles attracted such multitudes that he sought solitude near the end of his life. He passed away in the peace of the Holy Family. St. Athanasius, his biographer, says that knowing how he lived, prayed and mortified his senses is a guide to virtue.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2017 / Catholic Missal of january 2017