Monday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorials: St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin. At the age of 24 she entered the Visitation Convent at Paray-le-Monial (France). Our Lord appeared to her several times, asking that a feast be dedicated to His Sacred Heart. It was the Jesuit St. Claude de La Colombière, her spiritual director, who supported her in the initiative to make these requests known. She died in 1690, at the age of 43. (In Canada: transferred to Oct. 20.)
St. Hedwig, religious. Duchess of Silesia and of Greater Poland, she was the aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Born in Baveria, she was married at the age of 12 and had 7 children. Together with her husband, she was an advocate of the poor and founded the hospital at Wroclaw. among others. After the death of her husband and of 6 children, she took the habit of the Cistercians in the convent of Trebnitz, where her only surviving daughter was abbess. She died in 1243. (In Canada: transferred to Oct. 20.)
Mass Readings
First Reading – Rom 1:1-7
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God, which He promised previously through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, the Gospel about His Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of His name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 98:1bcde, 2-3ab, 3cd-4 (R.2a)
R. The Lord has made known His salvation.
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.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise. R.
Gospel – Lk 11:29-32
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
Featured Saints
In Canada, Memorial of St. Marie-Marguerite D’Youville, religious (†1771). Memorial in Canada. As a young widow, she founded a religious Association dedicated to serving the poor and the sick, which eventually became the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, commonly known as the Grey Nuns. First native-born Canadian to be canonized.
St. Gerard Majella, religious (†1755). Redemptorist coadjutor brother, he sanctified himself by fulfilling the humble duties of sacristan, gardener, gatekeeper, nurse and tailor in the monastery.
St. Gall, abbot (†645). Formed in the monastery of Bangor, Ireland, he became a disciple of St. Columban and one of his twelve companions on the mission to continental Europe, where he worked tirelessly to spread the Gospel, particularly in the region of present-day St. Gallen in Switzerland, where the Abbey-Cathedral of St. Gall stands in the place of the original hermitage he built. See: Western Civilization Passed through Their Hands.
Blessed Augustine Thevarparampil, priest (†1973). He carried out his apostolate as a parish pastor in Ramapuram, India, and laboured for the conversion of many, finding his strength in the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Lullus, bishop (†786). A monk from Malmesbury Abbey in Wiltshire, England, who joined St. Boniface in the evangelization of Germany, becoming his closest assistant and successor, being appointed by him as Archbishop of Mainz.
St. Longinus. (†first century). Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus crucified with a lance. According to tradition, the lymph that flowed from the divine side cured him of near-blindness and converted him.
St. Anastasius, hermit ( †c. 1085). When he was a hermit on the island of Tombelaine, close to Mont Saint-Michel, he was invited by St. Hugh to enter the monastery of Cluny. He died in Pamiers, having spent his final years in solitude.
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