Mass Readings

First Reading – 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a

One day Elisha came to Shunem, where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine with her. Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to dine. So she said to her husband, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there.” Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room overnight. Later Elisha asked, “Can something be done for her?” His servant Gehazi answered, “Yes! She has no son, and her husband is getting on in years.” Elisha said, “Call her.” When the woman had been called and stood at the door, Elisha promised, “This time next year you will be fondling a baby son.”

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19 (R. 2a)

R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

The promises of the LORD I will sing forever,
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim Your faithfulness.
For You have said, “My kindness is established forever;”
in Heaven You have confirmed Your faithfulness. R.

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of Your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At Your name they rejoice all the day,
and through Your justice they are exalted. R.

You are the splendor of their strength,
and by Your favor our horn is exalted.
For to the LORD belongs our shield,
and to the Holy One of Israel, our king. R.

Second Reading – Rom 6:3-4, 8-11

Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were indeed buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.  If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over Him. As to His death, He died to sin once and for all; as to His life, He lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel – Mt 10:37-42

Jesus said to His apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the one who sent Me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple— amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

Featured Saints

Sunday has precedence over the Optional Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr (†202). A Greek from Asia Minor and disciple of St. Polycarp who had witnessed the preaching of St. John the Evangelist. He became the Bishop of Lyon, France, where he combatted Gnostic rationalism. He received the crown of martyrdom under Septimius Severus.

St. Paul I, Pope (†767). He wrote to Emperors Constantine V and Leo IV to have them re-establish the veneration of sacred images. He transferred the bodies of martyrs from dilapidated cemeteries to churches and monasteries.

St. Vincentia Gerosa, virgin (†1847). Together with St. Bartolomea Capitanio, founded the Institute of the Sisters of Charity of Lovere, Italy, for the education the poor.

St. Heimrad, priest and hermit (†1019). Expelled from his monastery and exposed to scorn, he lived as a pilgrim for love of Christ, dying in Hasungen, Germany.

St. John Southworth, priest and martyr (†1654). Condemned to death for secretly exercising his priestly ministry in England, during the government of Cromwell.

St. Argymirus, martyr (†856). Monk in Cordoba (Spain), tortured and killed under the Moorish rule, for his refusal to abjure the Christian Faith.

St. Maria Du Zhaozhi, martyr (†1900). Fervent Christian and mother of a priest, she was beheaded during religious persecution in China, for holding fast to the Faith.

Blesseds Severian Baranyk and Yakym Senkivskyj, priests and martyrs (†1941). Priests of the Basilian Order of St. Josaphat, imprisoned and executed by Soviet authorities in Drohobych, Ukraine.

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Saints of July 28

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