Catholic Missal of the day: Wednesday, August 30 2017
Wednesday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time
Wednesday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time
1. ReadingFirst Letter to the Thessalonians
2,9-13.]You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery. Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
]You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers.
]As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children,
]exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you conduct yourselves as worthy of the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
]And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that,in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not as a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.
Psalms
139(138),7-8.9-10.11-12ab.]Where can I go from your spirit?
from your presence where can I flee?
]If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I sink to the nether world, you are present there.
]If I take the wings of the dawn,
if I settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
]even there your hand shall guide me,
and your right hand hold me fast.
]If I say, “Surely the darkness shall hide me,
and night shall be my light”–
]For you darkness itself is not dark,
]and night shines as the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
23,27-32.]Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.
]Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
]and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.'
]Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
]now fill up what your ancestors measured out!"
St. Jeanne Jugan(Foundress (1792-1879))
St. Jeanne JuganFoundress of Religious CommunitySt. Jeanne Jugan is the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. She grew up in a small town in revolutionary France. When those who openly practiced their faith were either imprisoned or killed, Jeanne received formation from her mother and a group of laywomen.When Jeanne was 4 years old, her father was lost at sea. Her mother found odd jobs to make ends meet. As a young girl, Jeanne worked as a shepherdess. She also knit and spun wool. A while later, she worked as a maid for a wealthy family. Despite a modest education, Jeanne's heart was ablaze with love for Jesus and Mary. Barely out of her teens, she felt the call of divine love. She told her mother, "God wants me for himself. He is keeping me for a work which is not yet founded." Later, she set to work among the poor at a local hospital.One winter night, Jeanne encountered Jesus in the person of an elderly, blind, infirm woman who was dying in the cold. Jeanne carried the woman home, lifted her up the stairs to her small room and placed the woman in her bed. Henceforth, Jeanne would sleep in the attic while she made her home into a refuge for the destitute poor in revolutionary France.God instilled tremendous fervor and zealousness in Jeanne. Many women responded to her call and invitation to serve. By the working of the Holy Spirit, a religious community was born. The local citizens were struck by their spirit of humble service and called the group the Little Sisters of the Poor. From then on, their order spread across France and beyond.Although she was the Order's foundress, Jeanne was demoted by eclesiastical authorities and an ambitious priest was placed in charge. The new superior sent Jeanne to beg and soon placed her in retirement. At the time of her passing 27 years later, the nacent Little Sisters had no idea Jeanne was their foundress. St. Jeanne said, "We are grafted onto the Cross, and we must carry it joyfully." Her inspired reflections continue illuminating spiritual realities.In her words:"Be very little before God." ... "It is so good to be poor, ... (relinquishing everything), and depending on God for everything." ... "God will help us; the work is His."She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 1982 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.
St. Fiaker(Anchorite († c. 670))
SAINT FIAKER Anchorite( c. 670) St. Fiaker was born in Ireland. He was tutored by Bishop Conan of Soder or the Western Islands. He eschewed preferential treatment, chose monasticism and sailed to France. Divine Providence led St. Fiaker to Bishop Faro of Meaux. When they met, the prelate discerned St. Fiaker's virtues and gave him a solitary dwelling in a forest called Breuil. St. Fiaker cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell and a small garden and built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Fiaker's spiritual exercises were only interrupted by necessity or charity. He was sought out because of his sanctity and expertise in herbal medicine. He attracted so many disciples that he builta hospice, a chapel and a monastery. The town of Saint-Fiacre in north-central France is named after him. Following the Trish monks' rule, St. Fiaker never permitted women to enter his enclosure. As the abbot of a monastery, he trained exemplary clerics and encouraged vocations. He sent St. Kilian or St. Chillen, his countryman, to preach in neighboring dioceses when the latter visited him after a pilgrimage in Rome. St. Fiaker passed away on August 18, 670. He was interred at the church in Breuil, but his relics were later transferred to Meaux. His shrine is a pilgrimage destination because of many healing miracles. He is the patron saint of gardeners, the sick and victims of hemorrhoids.
St. Pammachius()
Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2017 / Catholic Missal of august 2017
Published: 2026-07-14T18:16:13Z | Modified: 2026-07-14T18:16:13Z