Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi, (†1226). Son of a wealthy merchant of Assisi, he took part, as a young man, in military expeditions during the conflicts erupting between Italian cities at that time. After he heard Our Lord Crucified asking him to rebuild His Church, which was in ruins, he abandoned the world and founded the Order of Friars Minor, and, with St. Clare, the Franciscan Clarist Order.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Neh 2:1-8
In the month Nisan of the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when the wine was in my charge, I took some and offered it to the king. As I had never before been sad in his presence, the king asked me, “Why do you look sad? If you are not sick, you must be sad at heart.” Though I was seized with great fear, I answered the king: “May the king live forever! How could I not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been eaten out by fire?” The king asked me, “What is it, then, that you wish?” I prayed to the God of Heaven and then answered the king: “If it please the king, and if your servant is deserving of your favor, send me to Judah, to the city of my ancestors’ graves, to rebuild it.” Then the king, and the queen seated beside him, asked me how long my journey would take and when I would return. I set a date that was acceptable to him, and the king agreed that I might go. I asked the king further: “If it please the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of West-of-Euphrates, that they may afford me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah; also a letter for Asaph, the keeper of the royal park, that he may give me wood for timbering the gates of the temple-citadel and for the city wall and the house that I shall occupy.” The king granted my requests, for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 (R.6ab)
R. Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you!
By the streams of Babylon
we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
we hung up our harps. R.
Though there our captors asked of us
the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
“Sing for us the songs of Zion!” R.
How could we sing a song of the LORD
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand be forgotten! R.
May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy. R.
Gospel – Lk 9:57-62
As Jesus and His disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to Him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But He answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered Him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Featured Saints
St. Petronius of Bologna, bishop (†c. 450). He renounced the office he held in the Roman Empire and dedicated himself the the service of the Church. He is celebrated for his learning and his miracles.
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, priest (†1867). Redemptorist religious of Bavarian origin, sent on mission to the United States, he dedicated himself to the assistance of youth and of German-speaking immigrants. (USA: transferred to Ocober 5.)
St. Peter of Damascus, bishop and martyr (†1750). When his diocese of Damascus in Syria was invaded by Muslims, he was blinded and crucified, before being beheaded.
St. Aurea of Paris, abbess (†c. 667). Superior of the Abbey of St. Martial, in Paris, where 300 virgins lived under the Rule of St. Columbanus.
Blessed José Canet Giner, priest and martyr (†1936). Parish priest of the Archdiocese of Valencia who was killed by firing squad at the age of thirty-three in Gandia, as part of the anti-Catholic persecution of the Spanish Civil War.
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