Mass Readings

First Reading – Is 7:1-9

In the days of Ahaz, king of Judah, son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, king of Israel, son of Remaliah, went up to attack Jerusalem, but they were not able to conquer it. When word came to the house of David that Aram was encamped in Ephraim, the heart of the king and the heart of the people trembled, as the trees of the forest tremble in the wind. Then the LORD said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller’s field, and say to him: Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail before these two stumps of smoldering brands the blazing anger of Rezin and the Arameans, and of the son Remaliah, because of the mischief that Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, plots against you, saying, “Let us go up and tear Judah asunder, make it our own by force, and appoint the son of Tabeel king there.” Thus says the LORD: This shall not stand, it shall not be! Damascus is the capital of Aram, and Rezin is the head of Damascus; Samaria is the capital of Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son the head of Samaria. But within sixty years and five, Ephraim shall be crushed, no longer a nation. Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!

Responsorial Psalm – PS 48:2-3A, 3B-4, 5-6, 7-8 (R.see 9d)

R. God upholds his city for ever.

Great is the LORD and wholly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, fairest of heights,
is the joy of all the earth. R.

Mount Zion, “the recesses of the North,”
is the city of the great King.
God is with her castles;
renowned is he as a stronghold. R.

For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed. R.

Quaking seizes them there;
anguish, like a woman’s in labor,
As though a wind from the east
were shattering ships of Tarshish. R.

Gospel – Mt 11:20-24

Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

Featured Saints

St. John Gualbert, abbot (†1073). As a young Florentine he pardoned his brother’s murderer for the love of Christ. He embraced the religious life as a Benedictine and went on to found the Vallumbrosan Order, near Fiesole, Italy.

St. Viventiolus, bishop (†circa 523). Encouraged the clergy and laity of the Diocese of Lyon, France, to participate in the Council of Pau, to provide the faithful with a better understanding of Pontifical decisions.

St. Clement Ignatius Delgado Cebrián, bishop and martyr (†1838). After preaching the Gospel for fifty years in Vietnam he was imprisoned and died, having endured tremendous suffering.

St. John Jones, priest and martyr (†1598). Welsh Franciscan priest who was executed in London during the reign of Elizabeth I, for exercising his priestly ministry in England.

St.Peter Khanh, priest and martyr (†1842). Recognized as a Catholic priest in a customs office, he was imprisoned, tortured and decapitated in Nghê An, Vietnam.

St. Leo, abbot (†1079). Abbot of the famous Monastery of La Cava which developed rapidly through his virtue and example. He was especially dedicated to caring for the poor.

Blessed David Gunston, martyr (†1541). Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, executed by order of Henry VIII of England for refusing to recognize the religious supremacy of the king.