Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time
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Mass Readings
First Reading – 1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
In those days, Saul went down to the desert of Ziph with three thousand picked men of Israel, to search for David in the desert of Ziph. So David and Abishai went among Saul’s soldiers by night and found Saul lying asleep within the barricade, with his spear thrust into the ground at his head and Abner and his men sleeping around him. Abishai whispered to David: “God has delivered your enemy into your grasp this day. Let me nail him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I will not need a second thrust!” But David said to Abishai, “Do not harm him, for who can lay hands on the LORD’s anointed and remain unpunished?” So David took the spear and the water jug from their place at Saul’s head, and they got away without anyone’s seeing or knowing or awakening. All remained asleep, because the LORD had put them into a deep slumber. Going across to an opposite slope, David stood on a remote hilltop at a great distance from Abner, son of Ner, and the troops. He said: “Here is the king’s spear. Let an attendant come over to get it. The LORD will reward each man for his justice and faithfulness. Today, though the LORD delivered you into my grasp, I would not harm the LORD’s anointed.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10, 12-13(R.8a)
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits. R.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion. R.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes. R.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. R.
Second Reading – 1 Cor 15:45-49
Brothers and sisters:
It is written, The first man, Adam, became a living being,
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.
Gospel – Lk 6:27-38
Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, and get back the same amount. But rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Featured Saints
Sts. Francisco, (†1919 Aljustrel – Portugal) and Jacinta Marto (†1920 Lisboa), seers of Our Lady of Fatima, in Portugal. Jacinta, the youngest of the three shepherd children to receive the prophetic message of the Blessed Virgin, died at the age of ten after patiently enduring terrible sufferings, offered for the conversion of sinners. Her brother passed away before her, the death of both children having been foretold by Our Lady.
St. Tyrannio, bishop (†311). He was instructed in the Christian Faith since early youth and became Bishop of Tyre. He received the palm of martyrdom in Antioch, Syria.
St. Eleutherius, bishop (†530). As ishop of Tournai (Belgium), he preached against the Arian heresey and died as a result of injuries sustained when a group of enraged Arians accosted and beat him.
St. Eucherius of Orleans, bishop (circa 738). Exiled from Orleans by Charles Martel, after being calumniated by envious adversaries, he found refuge in the monastery of Saint-Trond, Belgium, where he spent the rest of his life in prayer and contemplation.
St. Leo, bishop (†c. 787). Benedictine religious elected Bishop of Catania, Italy. He dedicated himself to the are of the poor and fought against the iconoclasts.
St. Serapion, martyr (†c. 248). After cruel torture he was thrown to his death from a high window of his house, in Alexandria, Egypt, during the time of Emperor Decius.
Blessed Julia Rodzinska, virgin and martyr (+1945). Polish Dominican, dedicated to the education of orphans and homeless. She was imprisoned during the Nazi invasion and sent to a concentration camp, where she died.
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