Tomorrow’s first reading, from Second Maccabees 7:
22 She said to them: I know not how you were formed in my womb: for I neither gave you breath, nor soul, nor life, neither did I frame the limbs of every one of you.
23 But the Creator of the world, that formed the nativity of man, and that found out the origin of all, he will restore to you again in his mercy, both breath and life, as now you despise yourselves for the sake of his laws.
The king asked her to talk to him about his refusal. She said she would.
27 So bending herself towards him, mocking the cruel tyrant, she said in her own language: My son, have pity upon me, that bore thee nine months in my womb, and gave thee suck three years, and nourished thee, and brought thee up unto this age.
28 I beseech thee, my son, look upon heaven and earth, and all that is in them: and consider that God made them out of nothing, and mankind also:
29 So thou shalt not fear this tormentor, but being made a worthy partner with thy brethren [who gone before him, refusing], receive death, that in that mercy I may receive thee again with thy brethren.
He replied:
30 While she was yet speaking these words, the young man said: For whom do you stay? I will not obey the commandment of the king, but the commandment of the law, which was given us by Moses.
Then, to the king:
31 But thou that hast been the author of all mischief against the Hebrews, shalt not escape the hand of God.
She had thought about all that, which is what the quiet of mass is very good for — if you can find it.
Dominus Vobiscum: Notes from a massgoer's underground 