1st Reading: Genesis 2:18-25 Woman stands equal to man; they are to be joined as one flesh Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field…

Saint Jerome Emiliani, priest; Saint Josephine Bakhita, virgin 1st Reading: Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 God creates Adam and sets him in the garden to cultivate it These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant…

Saint Mel of Ardagh, bishop 1st Reading: Genesis 1:20–2:4 God forms man and woman in the divine likeness, then rests on the seventh day And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea…

Saint Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs 1st Reading: Genesis 1:1-19 God creates light, sky, earth and sun, moon and stars, in the act of creation In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God…

1st Reading: Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21 God raised up Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing…

Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr; Saint Ansgar, bishop 1st Reading: Hebrews 13:1-8 A call to hospitality, contentment, care of prisoners and the persecuted Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you…

1st Reading: Malachi 3:1-4 God’s Messenger will refine the chosen people See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight – indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But…

1st Reading: Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 1:1-10 All wisdom comes from God and returns to him All wisdom is from the Lord, and with him it remains forever. The sand of the sea, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity–who can count them? The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, the abyss, and…

1st Reading: Job 31:16-20; 24-25; 31-32 Job’s helping the needy echoed in Brigid’s works of charity I have never withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the orphan has not eaten from it. for from my youth I reared…

Saint John Bosco, priest 1st Reading: Hebrews 12:1-4 Around us a cloud of witnesses, and above all Jesus, to encourage us Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race…

Saint Aidan, bishop; Blessed Margaret Ball and Blessed Francis Taylor, martyrs 1st Reading: Hebrews 11:32-40 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,…

Saint Thomas Aquinas, doctor of the Church 1st Reading: Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 Divine blessing on Abraham and his descendants Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place…

Saint Angela de Merici, virgin 1st Reading, Hebrews 10:32-39 Do not abandon hope, but trust in God’s promises But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had…

1st Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-9 Use the gifts God has given us, for the service of the church Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ…

1st Reading: Acts 22:3-16 Paul’s account of his conversion, to his fellow-Jews, on the steps of the Temple “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are…