Mass Readings

First Reading – Is 43:16-21

Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick. Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, for I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6. (R.3)

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing. R.
 
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed. R.
 
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing. R.
 
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves. R.

Second Reading – Phil 3:8-14*

Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick. Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, for I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.

Gospel – Jn 8:1-11

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area,
and all the people started coming to him,
and he sat down and taught them.
Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman
who had been caught in adultery
and made her stand in the middle.
They said to him,
“Teacher, this woman was caught
in the very act of committing adultery.
Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
So what do you say?”
They said this to test him,
so that they could have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
But when they continued asking him,
he straightened up and said to them,
“Let the one among you who is without sin
be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one,
beginning with the elders.
So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her,
“Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Featured Saints

St. Sixtus I, Pope (†128). Roman by birth, he was the sixth successor of St. Peter. He ruled the Church at the time of Emperor Hadrian.

St. John, Bishop (†432). Bishop of Naples, Italy; he died on the Easter Vigil, as he celebrated the sacred mysteries, and was buried on the Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord.

St. Richard of Chichester, bishop (†1235). Exiled by King Henry III and later restored to his See, he generously strove to assist the poor.

St. Louis Scrosoppi, priest (†1884). Priest from the Congregation of the Oratory, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence in Udine, Italy, for the Christian education of poor girls.

St. Nicetas, abbot (†824). Hegumen of the monastery of Medikion, in present day Turkey; he suffered persecution for defending the veneration of icons.

St. Joseph the Hymnographer, monk (+886). Born in Sicily, he took refuge in Greece during the Muslim invasions. He opposed the iconoclasts and founded a monastery in Constantinople. For his gift for the composition of sacred hymns, he became known was the Hymnographer.

Blessed John of Penna, priest (†1275). Sent by St. Francis of Assisi to Gaul of Narbonne, France, he promulgated the new form of evangelical life there.

Blessed Gandolph of Binasco, priest (†1260). Entered the Order of the Friars Minor during the lifetime of its founder, St. Francis. He led an austere life of solitude in Polizzi, Sicily, and preached the Word of God in the environs.

Blessed Peter Edward Dánkowski, priest and martyr (†1942). Polish priest imprisoned and killed in Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland for the Faith.