Sunday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
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Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 8:23—9:3
First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end He has glorified the seaward road, the land west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles. Anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness: for there is no gloom where but now there was distress. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone. You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, as they rejoice before You as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster You have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14 (R. 1a)
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid? R.
One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate His temple. R.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD. R.
Second Reading – 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the wisdom of human eloquence, so that the Cross of Christ might not be emptied of its meaning.
Gospel – Mt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17
[When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what had been said through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”] As He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed Him. He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.
Featured Saints
St. Vincent, deacon and martyr. He was the deacon of St. Valerius, Bishop of Zaragoza, and was martyred in Valencia in the year 304, becoming the protomartyr of Spain. Sunday takes precedence over his Optional Memorial this year.
St. Valerius, Bishop (†305/315). He was expelled from his Diocese of Zaragoza, Spain, during the persecution of Diocletian and died in exile. He is honoured as the Patron of Zaragoza.
St. Gaudentius, bishop (†circa 418). Converted by St. Eusebius of Vercelli, he became his disciple and companion in exile. He returned to Italy and became Bishop of Novara.
St. Bernard, bishop (†842). He left the army of Charlemagne, distributed his goods among the poor, joined the militia of Christ and was named Bishop of Vienne, France. He built the monasteries of Ambronay and Romans.
St. Vincent Pallotti, priest (†1850). He founded the Society of Catholic Apostolate. Through his work and writings, he promoted the vocation of all the baptized to generously labour for the Church.
Sts. Francis Gil of Federich and Matthew Alphonse of Leziniana, priests and martyrs (†1745). Dominican priests put to death by sword in Vietnam, after a period of imprisonment, for preaching the Gospel.
Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, priest (†1850). To attract the laity to devotion to Our Lady and to promote the missions, he founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate and the Society of Mary, in Bordeaux, France.
St. Dominic of Sora, abbot(†1031). He founded and reformed many monasteries in the region of Latium, in central Italy.
Blessed Giuseppe Nascimbeni, priest (†1922). He founded the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family in Castelletto del Garda, Italy.
Blessed Ladislaus Batthyány Strattmann, father of family (†1931). Doctor from a Hungarian noble family, he generously cared for the poor and indigent in the hospital he founded in Vienna, Austria.
Blessed Laura Vicuña, virgin (†1904). Chilean girl educated by the Salesian Sisters in Argentina. Of firm faith and ardent piety, she endured great moral sufferings and died at 13 years of age, after offering herself as a victim for the conversion of her mother.
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