Thursday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Gen 2:18-25
The LORD God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” So the LORD God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each of them would be its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man. So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 (R.see 1a)
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.. R.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table. R.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life. R.
Gospel – Mk 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Featured Saints
Blessed Christina of Spoleto, widow (†1458). After the death of her husband, she gave in to the concupiscence of the flesh for some time, but underwent a conversion and entered the Secular Augustinian Order in Spoleto, Italy, where she led a life of penance, dedicated to prayer and works of mercy.
St. Castor, priest and hermit († fourth century). After studying in Treveris, Germany, in the school of St. Maximin, he withdrew to a solitary life along the banks of the Mosel River.
St. Benignus, priest and martyr († fourth century). Martyr of Todi, in Umbria, Italy, during the final persecution against the Christians, in time of Diocletian and Maximian.
St. Paul Liu Hanzuo, priest and martyr (†1818). Arrested while celebrating the Mass of the Assumption. When he was unable to pay the amount demanded for his release, he was brought to the Mandarin, before whom he confessed his Faith and received the death sentence.
St. Martinianus, hermit (†c. 398). He lived a solitary life in the rugged regions close to Caesarea, in Palestine. He later travelled to Athens, Greece, where he died
St. Paul Lê-Văn-Lôc, priest and martyr (†1859). He was beheaded at the gates of the Vietnamese city of Thi-Nghè during the reign of Emperor Tu Ðúc.
Blessed Jordan of Saxony, priest (†1237). First successor of St. Dominic as head of the Order of Preachers; he was ardent in spreading the order. He died in a shipwreck near Acre, in Palestine.
Blessed Eustochium Bellini (†1469). Virgin of the Benedictine Order in Padua. By God’s permission, she suffered demonic attacks throughout her life. She was ardently devoted to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
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