Monday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Am 2:6-10, 13-16
Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my holy name. Upon garments taken in pledge they recline beside any altar; And the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their god. Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, who were as tall as the cedars, and as strong as the oak trees. I destroyed their fruit above, and their roots beneath. It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and who led you through the desert for forty years, to occupy the land of the Amorites. Beware, I will crush you into the ground as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong man shall not retain his strength; The warrior shall not save his life, nor the bowman stand his ground; The swift of foot shall not escape, nor the horseman save his life. And the most stouthearted of warriors shall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 50:16bc-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23 (R.22a)
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?” R.
“When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,
and with adulterers you throw in your lot.
To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit.” R.
“You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother’s son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.” R.
“Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” R.
Gospel – Mt 8:18-22
When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other shore. A scribe approached and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”
Featured Saints
St. Oliver Plunkett, bishop, martyr (+1681). Of a noble Irish family, he studied in Rome, where he was ordained and taught Theology for fifteen years before returning to his native soil, having been appointed Archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland. He administered Confirmation to 48,000 faithful over the next four years. Under a renewed surge of anti-Catholic persecution, he was accused of conspiracy and treason and executed in Tyburn during the reign of Charles II (Memorial in Ireland).
St. Junipero Serra, priest (†1784). Optional Memorial in the US. Spanish Franciscan friar who left his post as professor in the University of Padua to embark on an evangelizing mission in the New World. Working in Mexico, Texas and California, he founded 21 missions which served to firmly establish the Church in these regions.
St. Aaron. Priest of the Old Testament, from the tribe of Levi, brother of Moses.
St. Theodoric, priest (†533). Disciple of St. Remigius, who ordained him a priest. First abbot of Mont d’Or Monastery on the outskirts of Reims, France.
St. Domitian, abbot († fifth century). Distributed his possessions among the poor and became a hermit in Arles, France. With the help of St. Eucherius he founded a monastery of contemplative life in Lyon.
Sts. Justino Orona Madrigal and Atilano Cruz Alvarado, priests and martyrs (†1928). Shot to death on the region outlying Guadalajara (Mexico), during the religious persecution.
St. Zhang Huailu, martyr (†1900). Catechumen who, during the persecution in China, spontaneously declared himself a Christian and was baptized with his own blood, in the city of Zhumadian.
Blessed John Nepomucene Chrzan, priest and martyr (†1942). Polish priest killed in Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany.
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