Daily Gospel for Friday, 4 July 2014

Daily Gospel for Friday, 4 July 2014
"Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.'"(John 6:68)
Friday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time 
Saints of the day:

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal

Queen of Portugal

(1271-1336)

Elizabeth was born in 1271. She was daughter of Pedro III. of Arragon, being named after her aunt, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At twelve years of age she was given in marriage to Denis, King of Portugal, and from a holy child became a saintly wife. She heard Mass and recited the Divine Office daily, but her devotions were arranged with such prudence that they interfered with no duty of her state. She prepared for her frequent communions by severe austerities, fasting thrice a week, and by heroic works of charity.

She was several times called on to make peace between her husband and her son Alphonso, who had taken up arms against him. Her husband tried her much, both by his unfounded jealousy and by his infidelity to herself. A slander affecting Elizabeth and one of her pages made the king determine to slay the youth, and he told a lime-burner to cast into his kiln the first page who should arrive with a royal message. On the day fixed the page was sent; but the boy, who was in the habit of hearing Mass daily, stopped on his way to do so. The king, in suspense, sent a second page, the very originator of the calumny, who, coming first to the kiln, was at once cast into the furnace and burned. Shortly after, the first page arrived from the church, and took back to the king the lime-burner's reply that his orders had been fulfilled. Thus hearing Mass saved the page's life and proved the queen's innocence. Her patience, and the wonderful sweetness with which she even cherished the children of her rivals, completely won the king from his evil ways, and he became a devoted husband and a truly Christian king.

She built many charitable institutions and religious houses, among others a convent of Poor Clares. After her husband's death, she wished to enter their Order; but being dissuaded by her people, who could not do without her, she took the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis, and spent the rest of her life in redoubled austerities and almsgiving.

She died at the age of sixty-five, while in the act of making peace between her children. 

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]

Saint Ulric

Feastday: July 4

Patron against birth complications; against faintness; against fever; against mice and moles; diocese of Augsburg, Germany; happy death; weavers

Birth: 890

Death: 973

Ulric was born at Augsburg, Germany. He was educated at St. Gall Abbey in Switzerland and by his uncle, St. Adalbeo, bishop of Augsburg. Ulric succeeded to the See as bishop in 923, and when Augsburg was plundered and ravaged by the Magyars, he led its inhabitants in the task of rebuilding the city and its cathedral. In his old age, he retired to St. Gall, named his nephew as his successor, and was accused of nepotism for his action. His canonization by Pope John XV in 993 is the first recorded canonization by a Pope. His feast day is July 4th.

Friday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Amos 8:4 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy,
    and cause the poor of the land to fail,
5     Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain?
    And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat,
    making the ephah[Amos 8:5 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel] small, and the shekel[Amos 8:5 a normal shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.] large,
    and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
6 that we may buy the poor for silver,
    and the needy for a pair of shoes,
    and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”
9 It will happen in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh,
    “that I will cause the sun to go down at noon,
    and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning,
    and all your songs into lamentation;
and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies,
    and baldness on every head.
I will make it like the mourning for an only son,
    and its end like a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come,” says the Lord Yahweh,
    “that I will send a famine in the land,
    not a famine of bread,
    nor a thirst for water,
    but of hearing Yahweh’s words.
12 They will wander from sea to sea,
    and from the north even to the east;
    they will run back and forth to seek Yahweh’s word,
    and will not find it.
Psalm 119:2:1 Blessed are those who keep his statutes,
    who seek him with their whole heart.
10 With my whole heart, I have sought you.
    Don’t let me wander from your commandments.
20 My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times.
30 I have chosen the way of truth.
    I have set your ordinances before me.
40 Behold, I long for your precepts!
    Revive me in your righteousness.
131 I opened my mouth wide and panted,
    for I longed for your commandments.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:9 As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him. 10 As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. 13 But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’[Matthew 9:13 Hosea 6:6] for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”[Matthew 9:13 NU omits “to repentance”.]
Friday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the Day:

Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), Religious Sister 

Diary, § 283 (trans. ©Congregation of Marians, 1987) 

"I did not come to call the righteous but sinners"

God, one in the Holy Trinity, I want to love you as no human soul has ever loved you before; I want to love You as no human soul has ever loved You before; and although l am utterly miserable and small, I have nevertheless cast the anchor of my trust deep down into the abyss of Your mercy, O my God and Creator! 
In spite of my great misery I fear nothing, but hope to sing You a hymn of glory for ever. Let no soul, even the most miserable, fall prey to doubt; for, as long as one is alive, each one can become a great saint, so great is the power of God's grace. It remains only for us not to oppose God's action.

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