Tuesday of the 16th Week in Ordinary Time
Featured Saints
St. Apollinaris, bishop and martyr († c. 79). Optional Memorial. The Acts of the Apostles record that he was sent by St. Peter as the first Bishop of Ravenna, Italy. He was banished from this See, together with his flock, during the persecution waged by Emperor Vespasian, but was then captured, tortured and put to death by the sword.
St. Marina of Antioch, virgin and martyr († unknown). She consecrated herself to God upon embracing the Faith in her youth. Brought before the pagan Governor of Antioch, she refused to offer incense to the idols and was subjected to various tortures and finally beheaded.
St. Elijah (Elias) the Tishbite. Prophet of the Lord during the reign of Ahab and Ahaziah in Israel; he admonished the Chosen People for their idolatry and challenged the priests of Baal, in the name of the true God. He is considered the founder of the Carmelite Order. See also: “Zelo zelatus sum”.
St. Aurelius of Carthage, bishop (†circa 430). Close friend of St. Augustine, he was elected Bishop of Carthage and preserved his flock from pagan customs.
St. Joseph Barsabbas, disciple of Jesus. He was one of the men proposed by the Apostles, along with St. Matthias, to take the place of Judas.
St. Vulmar, priest (†c. 700). After living a hermitic life for many years as a Benedictine religious in the Abbey of Hautmont, we went on to found a monastery for monks and another for nuns close to Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
St. Paul of Cordoba, deacon and martyr (†851). Died for having confessed his Faith in Christ before Moorish authorities.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Ex 14:21—15:1
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD swept the sea with a strong east wind throughout the night and so turned it into dry land. When the water was thus divided, the children of Israel marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. The Egyptians followed in pursuit; all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and charioteers went after them right into the midst of the sea. In the night watch just before dawn the LORD cast through the column of the fiery cloud upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic; and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could hardly drive. With that the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel, because the LORD was fighting for them against the Egyptians. Then the LORD told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their charioteers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea, when the LORD hurled them into its midst. As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh’s whole army that had followed the children of Israel into the sea. Not a single one of them escaped. But the children of Israel had marched on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and beheld the great power that the LORD had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps Exodus 15:8-9, 10 and 12, 17 (R.1b)
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
At the breath of your anger the waters piled up,
the flowing waters stood like a mound,
the flood waters congealed in the midst of the sea.
The enemy boasted, “I will pursue and overtake them;
I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them;
I will draw my sword; my hand shall despoil them!”
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
When your wind blew, the sea covered them;
like lead they sank in the mighty waters.
When you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them!
R. Let us sing to the Lord; he has covered himself in glory.
And you brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place where you made your seat, O LORD,
the sanctuary, O LORD, which your hands established. R.
Gospel – Mt 12:46-50
While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
