Thursday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Gn 9:1-13
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth. Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered. Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat. For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from one man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life. If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made. Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it.” God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “See, I am now establishing My covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish My covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between Me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23 (R. 20b)
R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
The nations shall revere Your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth Your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in His glory;
When He has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer. R.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let His future creatures praise the LORD:
“The LORD looked down from His holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.” R.
The children of Your servants shall abide,
and their posterity shall continue in Your presence,
That the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion,
and His praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together,
and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD. R.
Gospel – Mk 8:27-33
Jesus and His disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to Him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about Him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. At this He turned around and, looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Featured Saints
St. Juliana of Nicomedia, virgin and martyr (†fourth century). She was the only Christian in her family, in Nicomedia (Turkey). At 18, having refused to marry a pagan, she was imprisoned and later beheaded.
St. Maruthas, bishop (†a. 420). He presided the Council of Seleucia, restored the churches ruined in the persecutions of King Shapur and collected relics of the martyrs of Persia for veneration in his episcopal See, present-day Silvan, Turkey, which came to be called Martyropolis.
Blessed Nicholas Puglia, priest (+1256). Upon hearing St. Dominic preach in Bologna, he entered the Dominican Order, and became a most faithful companion of his founder. He drew many vocations to the Order and and founded the monastery of Trani and Perugia, where he died.
Blessed Joseph Allamano, priest (†1926). Animated by untiring zeal, he founded the two Congregations of the Missions of the Consolata in Italy: one for men and another for women.
Blessed Francis Toyama Jintaro, martyr (†1624). Samurai noble whose exemplary Christian life was a key factor in the conversion of many people. He was beheaded in Hiroshima, Japan for refusing to renounce the Faith.
Blessed Philippa Mareri, virgin (†1236). Of noble origin, she abandoned worldly riches and splendour, choosing to live on a property belonging to her family in Borgo San Pietro, Italy, following St. Clare’s way of life.
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