PRAYER OF THE DAY

An Act of Abandonment

O my God,

I thank you and I praise

you for accomplishing your holy

and all-lovable will without any regard for mine.

With my whole heart,

in spite of my heart,

do I receive this cross I feared so much!

It is the cross of Your choice,

the cross of Your love.

I venerate it;

nor for anything in the world

would I wish that it had not come,

since You willed it.

I keep it with gratitude and with joy,

as I do everything that comes from Your hand;

and I shall strive to carry it without letting it drag,

with all the respect

and all the affection which Your works deserve.

Amen.

By Saint Francis De Sales

DAILY MASS READINGS

Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales

Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Reading

1 SM 24:3-21

Saul took three thousand picked men from all Israel

and went in search of David and his men

in the direction of the wild goat crags.

When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he found a cave,

which he entered to relieve himself.

David and his men were occupying the inmost recesses of the cave.

David’s servants said to him,

“This is the day of which the LORD said to you,

‘I will deliver your enemy into your grasp;

do with him as you see fit.’”

So David moved up and stealthily cut off an end of Saul’s mantle.

Afterward, however, David regretted that he had cut off

an end of Saul’s mantle.

He said to his men,

“The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master,

the LORD’s anointed, as to lay a hand on him,

for he is the LORD’s anointed.”

With these words David restrained his men

and would not permit them to attack Saul.

Saul then left the cave and went on his way.

David also stepped out of the cave, calling to Saul,

“My lord the king!”

When Saul looked back, David bowed to the ground in homage and asked Saul:

“Why do you listen to those who say,

‘David is trying to harm you’?

You see for yourself today that the LORD just now delivered you

into my grasp in the cave.

I had some thought of killing you, but I took pity on you instead.

I decided, ‘I will not raise a hand against my lord,

for he is the LORD’s anointed and a father to me.’

Look here at this end of your mantle which I hold.

Since I cut off an end of your mantle and did not kill you,

see and be convinced that I plan no harm and no rebellion.

I have done you no wrong,

though you are hunting me down to take my life.

The LORD will judge between me and you,

and the LORD will exact justice from you in my case.

I shall not touch you.

The old proverb says, ‘From the wicked comes forth wickedness.’

So I will take no action against you.

Against whom are you on campaign, O king of Israel?

Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, or a single flea!

The LORD will be the judge; he will decide between me and you.

May he see this, and take my part,

and grant me justice beyond your reach!”

When David finished saying these things to Saul, Saul answered,

“Is that your voice, my son David?”

And Saul wept aloud.

Saul then said to David: “You are in the right rather than I;

you have treated me generously, while I have done you harm.

Great is the generosity you showed me today,

when the LORD delivered me into your grasp

and you did not kill me.

For if a man meets his enemy, does he send him away unharmed?

May the LORD reward you generously for what you have done this day.

And now, I know that you shall surely be king

and that sovereignty over Israel shall come into your possession.”

Responsorial Psalm

PS 57:2, 3-4, 6 AND 11

R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.

Have mercy on me, O God; have mercy on me,

for in you I take refuge.

In the shadow of your wings I take refuge,

till harm pass by.

R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.

I call to God the Most High,

to God, my benefactor.

May he send from heaven and save me;

may he make those a reproach who trample upon me;

may God send his mercy and his faithfulness.

R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

above all the earth be your glory!

For your mercy towers to the heavens,

and your faithfulness to the skies.

R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.

Gospel

MK 3:13-19

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted

and they came to him.

He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,

that they might be with him

and he might send them forth to preach

and to have authority to drive out demons:

He appointed the Twelve:

Simon, whom he named Peter;

James, son of Zebedee,

and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,

that is, sons of thunder;

Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,

Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;

Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,

and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

SAINT OF THE DAY

January 24

St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Francis was destined by his father to be a lawyer so that the young man could eventually take his elder’s place as a senator from the province of Savoy in France. For this reason Francis was sent to Padua to study law. After receiving his doctorate, he returned home and, in due time, told his parents he wished to enter the priesthood. His father strongly opposed Francis in this, and only after much patient persuasiveness on the part of the gentle Francis did his father finally consent. Francis was ordained and elected provost of the Diocese of Geneva, then a center for the Calvinists. Francis set out to convert them, especially in the district of Chablais. By preaching and distributing the little pamphlets he wrote to explain true Catholic doctrine, he had remarkable success.

At 35 he became bishop of Geneva. While administering his diocese he continued to preach, hear confessions and catechize the children. His gentle character was a great asset in winning souls. He practiced his own axiom, 

“A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrelfull of vinegar.”

