Thursday of the11th Week in Ordinary Time
Featured Saints
St. Teresa of Portugal, queen (†1250). Daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal, she married Alfonso IX, King of Leon. After the death of her husband, she entered the Cistercian monastery she had founded in Ourém.
St. Hipatius, abbot (†446). A hermit of an austere life and rigorous fasting, he made his abode in an abandoned monastery in Chalcedon, Asia Minor, reconstructed it and formed a prosperous community in it.
Sts. Nicander and Marcian, martyrs (†c. 297). Soldiers beheaded in Silistra, Bulgaria, at the time of Diocletian, for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods.
St. Peter Da, martyr (†1862). Carpenter and sacristan of the parish of Ngoc Cuc, in Vietnam; beheaded after suffering cruel tortures during the anti-Christian persecuion under the Emperor Tu Duc.
St. Raniero of Pisa, penitent (†1160). He gave himself over to worldly amusements during his youth. After his conversion he left everything and went to the Holy Land where he lived for thirteen years doing penance.
Blessed Philippe Papon, priest and martyr (†1794). Condemned to imprisonment in a galley anchored at Rochefort, France, he surrendered his soul to God after giving absolution to a dying prison mate.
Blessed Joseph-Marie Cassant, priest (†1903). At age 16, he entered the Trappist Monastery of St. Mary of the Desert, in the Diocese of Toulouse, France. He died after contracting tuberculosis at 25, offering his sufferings for Christ and the Church .
Blessed Peter Gambacorta (†1435). Founder of the Poor Hermits of St. Jerome in Montebello, Italy, whose first members were exthieves whom he had converted.
Blessed Paul Burali, bishop (†1578). Theatine religious, created cardinal by Pius V and named Archbishop of Naples by Gregory XIII. Restored discipline and liturgical splendour in the archdiocese.
Mass Readings
First Reading – 2 Cor 11:1-11
Brothers and sisters: If only you would put up with a little foolishness from me! Please put up with me. For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God, since I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ. For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough. For I think that I am not in any way inferior to these “superapostles.” Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the Gospel of God to you without charge? I plundered other churches by accepting from them in order to minister to you. And when I was with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. By the truth of Christ in me, this boast of mine shall not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 111:1b-2, 3-4, 7-8 (R.7a)
R. Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights. R.
Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD. R.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity. R.
Gospel – Mt 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
“This is how you are to pray:
‘Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.’
“If you forgive others their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
