Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Book of Malachi

Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Psalms

Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
The mountains shout with them for joy before the LORD.
The LORD comes,
He comes to rule the earth;
He will rule the world with justice
And the peoples with equity.

Second Letter to the Thessalonians

Brothers and sisters: you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you,
nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.
Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us.
In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.
We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others.
Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said,
"All that you see here--the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."
Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?"
He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them!
When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end."
Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky."
Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name.
It will lead to your giving testimony.
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.
You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini((1850-1917))

SAINT FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI Virgin and Foundress (1850-1917) Frances Cabrini was born and baptized on 15 July 1850 in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, northern Italy, to a family rich in faith and piety. Early in life, she began her journey as a disciple of the Lord, who led her to the heights of sanctity in mysterious and unforeseen ways. The turning point in her life was entering the House of Providence in Codogno, where tribulations and difficulties strengthened her missionary fervor and her resolve to dedicate herself to the Lord. She received the religious habit; and while keeping the name Frances, later added Xavier to it in memory of the great Jesuit missionary and patron of the missions. Thanks to the encouragement and support of Bp. Domenico Maria Gelmini of Lodi, Sr Frances Xavier left the House of Providence with seven companions and founded an institution in an old Franciscan monastery. First called the Salesian Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, they received diocesan approval in 1881. Mother Cabrini asked her sisters for evangelical obedience, mortification, renunciation, vigilance of the heart and interior silence as necessary virtues for conforming their lives to Christ and for fostering and living their missionary desires. Vocations surprisingly blossomed and the institute rapidly expanded in Lombardy and beyond the region, with the opening of the first house in Rome and papal approval of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on 12 March 1888, scarcely eight years after their foundation. Pope Leo XIII asked Mother Cabrini to care for poor Italian immigrants. She longed to go to China, but the Pope's words, "Not to the East, but to the West" gave new energy and direction to her missionary zeal. The invitation of Christ's Vicar directed her towards the masses of immigrants who, at the end of the 1800s, were crossing the ocean in large numbers to the United States, often in conditions of extreme poverty. From that moment on, Mother Cabrini's tireless apostolic work was more and more inspired by her desire to bring salvation to all. She used to say, "The Heart of Jesus does things in such a hurry that I can barely keep up with Him." With a group of sisters, she left for New York on the first of many voyages in which, as a messenger of hope, she would achieve ever new goals in her tireless apostolate: Nicaragua, Brazil and Argentina, in addition to France, Spain and England. Armed with remarkable boldness, she started schools, hospitals and orphanages from nothing for the masses of the poor who ventured into the new world in search of work. Not knowing the language and lacking the wherewithal to find a respectable place in American society, they were often victims of the unscrupulous. Her motherly heart, which gave her no peace, reached out to them everywhere: in hovels, prisons and mines. Never intimidated by toil or distance, Mother Cabrini traveled from New York to New Jersey, from Pennsylvania to Illinois, from California to Louisiana and Colorado. Even today, in the United States, where she is still called Mother Cabrini, there is a surprisingly deep devotion to someone who, while loving her country of origin, wanted to obtain American citizenship. She was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1938, just twenty-one years after her death in Chicago on 22 December 1917. In 1946, she was canonized by Pope Pius XII. In the Holy Year of 1950, he proclaimed her the patroness of immigrants for defending the dignity of those forced to live far from their country, becoming an indomitable peacemaker.(Message of Pope John Paul II to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on 150th anniversary of Mother Cabrini's birth)

St. Agostina Livia Pietrantoni((1864-1894))

