Wednesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional memorials: St. John Fisher, bishop, and St. Thomas More, martyrs (+1535). St. John Fisher was bishop of Rochester, made cardinal during his imprisonment, by Pope St. Pius V. Thomas More was an Oxford scholar, an incorruptible judge and finally Lord Chancellor. For their refusal to support Henry VIII’s remarriage and Act of Supremacy, both were beheaded. Also:
St. Paulinus of Nola, Bishop (†431). Of a noble Roman family, he practised law, and became governor of the Italian province of Campania. He was converted under the influence of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine and abandoned the world, embracing the hermetical life and was ordained a priest and eventually made Bishop of Nola.
Mass Readings
First Reading – 2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3
The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the LORD.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the temple and have consigned them to the master workmen in the temple of the LORD.” The scribe Shaphan also informed the king that the priest Hilkiah had given him a book, and then read it aloud to the king. When the king heard the contents of the book of the law, he tore his garments and issued this command to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, Achbor, son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah: “Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all Judah, about the stipulations of this book that has been found, for the anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us, because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our written obligations.” The king then had all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem summoned together before him. The king went up to the temple of the LORD with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great. He had the entire contents of the book of the covenant that had been found in the temple of the LORD, read out to them. Standing by the column, the king made a covenant before the LORD that they would follow him and observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in this book. And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.
Responsorial Psalm – 119:33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40 (R.33a)
R. Teach me the way of your decrees, O Lord.
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them. R.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart. R.
Lead me in the path of your commands,
for in it I delight. R.
Incline my heart to your decrees
and not to gain. R.
Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain:
by your way give me life. R.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life. R.
Gospel – Mt 7:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.”
Featured Saints
St. Nicetas (†c. 414). Bishop of Remesiana, in present-day Serbia, evangelized the barbarians, transforming them into sheep of Christ, and led them to the peaceful fold. St. Paulinus of Nola eulogized him for his evangelization of the barbarians.
St. Eusebius of Samosata, bishop and martyr (†379). Morto ao ser golpeado na cabeça com uma telha lançada por uma mulher ariana, enquanto visitava os fiéis de Dülük, Turquia.
St. Flavius Clemens, martyr (†96). Roman Consul martyred for refusing to adore pagan gods during the Domitian persecution
Blessed Innocent V, Pope (†1276). After having received the Dominican habit and taught theology in Paris, he was appointed Bishop of Lyon and later elected Pope. During his four-month pontificate he strove to bring peace to Italy and unite the separated churches to the Roman See.
Image gallery
