Mass Readings

First Reading – Eph 3:14-21

Brothers and sisters: I kneel before the Father, from Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that He may grant you in accord with the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 (R. 5b)

R. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant His praises. R.

For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all His works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full. R.

But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of His heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people He has chosen for His own inheritance. R.

But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear Him,
upon those who hope for His kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of  famine. R.

Gospel – Lk 12:49-53

Jesus said to His disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Featured Saints

St. Cornelius the Centurion. Roman pagan stationed as a Centurion in Caesarea of Palestine. Hearing St. Peter preaching, he received the Holy Spirit and requested Baptism for himself and his entire family.

St. Vitalis of Salzburg, bishop (†c. 730). Disciple of St. Rupert, travel companion and imitator of his works and vigils, as well as becoming his successor as Bishop and Abbot of the Monastery of St. Peter in Salzburg, Austria.

St. Andrew of Crete, martyr (†767). A monk from Crete who was  incarcerated and killed in Istanbul by the fury of the Byzantine iconoclasts.

St. Adeline of Savigny, abbess (†c. 1125). First superior of the monastery of Mortain, France, which she founded with the help of her brother St. Vitalis.

St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin, virgin (†1922). Religious from the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dorothy, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts, she dedicated herself to those ailing in body and soul, in a hospital in Treviso, Italy.

Blessed James Strepa, bishop (†1409). Prior of the Franciscan convent of Lviv, Ukraine, appointed Bishop of Halicz.

Blessed James Kern, priest (†1924). Norbertine priest with an extraordinary love of the Eucharist  and of sacrifice. He diligently exercised his pastoral ministry in Vienna, Austria, and died at the age of 27 with severe complications stemming from a wound sustained as a soldier during his seminary years, enduring his sufferings with great courage.

In Canada: Optional Memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin (†1690) and St. Hedwig, religious (†1243) Celebrated October 16 in the General Calendar.

In US: Optional Memorial of St. Paul of the Cross, priest (†1775, Rome). Celebrated October 19 in the General Calendar.