Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Book of Ezekiel

You say, "The LORD'S way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?
When a virtuous man turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die.
But if a wicked man, turning from the wickedness he has committed, does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life;
since he has turned away from all the sins which he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Psalms

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
Remember no more the sins of my youth;
remember me only in light of your love.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.

Letter to the Philippians

Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing.
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others.
Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards he changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir,' but did not go.
Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

St. Therese of Lisieux(Virgin & Doctor of the Church (1873-1897) - Memorial)

Saint Therese of LisieuxVirgin and Doctor of the Church(1873-1897) Thérèse Martin was born at Alençon, France, on January 2, 1873. Two days later, she was baptized Marie Frances Thérèse at Notre Dame Church. Her parents were Louis Martin and Zélie Guérin. After the death of her mother on August 28, 1877, Thérèse and her family moved to Lisieux. Toward the end of 1879, Thérèse went to confession for the first time. On the Feast of Pentecost in 1883, she received the singular grace of being healed from a serious illness through the intercession of Our Lady of Victories. Taught by the Benedictine Nuns of Lisieux, and after an intense immediate preparation culminating in a vivid experience of intimate union with Christ, she received First Holy Communion on May 8, 1884. Some weeks later, on June 14, she received the Sacrament of Confirmation, fully aware of accepting the gift of the Holy Spirit as a personal participation in the grace of Pentecost. Thérèse wanted to embrace the contemplative life, as her sisters Pauline and Marie had done in the Carmel of Lisieux, but was prevented from doing so by her young age. On a visit to Italy, after visiting the House of Loreto and the holy places of the Eternal City, during an audience granted by Pope Leo XIII to pilgrims from Lisieux on November 20, 1887, she asked the Holy Father with childlike daring to be able to enter the Carmel at age 15. On April 9, 1888, Thérèse entered the Carmel of Lisieux. She received the habit on January 10 of the following year. She made her religious profession on September 8, 1890, on the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In Carmel, Sr. Thérèse embraced the way of perfection outlined by the Foundress, Saint Teresa of Jesus, fulfilling with genuine fervor and fidelity the various community responsibilities entrusted to her. Her faith was tested by the sickness of her beloved father, Louis Martin, who passed away on July 29, 1894. She nevertheless grew in sanctity, enlightened by the Word of God and inspired by the Gospel to place love at the center of everything. In her autobiographical manuscripts, she left us not only her recollections of childhood and adolescence, but also a portrait of her soul and the description of her most intimate experiences. She discovered the little way of spiritual childhood and taught it to the novices entrusted to her care. She considered it a special gift to receive the charge of accompanying two "missionary brothers" with prayer and sacrifice. Seized by the love of Christ, her only Spouse, Sr. Thérèse penetrated ever more deeply into the mystery of the Church and became increasingly aware of her apostolic and missionary vocation to draw everyone in her path. On June 9, 1895, on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Sr. Thérèse offered herself as a sacrificial victim to the merciful Love of God. At this time, she wrote her first autobiographical manuscript, which she presented to Mother Agnes for her birthday on January 21, 1896.Several months later, on April 3, on the night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday, she suffered a haemoptysis, the first sign of the illness that would claim her life. She welcomed this event as a mysterious visitation of the Divine Spouse. From this point forward, Sr. Thérèse entered a trial of faith that would last until her death. In September, Sr. Thérèse completed Manuscript B, which gave striking evidence of her spiritual maturity, particularly the discovery of her vocation in the heart of the Church. While her health declined and the time of trial continued, she began work on Manuscript C in June, dedicated to Mother Marie de Gonzague. New graces led her to higher perfection and she discovered fresh insights for the diffusion of her message in the Church, for the benefit of souls who would follow her way. Sr. Thérèse was transferred to the infirmary on July 8. Meanwhile, her sisters and other religious women collected her sayings. Although her sufferings and trials intensified, she bore the pain with heroic virtue. She accepted them with patience up to the moment of her death in the afternoon of September 30, 1897. "I am not dying, I am entering life," she wrote to her missionary spiritual brother, Father M. Bellier. Her final words, "My God..., I love you!", seal a life that was completed on earth at age 24. Thus began, as was her desire, a new phase of apostolic presence on behalf of souls in the Communion of Saints. St. Thérèse was canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925. The same Pope proclaimed her Universal Patron of the Missions, alongside Saint Francis Xavier, on December 14, 1927. Her teaching and example of holiness has been received with great enthusiasm by all sectors of the faithful, as well as by people outside the Catholic Church and outside Christianity. On the occasion of the centenary of her passing, many Episcopal Conferences have asked the Pope to declare her a Doctor of the Church: in view of the soundness of her spiritual wisdom inspired by the Gospel, the originality of her theological intuitions, and the universal acceptance of her spiritual message, which has been welcomed throughout the world and spread by the translation of her works into over fifty languages.Mindful of these requests, Pope John Paul II asked the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with regard to her teaching, to study the suitability of proclaiming St. Thérèse a Doctor of the Church. On August 24, at the close of the Eucharistic Celebration at the Twelfth World Youth Day in Paris, in the presence of hundreds of bishops and an immense crowd of young people from every nation, Pope John Paul II announced his intention to proclaim Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face a Doctor of the Universal Church on World Mission Sunday, October 19, 1997.

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