Wednesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Rv 15:1-4
I, John, saw in heaven another sign, great and awe-inspiring: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for through them God’s fury is accomplished. Then I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire. On the sea of glass were standing those who had won the victory over the beast and its image and the number that signified its name. They were holding God’s harps, and they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and wonderful are your works, Lord God almighty. Just and true are your ways, O king of the nations. Who will not fear You, Lord, or glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 98:1, 2-3AB, 7-8, 9 (R. Rev. 15: 3b)
R. Great and wonderful are all Your works, Lord, mighty God!
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for He has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for Him,
His holy arm. R.
The LORD has made His salvation known:
in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice.
He has remembered his kindness and His faithfulness
toward the house of Israel. R.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy. R.
Before the LORD, for He comes,
for He comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with equity. R.
Gospel – Lk 21:12-19
Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of My name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I Myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Featured Saints
St. Clement I, Pope and martyr. Optional Memorial. A Roman, the third successor of St. Peter. He suffered exile in the year 98 during the reign of Emperor Trajan, who decreed his death by being cast into the sea with an anchor tied to his neck. His remains, miraculously found, are preserved in the Roman basilica dedicated to him. See also: Bulwark of the Holy Church
St. Columbanus (Columban), abbot and (†615). Memorial in Ireland. He set sail from his native Ireland with 12 companions and evangelized in Gaul for many years, establishing several thriving monasteries there before passing through Austria and Switzerland, and finally crossing into Italy. There, close to Milan, he founded the abbey of Bobbio where he ended his earthly journey.
Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro, priest and martyr (†1927). Optional Memorial in USA and Mexico. Jesuit executed by firing squad after condemnation without a trial in Guadalupe, Mexico, during the persecution against the Church.
St. Trudo, priest (†circa 690). He gave all of his goods to the Church of Metz and founded a monastery there, in which he united many disciples. He died in Saint-Trond, Belgium.
St. Lucretia, martyr (fourth century). She earned the crown of martyrdom in Merida, Spain, during the Diocletian persecution.
St. Cecília Yu So-sa, martyr (†1839). A widow who, when nearly an octogenarian, was imprisoned during the religious persecution in Korea, and died as a result of the violent treatment to which she was submitted.
Blessed Maria Cecilia Cendoya Araquistain, virgin and martyr (†1936). Visitation nun shot to death in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War.
Blessed Henrietta Alfieri, virgin (†1951). Religious from the Sisters of Charity of St. Joan Antida Thouret, she exercised her apostolate with prisoners in Milan, Italy.
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