PRAYER OF THE DAY

Offering in Reparation to the Precious Blood

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son, my Savior and my God,

for the spread and exaltation of my dear Mother,

Thy holy Church,

for the preservation and welfare of her visible Head,

the sovereign Roman Pontiff, for the cardinals, bishops, and pastors of souls,

and for all the ministers of the sanctuary.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus,

who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son, my Savior and my God,

for peace and concord among Catholic kings and princes,

for the humbling of the enemies of our holy faith,

and for the welfare of all Thy Christian people.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus,

who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son, my Savior and my God,

for the conversion of unbelievers,

the rooting-up of all heresies, and the conversion of sinners.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus,

who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son, my Savior and my God,

for all my relations, friends and enemies,

for those in need, in sickness, and in tribulation,

and for all those for whom Thou knowest that I am bound to pray,

and willest that I should pray for.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus,

who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son, my Savior and my God,

for all those who are to pass this day to the other life,

that Thou wouldst deliver them from the pains of hell,

and admit them with all speed to the possession of Thy glory.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus,

who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son, my Savior and my God,

for all men who are lovers of this great treasure

and who are united with me in adoring and glorifying

It and who labor to spread this devotion.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus,

who hath saved us with his Blood!

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the merits of the Precious Blood of Jesus,

Thy beloved Son, my Savior and my God,

for all my needs, both temporal and spiritual,

as in intercession for the holy souls in purgatory,

and in an especial manner for those who were most devoted to this price of our redemption,

and to the sorrows and sufferings of our dear Mother,

Mary most holy.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

Blessed and praised for evermore be Jesus,

who hath saved us with his Blood!

Glory to the Blood of Jesus both now and for evermore and through the everlasting ages.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

GN 41:55-57; 42:5-7A, 17-24A

When hunger came to be felt throughout the land of Egypt

and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread,

Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph

and do whatever he told them.

When the famine had spread throughout the land,

Joseph opened all the cities that had grain

and rationed it to the Egyptians,

since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt.

In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain,

for famine had gripped the whole world.

The sons of Israel were among those

who came to procure rations.

It was Joseph, as governor of the country,

who dispensed the rations to all the people.

When Joseph’s brothers came and knelt down before him

with their faces to the ground,

he recognized them as soon as he saw them.

But Joseph concealed his own identity from them

and spoke sternly to them.

With that, he locked them up in the guardhouse for three days.

On the third day Joseph said to his brothers:

“Do this, and you shall live; for I am a God-fearing man.

If you have been honest,

only one of your brothers need be confined in this prison,

while the rest of you may go

and take home provisions for your starving families.

But you must come back to me with your youngest brother.

Your words will thus be verified, and you will not die.”

To this they agreed.

To one another, however, they said:

“Alas, we are being punished because of our brother.

We saw the anguish of his heart when he pleaded with us,

yet we paid no heed;

that is why this anguish has now come upon us.”

Reuben broke in,

“Did I not tell you not to do wrong to the boy?

But you would not listen!

Now comes the reckoning for his blood.”

The brothers did not know, of course,

that Joseph understood what they said,

since he spoke with them through an interpreter.

But turning away from them, he wept.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 33:2-3, 10-11, 18-19

R. Lord, let your mercy be on us,

as we place our trust in you.

Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;

with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.

Sing to him a new song;

pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.

R. Lord, let your mercy be on us,

as we place our trust in you.

The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations;

he foils the designs of peoples.

But the plan of the LORD stands forever;

the design of his heart, through all generations.

R. Lord, let your mercy be on us,

as we place our trust in you.

But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,

upon those who hope for his kindness,

To deliver them from death

and preserve them in spite of famine.

R. Lord, let your mercy be on us,

as we place our trust in you.

Gospel

MT 10:1-7

Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples

and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out

and to cure every disease and every illness.

The names of the Twelve Apostles are these:

first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;

James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

Philip and Bartholomew,

Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;

James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;

Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot

who betrayed Jesus.

Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,

“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.

Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

SAINT OF THE DAY

July 10

St. Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727)

Veronica’s desire to be like Christ crucified was answered with the stigmata.

Veronica was born in Mercatelli, Italy. It is said that when her mother Benedetta was dying she called her five daughters to her bedside and entrusted each of them to one of the five wounds of Jesus. 

Veronica was entrusted to the wound below Christ’s heart.