Saint Agostina Livia Pietrantoni (1864-1894) Virgin Congregation of the Sisters of the Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret Once there was, and still is, but with a new face now, a village named Pozzaglia in the Sabina hills. There, in a blessed house, a cosy little nest filled with childrens' voices, lived Olivia: who later was called Livia and took the name Agostina in religious life. Her life, although short, was remarkable; and inspired Pope Paul VI to call her "simple, transparent, pure, loving..." She was born and baptized on March 27, 1864, in the little village of Pozzaglia Sabina, at an altitude of 800 meters, in a beautiful area bordered by Rieti, Orvinio and Tivoli. She was the second of eleven children. Her parents, Francesco Pietrantoni and Caterina Costantini, were farmers and worked their small plot of land along with a few added plots that they leased. Livia's childhood and youth were imbued with the values of an honest, hard-working and religious family, in a blessed house where "all were careful to do good and where they often prayed." This period was marked especially by the wisdom of Uncle Domenico. Around 1876, Livia received her first Holy Communion with extraordinary awareness of God's substance and presence in the Eucharist. Very early on, in her large family, where everyone seemed to be a beneficiary to her time and help, she learned from her mother, Caterina, the thoughtfulness and maternal gestures which she showed with such gentleness towards her many younger brothers and sisters. She worked in the fields and looked after the animals before games or school, but benefited from self-discipline to the point of earning the title of "teacher" from her classmates.Work and pride At the age of 7, along with other children, she began to work transporting sacks of stone and sand by the thousands for the road from Orvinio to Poggio Moiano. At the age of 12, she left with other young seasonal workers to harvest olives in Tivoli. Precociously wise, she took on the moral and religious responsibility for her young companions. She supported them in this tough work far from their families, and proudly and courageously stood up to arrogant and unscrupulous bosses.Vocation and detachment Livia's wisdom, respect for others, generosity and beauty moved her mother to find a suitable match. However, Livia chose to profess vows instead of marry, much to her mother's angst. To those in the village who attempted to dissuade her, she replied, "I wish to choose a Congregation in which there is work both day and night." Everyone was certain that these words were genuine. A first trip to Rome in the company of her uncle, Fra Matteo, ended in bitter disillusionment: they refused to accept her. However, a few months later, the Mother General of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret told Livia that she was expecting her at the Generalate. Livia understood that this time she was saying farewell forever. With emotion, she took leave of the village people, all the loved corners of her land, her favorite prayer places, the parish and the Virgin of Rifolta. She kissed her parents goodbye, received the blessing of Uncle Domenico, "kissed the door of her house, traced the sign of the cross on it and left hurriedly..."Formation and mission Livia was 22 when she arrived in Rome on March 23, 1886, at Via S. Maria in Cosmedin. A few months as a postulant and novice were enough to prove that she had the makings of a Sister of Charity, that is of a "servant of the poor," in the tradition of Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Jeanne-Antide. Indeed, Livia brought to the Convent a particularly solid spiritual foundation. When she received the religious habit and was given the name of Sister Agostina, she had the premonition that it fell to her to become the saint bearing this name. Sister Agostina was sent to the Hospital of Santo Spirito where 700 years of glorious history had led it to be called "the school of Christian charity." In the wake of the saints who had preceded her, amongst whom were Charles Borromeo, Joseph Casalanz, John Bosco and Camillus de Lellis, Sister Agostina made her personal contribution. In this place where many suffered, she expressed charity to the point of heroism.Silence, prayer and goodness The atmosphere in the hospital was hostile to religion because the Roman question made others doubtful. The Capuchin fathers had been expelled; and the Crucifix and all other religious signs were prohibited. The hospital administrators also wanted to send the sisters away, but were afraid of becoming unpopular. Instead, the sisters' lives were made impossible and they were forbidden to speak about God. Sister Agostina did not need to "cry out for God," but through her life proclaimed the Gospel. First in the childrens' ward and later in the tuberculosis ward, a place of despair and death, where she caught the mortal contagion of which she was miraculously healed, she showed total dedication and an extraordinary concern for each sick person, above all for the most difficult, violent and obscene ones. In secret, in a small hidden corner of the hospital, Sister Agostina commended them all to the Virgin and promised her many more vigils and greater sacrifices in order to obtain the grace of the conversion of the most stubborn ones. How many times she offered Joseph Romanelli to Our Lady! He was vulgar and insolent to Sister Agostina, who was attentive toward him and welcomed his blind mother with great kindness during visits. When, after the umpteenth provocation at the expense of the women working in the laundry, the Director expelled Joseph Romanelli from the hospital, the latter sought a target for his fury; and poor Agostina was the victim. Several times, he sent her death threats scrawled on little notes. Romanelli was not joking in fact, but Sister Agostina put no limits on her generosity to the Lord. She was prepared to pay any price for serving Jesus. When Romanelli caught her unaware, and struck her to death on November 13, 1894, her lips uttered nothing but invocations to the Virgin Mary and words of forgiveness.

St. Stanislaus Kostka (1551-1568)()

SAINT STANISLAUS KOSTKA (1551-1568) St. Stanislaus was from a noble Polish family. At 14, he went with his elder brother Paul to the Jesuits' College at Vienna. Though Stanislaus was ever bright and sweet-tempered, his austerities were felt as a reproach by Paul, who shamefully maltreated him. This ill-usage, and his own penances, brought on a dangerous illness. Being in a Lutheran house, Stanislaus was unable to send for a priest. He remembered that his patroness, St. Barbara, never permitted her devotees to die without the Holy Viaticum. He devoutly appealed to her aid, and she appeared with two angels who gave him the Sacred Host. Stanislaus was cured of illness by our Lady Herself, and was bidden by Her to enter the Society of Jesus. To avoid his father's opposition, he was obliged to depart Vienna. Having proved his constancy by cheerfully performing the most menial offices, he was admitted to the Jesuit novitiate at Rome. There, he lived for ten short months, marked by rare piety, obedience and devotion to the institute. Stanislaus passed away, as he had prayed, on the Feast of the Assumption, 1568, at the age of 17. Jesus brought his soul to heaven because he lost his life for Jesus' sake (Mt. 16:25). We must likewise attain the Beatitudes by practicing the norms of piety, as God never fails.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2022 / Catholic Missal of november 2022