Catholic Missal of the day: Friday, March 17 2017

Friday of the Second week of Lent

Friday of the Second week of Lent

1. Reading

Book of Genesis

37,3-4.12-13a.17b-28.

]Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic.
]When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
]One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem,
]Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem. Get ready; I will send you to them." "I am ready," Joseph answered.
]The man told him, "They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, 'Let us go on to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.
]They noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.
]They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer!
]Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams."
]When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: "We must not take his life.
]Instead of shedding blood," he continued, "just throw him into that cistern there in the desert; but don't kill him outright." His purpose was to rescue him from their hands and restore him to his father.
]So when Joseph came up to them, they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
]then they took him and threw him into the cistern, which was empty and dry.
]They then sat down to their meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm and resin to be taken down to Egypt.
]Judah said to his brothers: "What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?
]Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed.
]They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Some Midianite traders passed by, and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and took him to Egypt.

Psalm

Psalms

105(104),16-17.18-19.20-21.

]When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
]He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
]They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
]Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
]The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
]He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.

Gospel

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

21,33-43.45-46.

]Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
]When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
]But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.
]Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.
]Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.'
]But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
]They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
]What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
]They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times."
]Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'?
]Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.
]When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them.
]And although they were attempting to arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

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St. Patrick(Bishop (c. 385-461))

SAINT PATRICKBishop, Apostle of Ireland(c. 385-461) If the virtue of children reflects an honor on their parents, the name of St. Patrick is illumined by the countless lights of sanctity from Ireland's Church and the saints she sent to other countries. He was born in Bonaven Taberniæ, present-day Kilpatrick, at the mouth of the river Clyde in Scotland, between Dumbarton and Glasgow. He was a Briton and a Roman. His father's name was Calphurnius. He witnessed the Roman empire's collapse and Britain's separation from Rome in 409. Historians say that his mother was Conchessa, St. Martin of Tours' niece. St. Patrick was kidnapped when he was 16, taken to Ireland and forced to tend cattle in the mountains and forests. God quickened him with grace, new spiritual lights and fervor. After six years under one master, God told him to return to Scotland. He found a boat, but could not pay the fare. He was sent back - when the sailors suddenly called him on board. They sailed for three days and reached land. However, they lacked provisions and wandered for 27 days. St. Patrick said they would be saved if they prayed and gave their hearts to God; and later, they found a herd of swine. A few after returning to Scotland, St. Patrick was kidnapped again. He escaped after two months, returned to Scotland and received visions of Ireland's conversion. He became a religious, was formed in Gaul and Italy, met St. Martin and St. Germanus, and was blessed by Pope Celestine. His relatives and the clergy opposed his mission and consecration, yet he persevered. In the character and person of Christ, St. Patrick went to Ireland and preached the Gospel where idolatry and paganism were commonplace. He spread the faith without military force. The kings of Ireland received faith during and after St. Patrick's lifetime. Clergymen were ordained, married and unmarried people lived chastely, religious vocations blossomed and monasteries were founded. Persecution came in the form of piracy and enslavement. Prince Corotick plundered the country of St. Patrick's neophytes and enslaved them. St. Patrick declared that Corotick was separated from Jesus Christ after the neophytes were sold as slaves to the Picts and Scots. The writer Jocelin said that Corotick was eventually overtaken by divine justice. St. Bernard wrote that St. Patrick's metropolitan see was in Armagh. He founded a monastery in Armagh, another called Domnach-Padraig or Patrick's church and a third named Sabhal-Padraig. In the first year of his mission, he preached in the general assembly of the kings and states of all Ireland. The assembly took place yearly in Tara, the chief king's island residence and the principal seat of the Druids. The chief king, the son of Neill, was hostile to St. Patrick, but the Icings of Dublin, Munster and the seven sons of the king of Connaught converted. St. Patrick nominated St. Benignus' father in line for kingship. St. Patrick was buried in Down, Ulster. His relics were rediscovered at his church in 1185. Glastonbury, Lindisfarne, Ripon and Malmesbury in England received Catholicism thanks to Ireland's apostles. Irish saints like Columban, Fiacre, Gall and others evangelized France and Switzerland. In recent times, America and Australia received Catholicism thanks to the sons and daughters of St. Patrick. His monastery of Iona Abbey in western Scotland is a coastal pilgrimage site.

misalcatolico.com

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2017 / Catholic Missal of march 2017