Saints Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions, optional memorial 1st Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8 While praying in the temple, Isaiah is called to be a prophet In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance…

Saint Killian, missionary and martyr, optional memorial 1st Reading: Hosea 14:2-9 The faithful God will restore unfaithful Israel to grace and love Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all guilt; accept…

Saint Maelruain, optional memorial 1st Reading: Hosea 11:1-4, 8-9 Tenderly as a mother, God cares for his beloved Israel When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering…

St Maria Goretti, optional memorial 1st Reading: Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 Infidelity has produced a hopeless situation, through endemic social injustice Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred pillars. Their heart…

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, optional memorial 1st Reading: Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 For their sins, they shall return to slavery They made kings, but not through me; they set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. Your calf is rejected, O Samaria. My anger burns against…

Saint Elisabeth of Portugal, optional memorial 1st Reading: Hosea 2:16-18, 21-22 God will restore the repentant people to their first love On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, “My husband.” For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. I…

1st Reading: Amos 9:11-15 The Davidic dynasty will be restored, and the land will bloom again On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; in order that they may possess the…

1st Reading: Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 If injustice is unchecked, absence of meaning will blight our lives Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the Sabbath, so that we may offer…

1st Reading: Amos 7:10-17 Expelled from the Bethel sanctuary, Amos announces God’s Word Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said,…

In these two apostles, we see how the faith can spread through the life of generous, faithful hearts. We get a glimpse of each of them in turn, in prison for the faith, prepared for martyrdom for the Gospel of Christ; followed by the famous declaration of faith, for which Jesus gives Peter (“Rock”) the…

St Irenaeus, memorial 1st Reading: Amos 3:1-8. 4:11-12 Amos warns of the need for conversion Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: You only have I known of all the families of the earth;…

Saint Cyril of Alexandria optional memorial 1st Reading: Amos 2:6-10, 13-16 Israel is condemned for neglecting the poor and the defenseless Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals –…

1st Reading: Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19 A survivor of Jerusalem’s destruction laments in mournful tones The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the dwellings of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of daughter Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonour the kingdom and its rulers. The elders of…

1st Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6 The Lord called me before I was born; in my mother’s womb he named me Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a…

1st Reading: 2 Kings 24:8-17 The background to the first Jewish deportation to Babylon, in 597 B.C Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign; he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, just…

1st Reading: 2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3 When Deuteronomy is rediscovered in the temple, it leads to reform The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, he read it. Then Shaphan the secretary came…

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga optional memorial 1st Reading: 2 Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36 The Assyrians attack; but Isaiah promises thatr a remnant and Jerusalem will be saved When the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, “See, he has set out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus shall you…