Mass Readings

First Reading – Gn 9:8-15

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. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between Me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.”

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9. (R. cf. 10)

R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep Your covenant.

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me Your paths,
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are God my savior. R.

Remember that Your compassion, O LORD,
and Your love are from of old.
In Your kindness remember me,
because of Your goodness, O LORD. R.

Good and upright is the LORD,
thus He shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and He teaches the humble His way.

Second Reading – 1 Pt 3:18-22

Beloved: Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that He might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, He was brought to life in the Spirit. In it He also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into Heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

Gospel – Mt 4:1-11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards He was hungry. The tempter approached and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took Him to the holy city, and made Him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He will command His angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Then the devil took Him up to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to Him, “All these I shall give to You, if You will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and Him alone shall you serve.”  Then the devil left Him and, behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Featured Saints

Blessed John of Fiesole, priest (†1455). Dominican religious and painter of world renown, better known as Fra Angelico; a deeply contemplative soul, he always prayed before taking up his brush.

St. Theotonius, priest (†c. 1162). After two pilgrimages to the Holy Land, he founded the Congregation of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross in Coimbra, Portugal.

St. Sadoth, bishop and companions, martyrs (+342). He was Bishop of Seleucia when, refusing to adore the sun, was imprisoned, repeatedly tortured and finaly executed by order of the king of Persia, Shapur  II.

St. Francis Regis Clet, priest and martyr (†1820). Priest from the Congregation of the Mission born in Grenoble, France, who overcame many difficulties to proclaim the Gospel in the province of Hubei in China. After being denounced by an apostate, he suffered a long and cruel captivity and was put to death by strangulation.

St. Gertrude Comensoli, virgin (†1903). Founded the Congregation of the Sacramentine Sisters of Bergamo in that city in Italy, dedicated to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the education of girls.

Blessed William Harrington, priest and martyr (†1594). After meeting St. Edmund Campion, he converted to Catholicism was ordained a priest in Rheims. He returned to his homeland to exercise his priestly ministry among Catholics, a crime punishable by death at that time. Accordingly, when arrested, he was executed at Tyburn.

Blessed George Kaszyra, priest and martyr (†1943). Religious of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, he was burned alive in Rosica, Poland, by persecutors of the Faith.

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Saints of February 18

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