Wednesday of the Sixteenth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Exodus

The children of Israel set out from Elim, and came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt.
Here in the desert the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The Israelites said to them, "Would that we had died at the LORD'S hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!"
Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
On the sixth day, however, when they prepare what they bring in, let it be twice as much as they gather on the other days."
Then Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole Israelite community: Present yourselves before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling."
When Aaron announced this to the whole Israelite community, they turned toward the desert, and lo, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud!
The LORD spoke to Moses and said,
"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."
In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,
and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.
On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, "What is this?" for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, "This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat."

Psalms

They tempted God in their hearts
by demanding the food they craved.
Yes, they spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the desert?”
He commanded the skies above
and the doors of heaven he opened;
He rained manna upon them for food
and gave them heavenly bread.
Man ate the bread of angels,
food he sent them in abundance.
He stirred up the east wind in the heavens,
and by his power brought on the south wind.
And he rained meat upon them like dust,
and, like the sand of the sea, winged fowl,
Which fell in the midst of their camp
round about their tents.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up.
Some 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.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."

St. Bridget of Sweden(Co-patron of Europe (1304-1373))

SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN Patron saint of Sweden and co-patron of Europe (1304-1373) St. Bridget was born to the Swedish royal family in 1304. In obedience to her father, she married Prince Ulpho of Sweden. She had eight children: one of whom, Catherine, is a saint. After many years, Bridget's husband entered the Cistercian Order. Bridget then founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior at the Abbey of Wastein. Raising a family, attending to court affairs and founding an Order reflects Bridget's zealousness for the House of the Lord and the Kingdom of God. In 1344, Bridget became a widow. She received visions and personal revelations that she submitted to her confessor. Her mystical experiences led her on pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Amidst the places of our Lord's Passion and Resurrection, she received further instruction in sacred mysteries. Bridget's ministries included caring for the marginalized together with St. Catherine of Sweden. She honored Our Lord's designation of a leader for His flock and worked tirelessly to support the pope and return him to Rome. Sheis the Patron Saint of Sweden and a patron saint of women.

Bl. Vasil' Hopko(Bishop and martyr († 1976))

Blessed Vasiľ Hopko(1904-1976)Bishop and martyr Vasil' Hopko was born on April 21, 1904, in Hrabské, a small village in eastern Slovakia. His father died when he was 1 year old and his mother was left to care for him. Vasil's mother left for the United States in 1908 to find work and put him in his grandfather's care. When Vasil' was 7, he went to live with his uncle, Demeter Petrenko, a Greek-Catholic priest. His uncle's example awakened a call to the priesthood. In 1923, Vasil' entered the Greek-Catholic Seminary of Presov. He was ordained a priest on February 3, 1929, and was entrustedwiththe pastoral care of the Greek-Catholic faithful in Prague. He was involved in many different activities: work with youth, the elderly, the unemployed and orphans. Fr. Vasil' founded the MovementofGreek-Catholic Students and the Greek-Catholic Youth Unionand contributed to the building of the city's Greek-Catholic parish. It was also in Prague that, after 22 years, the young priest met his mother who had returned from the United States. In 1936, Fr. Vasil' returned to Slovakia and served as a spiritual father at the Greek-Catholic Seminary of Presov. In 1941, he was appointed as secretary of the Bishop's Curia. He became professor of moral and pastoral theology at the Theological Faculty in Presov in 1943. He also made time to write, published various works and became the first editor of the magazine Blahovistnik (The Gospel Messenger). After World War II, the Czechoslovakian Republic fell under a growing Soviet Bolshevik and atheist influence. Foreseeing a systematic "Sovietization" along with its totalitarian, atheistic Marxism, Bishop Gojdic of Presov asked the Holy See for an auxiliary bishop to help him defend against attacks on the Greek-Catholic faithful. Fr. Vasil' became the newly-appointed auxiliary bishop and was consecrated on May 11, 1947. He helped Bp. Gojdic immensely and strengthened others against the encroaching darkness. Little by little, the Czechoslovakian Communist Party prepared for the violent elimination of the Greek-Catholic Church. On April 28, 1950, the Communists carried out their work of "liquidation" during the so-called "Council of Presov," which they held without the presence of bishops. They declared that the Greek-Catholic Church of Czechoslovakia no longer existed and that all its priests, faithful and churches were to be transferred over to the Orthodox Church. Bishops Gojdic and Hopko were arrested. Following the arrests, Bp. Hopko underwent interrogation and torture. It was aimed at coercing him to deny his faith and confess to false accusations. On October 24, 1951, after more than a year of cruel and diabolical interrogation, he was condemned by the State Court to 15 years in prison and a loss of all civil rights for 10 years. While in prison, he was tortured and given small doses of arsenic, which caused chronic poisoning and was later verified by an analysis of his bones. On May 12, 1964, Bp. Hopko was released from prison for health reasons. After years of maltreatment, the Bishop suffered from grave physical ailments and mental depression. Notwithstanding all this, he continued to contribute actively to the resurgence of the Greek-Catholic Church. On June 13, 1968, the renewal of the Greek-Catholic Church of Czechoslovakia was reestablished after 18 years of open persecution. From 1968 onward, Bp. Hopko began living in Presov. On December 20, 1968, Pope Paul VI confirmed his appointment as auxiliary bishop for all Greek-Catholic faithful in Czechoslovakia. Bp. Hopko passed away on July 23, 1976, in Presov. He made for his own the words of his friend, Bp. Gojdic: "For me, it is not important if I die in the Bishop's Palace or in prison; what matters is entering into Paradise." Bp. Vasil' Hopko was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 14, 2003, in Bratislava.

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