Mass Readings

First Reading – Jer 17:5-8

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 (R.40:5a)

R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked,
nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
but delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night. R.

He is like a tree
planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers. R.

Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes. R.

Second Reading – 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Gospel – Lk 6:17, 20-26

Jesus came down with the Twelve
and stood on a stretch of level ground
with a great crowd of his disciples
and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.
And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.”

Featured Saints

Blessed Christina of Spoleto, widow (†1458). After the death of her husband, she gave in to the concupiscence of the flesh for some time, but underwent a conversion and entered the Secular Augustinian Order in Spoleto, Italy, where she led a life of penance, dedicated to prayer and works of mercy.

St.­ Castor,­ priest and hermit († fourth century). After studying in Treveris, Germany, in the school of St. Maximin, he withdrew to a solitary life along the banks of the Mosel River.

St. Benignus, priest and martyr († fourth century). Martyr of Todi, in Umbria, Italy, during the final persecution against the Christians, in time of Diocletian and Maximian.

St. Paul Liu Hanzuo, priest  and martyr (†1818). Arrested while celebrating the Mass of the Assumption. When he was unable to pay the amount demanded for his release, he was brought to the Mandarin, before whom he confessed his Faith and received the death sentence.

St. Martinianus, hermit (†c. 398). He lived a solitary life in the rugged regions close to Caesarea, in Palestine. He later travelled to Athens, Greece, where he died

St. Paul Lê-Văn-Lôc, priest and martyr (†1859). He was beheaded at the gates of the Vietnamese city of Thi-Nghè during the reign of Emperor Tu Ðúc.

Blessed Jordan of Saxony, priest (†1237). First successor of St. Dominic as head of the Order of Preachers; he was ardent in spreading the order. He died in a shipwreck near Acre, in Palestine.

Blessed Eustochium Bellini (†1469). Virgin of the Benedictine Order in Padua. By God’s permission, she suffered demonic attacks throughout her life. She was ardently devoted to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.