Mass Readings

First Reading – Rom 4:1-8

Brothers and sisters: What can we say that Abraham found, our ancestor according to the flesh? Indeed, if Abraham was justified on the basis of his works, he has reason to boast; but this was not so in the sight of God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to Him as righteousness. A worker’s wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due. But when one does not work, yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. So also David declares the blessedness of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:  Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not record.

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 32:1b-2, 5, 11 (R.see 7)

R. I turn to You, Lord, in time of trouble, and You fill me with the joy of salvation.

Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile. R.

Then I acknowledged my sin to You,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and You took away the guilt of my sin. R.

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart. R.

Gospel – Lk 12:1-7

At that time: So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to His disciples, “Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees. “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one. Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”

Featured Saints

St. Cornelius the Centurion. Roman pagan stationed as a Centurion in Caesarea of Palestine. The Acts of the Apostles recounts his vision of an Angel and his Baptism by St. St. Peter, along with his entire family, marking the beginning of St. Peter’s evangelization to the Gentiles.

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.

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

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