Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
See also:
- Gospel Commentary, by Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, EP
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 66:18-21
Thus says the LORD: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the LORD in clean vessels. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 117:1, 2 (R.Mk 16:15)
R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples! R.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever. R.
Second Reading – Heb 12:5-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters, You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.
Gospel – Lk 13:22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from. And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Featured Saints
Sunday takes precedence over the Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle. Also known as Nathanael, he merited this description from the lips of the Divine Master, as Philip led him to meet the Messiah: “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile” (Jn 1:47). One of the first disciples of Jesus, he excercised his ministry in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. According to tradition, he was flayed at his martyrdom.
Blessed Maximian Binkiewicz, priest and martyr (†1942). Polish priest who died in the concentration camp of Dachau, after suffering prolonged torture.
St. Maria Micaela of the Blessed Sacrament, virgin (†1865). Spanish viscountess who founded the Congregation of Adorers, Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity. She fell victim to the cholera epidemic while caring for the sick.
Blessed Mary of the Incarnation Rosal, virgin (†1886). Founded the Institute of the Sisters of Bethlehem of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and several schools in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia and Ecuador, where she died.
St. George Limniotes, monk and martyr (†c. 730). Monk who died in Bithynia, present-day Turkey, for having reproved the impiety of Emperor Leo III, who ordered the destruction of images and the burning of Saints’ relics.
St. Joan Antida Thouret, virgin (†1826). Vincentian religious who founded the Society of the Sisters of Charity in Besançon, France.
St. Emily de Vialar, virgin (†1856). Founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition in Gaillac, France, to care for the sick and poor.
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