Liturgy of the day · July 20 · Ordinary Time

Saint Apollinaris

First Reading

1Hear ye what the Lord saith: Arise, contend thou in judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

2Let the mountains hear the judgment of the Lord, and the strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord will enter into judgment with his people, and he will plead against Israel.

3O my people, what have I done to thee, or in what have I molested thee? answer thou me.

4For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and delivered thee out of the house of slaves: and I sent before thy face Moses, and Aaron, and Mary.

6What shall I offer to the Lord that is worthy? wherewith shall I kneel before the high God? shall I offer holocausts unto him, and calves of a year old?

7May the Lord be appeased with thousands of rams, or with many thousands of fat he goats? shall I give my firstborn for my wickedness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8I will shew thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: Verily, to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23

5Gather ye together his saints to him: who set his covenant before sacrifices.

6And the heavens shall declare his justice: for God is judge.

8I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices: and thy burnt offerings are always in my sight.

9I will not take calves out of thy house: nor he goats out of thy flocks.

16But to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth?

21These things hast thou done, and I was silent. Thou thoughtest unjustly that I should be like to thee: but I will reprove thee, and set before thy face.

23The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way by which I will shew him the salvation of God.

Gospel

Matthew 12:38-42

38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying: Master we would see a sign from thee.

39Who answering said to them: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

40For as Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights: so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

41The men of Ninive shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas. And behold a greater than Jonas here.

42The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon here.

The Gospel of the Lord.

In the Light of the Catechism: The Sign of Jonah

But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the Resurrection and the life" (Jn 11:25). It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood. Already now in this present life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead to life, announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the "sign of Jonah," the sign of the temple: he announces that he will be put to death but rise thereafter on the third day.

To those who demand wonders, Jesus offers a single sign: Jonah's three days in the belly of the fish, a figure of his own death and Resurrection on the third day. As the Catechism teaches, our faith does not rest on spectacles produced on demand, but on the very person of Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life.

— Catechism of the Catholic Church, §994

Recommended editions

Catholic Bibles to keep at home

We read here from the public-domain text. But a well-made Bible, bound in cloth, on your shelf, is a lifetime of company. These are the Catholic editions we recommend, with ecclesiastical approval.

Cover of the Douay-Rheims Bible — Baronius edition

Baronius Press Recommended

Douay-Rheims Bible · Challoner Revision

The English Catholic Bible since 1582 (NT) and 1610 (OT), revised by Bishop Challoner in the 18th century. Standard English Catholic text for centuries; the public-domain translation read here. Baronius leather edition with extensive notes.

Amazon US

Baronius Press

The Knox Bible

Mgr. Ronald Knox’s 20th-century translation from the Latin Vulgate, praised for its literary English. Used by the Church in England and Wales for liturgy from 1955 to 1969. A profoundly readable Catholic Bible.

Amazon US

Ignatius Press

RSV-Catholic Edition (2nd ed.)

The Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, with the deuterocanonical books in their proper places. Widely used by scholars and serious students of Scripture. The “Ignatius Bible” is the most popular RSV-CE printing.

Amazon US

Doubleday / Darton, Longman & Todd

The Jerusalem Bible

Scholarly Catholic translation with extensive exegetical notes from the École Biblique de Jérusalem. The standard Catholic study Bible in English. Beautiful prose; thorough apparatus.

Amazon US

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