At the age of 17, Veronica joined the Poor Clares directed by the Capuchins. Her father had wanted her to marry, but she convinced him to allow her to become a nun. In her first years in the monastery, she worked in the kitchen, infirmary and sacristy and also served as portress. At the age of 34, she was made novice mistress, a position she held for 22 years. When she was 37, Veronica received the stigmata. Life was not the same after that.

Church authorities in Rome wanted to test Veronica’s authenticity and so conducted an investigation. She lost the office of novice mistress temporarily and was not allowed to attend Mass except on Sundays or holy days. 

Through all of this Veronica did not become bitter, 

and the investigation eventually restored her as novice mistress.

Though she protested against it, at the age of 56 she was elected abbess, an office she held for 11 years until her death. Veronica was very devoted to the Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart. She offered her sufferings for the missions. Veronica was canonized in 1839.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open our lips.

And we shall praise your name.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 99 (100)

Cry out with joy to God,

all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness.

Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,

and serve him with joy.

Exult as you enter his presence.

Cry out with joy to God,

all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness.

Know that the Lord is God.

He made us and we are his

– his people, the sheep of his flock.

Cry out with joy to God,

all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness.

Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,

fill his courtyards with songs.

Proclaim him and bless his name;

for the Lord is our delight.

His mercy lasts for ever,

his faithfulness through all the ages.

Cry out with joy to God,

all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Cry out with joy to God,

all the earth: serve the Lord with gladness.

Hymn

Ambrose of Milan

(tr. J.M. Neale)

O God, creation’s secret force,

yourself unmoved, all motion’s source,

who from the morn till evening ray

through all its changes guide the day:

Grant us, when this short life is past,

the glorious evening that shall last;

that, by a holy death attained,

eternal glory may be gained.

To God the Father, God the Son,

and God the Spirit, Three in One,

may every tongue and nation raise

an endless song of thankful praise!

Psalm 38 (39)

A prayer in sickness

We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.

I said, “I will watch my ways,

I will try not to sin in my speech.

I will set a guard on my mouth,

for as long as my enemies are standing against me.”

I stayed quiet and dumb, spoke neither evil nor good,

but my pain was renewed.

My heart grew hot within me,

and fire blazed in my thoughts.

Then I spoke out loud:

“Lord, make me know my end.

Let me know the number of my days,

so that I know how short my life is to be.”

All the length of my days is a handsbreadth or two,

the expanse of my life is as nothing before you.

For in your sight all men are nothingness:

man passes away, like a shadow.

Nothingness, although he is busy:

he builds up treasure, but who will collect it?

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.

Psalm 38 (39)

Lord, hear my prayer:

do not be deaf to my tears.

What, now, can I look forward to, Lord?

My hope is in you.

Rescue me from all my sins,

do not make me a thing for fools to laugh at.

I have sworn to be dumb, I will not open my mouth:

for it is at your hands that I am suffering.

Aim your blows away from me,

for I am crushed by the weight of your hand.

You rebuke and chastise us for our sins.

Like the moth you consume all we desire

– for all men are nothingness.

Listen, Lord, to my prayer:

turn your ear to my cries.

Do not be deaf to my weeping,

for I come as a stranger before you,

a wanderer like my fathers before me.

Turn away from me, give me respite,

before I leave this world,

before I am no more.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Lord, hear my prayer:

do not be deaf to my tears.

Psalm 51 (52)

Against calumny

I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.

Why do you take pride in your malice,

you expert in evil-doing?

All day long you plan your traps,

your tongue is sharp as a razor –

you master of deceit!

You have chosen malice over kindness;

you speak lies rather than the truth;

your tongue is in love with every deceit.

For all this, in the end God will destroy you.

He will tear you out and expel you from your dwelling,

uproot you from the land of the living.

The upright will see and be struck with awe:

they will deride the evil-doer.

“Here is the man who did not make God his refuge,

but put his hope in the abundance of his riches

and in the power of his stratagems.”

But I flourish like an olive in the palace of God.

I hope in the kindness of God,

for ever, and through all ages.

I shall praise you for all time for what you have done.

I shall put my hope in your name and in its goodness

in the sight of your chosen ones.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.

My soul waits for his word;

– my soul puts its hope in the Lord.

First Reading

2 Samuel 24:1-4,10-18,24-25

The anger of the Lord once again blazed out against the Israelites and he incited David against them. ‘Go,’ he said ‘take a census of Israel and Judah.’ The king said to Joab and to the senior army officers who were with him, ‘Now go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and take a census of the people; I wish to know the size of the population.’ Joab said to the king, ‘May the Lord your God multiply the people a hundred times while my lord the king still has eyes to see it, but why should my lord the king be so set on this?’ 

