Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
Optional Memorials: St. Wenceslas, martyr († 929). Duke of Bohemia, his formation in the Catholic Faith was diligently carried out by his grandmother, St. Ludmila. He strove for the Christian formation of his subjects. He was murdered as he entered a church by men instigated by his own brother Boleslaus; and St. Lawrence Ruiz and companions, martyrs(†1637). From the Order of St. Dominic, they preached the Christian Faith in the Philippines, Taiwan and in the Japanese Archipelago. These 16 Saints shed their blood for their Faith in Nagasaki, Japan.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Jb 9:1-12, 14-16
Job answered his friends and said: I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood Him and remained unscathed? He removes the mountains before they know it; He overturns them in His anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. He commands the sun, and it rises not; He seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should He come near me, I see Him not; should He pass by, I am not aware of Him; Should He seize me forcibly, who can say Him nay? Who can say to Him, “What are you doing?” How much less shall I give Him any answer, or choose out arguments against Him! Even though I were right, I could not answer Him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to Him and He answered my call, I could not believe that He would hearken to my words.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15 (R. 3)
R. Let my prayer come before You, Lord.
Daily I call upon You, O LORD;
to You I stretch out my hands.
Will You work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give You thanks? R.
Do they declare Your mercy in the grave,
Your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are Your wonders made known in the darkness,
or Your justice in the land of oblivion? R.
But I, O LORD, cry out to You;
with my morning prayer I wait upon You.
Why, O LORD, do You reject me;
why hide from me Your face? 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. Leoba, virgin (†c. de 782). Benedictine nun, born to a noble family in Wessex, England, a kinswoman of St. Boniface. At his request, she travelled to Germany in 748, with St. Thecla and other English religious to collaborate in the evangelization in those lands. She was abbess of the monastery of Tauberbischofsheim.
St. Simon of Rojas, priest (+1624). Trinitarian religious, confessor of Queen Isabella of Bourbon and preceptor of the Infantes of Spain. Amidst the splendour of the Spanish court, he preserved his humility, and showed great mercy to the poor.
St. Eustochium, virgin (†419). From the Roman aristocracy by birth. With her mother, St. Paula, she became a spiritual daughter of St. Jerome, following him to the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, she was dedicated to scriptural work for St. Jerome, assisting him in the translation of the Vulgate.
Blessed Nicetas Budka, bishop and martyr (†1949). Auxiliary bishop of Lviv, of the Ukrainians, he was deported to a concentration camp in Kazakhstan, where he endured hardships with great inner strength, for love of Christ.
Blessed Bernardine of Feltre, priest (†1494). Franciscan religious who promoted the foundation of provident societies to combat usury, which was widespread at the time. He died in Pavia, Italy, at age fifty-five.
Blessed Amalia Abad Casasempere, martyr (†1936). Mother of a family, outstanding for her Catholic militancy, she was imprisoned and killed by militiamen in Benillup (Spain) during the religious persecution of the Spanish Civil War.
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