Wednesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time

2nd book of Samuel

That night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
"Go, tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Should you build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the Israelites out of Egypt to the present, but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.
In all my wanderings everywhere among the Israelites, did I ever utter a word to any one of the judges whom I charged to tend my people Israel, to ask: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'
"Now then, speak thus to my servant David, 'The LORD of hosts has this to say: It was I who took you from the pasture and from the care of the flock to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm.
It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever.
I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. And if he does wrong, I will correct him with the rod of men and with human chastisements;
but I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul, whom I removed from my presence.
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.'"
Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.

Psalms

"I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity
and establish your throne for all generations.”
“He shall say of me, 'You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.'
And I will make him the first-born,
highest of the kings of the earth.”
Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.”
I will make his posterity endure forever
and his throne as the days of heaven."

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

On another occasion, Jesus began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.
And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them,
Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
He added, "Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear."
And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables.
He answered them, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables,
so that 'they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.'"
Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold."

St. Francis of Sales(Doctor of the Church (+ 1622))

SAINT FRANCIS OF SALES Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1566-1622) St. Francis of Sales was born to a pious, patrician family near Annecy in France. Years later, he studied with brilliant success in Paris and Padua. On his return from Italy, he gave up the grand career his father had marked out for him in public service and became a priest. When the Duke of Savoy resolved to restore the Church in the Chablais, St. Francis offered himself for the work and set out on foot with his Bible, breviary and one companion: his cousin, Louis of Sales. It was a work of toil, privation and danger. Every door and every heart was closed to him. He was rejected with insult and threatened with death. In spite of darkness, he persevered; and before long, the Church burst forth into a second spring. It is stated that he converted 72,000 Calvinists. At the pope's behest, St. Francis was consecrated coadjutor bishop of Geneva in 1602. At times, the exceeding gentleness with which he received heretics and sinners almost scandalized his friends. One of them said to him, "Francis of Sales will go to Paradise, of course; but I am not so sure of the Bishop of Geneva. I am almost afraid his gentleness will play him a shrewd turn." "Ah," said the Saint, "I would rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Spirit is a Dove that is gentleness itself." Together with St. Jane Frances of Chantal, he founded the Order of the Visitation in Annecy, which soon spread over Europe. Though poor, he was loyal to God and his vocation. He declined excess provisions, dignities and the great see of Paris. He passed away in Avignon in 1622. The following words of scripture well-summarize his heroic decisions: "Goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (Ps. 23:6).

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