Book of Jeremiah

23,1-6.

Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD.
Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.
I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply.
I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.
Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; As king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: "The LORD our justice."

Psalms

23(22),1-3a.3b-4.5.6.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul. 
He guides me in right paths
for His names's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.

Letter to the Ephesians

2,13-18.

Brothers and sisters: In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh,
abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace,
and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.
He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,
for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

6,30-34.

The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

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

SAINT LAWRENCE OF BRINDISIPriest and Doctor of the Church(1559-1619) One ofSaint Lawrence'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. He was born on July 22, 1559, and died exactly 60 years later on his birthday. His parents, William and Elizabeth Russo, gave him the name of Julius Caesar, "Caesare" in Italian. After the untimely death of his parents, he was educated by his uncle at the College of St. Mark in Venice. Lawrence received his religious name shortly after entering the Capuchin Franciscan Order in Venice at 16 years old. He completed his studies of philosophy and theology at the University of Padua and was ordained a priest when he was 23. With his brilliance in languages, he studied the Bible in its original texts. At the request of Pope Clement VIII, he spent time preaching to the Jews in Italy. His knowledge and fluency of Hebrew was so excellent that the rabbis thought he was a Jew who had become a Christian. At the age of 31, Lawrence was elected major superior of the Capuchin Franciscan province of Tuscany. He had the needed combination of brilliance, human compassion and administrative skill. 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 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. In 1619, a serious illness in Lisbon took his life. In 1956, the Capuchins completed a fifteen-volume edition of Saint Lawrence's writings. Eleven of those fifteen contain his sermons as well as scriptural quotations to illustrate the teaching.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.).

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St. Victor(Martyr (3rd century))

SAINT VICTOR Martyr(3rd century) Emperor Maximian martyred the Thebæan legion and many others before arriving in Marseilles. Against this backdrop, Victor, a Christian officer in the Roman army, was visiting and encouraging the faithful. When Victor's Christian identity was discovered, he neither fled nor denied Christ. He was thus arrested and tried in court by prefects Asterius and Eutychius. When the prefects insisted that Victor apostate, the latter refused and declared his love for God. After Victor's witnessing, a lynch mob dragged him through the streets. They brought him back half dead for the judge to carry out the sentence. Victor was stretched on a rack and his limbs were disjointed. Afterward, he was cast into prison. At midnight, God's Holy Angels visited him. The prison was filled with light and Victor sang the praises of God. Three soldiers who witnessed the visitation cast themselves at Victor's feet and asked for pardon and baptism. Victor instructed them, had them baptized by priests at the seaside and returned with them to prison. The next morning, Maximian was informed of the guards' conversion and had them beheaded. Victor was tortured once again. Three days later, he was summoned before a 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. 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. Victor's heroic life attests to the action of the Holy Spirit, who sanctifies and gives life. The martyrs' witness begs the question: Do we look to Jesus and Mother Mary as we speak with others about our faith?

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