Mass Readings
First Reading – Jer 7:1-11
The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD: Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD, and there proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD! Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place. Put not your trust in the deceitful words: “This is the temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!” Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own harm, will I remain with you in this place, in the land I gave your fathers long ago and forever. But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss! Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, go after strange gods that you know not, and yet come to stand before me in this house which bears my name, and say: “We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again”? Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves? I too see what is being done, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 84:3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11 (R. 2)
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
My soul yearns and pines
for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God. R.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
in which she puts her young—
Your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my king and my God! R.
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength. R.
I had rather one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked. R.
Gospel – Mt 13:24-30
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘
Featured Saints
Blessed Mary Magdalene Martinengo, abbess (†1737). From a noble family, she entered the Capuchin convent of Brescia. She was favoured with mystical phenomena and left writings that reveal her exceptional spirituality.
St. George, deacon, martyr (+1142). Arrested and executed with Saints Aurelius, Natalia, Felix and Liliosa during the persecution of Caliph Abderrahman II.
St. Celestine I, Pope (†432). Great propagator of the Faith; instituted the episcopate in Ireland and England; he supported the Council of Ephesus, in which Our Lady was proclaimed Mother of God.
Blessed Mary Clement of the Crucified Jesus Staszewska, virgin and martyr (†1943). Polish Ursuline nun who died in Auschwitz concentration camp.
St. Simon Stylites, monk (†459). He spent many years in austere mortifications and continual prayer as a penitent atop a column for many years near Antioch, in present day Turkey.
Blessed Joachim Vilanova Camallonga, priest and martyr (†1936). Diocesan priest assassinated in L’Olleria on the outskirts of Valencia, during the Spanish Civil War.
Blessed Lucia Bufalari, virgin (†c. 1350). Religious from the Oblates of the Order of St. Augustine in Amelia, Italy, outstanding for her penitential spirit and zeal for souls.
St. Pantaleon of Bithynia, martyr (†circa 305). Physician who dedicated his practice of medicine to serve the the service of the poor in Nicomedia. He was martyred during the Diocletian persecution. A relic of his blood is housed in the Royal Monastery of the Incarnation, in Madrid. It miraculously liquefies each year on the eve of his feast.
Image gallery
