Monday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Exodus

When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants changed their minds about them. "What have we done!" they exclaimed. "Why, we have released Israel from our service!"
So Pharaoh made his chariots ready and mustered his soldiers--
six hundred first-class chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt, with warriors on them all.
So obstinate had the LORD made Pharaoh that he pursued the Israelites even while they were marching away in triumph.
The Egyptians, then, pursued them; Pharaoh's whole army, his horses, chariots and charioteers, caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Pharaoh was already near when the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians were on the march in pursuit of them. In great fright they cried out to the LORD.
And they complained to Moses, "Were there no burial places in Egypt that you had to bring us out here to die in the desert? Why did you do this to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt?
Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, 'Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians'? Far better for us to be the slaves of the Egyptians than to die in the desert."
But Moses answered the people, "Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today. These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
The LORD himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still."
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
And you, lift up your staff and, with hand outstretched over the sea, split the sea in two, that the Israelites may pass through it on dry land.
But I will make the Egyptians so obstinate that they will go in after them. Then I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and charioteers.
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh and his chariots and charioteers."

Book of Exodus

I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
He is my God, I praise him;
the God of my father, I extol him.
The LORD is a warrior,
LORD is his name!
Pharaoh's chariots and army he hurled into the sea;
the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea.
The flood waters covered them,
they sank into the depths like a stone.
Your right hand, O LORD, magnificent in power,
your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."
He said to them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here.
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here."

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.).

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 2025 / Catholic Missal of july 2025