Tuesday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Sir 2:1-11
My son, when you come to serve the LORD, stand in justice and fear, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast, incline your ear and receive the word of understanding, undisturbed in time of adversity. Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not; thus will you be wise in all your ways. Accept whatever befalls you, when sorrowful, be steadfast, and in crushing misfortune be patient; For in fire gold and silver are tested, and worthy people in the crucible of humiliation. Trust God and God will help you; trust in him, and he will direct your way; keep his fear and grow old therein. You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy, turn not away lest you fall. You who fear the LORD, trust him, and your reward will not be lost. You who fear the LORD, hope for good things, for lasting joy and mercy. You who fear the LORD, love him, and your hearts will be enlightened. Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed? Compassionate and merciful is the LORD; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40 (R. see 5)
R. Commit your life to the Lord, and he will help you.
Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests. R.
The LORD watches over the lives of the wholehearted;
their inheritance lasts forever.
They are not put to shame in an evil time;
in days of famine they have plenty. R.
Turn from evil and do good,
that you may abide forever;
For the LORD loves what is right,
and forsakes not his faithful ones. R.
The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him. R.
Gospel – Mk 9:30-37
Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them,”The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
Featured Saints
St. Walburga, abbess (†779). At the request of her brothers St. Willibald and St. Winibald, as well as St. Boniface, she left England to govern the Monastery of Heidenheim, Germany.
Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio, religious (†1600). Born in Spain, he emigrated to Mexico, where he accumulated considerable wealth due to his entrepreneurial capacity. He abandoned everything to enter the Order of Friars Minor, in which died at almost a hundred years of age.
St. Nestor of Magydos, bishop and martyr (†c. 250). For professing faith in Christ crucified, he was condemned to death by crucifixion by the governor of Pamphylia, in Perge, present-day Turkey.
St. Gerland, bishop (†1100). He reorganized the Church in Sicily after obtaining freedom from Saracen dominion.
St. Lawrence Pe-Man, martyr (+1856). Baptized by St. Auguste Chapdelaine, and became his assist ant as a missionary in China. He was sentenced to capital punishment for remaining steadfast in the Faith.
St. Caesarius, physician (†369). Although he was the son of fervent Christians and brother of St. Gregory Nazianzen, he remained a pagan for most of his life. He was the physician of various emperors in Constantinople. After miraculously escaping an earthquake, he requested Baptism and did penance until the end of his life.
Bessed Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervás, bishop (†1909). Bishop of Toledo and Valencia, Patriarch of the West Indies and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha in Toledo, Spain.
Blessed Dominic Lentini, priest (†1828). Priest from Lauria, Italy, whose diverse and fruitful ministry was supported by humility, prayer and penance. He transformed his house into a model Catholic school.
Blessed Maria Adeodata Pisani, virgin (†1855). She was abbess in St. Peter’s Benedictine Monastery, on the Island of Malta. She strove to establish perfect observance of the Rule and to lead the nuns on the path of perfection.
Blessed Maria Ludovica De Angelis, virgin (†1962). Italian by birth, she entered the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy and dedicated herself to the care and formation of children and the sick in a hospital in La Plata, Argentina.
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