Tuesday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Rom 12:5-16ab
Brothers and sisters: We, though many, are one Body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 131:1bcde, 2, 3
R. In You, O Lord, I have found my peace.
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me. R.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap,
so is my soul within me. R.
O Israel, hope in the LORD,
both now and forever. R.
Gospel – Lk 14:15-24
One of those at table with Jesus said to Him, “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.” He replied to him, “A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, ‘I have purchased a field and must go to examine it; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have purchased five yoke of oxen and am on my way to evaluate them; I ask you, consider me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have just married a woman, and therefore I cannot come.’ The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house in a rage commanded his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ The servant reported, ‘Sir, your orders have been carried out and still there is room.’ The master then ordered the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedgerows and make people come in that my home may be filled. For, I tell you, none of those men who were invited will taste my dinner.'”
Featured Saints
Blessed Anthony Baldinucci, priest (†1717). Jesuit religious; he desired to be a missionary to the Orient, but due to poor health, he was entrusted with missions in Italy, where he experienced notable success by his virtuous example and ardent preaching.
St. Willibrord, bishop (†739). Born in 658, in Northumbria (Northern England). From his first monastic master, St. Wilfrid, he acquired the two ideals of his life: fidelity to the Chair of Peter, and missionary zeal. After his ordination and many years of studies, he embarked with 12 companions on his mission as an apostle to Frisia. Pope Sergius I appointed him as the First Bishop of Utrecht (Netherlands).
Sts. Hyacinth Castañeda and Vincent Lê Quang Liêm, spriests and martyrs (†1773). Dominicans martyred in Ket Cho, Vietnam, during the reign of Trinh Sâm.
St. Vicent Grossi, priest (†1917). Founder of the Institute of the Daughters of the Oratory in Cremona, Italy.
St. Lazarus (†1054). stylite (†1054). He lived for many years atop a column, wearing iron chains and living on bread and water.
St. Peter Wu Guosheng, martyr (†1814). Converted to the Catholic Faith, he left his position as innkeeper to become a catechist. Refusing to renounce the Faith, he was strangled to death in Zunyi, China, becoming the first Chinese martyr of the Imperial persecution.
In USA: St. Diego of Alcalá, religious (†1463). Spanish Franciscan lay brother who spent some years in the Canary Islands mission, where he distinguished himself for his humility and charity. He died in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. The first Californian mission was named after him, hence the name of the Californian city of San Diego (celebrated on November 13 in the General Calendar).
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