Monday of the Thirty-second week in Ordinary Time

Book of Wisdom

Love justice, you who judge the earth; think of the LORD in goodness, and seek him in integrity of heart;
Because he is found by those who test him not, and he manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.
For perverse counsels separate a man from God, and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;
Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.
For the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsels; and when injustice occurs it is rebuked.
For wisdom is a kindly spirit, yet she acquits not the blasphemer of his guilty lips; Because God is the witness of his inmost self and the sure observer of his heart and the listener to his tongue.
For the spirit of the LORD fills the world, is all-embracing, and knows what man says.

Psalms

O LORD, you have probed me and you know me;
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know the whole of it.
Behind me and before, you hem me in
and rest your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
too lofty for me to attain.
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.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Jesus said to his disciples, "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him."
And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to (this) mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

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

SAINT FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI Virgin and Foundress (1850-1917) Frances Cabrini was born and baptized on July 15, 1850, at Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, northern Italy. Her pious family guided her and provided the model of human and supernatural virtue. The Lord led her to the heights of sanctity through the ministry of the Church as a religious and foundress. The turning point in her life was entering the House of Providence in Codogno, where tribulations and difficulties strengthened her missionary fervor and dedication. 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 institute. 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. Vocations surprisingly blossomed, and the institute rapidly expanded in Lombardy and beyond the region. The first house was opened in Rome, with papal approval of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on March 12, 1888, scarcely 8 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 her new energy and direction. The invitation of Christ's Vicar directed her toward 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. 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, Mother Cabrini started schools, hospitals and orphanages 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. Mother Cabrini was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1938, just 21 years after her death in Chicago on December 22, 1917. In 1946, she was canonized by Pope Pius XII. In the Holy Year of 1950, he proclaimed her the patroness of immigrants.(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." 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 Uncle Domenico's blessing, "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 at 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, 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, Stanislaus was admitted to the Jesuit novitiate in 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. God brought his soul to heaven because he lost his life for Jesus' sake (Mt. 16:25). Let us follow the Good Shepherd and never grow lukewarm in the exercises of piety.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2023 / Catholic Missal of november 2023