Tuesday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – 2 Corinthians 8:1-9
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously,they begged us insistently for the favour of taking part in the service to the holy ones, and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us through the will of God, so that we urged Titus that, as he had already begun, he should also complete for you this gracious act also. Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 146:2, 5-6AB, 6C- 7, 8-9A (R.1b)
R.Praise the Lord, my soul! or: R. Alleluia..
Praise the LORD, my soul!
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live. R.
Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.. R.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers. R.
Who keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free. R.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.R.
Gospel –Mt 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Featured Saints
St. Teresa of Portugal, queen (†1250). Daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal, she married Alfonso IX, King of Leon. After the death of her husband, she entered the Cistercian monastery she had founded in Ourém.
Blessed Joseph-Marie Cassant, priest (†1903). At age 16, he entered the Trappist Monastery of St. Mary of the Desert, in the Diocese of Toulouse, France. He died after contracting tuberculosis at 25, offering his sufferings for Christ and the Church .
St. Ranierius of Pisa, penitent (†1160). He gave himself over to worldly amusements during his youth. After his conversion he left everything and went to the Holy Land where he lived for thirteen years doing penance.
Blessed Peter Gambacorta (†1435). Founder of the Poor Hermits of St. Jerome in Montebello, Italy, whose first members were ex-thieves whom he had converted.
Blessed Paul Burali d’Arezzo, bishop (†1578). Theatine religious, created cardinal by Pius V and named Archbishop of Naples by Gregory XIII. Restored discipline and liturgical splendour in the archdiocese.
St. Hipatius, abbot (†446). A hermit of an austere life and rigorous fasting, he made his abode in an abandoned monastery in Chalcedon, Asia Minor, reconstructed it and formed a prosperous community in it.
Sts. Nicander and Marcian, martyrs (†c. 297). Soldiers beheaded in Silistra, Bulgaria, at the time of Diocletian, for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods.
St. Peter Da, martyr (†1862). Carpenter and sacristan of the parish of Ngoc Cuc, in Vietnam; beheaded after suffering cruel tortures during the anti-Christian persecuion under the Emperor Tu Duc.
Blessed Philippe Papon, priest and martyr (†1794). Condemned to imprisonment in a galley anchored at Rochefort, France, he surrendered his soul to God after giving absolution to a dying prison mate.
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