Mass Readings

First Reading – Is 58:9b-14

Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you, “Restorer of ruined homesteads.” If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice. Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Responsorial Psalm – 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (R.11ab)

R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.

Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to You;
save your servant who trusts in You.
You are my God. R.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to You I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. R.

For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon You.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading. R.

Gospel – Lk 5:27-32

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply,
“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

Featured Saints

St. Lucius I, Pope (†254). Successor of St. Cornelius. Soon after ascending the pontifical throne, he was exiled by the Emperor Valerian. When he was able to return, he energetically fought against the Novatian heretics.

St. Theophilus. Confessor e and bishop of Caesarea, second century.

St. Virgil of Arles, Bishop (†c. 618) He offered hospitality in his diocese in Gaul to St. Augustine of Canterbury and the other monks sent from Rome by St. Gregory the Great to evangelize England.

St. John Joseph of the Cross, priest (†1734). Franciscan who followed the example of St. Peter of Alcantara, restoring the discipline of the Rule in many convents of the region of Naples, Italy.

St. Gerasimus, hermit(†475). A former merchant who was converted on the banks of the River Jordan by St. St. Euthymius, Gerasimus thenceforth dedicated himself to a life of austerity and penance in Jericho.

St. Adrian of Caesarea, martyr (†309). Sent to help persecuted Christians in Caesarea of Palestine, he was imprisoned, thrown to a lion, and finally beheaded.

St. Phocas the Gardener, martyr (†fourth century). Generous and hospitable, he was beheaded in Sinop, Turkey, simply for being Christian.

Blessed Christopher Macassoli , priest (†1485). Born to the Milanese nobility, he became a Franciscan at the age of 20. A great preacher, he worked numerous conversions and miracles.

Blessed Jeremiah of Wallachia, religious (†1625). Capuchin friar who joyfully practised charity toward the needy for more than forty years.