Thursday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun? One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays. The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises. Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north, the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds. All rivers go to the sea, yet never does the sea become full. To the place where they go, the rivers keep on going. All speech is labored; there is nothing one can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear satisfied with hearing.
What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun. Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!” has already existed in the ages that preceded us. There is no remembrance of the men of old; nor of those to come will there be any remembrance among those who come after them.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17bc(R.1b)
R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
You turn man back to dust,
saying, “Return, O children of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday, now that it is past,
or as a watch of the night. R.
You make an end of them in their sleep;
the next morning they are like the changing grass,
Which at dawn springs up anew,
but by evening wilts and fades. R.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!R.
Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands! R.
Gospel – Lk 9:7-99:1-6
Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” But Herod said, “John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see him.
Featured Saints
Blessed Emilie Tavernier Gamelin, religious (†1851). Optional Memorial in Canada. After the death of her husband and son when she was still in her twenties, 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.
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 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.
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.
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