Thursday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Phmn 7-20
Beloved: I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed by you, brother. Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ to order you to do what is proper, I rather urge you out of love, being as I am, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus. I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment, who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the Gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me. And if he has done you any injustice or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, write this in my own hand: I will pay. May I not tell you that you owe me your very self. Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.
Responsorial Psalm – PS 146:7, 8-9A, 9BC-10 (R.5a)
R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free. R.
The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers. R.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. R.
Gospel – Lk 17:20-25
Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, “The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” Then he said to his disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”
Featured Saints
St. Serapion, religious and martyr (†1240). Leaving a military career, he became a Mercedarian religious dedicated to the liberation of Christian prisoners. He was crucified and quartered in Algeria, Northern Africa.
St. Rufus, bishop (fourth century). First head of the Catholic community of Avignon, France.
St. Lawrence O’Toole, bishop (†1180). Archbishop of Dublin, Ireland; he reformed ecclesiastical discipline and dedicated himself to establishing peace between princes.
St. Stephen Theodore Cuénot, bishop and martyr (†1861). He suffered martyrdom in Vietnam, after twenty-five years of apostolic labour there.
Sts. Nicholas Tavelic, Deodato Aribert, Stephen of Cuneo and Peter of Narbona, priests and martyrs (†1391). Franciscan friars burned alive by the Saracens in Jerusalem, where they preached Christianity.
St. Siard, abbot (†1230). Premonstratensian Abbot of Mariëngaarde in Holland, outstanding in observance to the rule and generosity toward the poor.
Blessed John Liccio, priest (†1511). Dominican religious, he stood out for his tireless charity toward neighbour, dedication in preaching the Holy Rosary and the observance of the Rule. He died in Caccamo, Italy, at 111 years of age.
Blessed Maria Teresa of Jesus, virgin (†1889). She founded the Institute of the Sisters of Our Lady of Carmel in Montevarchi, Italy.
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