Sunday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
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Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 55:6-9
Seek the LORD while He may be found, call Him while He is near. Let the scoundrel forsake his way, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the LORD for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways above your ways and My thoughts above your thoughts.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18 (R.18a)
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him.
Every day will I bless You,
and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
His greatness is unsearchable. R.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all His works. R.
The LORD is just in all His ways
and holy in all His works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth. R.
Second Reading – Phil 1:20c-24, 27a
Brothers and sisters: Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Gospel – Mt 20:1-16a
Jesus told His disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. Going out about nine o’clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.’ So they went off. And he went out again around noon, and around three o’clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o’clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’ When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ When those who had started about five o’clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’ He said to one of them in reply, ‘My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Featured Saints
Blessed Emilie Tavernier Gamelin, religious (†1851). Optional Memorial in Canada. After the death of her husband and three sons, she founded the community of Sisters of Providence in Quebec, Canada, for the care of the poor and sick, as well as for the instruction of children.
Blessed Dalmácio Moner, priest (†1341). Dominican religious of the Convent of Girona, Spain. He spent three years of recollection in the grotto of St. Mary Magdalene, near Marseille, France.
St. Gerard Sagredo, bishop and martyr. (1046). He was the tutor of Prince St. Emeric, son of King St. Stephen. He is one of the patron saints of Hungary.
St. Antonio González, priest and martyr (†1637). Spanish Dominican religious sent to Japan with five other religious. He was imprisoned and subjected to water torture and other torments; he died consumed by fever.
St. Pacificus, priest (†1721). Italian Capuchin. A serious illness left him blind, deaf, and crippled. Following the example of Job, he transformed suffering into a means of attaining sanctity.
Blesseds William Spenser, priest, and Robert Hardesty, layman, martyrs (†1589). A professor at Oxford, William Spenser left for Rheims where he was received into the Catholic Church and ordained a priest. He returned to England and laboured as a missionary until his martyrdom in York together with Robert Hardesty, who had given him shelter.
Blessed Anthony Martin Slomšek, bishop (†1862). He was zealous in his care of ecclesiastical institutions and the Christian life of families, working for the unity of the Church in Slovenia.
Blessed Colomba Gabriel, abbess (†1926). A Benedictine nun from Ukraine, she founded in Rome the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Charity, as well as a shelter called the “Family Home”, for girls engaged in the labour force or far from their families.