Saturday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), virgin and martyr (†1942 Auschwitz – Poland). Of Jewish origin, she embraced the Catholic Faith in 1921 and became a Carmelite nun in 1933. In 1942, she was imprisoned in the extermination camp of Auschwitz, where she died in the gas chamber.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Dt 6:4-13
Moses said to the people: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates. “When the LORD, your God, brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that he would give you, a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, with houses full of goods of all sorts that you did not garner, with cisterns that you did not dig, with vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant; and when, therefore, you eat your fill, take care not to forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. The LORD, your God, shall you fear; him shall you serve, and by his name shall you swear.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51 (R.39c)
R. I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.R.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim!
And I am safe from my enemies. R.
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior!
You who gave great victories to your king,
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever. R.
Gospel – Mt 17:14-20
A man came up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and said, “Lord, have pity on my son, who is a lunatic and suffers severely; often he falls into fire, and often into water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Jesus said in reply, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked him and the demon came out of him, and from that hour the boy was cured. Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Featured Saints
St. Marianne Cope, virgin (†1918). German-born American, member of the Sisters of St. Francis. She dedicated herself with great generosity to the care of the lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, succeeding St. Damien de Veuster in this mission.
Blessed Richard Bere, priest and martyr (†1537). Carthusian monk starved to death in prison, during the reign of Henry VIII in England.
Blessed Falco, hermit (†tenth/ eleventh century). Born of a noble family of Calabria, Italy, he embraced monastic life with the Basilians.
Blessed Florentino Asensio Barroso, bishop and martyr (†1936). He was arrested and shot during the Spanish Civil War, a short time after taking possession of the Diocese of Barbastro.
Blessed John of Salerno, priest (†c. 1242). Dominican priest, founder of the Convent of Santa Maria Novella, in Florence, Italy. He courageously fought the Patarine heretics.
Blessed Claude Richard, priest and martyr (†1794). Benedictine priest imprisoned in Rochefort during the French Revolution; he died of an illness contracted there.
Photo gallery
