Mass Readings
First Reading – Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
Job answered the LORD and said: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I disown what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. Thus the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones. For he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. And he had seven sons and three daughters, of whom he called the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Kerenhappuch. In all the land no other women were as beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; and he saw his children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren. Then Job died, old and full of years.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130 (R.135)
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Teach me wisdom and knowledge,
for in your commands I trust. R.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I may learn your statutes. R.
I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just,
and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me. R.
I am your servant; give me discernment
that I may know your decrees. R.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple. R.
Gospel – Lk 10:17-24
JThe seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven. ”At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
Featured Saints
Sts. Andrew de Soveral and Ambrose Francisco Ferro, priests, and 28 lay companions, protomartrys of Brazil († 1645). These two priests were massacred in Natal, northern Brazil, with their parishioners gathered for Mass, by armed natives led by Dutch Calvinists. The number of Catholics hacked to death out of hatred for the Faith was in fact close to two hundred, but only 30 of them could be identified.
St. Dionysius the Areopagite, bishop († First century). Converted by St. Paul In the Aeropagus of Athens, he became the first bishop of this city.
St. Maximian, bishop (†c. 410). Bishop of Bagai, present-day Algeria. He repeatedly underwent torture at the hands of heretics, and was thrown from the top of a tower. Left for dead, he nevertheless recuperated and continued his labours for the Catholic Faith.
St. Cyprian of Toulon, bishop (†after 543). Disciple of St. Caesarius of Arles, he defended the true doctrine on grace in a number of councils.
The Two St. Ewalds, priests and martyrs (†695). These two Northumbrian priests of the same name were distinguished as “Ewald the Black” and “Ewald the Fair”. Having set out from England to evangelize in the German region of Westphalia, they were martyred near Dortmund, by local pagans. St. Bede records several wonders associated with their bodies after death.
St. Gerard of Brogne, abbot (†959). Founder of the monastery of Brogne and reformer of the Benedictan abbey of Saint-Ghislain, Belgium. After instilling monastic discipline in Flanders and eventually becoming the superior of eighteen other abbeys in France, he returned to Broan to end his days as a hermit.
St. Hesychius, monk († Fourth century). A disciple of St. Hilarion and his companion in pilgramage, he died in Maiuma, Palestine.
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