Monday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Wis 1:1-7
Love justice, you who judge the earth; think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart; Because He is found by those who test Him not, and He manifests Himself to those who do not disbelieve Him. For perverse counsels separate a man from God, and His power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy; Because into a soul that plots evil, wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin. For the holy Spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels; and when injustice occurs it is rebuked. For wisdom is a kindly spirit, yet she acquits not the blasphemer of his guilty lips; Because God is the witness of his inmost self and the sure observer of his heart and the listener to his tongue. For the Spirit of the Lord fills the world, is all-embracing, and knows what man says.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 139:1b-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-10 (R.24b)
R. Guide me, Lord, along the everlasting way.
O LORD, You have probed me and You know me;
You know when I sit and when I stand;
You understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest You scrutinize,
with all my ways You are familiar. R.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, You know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, You hem me in
and rest Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain. R.
Where can I go from Your spirit?
From Your presence where can I flee?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I sink to the nether world, You are present there. R.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall guide me,
and Your right hand hold me fast. R.
Gospel – Lk 17:1-6
Jesus said to His disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.” And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
Featured Saints
In the USA, memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin (†1917). She founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and left her native Italy with her followers to embark on a mission to the United States, where dedicated herself to caring for immigrants with outstanding charity. She died in Chicago in Columbus Hospital, which she had founded as part of her work (Celebrated in the General Calendar on December 22.)
St. Homobonus (†1197). Merchant from Cremona, Italy, who excelled in charity toward the poor and abandoned children.
St. Nicholas I, Pope (†867). He consolidated the authority of the Roman Pontiff throughout the Church.
Sts. Arcadius, Paschasius, Probus and Eutychian, martyrs (†473). For refusing to adhere to the Arian heresy, they were exiled from Spain to Africa and tortured before being executed.
St. Maxellendis, virgin and martyr (†670). Having chosen Christ as spouse, she refused the fiancé to whom she had been promised, and he killed her by the sword in Cambrai, France.
St. Augustina Pietrantoni, virgin (†1894). Religious of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity who cared for victims of tuberculosis in Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome. She died there after being stabbed by an enraged patient.
Blesseds Peter Vicev and Josafat Siskov, priest and martyrs (†1952). Religious from the Congregation of the Augustinians of the Assumption. During the Communist regime in Bulgaria, they were imprisoned on the accusation of spying and conspiracy against the “people’s power” and killed by firing squad in Sofia.
Blessed John Gonga Martínez, martyr (†1936). Lay catechist from the city of Carcaixent, near Valencia, killed during the Spanish Civil War; known for his many works of charity.
Blessed María Patrocinio Giner Gómis of St. John, virgin and martyr (†1936). Religious from the Clarist Missionaries, killed in Portichol, near Valencia, during the Spanish Civil War.
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