Mass Readings

First Reading – Jer 38:4-6, 8-10

The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, what is the meaning of this proverb that you recite in the land of Israel: “Fathers have eaten green grapes, thus their children’s teeth are on edge”? As I live, says the Lord GOD: I swear that there shall no longer be anyone among you who will repeat this proverb in Israel. For all lives are mine; the life of the father is like the life of the son, both are mine; only the one who sins shall die. If a man is virtuous—if he does what is right and just, if he does not eat on the mountains, nor raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; if he does not defile his neighbor’s wife, nor have relations with a woman in her menstrual period; if he oppresses no one, gives back the pledge received for a debt, commits no robbery; if he gives food to the hungry and clothes the naked; if he does not lend at interest nor exact usury; if he holds off from evildoing, judges fairly between a man and his opponent; if he lives by my statutes and is careful to observe my ordinances, that man is virtuous—he shall surely live, says the Lord GOD. But if he begets a son who is a thief, a murderer, or lends at interest and exacts usury– this son certainly shall not live. Because he practiced all these abominations, he shall surely die; his death shall be his own fault. Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you. Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord GOD. Return and live!

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 40:2, 3, 4, 18 (R.14b)

R. Lord, come to my aid!

I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me. R.

The LORD heard my cry.
He drew me out of the pit of destruction,
out of the mud of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a crag;
he made firm my steps. R.

And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in awe
and trust in the LORD. R.

Though I am afflicted and poor,
yet the LORD thinks of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, hold not back! R.

Second Reading – Heb 12:1-4

Brothers and sisters: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

Gospel – Lk 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Featured Saints

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr (†1941 Auschwitz – Poland). This year his memorial gives way to Sunday. He consecrated himself to the Lord in the Order of Friars Minor. A great Marian devotee, he founded the Militia of the Immaculata. When the Nazi’s invaded his native Poland, he was arrested by the Gestapo and taken to the concentration camp of Auschwitz, Germany. There, he offered himself in the place of another prisoner condemned to death by starvation, thus died a martyr in 1941.

Blessed Elisabetta Renzi, virgin (†1859). Foundress of the Pious Teachers of Our Lady of Sorrows.

St. Fachanan, Bishop and abbot (†sixth century). He founded a monastery renowned for the teaching of sacred and human sciences in the present-day diocese of Ross, Ireland.

St. Dominic Ibáñez de Erquicia, priest and martyr (†1633). Dominican missionary killed in Nagasaki, Japan, by order of shogun Tokugawa Yemitsu.

St. Marcellus of Apamea, bishop and martyr (†c. 390). He was assassinated in the Syrian city of Apamaea by enraged pagans, after he ordered a temple in honour of Jupiter to be destroyed.

St. Arnulf, bishop (†1087). After serving as a soldier, he became a monk and Bishop of Soissons, France. He founded a monastery in Oudenburg, Belgium, where he died.

Bl. Anthony Primaldi and 800 companions, martyrs (+1480). Beheaded by the Ottomans in Otranto, Italy, during the persecution prophesied by St. Francis of Paola.

St. Francis Shoyemon, martyr (†1633). Catechist and assistant to the Dominican missionaries in Japan.

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