Wednesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – 2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3
The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the temple and have consigned them to the master workmen in the temple of the LORD.” The scribe Shaphan also informed the king that the priest Hilkiah had given him a book, and then read it aloud to the king. When the king heard the contents of the book of the law, he tore his garments and issued this command to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, Achbor, son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah: “Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all Judah, about the stipulations of this book that has been found, for the anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us, because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our written obligations.” The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned together before him. The king went up to the temple of the LORD with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great. He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them. Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD that they would follow him and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book. And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 119:33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40 (R.33a)
R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them. R.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart. R.
Lead me in the path of your commands,
for in it I delight. R.
Incline my heart to your decrees
and not to gain. R.
Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain:
by your way give me life. R.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life.
R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord. R.
Gospel – Mt 7:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.”
Featured Saints
Blessed Andrew Jacinto Longhin, bishop (†1936). Capuchin religious appointed Bishop of Treviso (Italy) by St. Pius X; he helped deserters and prisoners during World War I and defended the rights of the weakest members society.
St. José María Robles Hurtado, priest and martyr (†1927). Fervent propagator of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Out of religious hatred, he was hanged from a tree in Guadalajara during the Mexican revolution.
Sts. John and Paul, martyrs († fourth century Rome). Brothers who were beheaded for their Faith on Mount Coleius, under Julian the Apostate.
St. Pelagius of Córdoba, martyr (†925). In face of the lascivious suggestions of Caliph Abderrahman III, this youth of 13 years was torn to pieces with iron pliers in Cordoba, Spain, for proclaiming his faith in Christ and defending his chastity.
St. Joseph Ma Taishun, martyr (†1900). Doctor and catechist who was put to death at sixty years of age, during the anti-Christian persecution in China.
Blesseds Nicholas Konrad, priest, and Vladimir Pryjma, martyrs (†1941). Nicholas was the pastor of Stradch, Ukraine, and Vladimir, conductor of the parish choir. Both were shot by Soviet police agents in the forest near Stradch, Ukraine, as they returned from bringing the Last Sacraments to a sick man.
Blessed Jacob Ghazir Haddad, priest (†1954). Capuchin priest, founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross in Beirut, Lebanon.
Blessed Andrew Iscak, priest and martyr (†1941). Diocesan priest and professor of Theology in Lviv, Ukraine, gunned to death by Soviet Soldiersin his parish in Sykhiv .
Blessed Raymond Petiniaud de Jourgnac (†1794). For being a priest, he was imprisoned in inhumane conditions on a ship anchored in Rochefort, France, and died there consumed by wounds and vermin.
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