But the king enforced his order on Joab and the senior officers, 

and Joab and the senior officers went from the king’s presence to take a census of the people of Israel.

But afterwards David’s heart misgave him for having taken a census of the people. ‘I have committed a grave sin’ David said to the Lord. ‘But now, Lord, I beg you to forgive your servant for this fault. I have been very foolish.’ But when David got up next morning, the following message had come from the Lord to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, 

‘Go and say to David, “the Lord says this: I offer you three things; choose one of them for me to do to you.”’

So Gad went to David and told him. ‘Are three years of famine to come on you in your country’ he said ‘or will you flee for three months before your pursuing enemy, or would you rather have three days’ pestilence in your country? Now think, and decide how I am to answer him who sends me.’ David said to Gad, This is a hard choice. But let us rather fall into the power of the Lord, since his mercy is great, and not into the power of men.’ So David chose pestilence.

It was the time of the wheat harvest. The Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning till the time appointed and plague ravaged the people, and from Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men of them died. The angel stretched out his hand towards Jerusalem to destroy it, but the Lord thought better of this evil, and he said to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘Enough! Now withdraw your hand.’ The angel of the Lord was beside the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was ravaging the people, he spoke to the Lord. ‘It was I who sinned;’ he said ‘I who did this wicked thing. But these, this flock, what have they done? 

Let your hand lie heavy on me then, and on my family.’

Gad went to David that day and said, 

‘Go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.’ 

David paid fifty shekels in silver for the threshing-floor and oxen. 

David built an altar to the Lord there and offered holocausts and communion sacrifices. 

Then the Lord took pity on the country and the plague was turned away from Israel.

Responsory

Lord, remember your covenant and say to the destroying angel,

Enough! Now withdraw your hand,

lest the land be laid waste and all the people destroyed.

See, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly;

but these sheep, what have they done?

Lord, I implore you to turn away your wrath from your people,

lest the land be laid waste and all the people destroyed.

Second Reading

From the ancient document entitled

"The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles"

The Eucharist

Celebrate the Eucharist as follows: Say over the cup: “we give you thanks, Father, for the holy vine of David, 

your servant, which you made known to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever.”

Over the broken bread say: “we give you thanks, Father, for the life and the knowledge which you have revealed to us through Jesus your servant. To you be glory for ever. As this broken bread scattered on the mountains was gathered and became one, so too, may your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. 

For glory and power are yours through Jesus Christ for ever.”

Do not let anyone eat or drink of your eucharist except those who have been baptized in the name of the Lord. 

For the statement of the Lord applies here also: Do not give to dogs what is holy.

When you finish the meal, offer thanks in this manner: “We thank you, holy Father, for your name which you enshrined in our hearts. We thank you for the knowledge and faith and immortality which you revealed to us through your servant Jesus. To you be glory for ever. Almighty ruler, you created all things for the sake of your name; you gave men food and drink to enjoy so that they might give you thanks. Now you have favoured us through Jesus your servant with spiritual food and drink as well as with eternal life. Above all we thank you because you are mighty. To you be glory for ever.

“Remember, Lord, your Church and deliver her from all evil. Perfect her in your love; and, once she has been sanctified, gather her together from the four winds into the kingdom which you have prepared for her. 

For power and glory are yours for ever.

“May grace come and this world pass away! 

Hosanna to the God of David. 

If anyone is holy, let him come. 

If anyone is not, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen.”

On the Lord’s day, when you have been gathered together, break bread and celebrate the Eucharist. But first confess your sins so that your offering may be pure. If anyone has a quarrel with his neighbour, that person should not join you until he has been reconciled. Your sacrifice must not be defiled. In this regard, the Lord has said: In every place and time offer me a pure sacrifice. I am a great king, says the Lord, and my name is great among the nations.

Responsory

Is not the cup of blessing which we bless 

a sharing in the blood of Christ?

Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

Because there is one bread,

we who are many are one body,

for we all share in the one bread.

Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?

Let us pray.

Lord God,

when our world lay in ruins,

you raised it up again on the foundation of your Son’s Passion and Death.

Give us grace to rejoice in the freedom from sin

which he gained for us,

and bring us to everlasting joy.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.