Friday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), virgin and martyr (†1942 Auschwitz – Poland). Of Jewish origin, she embraced the Catholic Faith in 1921 and became a Carmelite nun in 1933. In 1942, she was imprisoned in the extermination camp of Auschwitz, where she died in the gas chamber.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Na 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7
See, upon the mountains there advances the bearer of good news, announcing peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah, fulfill your vows! For nevermore shall you be invaded by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed. The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob, the pride of Israel, Though ravagers have ravaged them and ruined the tendrils.Woe to the bloody city, all lies, full of plunder, whose looting never stops! The crack of the whip, the rumbling sounds of wheels; horses a-gallop, chariots bounding, Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear, the many slain, the heaping corpses, the endless bodies to stumble upon! I will cast filth upon you, disgrace you and put you to shame; Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying, “Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her? Where can one find any to console her?”
Responsorial Psalm – Dt 32:35CD-36AB, 39 ABCD, 41 (R.39c)
R. It is I who deal death and give life.
Close at hand is the day of their disaster,
and their doom is rushing upon them!
Surely, the LORD shall do justice for his people;
on his servants he shall have pity. R.
“Learn then that I, I alone, am God,
and there is no god besides me.
It is I who bring both death and life,
I who inflict wounds and heal them.” R.
I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and my hand shall lay hold of my quiver,
“With vengeance I will repay my foes
and requite those who hate me.” R.
Gospel – Mt 16: 24-28
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Featured Saints
St. Marianne Cope, virgin (†1918). German-born American, member of the Sisters of St. Francis. She dedicated herself with great generosity to the care of the lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, succeeding St. Damien de Veuster in this mission.
Blessed Richard Bere, priest and martyr (†1537). Carthusian monk starved to death in prison, during the reign of Henry VIII in England.
Blessed Falco, hermit (†tenth/ eleventh century). Born of a noble family of Calabria, Italy, he embraced monastic life with the Basilians.
Blessed Florentino Asensio Barroso, bishop and martyr (†1936). He was arrested and shot during the Spanish Civil War, a short time after taking possession of the Diocese of Barbastro.
Blessed John of Salerno, priest (†c. 1242). Dominican priest, founder of the Convent of Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, Italy. He courageously fought the Patarine heretics.
Blessed Claude Richard, priest and martyr (†1794). Benedictine priest imprisoned in Rochefort during the French Revolution; he died of an illness contracted there.
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