Friday of the Fifteenth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Exodus

Although Moses and Aaron performed various wonders in Pharaoh's presence, the LORD made Pharaoh obstinate, and he would not let the Israelites leave his land.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
"This month shall stand at the head of your calendar; you shall reckon it the first month of the year.
Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every one of your families must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household.
If a family is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join the nearest household in procuring one and shall share in the lamb in proportion to the number of persons who partake of it.
The lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats.
You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole assembly of Israel present, it shall be slaughtered during the evening twilight.
They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb.
That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole, with its head and shanks and inner organs.
None of it must be kept beyond the next morning; whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up.
"This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD.
For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first--born of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt - I, the LORD!
But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.
"This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution."

Psalms

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

Jesus was going through a field of grain on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.
When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the sabbath."
He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry,
how he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions but only the priests could lawfully eat?
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
If you knew what this meant, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned these innocent men.
For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

St. Lawrence of Brindisi(Priest and Doctor of the Church (1559-1619))

SAINT LAWRENCE OF BRINDISIPriest and Doctor of the Church(1559-1619) One ofLawrence's most remarkable qualities was his gift of languages. Adding to his native Italian, he was fluent in Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish and French. Lawrence was born on July 22, 1559, and died exactly 60 years later on his birthday in 1619. His parents, William and Elizabeth Russo, gave him the name of Julius Caesar, "Caesare" in Italian. After the early death of his parents, he was educated by his uncle at the College of St. Mark in Venice. When he was just 16, he entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order in Venice, and received the name of Lawrence. He completed his studies of philosophy and theology at the University of Padua and was ordained a priest at 23. With his brilliance in languages, he was able to study the Bible in its original texts. At the request of Pope Clement VIII, he spent much time preaching to the Jews in Italy. So excellent was his knowledge of Hebrew, the rabbis felt sure he was a Jew who had become a Christian. In 1956, the Capuchins completed a fifteen-volume edition of his writings. Eleven of these fifteen contain his sermons, each of which uses scriptural quotations to illustrate his teaching. Lawrence’s prudence and attunement to people's needs began to surface. He was elected major superior of the Capuchin Franciscan province of Tuscany at the age of 31. He had the combination of brilliance, human compassion and administrative skill needed to carry out his duties. In rapid succession, he was promoted by his fellow Capuchins and was elected minister general in 1602. In this position, he was responsible for the great growth and geographical expansion of the Order. Lawrence was appointed as papal emissary and peacemaker, which took him to foreign countries. An effort to achieve peace in his native kingdom of Naples took him on a journey to Lisbon to visit the king of Spain. Serious illness at Lisbon took his life in 1619.Quote: “God is love, and all his operations proceed from love. Once he wills to manifest that goodness by sharing his love outside himself, then the Incarnation becomes the supreme manifestation of his goodness and love and glory. So, Christ was intended before all other creatures and for his own sake. For him all things were created and to him all things must be subject, and God loves all creatures in and because of Christ. Christ is the first-born of every creature, and the whole of humanity as well as the created world finds its foundation and meaning in him. Moreover, this would have been the case even if Adam had not sinned” (St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Universal Church, Capuchin Educational Conference, Washington, D.C.).

St. Victor(Martyr (3rd century))

SAINT VICTOR Martyr(3rd century) Emperor Maximian martyred the Thebæan legion and many others before arriving at Marseilles. Against this backdrop, Victor, a Christian officer in the Roman army, was visiting and encouraging the faithful. As a Christian, Victor was arrested and tried by the prefects Asterius and Eutychius. They demanded that Victor renounce his faith. Undaunted, Victor replied that he loved Jesus Christ. With indignation, the courtroom cried out - calling for blood. A lynch mob formed; and Victor was bound hand and foot and dragged through the streets of the city. Brought back nearly dead to the tribunal, Victor confessed, "Jesus Christ is the true and living God." Victor was then stretched on a rack and his limbs disjointed. Afterward, he was thrown into a dungeon. At midnight, God visited Victor by His angels. The prison was filled with light brighter than the sun; and Victor sung the praises of God. Three soldiers who guarded the prison, seeing this light, cast themselves at Victor's feet, asking his pardon and desiring Baptism. Victor instructed them as well as time would permit, sent for priests that same night, and going with them to the seaside, had them baptized. He returned with them to prison. The next morning, Maximian was informed the guards had converted and had them beheaded. Victor was tortured again. Three days later, he was called before the tribunal and commanded to offer incense to a statue of Jupiter. Allegedly, Victor kicked the statue and toppled it. The emperor then ordered Victor's foot to be chopped off, which the Saint suffered with courage. Victor was afterward put under a hand-mill's grindstone. Miraculously, the mill broke every time the executioner bruised or crushed a part of Victor's body. The Saint still breathed a little, but then was beheaded. St. Victor's body was thrown into the sea, but was later cast ashore and buried by the Christians, in a grotto hewn out of rock. Do we look at Jesus and Mama Mary with courage as we speak with others about our faith?

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2023 / Catholic Missal of july 2023