Daily Gospel for Friday, 10 July 2015

Daily Gospel for Friday, 10 July 2015
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Friday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time
Saints of the day:

Sts. Rufina & Secunda, Virgins and Martyrs (3rd century)

SAINTS RUFINA AND SECUND  
Virgins and Martyrs
(3^rd century°)

Rufina and Secunda were sisters and Roman virgins who rejected marriage to Armentarius and Verinus because they had vowed their virginity to Christ. They were apprehended during the reign of the Emperors Valerian and Gallienus and, when they could not be swayed from their resolution by the blandishments and threats of Junius, the prefect, they were afflicted with various kinds of torments.

But when, guarded by angels, they persevered in their holy resolution, they were beheaded at the tenth milestone on the Aurelien Way. Their bodies were buried by a matron named Plautilla on her estate outside the city, and were afterwards buried in the basilica of Constantine, near the baptistry.

The Roman Breviary (1964)

The Seven Holy Brothers & their mother St. Felicitas, Martyrs († c. 150)

THE SEVEN HOLY BROTHERS 
and ST. FELICITAS, their Mother 
Martyrs
(† c. 150)

The illustrious martyrdom of these Saints happened at Rome, under the Emperor Antoninus. The seven brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble, pious, Christian widow in Rome, who, after the death of her husband, served God in a state of continency and employed herself wholly in prayer, fasting, and works of charity. By the public and edifying example of this lady and her whole family many idolaters were moved to renounce the worship of their false gods, and to embrace the Faith of Christ.

This excited the anger of the heathen priests, who complained to the emperor that the boldness with which Felicitas publicly practised the Christian religion drew many from the worship of the immortal gods, who were the guardians and protectors of the empire, and that, in order to appease these false gods, it was necessary to compel this lady and her children to sacrifice to them.

Publius, the prefect of Rome, caused the mother and her sons to be apprehended and brought before him, and, addressing her, said, "Take pity on your children, Felicitas; they are in the bloom of youth, and may aspire to the greatest honors and preferments." The holy mother answered, "Your pity is really impiety, and the compassion to which you exhort me would make me the most cruel of mothers." Then turning herself towards her children, she said to them, "My sons, look up to heaven, where Jesus Christ with his Saints expects you. Be faithful in his love, and fight courageously for your souls."

Publius, being exasperated at this behavior, commanded her to be cruelly buffeted; he then called the children to him one after another, and used many artful speeches, mingling promises with threats to induce them to adore the gods. His arguments and threats were equally in vain, and the brothers were condemned to be scourged. After being whipped, they were remanded to prison, and the prefect, despairing to overcome their resolution, laid the whole process before the emperor. Antoninus gave an order that they should be sent to different judges, and be condemned to different deaths.

Januarius was scourged to death with whips loaded with plummets of lead. The two next, Felix and Philip, were beaten with clubs till they expired. Sylvanus, the fourth, was thrown headlong down a steep precipice. The three youngest, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis, were beheaded, and the same sentence was executed upon the mother four months after.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
Friday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Genesis 46:1 Isra’el took everything he owned with him on his journey. He arrived at Be’er-Sheva and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Yitz’chak. 2 In a vision at night God called to Isra’el, “Ya‘akov! Ya‘akov!” He answered, “Here I am.” 3 He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt. It is there that I will make you into a great nation. 4 Not only will I go down with you to Egypt; but I will also bring you back here again, after Yosef has closed your eyes.”

5 So Ya‘akov left Be’er-Sheva; the sons of Isra’el brought Ya‘akov their father, their little ones and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry them. 6 They took their cattle and their possessions which they had acquired in the land of Kena‘an and arrived in Egypt, Ya‘akov and all his descendants with him — 7 his sons, grandsons, daughters, granddaughters and all his descendants he brought with him into Egypt.

(vi) 28 Ya‘akov sent Y’hudah ahead of him to Yosef, so that the latter might guide him on the road to Goshen; thus they arrived in the land of Goshen. 29 Yosef prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet Isra’el his father. He presented himself to him, embraced him and wept on his neck for a long time. 30 Then Isra’el said to Yosef, “Now I can die, because I have seen your face and seen that you are still alive.”

Psalms 37:3 Trust in Adonai, and do good;

settle in the land, and feed on faithfulness.

4 Then you will delight yourself in Adonai,

and he will give you your heart’s desire.

18 Adonai knows what the wholehearted suffer,

but their inheritance lasts forever.

19 They will not be distressed when times are hard;

when famine comes, they will have plenty.

27 If you turn from evil and do good,

you will live safely forever.

28 For Adonai loves justice

and will not abandon his faithful;

they are preserved forever.

But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

39 Adonai is the one who saves the righteous;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

40 Adonai helps them and rescues them,

rescues them from the wicked and saves them;

because they take refuge in him.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:16 “Pay attention! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves, so be as prudent as snakes and as harmless as doves. 17 Be on guard, for there will be people who will hand you over to the local Sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as a testimony to them and to the Goyim. 19 But when they bring you to trial, do not worry about what to say or how to say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you should say. 20 For it will not be just you speaking, but the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you.

21 “A brother will betray his brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. 22 Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever holds out till the end will be preserved from harm. 23 When you are persecuted in one town, run away to another. Yes indeed; I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Isra’el before the Son of Man comes.

Friday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Commentary of the day:
Aphrahat (?-c.345), monk and Bishop near Mosul
Demonstrations, no. 21

“No slave is greater than his master” (Jn 15,20)

I have written to you, beloved, concerning Jesus who was persecuted, and the righteous [of the Old Testament] who were persecuted, in order that those who today are persecuted for the sake of the persecuted Jesus, may be comforted. For he wrote for us and himself gave us comfort when he said, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And they will indeed persecute you because you do not belong to the world any more than I belong to it.” (Jn 15:19-20; 17:14). For he wrote beforehand for us: “Your fathers and your brothers and your family will deliver you up, and all men shall hate you for my name's sake”. And again he taught us, “When they shall bring you before rulers and magistrates and kings that govern the world, do not worry beforehand what you shall say, and how you shall make defence. I will give you a mouth and wisdom such that your enemies will not be able to overcome you, because it is not you who will be speaking, but the Spirit of your Father who will be speaking in you.”
This is the spirit which spoke by the mouth of Jacob to Esau, his persecutor; and the spirit of wisdom which spoke before Pharaoh by the mouth of Joseph when he was persecuted; and the spirit which spoke by the mouth of Moses in all the wonders which he did in the land of Egypt...; and the spirit that uttered psalms by the mouth of David when he was persecuted, by which he used to sing psalms and soothe Saul his persecutor from the evil spirit; and the spirit which clothed Elijah, and through him reproved Jezebel and Ahab his persecutor...; and the spirit which strengthened Jeremiah, so that he stood boldly, and by it reproved Zedekiah; and the spirit that preserved Daniel and his brethren in the land of Babylon; and the spirit that delivered Mordecai and Esther in the place of their captivity...
Hear, beloved, these names of martyrs, of confessors, and of the persecuted: Abel, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Jephthah, Samson, Gideon and Barak, David, Samuel, Hezekiah, Elijah, Elisha, Micah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hananiah and his brothers, Judas Maccabeus and his brothers... But greater and more excellent is the martyrdom of Jesus. He surpassed in affliction and in confession all who were before or after.

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