Mass Readings

First Reading – Sir 27:4-7

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks. As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace, so in tribulation is the test of the just. The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so too does one’s speech disclose the bent of one’s mind. Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested.

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16 (R.cf.2a)

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to You.

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night. R.

The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God. R.

They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong. R.

Second Reading – 1 Cor 15:54-58

Brothers and sisters: When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about: Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Gospel – Lk 6:39-45

Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.

“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor do they gather grapes from brambles. A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Featured Saints

St. Baldomerus, monk (†660). Locksmith who lived in the vicinity of Lyon, France; he awakened admiration by his piety and charity toward the poor. He lived an ardent life of prayer in the Monastery of St. Justus.

Sts. Basil and Procopius of the Decapolis, monks (†741). During the reign of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, they actively worked in favour of the cult to sacred images in Constantinople.

St. Gregory of Narek, monk (†c. 1005). Evangelizer of the Armenians, renowned for his doctrine, writings, and mystical knowledge.

St. Besas, martyr (†third century). Soldier denounced to a judge for attempting to prevent a mob from insulting Sts. Julian and Eunus. Remaining firm in the Faith, he was beheaded in Alexandria, Egypt.

St. Anne Line, martyr (+1601). Banished by her Calvinist parents when she embraced the Catholic Faith; she oversaw a house of missionaries in England, and was denounced and hanged at Tyburn for sheltering a Catholic priest.

Blessed Joseph Tous Soler, priest (†1871). Capuchin religious who founded the Congregation of the Capuchin Sisters of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd in Barcelona, Spain, for the Christian formation of children and youth.

Blessed Mary of Jesus Deluil Martiny, virgin (†1884). Foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus, shot to death by an anarchist in her convent in Marseille, France.

Blessed Maria of Charity of the Holy Spirit, virgin (†1943). While a Franciscan religious in Switzerland, she was sent to Colombia, where she founded the Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate. She successfully combined contemplative life with missionary activity.

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows Possenti, religious (†1862). He entered the Congregation of the Passionist Fathers as an adolescent and died as an acolyte at age 24, in Isola del Gran Sasso, Italy.