DAILY LITURGY

Click Here to go to the
GOSPEL Reading and Reflections for the days below.

Friday July 24:
Sixteenth Friday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: Jeremiah 3: 14-17
Psalms: Jeremiah 31: 10-13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 13: 18-23

Saturday July 25:
FEAST OF SAINT JAMES THE APOSTLE

Red vestments

First Reading: 2 Corinthians 4: 7-15
Psalms: Psalm 126: 1-6
Gospel Reading: Matthew 20: 20-28

      Known as Saint James the Greater because he was called to be an Apostle before the other James, he was also the older brother of Saint John the Evangelist who were sons of Zebedee and Salome. He followed his brother John to the shores of the Jordan River where he was called by Jesus to be "fishers of men." James was one of the three privileged Apostles, along with Peter and John, to witness three miraculous events - the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (cf Matthew 1: 29-31), resurrection of the daughter of Jairus (cf. Mark 5: 37-43) and the Transfiguration of Jesus (cf. Mark 9: 2-8). James was also present in the agony of Garden as one of the few apostles who accompanied Jesus there and fell asleep. Jesus affectionately called James a "son of thunder" because of his great flaming love of his soul for the Son of God. James revealed his humanity in Luke 9: 51-56 when James impetuously railed about calling down fire from Heaven on the Samaritans because of their lack of faith and in the famous scene in Mark 10: 35-45 where the two brothers ask Jesus for the privilege of sitting at His right side in Heaven. But after Pentecost all imperfections faded and James went on to preach the Gospel in Samaria and Judea, then traveled a great distance to Spain where he evangelized. In Zaragosa, Spain around 40 AD the Blessed Mother made her first recorded apparition, this before her Assumption, appearing to James in a vision as Our Lady of Pilar because she stood on a pillar with the angels supporting it. Her purpose was to summon him back to Jerusalem where he was martyred by beheading at the hands of Herod Agrippa around 43 AD. He was buried in Jerusalem but his relics were transfered to Compostela, Spain in 830 where they remain today.

SUNDAY July 26:
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Green vestments

First Reading: Genesis 18: 20-32
Psalms: Psalm 138: 1-3, 6-8
Second Reading: Colossians 2: 12-14 Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 1-13

Though it is not celebrated because it is on Sunday, July 26 is...

     The apocryphal Protoevangelium of St. James claims that the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne were sterile, yet an angel predicted Mary's birth to Joachim after he had spent 40 days in the desert fasting and praying. Anne was too old by biological standards to give birth, but God in His Providence miraculously allowed Anne to be impregnated with the wondrous Immaculate Conception. At Mary's birth she was given the name Miriam which was shortened to Mary and, at a very early age, Joachim and Anne consecrated her to God sending her off to the Temple to study and live her Hebrew faith. St. Anne or Ann, which means "grace," was, along with Joachim, given special graces for their faithfulness, and the greatest grace was that they were chosen to be the parents of the Mother of God and the grandparents of Jesus, Son of God. St. Anne is considered the patron of mothers and of special importance to children and she is greatly venerated in Canada, specifically at the massive St. Anne Beaupre Basilica in Quebec. At first St. Anne was the only one recognized in the Church dating back to the crusades, but St. Joachim was added in 1584 by Pope Gregory XIII and the two feasts were combined into one day; originally this was March 20, the day after the feast of St. Joseph, but in 1969 the Church, through recommendation of the Second Vatican Council, moved the date to July 26th.

Monday July 27:
Seventeenth Monday in Ordinary Time

Green vestments

First Reading: Jeremiah 13: 1-11
Psalms: Deuteronomy 32: 18-21
Gospel Reading: Matthew 13: 31-35

July 24-26, 1998       volume 9, no. 144
LITURGY
DAILY CATHOLIC