Feast of St. Sharbel Makhluf

July 24, 2018



First Reading: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20

14Shepherd thy people with thy staff, the flock of thy inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. 15As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them marvelous things. 18Who is a God like thee, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger for ever because he delights in steadfast love. 19He will again have compassion upon us, he will tread our iniquities under foot. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 20Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.


Psalm: Ps. 85:2-8

1LORD, thou wast favorable to thy land; thou didst restore the fortunes of Jacob. 2Thou didst forgive the iniquity of thy people; thou didst pardon all their sin. [Selah] 3Thou didst withdraw all thy wrath; thou didst turn from thy hot anger. 4Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away thy indignation toward us! 5Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou prolong thy anger to all generations? 6Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee? 7Show us thy steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.


Gospel: Matthew 12:46-50

46While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Reflection for the day: ‘As I follow no leader save Christ, so I communicate with none but your blessedness, that is, with the Chair of Peter. For this, I know, is the rock on which the Church is built. . . This is the ark of Noah, and he who is not found in it shall perish when the flood prevails. . . And as for heretics, I have never spared them; on the contrary, I have seen to it in every possible way that the Church’s enemies are also my enemies.’ -St. Jerome

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