Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time

Book of Ezra

At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness, and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees, stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God.
I said: "My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you, O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven.
From the time of our fathers even to this day great has been our guilt, and for our wicked deeds we have been delivered over, we and our kings and our priests, to the will of the kings of foreign lands, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace, as is the case today.
"And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the LORD, our God, who left us a remnant and gave us a stake in his holy place; thus our God has brightened our eyes and given us relief in our servitude.
For slaves we are, but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us; rather, he has turned the good will of the kings of Persia toward us. Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins, and has granted us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.

Book of Tobit

He scourges and then has mercy;
he casts down to the depths of the nether world,
and he brings up from the great abyss.
No one can escape his hand.
Praise him, you children of Israel, before the Gentiles,
for though he has scattered you among them,
He has shown you his greatness even there.
Exalt him before every living being,
because he is the Lord our God,
our Father and God forever.
He scourged you for your iniquities,
but will again have mercy on you all.
He will gather you from all the Gentiles among whom you have been scattered.
Celebrate days of gladness, and give him praise.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money, and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.
And as for those who do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake the dust from your feet in testimony against them."
Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

St. Vincent de Paul(Priest (1576-1660) - Memorial)

SAINT VINCENT OF PAUL Priest (1576-1660) St. Vincent founded charitable and educational institutes to serve God in the poor. He was an advisor to the queen and oracle of the Church in France. He also recounted how, in his youth, he tended his father's pigs. St. Vincent's trials began soon after his ordination. Scarcely ordained a priest, he was captured by corsairs and carried into Barbary. St. Vincent then converted his renegade master and escaped with him to France. Appointed chaplain-general of the galleys of France, St. Vincent's charity brought hope to despairing prisoners. His charity embraced the poor, provinces desolated by civil war, and Christians enslaved by Mohammedans. St. Vincent did not see bodies, but souls. Poor and bedraggled people were, to him the image of Christ. "Turn the medal," he said, "and you will see Jesus Christ." St. Vincent enabled the wealthy to do works of mercy. When an orphanage was in danger of closing from lack of funds, he received aid from the ladies of the Association of Charity. One narrator paraphrased him saying, "Compassion and charity made you adopt these little ones as your children. You became their mothers according to grace, when their own mothers abandoned them. Cease to be their mothers and you might become their judges..." A resounding "yes" was his answer and the work continued. The Society of St. Vincent, the Priests of the Mission, and twenty-five thousand Sisters of Charity still serve the poor and afflicted to this day.

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