Besides his two well-known books, the Introduction to the Devout Life and A Treatise on the Love of God, he wrote many pamphlets and carried on a vast correspondence. For his writings, he has been named patron of the Catholic Press. His writings, filled with his characteristic gentle spirit, are addressed to lay people. He wants to make them understand that they too are called to be saints. As he wrote in The Introduction to the Devout Life: “It is an error, or rather a heresy, to say devotion is incompatible with the life of a soldier, a tradesman, a prince, or a married woman.... 

It has happened that many have lost perfection in the desert who had preserved it in the world. ”

In spite of his busy and comparatively short life, he had time to collaborate with another saint, Jane Frances de Chantal (August 12), in the work of establishing the Sisters of the Visitation. These women were to practice the virtues exemplified in Mary’s visit to Elizabeth: humility, piety and mutual charity. They at first engaged to a limited degree in works of mercy for the poor and the sick. Today, while some communities conduct schools, others live a strictly contemplative life.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 94 (95)

The Lord is the source of all wisdom:

come, let us adore him.

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,

let us acclaim God our salvation.

Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks,

let us acclaim him with songs.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom:

come, let us adore him.

For the Lord is a great God,

a king above all gods.

For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands,

and the peaks of the mountains are his.

For the sea is his: he made it;

and his hands formed the dry land.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom:

come, let us adore him.

Come, let us worship and bow down,

bend the knee before the Lord who made us;

for he himself is our God and we are his flock,

the sheep that follow his hand.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom:

come, let us adore him.

If only, today, you would listen to his voice:

“Do not harden your hearts

as you did at Meribah,

on the day of Massah in the desert,

when your fathers tested me –

they put me to the test,

although they had seen my works.”

The Lord is the source of all wisdom:

come, let us adore him.

“For forty years they wearied me,

that generation.

I said: their hearts are wandering,

they do not know my paths.

I swore in my anger:

they will never enter my place of rest.”

The Lord is the source of all wisdom:

come, let us adore him.

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.

The Lord is the source of all wisdom:

come, let us adore him.

Hymn

God has spoken by his prophets,

Spoken his unchanging word,

Each from age to age proclaiming

God the One, the righteous Lord.

Mid the world’s despair and turmoil,

one firm anchor holdeth fast:

God is King, his throne eternal,

God the first and God the last.

God has spoken by Christ Jesus,

Christ, the everlasting Son,

Brightness of the Father’s glory,

With the Father ever one;

Spoken by the Word incarnate,

God of God, ere time began,

Light of Light, to earth descending,

Man, revealing God to man.

Psalm 37 (38)

The plea of a sinner in great peril

Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.

Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath,

do not ruin me in your anger:

for I am pierced by your arrows

and crushed beneath your hand.

In the face of your anger

there is no health in my body.

There is no peace for my bones,

no rest from my sins.

My transgressions rise higher than my head:

a heavy burden, they weigh me down.

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.

Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.

Psalm 37 (38)

O Lord, you know all my longing.

My wounds are corruption and decay

because of my foolishness.

I am bowed down and bent,

bent under grief all day long.

For a fire burns up my loins,

and there is no health in my body.

I am afflicted, utterly cast down,

I cry out from the sadness of my heart.

Lord, all that I desire is known to you;

my sighs are not hidden from you.

My heart grows weak, my strength leaves me,

and the light of my eyes – even that has gone.

My friends and my neighbors

keep far from my wounds.

Those closest to me keep far away,

while those who would kill me set traps,

those who would harm me make their plots:

they plan mischief all through the day.

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.

O Lord, you know all my longing.

Psalm 37 (38)

I confess my guilt to you, Lord;

do not forsake me, my savior.

But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;

like one who is dumb, I do not open my mouth.

I am like someone who cannot hear,

in whose mouth there is no reply.

For in you, Lord, I put my trust:

you will listen to me, Lord, my God.

For I have said, “Let them never triumph over me:

if my feet stumble, they will gloat.”

For I am ready to fall:

my suffering is before me always.

For I shall proclaim my wrongdoing:

I am anxious because of my sins.

All the time my enemies live and grow stronger;

they are so many, those who hate me without cause.

Returning evil for good they dragged me down,

because I followed the way of goodness.

Do not abandon me, Lord:

my God, do not leave me.

Hurry to my aid,

O Lord, my savior.

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 confess my guilt to you, Lord;

do not forsake me, my savior.

My eyes are weary with longing for your salvation

– and for your words of justice.

First Reading

Deuteronomy 10:12-11:9,26-28

Choose God alone

These are the words that Moses spoke beyond Jordan to the whole of Israel:

‘Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to fear the Lord your God, to follow all his ways, to love him, 

to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, 

to keep the commandments and laws of the Lord that for your good I lay down for you today.

