Christmas Season, Tuesday after Epiphany
St. Raymond of Penyafort, priest. Born in 1175 in Catalonia, Spain. He was a professor of canon law by the age of 20 and was renowned for his brilliance. Later, at the age of 47 he renounced all worldly honours and entered the Dominican Order, of which he became the third Superior General.
Memorial in Canada of: St. André Bessette, religious (†1937). Member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, he served as porter at Notre-Dame-des Neiges College in Montreal, Canada. Through his initiative, a world-famous shrine dedicated to St. Joseph was built on an elevation across from the school. (Celebrated January 6 in the General Calendar.)
Mass Readings
First Reading – 1 Jn 4:7-10
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8 (R. see 11)
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment. R.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor. R.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth. R.
Gospel – Mk 6:34-44
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out they said, “Five loaves and two fish.” So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
Featured Saints
St. Cyrus, bishop (†714). Monk of Paphlagonia (northern Turkey), elected Patriarch of Constantinople. Expelled from his See, he died in exile.
St. Canute Lavard, bishop (†1137). Duke of Schleswig in Denmark, he prudently and kindly governed the principality and encouraged public piety. He was assassinated by enemies who were envious of his authority.
St. Lucian, priest and martyr (†312). He applied himself to the study of Scripture and founded the Biblical School of Antioch. He courageously gave his life as a witness to the true Faith during the persecution of Maximinus Daia.
St. Joseph Tuan Van Tran, martyr (†1862). Father of a family; beheaded in Vietnam for refusing to trample a crucifix.
Blessed Matteo Guimerà, bishop (†1451). From the Order of Friars Minor, he was deeply devoted to the adoration and exaltation of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, in Agrigento, Italy.
Blessed Ambrose Fernandez, martyr (†1620). He was admitted into the Company of Jesus in Japan and, after suffering many privations, he died for Christ in prison.
Blessed Marie Thérèse Haze, virgin (†1876). Foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross in Liège, Belgium. She died at 99 years of age.
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