Thursday of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of St. Vincent, deacon and martyr. He was the deacon of St. Valerius, Bishop of Zaragoza, and was martyred during the persecution of Diocletian in Valencia in the year 304, becoming the protomartyr of Spain. [In the US: Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children]
Mass Readings
First Reading – 1 Sam 18:6-9; 19:1-7
When David and Saul approached (on David’s return after slaying the Philistine), women came out from each of the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing, with tambourines, joyful songs, and sistrums. The women played and sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: “They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.” And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David. Saul discussed his intention of killing David with his son Jonathan and with all his servants. But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was very fond of David, told him: “My father Saul is trying to kill you. Therefore, please be on your guard tomorrow morning; get out of sight and remain in hiding. I, however, will go out and stand beside my father in the countryside where you are, and will speak to him about you. If I learn anything, I will let you know.” Jonathan then spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him: “Let not your majesty sin against his servant David, for he has committed no offense against you, but has helped you very much by his deeds. When he took his life in his hands and slew the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for all Israel through him, you were glad to see it. Why, then, should you become guilty of shedding innocent blood by killing David without cause?” Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed.” So Jonathan summoned David and repeated the whole conversation to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps56:2-3, 9-10a, 10b-11, 12-13 (R.5b)
R. In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Have mercy on me, O God, for men trample upon me;
all the day they press their attack against me.
My adversaries trample upon me all the day;
yes, many fight against me. R.
My wanderings you have counted;
my tears are stored in your flask;
are they not recorded in your book?
Then do my enemies turn back,
when I call upon you. R.
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me? R.
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living. R.
Gospel – Mk 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.
Featured Saints
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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