‘To the Lord your God belong indeed heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth and all it contains; yet it was on your fathers that the Lord set his heart for love of them, and after them of all the nations chose their descendants, you yourselves, up to the present day. Circumcise your heart then and be obstinate no longer; for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, triumphant and terrible, never partial, never to be bribed. It is he who sees justice done for the orphan and the widow, who loves the stranger and gives him food and clothing. Love the stranger then, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. It is the Lord your God you must fear and serve; you must cling to him; in his name take your oaths. He it is you must praise, he is your God: for you he has done these great and terrible things you have seen with your own eyes; and though your fathers numbered only seventy when they went down to Egypt, the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars of heaven.

‘You must love the Lord your God and always keep his injunctions, his laws, his customs, his commandments. Mark, this day, how it was you who received the instruction, not your sons. They have not known or seen the lessons of the Lord your God, his greatness, the might of his hand, the strength of his arm, the signs and the deeds he performed in Egypt itself against Pharaoh and all his land; what he did to the armies of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots, how he poured the waters of the Sea of Reeds over them as they pursued you, leaving no trace of them to this day; what he did for you in the wilderness before you reached this place; what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, how, right in the midst of all Israel, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them with their households, their tents and all their retinue. 

It is your eyes that have seen all this great work that the Lord has done.

‘You must keep all the commandments I enjoin on you today, 

so that you may have the strength to conquer the land into which you are to cross to make it your own, 

and to live long in the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers and their descendants, 

a land where milk and honey flow.

‘See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: a blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord our God that I enjoin on you today; a curse, if you disobey the commandments of the Lord your God and leave the way I have marked out for you today, 

by going after other gods you have not known.’

Responsory

We are to love God, because he loved us first.

This is what loving God is – keeping his commandments;

and his commandments are not difficult.

When anyone obeys what he has said,

God’s love comes to perfection in him;

and his commandments are not difficult.

Second Reading

From The Introduction to the Devout Life

by Saint Francis de Sales, bishop

Devotion must be practiced in different ways

When God the Creator made all things, he commanded the plants to bring forth fruit each according to its own kind; he has likewise commanded Christians, who are the living plants of his Church, to bring forth the fruits of devotion, 

each one in accord with his character, his station and his calling.

I say that devotion must be practiced in different ways by the nobleman and by the working man, by the servant and by the prince, by the widow, by the unmarried girl and by the married woman. But even this distinction is not sufficient; for the practice of devotion must be adapted to the strength, to the occupation and to the duties of each one in particular.

Tell me, please, my Philothea, whether it is proper for a bishop to want to lead a solitary life like a Carthusian; or for married people to be no more concerned than a Capuchin about increasing their income; or for a working man to spend his whole day in church like a religious; or on the other hand for a religious to be constantly exposed like a bishop to all the events and circumstances that bear on the needs of our neighbor. Is not this sort of devotion ridiculous, unorganized and intolerable? Yet this absurd error occurs very frequently, but in no way does true devotion, my Philothea, destroy anything at all. On the contrary, it perfects and fulfills all things. In fact if it ever works against, or is inimical to, anyone’s legitimate station and calling, 

then it is very definitely false devotion.

The bee collects honey from flowers in such a way as to do the least damage or destruction to them, and he leaves them whole, undamaged and fresh, just as he found them. True devotion does still better. 

Not only does it not injure any sort of calling or occupation, it even embellishes and enhances it.

Moreover, just as every sort of gem, cast in honey, becomes brighter and more sparkling, each according to its color, so each person becomes more acceptable and fitting in his own vocation when he sets his vocation in the context of devotion. Through devotion your family cares become more peaceful, mutual love between husband and wife becomes more sincere, the service we owe to the prince becomes more faithful, and our work, no matter what it is, becomes more pleasant and agreeable.

It is therefore an error and even a heresy to wish to exclude the exercise of devotion from military divisions, from the artisans’ shops, from the courts of princes, from family households. I acknowledge, my dear Philothea, that the type of devotion which is purely contemplative, monastic and religious can certainly not be exercised in these sorts of stations and occupations, 

but besides this threefold type of devotion, there are many others fit for perfecting those who live in a secular state.

Therefore, in whatever situations we happen to be, we can and we must aspire to the life of perfection.

Responsory

Be friends with one another, and kind,

forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.

Try, then, to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.

Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.

Try, then, to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.

Let us pray.

Grant, Lord, that in the service of our fellow-men

we may always reflect your own gentleness and love,

and so imitate Saint Francis de Sales,

whom you made all things to all men for the saving of souls.

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.