Thursday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Jas 5:1-6
Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter. You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous one; he offers you no resistance.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 49:14-15ab, 15cd-16, 17-18, 19-20 (R. Mt. 5:3)
R. Blessed are the poor in spirit; the Kingdom of heaven is theirs!
This is the way of those whose trust is folly,
the end of those contented with their lot:
Like sheep they are herded into the nether world;
death is their shepherd and the upright rule over them. R
Quickly their form is consumed;
the nether world is their palace.
But God will redeem me
from the power of the nether world by receiving me. R
Fear not when a man grows rich,
when the wealth of his house becomes great,
For when he dies, he shall take none of it;
his wealth shall not follow him down. R
Though in his lifetime he counted himself blessed,
“They will praise you for doing well for yourself,”
He shall join the circle of his forebears
who shall never more see light. R.
Gospel – Mk 9:41-50
Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. “Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if salt becomes insipid, with what will you restore its flavor? Keep salt in yourselves and you will have peace with one another.”
Featured Saints
St. Desiderius, Bishop and martyr (†c. 355). On behalf of his flock in Langres, France, oppressed by Vandals, he solicited the aid of the king, who became outraged and ordered him to be beheaded.
St. Michael of Synnada, bishop (†826). Archbishop of Synnada (in modern Turkey), he fostered peace between Greeks and Latins, and died in exile for defending the cult of sacred images.
St. John Baptist de Rossi, priest (†1764). Exercised his ministry in Rome, dedicating his time and resources to the poor and prisoners.
St. Eutychius, abbot (†circa 487). Elected prior of the Monastery of Nursia, he sought to rekindle the monks’ contemplative fervour and faithfulness to the rule.
St. Honoratus of Subiaco, abbot (†sixth century). He was superior of the community founded by St. Benedict, in Subiaco, Italy.
St. Guibert, monk (†962). Abandoning his military career, he built a monastery on lands that he owned in Gembloux, Belgium, and withdrew to the Monastery of Gorze, France.
Blesseds Joseph Kurzawa and Vincent Matuszewski, priests and martyrs (†1940). Killed for their Faith in the city of Witowo, during the Nazi occupation of Poland.
Image gallery
St. Gildas of Ryhs