Memorial of St. Gregory the Great
St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (†604 Rome). Born in Rome around the year 540. He rose through various public offices to the prefecture which he renounced. He entered the monastic life and, once ordained deacon, he discharged the duty of legate at Constantinople. On September 3, 590, he was elevated to the Chair of Peter during a time of great tribulation due to the Lombard invasions. He proved to be a true shepherd in carrying out this office, helping the poor and strengthening the faith. He wrote numerous moral and theological works, combated the Nestorian heresy and worked for the reform of the clergy and monastic life. Pope Gregory I also promoted missions, notably the evangelization of the British Isles, and is attributed with establishing the schola cantorum in Rome and contributing decisively to the liturgical chant of the Church, which bears his name.
Mass Readings
First Reading – 1 Cor 4:6b-15
Brothers and sisters: Learn from myself and Apollos not to go beyond what is written, so that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over against another. Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich; you have become kings without us! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we also might become kings with you. For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and men alike. We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment. I am writing you this not to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 145:17-18, 19-20, 21 (R.18)
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
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.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him,
He hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD keeps all who love Him,
but all the wicked He will destroy. R.
May my mouth speak the praise of the LORD,
and may all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. R.
Gospel – Lk 6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then He said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”
Featured Saints
St. Marinus, deacon (†fourth century). He preached in the region of Rimini and withdrew to Mount Titan, where he founded a village that would give rise to the Republic of San Marino.
St. Remaclus, bishop and abbot (†c. 671- 679). While still young, he was elected abbot of Solignac, France. He founded the monasteries of Stavelot and Malmedy.
St. John Pak Hu-jae and companions, martyrs (†1839). Condemned by Korean tribunals for their ardent confession of the Catholic Faith. After prolonged torture, they were beheaded in Seoul.
Blessed Bartholomew Gutierrez, priest, and five companions, martyrs (†1632). For their Christian Faith, they were tortured and burned alive in Nagasaki (Japan).
Blessed Guala of Brescia, bishop (†1244). Dominican friar appointed Bishop of Brescia, he fought for peace at the time of Emperor Frederick II. He withdrew to the monastery of Astino, Italy, where he remained until the end of his life.
Blessed Bridget of Jesus Morello, religious (†1679). After becoming a widow, she dedicated herself to penance and works of charity. She founded the Congregation of the Ursuline Sisters of Mary Immaculate, for the education of girls.
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