Friday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Join with others in being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and observe those who thus conduct themselves according to the model you have in us. For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5 (R.13)
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem. R.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem. R.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David. R.
Gospel – Lk 16:1-8
Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.”
Featured Saints
St. Melaine, bishop (†after 511). Endowed with a great spirit of prayer, he built a church with his own hands in Rennes, France, gathering several monks for the service of God.
St. Stephen of Apt, bishop (†1046). Outstanding for his meekness, he made two pilgrimages to Jerusalem and rebuilt the cathedral of his Diocese of Apt, in the southeast of France.
St. Severus (seventh century), martyr and Bishop of Barcelona, Spain.
St. Theobald, priest (†1070). Religious from the Canons Regular of St. Augustine who died in Dorat, França. As the church custodian, he left his post only to care for the sick.
St. Winnoc, abbot (†716). Believed to be of Welsh origin. Disciple of St. Bertin in the Monastery of Sithiu, near Saint-Omer, France. He founded and governed the Monastery of Wormhout in northern France.
St. Felix, martyr. Third century.
Sts. Callinicus, Imerius, Theodore, Stephen, Peter, Paul, other Theodore, John, other John and another, of unknown name, martyrs (†638). Soldiers captured by the Saracens in Gaza. Encouraged by the bishop St. Sophronius, they confessed their faith in Christ, and were beheaded.
St. Leonard of Noblac, hermit (†559). A frankish noble and courtier of Clovis, who became a convert and follower of St. Remigius. He took up his abode in a forest at Limoges (France), where he gathered a number of followers, later establishing an abbey at Noblac around which developed the village later called Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat.
Blessed Christina of Stommeln, virgin (†1312). Born in Stommeln, close to Cologne (Germany). She entered the convent of the Beguines of Cologne at age 12, and at 15 was marked by the stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ. She endured terrible sufferings, including tremendous temptations, with admirable courage.
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