Catholic Missal of the day: Friday, January 30 2026

Friday of the Third week in Ordinary Time

2nd book of Samuel

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign, David sent out Joab along with his officers and the army of Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. David, however, remained in Jerusalem.
One evening David rose from his siesta and strolled about on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.
David had inquiries made about the woman and was told, "She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, and wife of (Joab's armor-bearer) Uriah the Hittite."
Then David sent messengers and took her. When she came to him, he had relations with her. She then returned to her house.
But the woman had conceived, and sent the information to David, "I am with child."
David therefore sent a message to Joab, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David.
When he came, David questioned him about Joab, the soldiers, and how the war was going, and Uriah answered that all was well.
David then said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and bathe your feet." Uriah left the palace, and a portion was sent out after him from the king's table.
But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace with the other officers of his lord, and did not go down to his own house.
David was told that Uriah had not gone home. On the day following,
David summoned him, and he ate and drank with David, who made him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed among his lord's servants, and did not go down to his home.
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab which he sent by Uriah.
In it he directed: "Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce. Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead."
So while Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew the defenders were strong.
When the men of the city made a sortie against Joab, some officers of David's army fell, and among them Uriah the Hittite died.

Psalms

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
That you may be justified in your sentence,
vindicated when you condemn.
Indeed, in guilt was I born,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

Jesus said to the crowds: "This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come."
He said, "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade."
With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

St. Bathildes(Queen (c. 634-680))

SAINT BATHILDES Queen. (c. 634-680) St. Bathildes was an Anglo Saxon slave who became a Christian queen. She was sold at a very young age to Erkenwald, the mayor of the palace under King Clovis II. When she grew up, Erkenwald was so impressed by her prudence and virtues that he placed her in charge of his household. St. Bathildes was acquainted with King Clovis II and became his royal consort. Her virtues increased in accordance with the demands of her life and status. Holy Angels certainly assist in nurturing each virtue; as Scripture says, "You will see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (Jn 1:51). King Clovis II gave Bathildes authority for the protection of the Church, care of the poor and furtherance of religious undertakings. Before passing away, he appointed Queen Bathildes regent of the kingdom. She forbade the enslavement of Christians, did all in her power to promote piety and filled France with hospitals and religious houses. When her son, Clotaire, was of age, Queen Bathildes withdrew from the world and entered the convent of Chelles. There, she seemed to entirely forget her queenship. She was distinguished from the rest of the community only by her humility, obedience to spiritual superiors and devotion to the sick, whom she comforted and served with wonderful charity. When Queen Bathildes was near death, God visited her with a severe illness. She bore her affliction patiently and united her suffering to Jesus' Cross. She breathed forth her soul with prayer on January 30, 680. Amid the Church Triumphant in heaven, St. Bathildes reigns with Jesus Christ in our true native land.

Bl. Columba Marmion(Abbot (1858-1923))

Bl. Columba Marmion Third Abbot of Maredsous (1858-1923) Bl. Columba Marmion was born in Dublin, Ireland, on April 1, 1858, to an Irish father (William Marmion) and a French mother (Herminie Cordier). He was named Joseph Aloysius at birth. He entered the Dublin diocesan seminary in 1874 and completed his theological studies at the College of the Propagation of the Faith in Rome. He was ordained a priest at St. Agatha of the Goths on June 16, 1881. Fr. Columba wanted to be a missionary monk in Australia, but was won over by the liturgical atmosphere of the newly founded Abbey of Maredsous in Belgium. He visited the Abbey before returning to Ireland in 1881. His bishop then appointed him curate in Dundrum and professor at the major seminary in Clonliffe (1882-86). As the chaplain at a convent of Redemptorist nuns and at a women's prison, he learned to guide souls, to hear confessions, to counsel and to help the dying. In 1886, he received his bishop's permission to become a monk. He voluntarily renounced a promising ecclesiastical career and was welcomed at Maredsous in Belgium by Abbot Placidus Wolter. His novitiate, under the iron rule of Dom Benoît D'Hondt and among a group of young novices, proved all the more difficult because he had to change habits, culture and language. But saying that he had entered the monastery to learn obedience, he let himself be molded by monastic discipline, community life and choral prayer until his solemn profession on February 10, 1891. Fr. Columba received his first "obedience" or mission when he was assigned to the small group of monks sent to found the Abbey of Mont César in Louvain. Although it unsettled him, he generously and obediently forged ahead. He was entrusted with the task of Prior beside Abbot de Kerchove, and served as spiritual director and professor to all the young monks studying philosophy or theology in Louvain. He preached retreats in Belgium and in the United Kingdom and gave spiritual direction to many communities, including the Carmelite nuns. He became the confessor of Mons. Joseph Mercier, the future Cardinal, and the two formed a lasting friendship. During this period, Maredsous Abbey was governed by Dom Hildebrand de Hemptinne, its second Abbot, who in 1893 would become, at the request of Leo XIII, the first Prelate of the Benedictine Confederation. Fr.Columba was thus elected the third Abbot of Maredsous on September 28, 1909, receiving the abbatial blessing on October 3. Ab. Columbawas placed at the head of a community of more than 100 monks, with a humanities college, a trade school and a farm. He also edited the Revue Bénédictine and other publications. He also helped the Anglican monks of Caldey when they wished to convert to Catholicism. Ab. Columba's greatest ordeal was the First World War. His decision to send the young monks to Ireland so that they could complete their education in peace led to many anxieties. It also caused misunderstandings and conflicts between the two generations within the community. German lay brothers, who had been present since the monastery's foundation by Beuron Abbey, had to be sent home (despite the Benedictine vow of stability). After the war, a small group of monks was dispatched to the Monastery of the Dormition in Jerusalem to replace the German monks expelled by the British authorities. Finally, the Belgian monasteries were separated from the Beuron Congregation; and in 1920, the Belgian Congregation of the Annunciation was set up with Maredsous, Mont César and St. André of Zevenkerken. Fr. Columba's sole comfort during this period was preaching and giving spiritual direction. His secretary, Dom Raymond Thibaut, prepared his spiritual conferences for publication: Christ the Life of the Soul (1917), Christ in His Mysteries (1919) and Christ the Ideal of the Monk (1922). He was already considered an outstanding abbot (Queen Elisabeth of Belgium consulted with him at length) and a great spiritual author. Bl. Columba Marmion passed away during a flu epidemic on January 30, 1923. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 2000.

St. Hyacinthe Mariscotti()

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2026 / Catholic Missal of january 2026