Tuesday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, bishop and Doctor of the Church. He entered the Company of Jesus at 18 years of age. An outstanding exegete and theologian, he fought the errors of protestantism. As a professor and Spiritual Father of the Roman College, he was the spiritual director of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, whom he guided during his last years, and as a Cardinal, he was adviser to several Popes. He died in Rome in 621.
Mass Readings
First Reading – 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a
Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. Now the body is not a single part, but many. Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it. Some people God has designated in the Church to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then, mighty deeds; then gifts of healing, assistance, administration, and varieties of tongues. Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5 (R.3)
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song. R.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends. R.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name. R.
For he is good, the LORD,
whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations. R.
Gospel – Lk 7:11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, “A great prophet has arisen in our midst,” and “God has visited his people.” This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
Featured Saints
St. Hildegard of Bingen, virgin and Doctor of the Church (†1179). Optional Memorial. Religious from the Monastery of Mount St. Rupert in Bingen (Germany), she was favoured with special mystical gifts, based upon which she composed several musical works and and wrote books on medicine, natural sciences and mystical contemplation.
St. Peter Arbues, priest and martyr (†1485). Canon Regular of the Order of St. Augustine, who fought against superstitions and heresies in the kingdom of Aragon, and was killed by hired assassins at the foot of the altar of the Cathedral of Zaragoza, Spain.
St. Satyrus of Milan, layman(†377). Brother of Sts. Ambrose and Marcellina. He lived his Faith with utmost integrity, being an example of uprightness. In his obsequies St. Ambrose delivered a sermon which is read in the Office for the Dead until today.
St. Francis Mary of Camporosso, religious(†1866). Capuchin brother, he offered his life for the salvation of the victims of a cholera epidemic that devastated Genoa, Italy.
St. Colomba of Cordoba, virgin and martyr (†853). She dedicated herself to the study of the Sacred Scriptures. During the persecutions of Muhammad I, she was beheaded and her body cast into the Guadalquivir River, whence it was retrieved by Christians.
Blessed Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, priest (†1701). Founder of the Marina Cleric of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, in Gora Kalwaria, Poland.
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