PRAYER OF THE DAY

The Prayer of St. Gertrude

PRAYER FOR SOULS IN PURGATORY

Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son,

Jesus,

in union with the masses said throughout the world today,

for all the holy souls in purgatory,

for sinners everywhere,

for sinners in the universal church,

those in my own home and within my family.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

WIS 18:14-16; 19:6-9

When peaceful stillness compassed everything

and the night in its swift course was half spent,

Your all-powerful word, from heaven’s royal throne

bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land,

bearing the sharp sword of your inexorable decree.

And as he alighted, he filled every place with death;

he still reached to heaven, while he stood upon the earth.

For all creation, in its several kinds, was being made over anew,

serving its natural laws,

that your children might be preserved unharmed.

The cloud overshadowed their camp;

and out of what had before been water, dry land was seen emerging:

Out of the Red Sea an unimpeded road,

and a grassy plain out of the mighty flood.

Over this crossed the whole nation sheltered by your hand,

after they beheld stupendous wonders.

For they ranged about like horses,

and bounded about like lambs,

praising you, O Lord! their deliverer.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 105:2-3, 36-37, 42-43

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!

or:

R. Alleluia.

Sing to him, sing his praise,

proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

Glory in his holy name;

rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!

or:

R. Alleluia.

Then he struck every first born throughout their land,

the first fruits of all their manhood.

And he led them forth laden with silver and gold,

with not a weakling among their tribes.

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!

or:

R. Alleluia.

For he remembered his holy word

to his servant Abraham.

And he led forth his people with joy;

with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.

R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!

or:

R. Alleluia.

Gospel

LK 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable

about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.

He said,

“There was a judge in a certain town

who neither feared God nor respected any human being.

And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,

‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’

For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,

‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,

because this widow keeps bothering me

I shall deliver a just decision for her

lest she finally come and strike me.’”

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones

who call out to him day and night?

Will he be slow to answer them?

I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.

But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

SAINT OF THE DAY

November 16

St. Gertrude (1256?-1302)

Gertrude, a Benedictine nun in Helfta (Saxony), was one of the great mystics of the 13th century. Together with her friend and teacher St. Mechtild, she practiced a spirituality called "nuptial mysticism," that is, she came to see herself as the bride of Christ. Her spiritual life was a deeply personal union with Jesus and his Sacred Heart,

leading her into the very life of the Trinity.

But this was no individualistic piety. Gertrude lived the rhythm of the liturgy, where she found Christ. In the liturgy and in Scripture, she found the themes and images to enrich and express her piety. 

There was no clash between her personal prayer life and the liturgy.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 94 (95)

Let us listen for the voice of the Lord

and enter into his peace.

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,

let us acclaim God our salvation.

Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks,

let us acclaim him with songs.

Let us listen for the voice of the Lord

and enter into his peace.

For the Lord is a great God,

a king above all gods.

For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands,

and the peaks of the mountains are his.

For the sea is his: he made it;

and his hands formed the dry land.

Let us listen for the voice of the Lord

and enter into his peace.

Come, let us worship and bow down,

bend the knee before the Lord who made us;

for he himself is our God and we are his flock,

the sheep that follow his hand.

Let us listen for the voice of the Lord

and enter into his peace.

If only, today, you would listen to his voice:

“Do not harden your hearts

as you did at Meribah,

on the day of Massah in the desert,

when your fathers tested me –

they put me to the test,

although they had seen my works.”

Let us listen for the voice of the Lord

and enter into his peace.

“For forty years they wearied me,

that generation.

I said: their hearts are wandering,

they do not know my paths.

I swore in my anger:

they will never enter my place of rest.”

Let us listen for the voice of the Lord

and enter into his peace.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Let us listen for the voice of the Lord

and enter into his peace.

Hymn

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,

Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,

Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,

Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;

Thy justice like mountains high soaring above

Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all life thou givest, to both great and small;

In all life thou livest, the true life of all;

We blossom and flourish, like leaves on the tree,

Then wither and perish; but naught changeth thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,

Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;

All laud we would render: O help us to see

‘Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.

Psalm 49 (50)

True reverence for the Lord

The Lord has summoned heaven and earth

to witness his judgement of his people.

The Lord, the God of gods has spoken:

he has summoned the whole earth, from east to west.

God has shone forth from Zion in her great beauty.

Our God will come, and he will not be silent.

Before him, a devouring fire;

around him, a tempest rages.

He will call upon the heavens above, and on the earth, to judge his people.

“Bring together before me my chosen ones, who have sealed my covenant with sacrifice.”

The heavens will proclaim his justice; for God is the true judge.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

The Lord has summoned heaven and earth

to witness his judgement of his people.

Psalm 49 (50)

Call on me in the day of trouble,

and I will come to free you.

Listen, my people, and I will speak;

Israel, I will testify against you.

I am God, your God.

I will not reproach you with your sacrifices,

for your burnt offerings are always before me.

But I will not accept calves from your houses,

nor goats from your flocks.

For all the beasts of the forests are mine,

and in the hills, a thousand animals.

All the birds of the air – I know them.

Whatever moves in the fields – it is mine.

If I am hungry, I will not tell you;

for the whole world is mine, and all that is in it.

Am I to eat the flesh of bulls,

or drink the blood of goats?

Offer a sacrifice to God – a sacrifice of praise;

to the Most High, fulfill your vows.

Then you may call upon me in the time of trouble:

I will rescue you, and you will honor me.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Call on me in the day of trouble,

and I will come to free you.

Psalm 49 (50)

A sacrifice of thanksgiving will honor me.

To the sinner, God has said this:

Why do you recite my statutes?

Why do you dare to speak my covenant?

For you hate what I teach you,

and reject what I tell you.

The moment you saw a thief, you joined him;

you threw in your lot with adulterers.

You spoke evil with your mouth,

and your tongue made plans to deceive.

Solemnly seated, you denounced your own brother;

you poured forth hatred against your own mother’s son.

All this you did, and I was silent;

so you thought that I was just like you.

But I will reprove you –

I will confront you with all you have done.

Understand this, you who forget God;

lest I tear you apart, with no-one there to save you.

Whoever offers up a sacrifice of praise gives me true honor;

whoever follows a sinless path in life will be shown the salvation of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

A sacrifice of thanksgiving will honor me.

We ceaselessly pray to God for you.

– For you to have the fullest knowledge of God’s will.

First Reading

Daniel 12:1-13

The angel said to me:

‘At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who mounts guard over your people. There is going to be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared, all those whose names are found written in the Book. Of those who lie sleeping in the dust of the earth many will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting disgrace. The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as stars for all eternity.

‘But you, Daniel, must keep these words secret and the book sealed until the time of the End. 

Many will wander this way and that, and wickedness will go on increasing.’

Then I, Daniel, looked on and saw two others standing, one on the near bank of the river, one on the other. One said to the man dressed in linen who was standing further up the stream, ‘How long until these wonders take place?’ I heard the man speak who was dressed in linen, standing further up the stream: he raised his right hand and his left to heaven and swore by him who lives for ever, ‘A time and two times, and half a time; and all these things are going to happen when he who crushes the power of the holy people meets his end.’ I listened but did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what is to be the outcome?’ ‘Daniel,’ he said ‘go away: these words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the End. Many will be cleansed, made white and purged; the wicked will go on doing wrong; the wicked will never understand; the learned will understand. From the moment that the perpetual sacrifice is abolished and the disastrous abomination erected: one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who stands firm and attains a thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But you, go away and rest; and you will rise for your share at the end of time.’

Responsory

Those who have been judged worthy of the resurrection from the dead

are no longer subject to death.

They are like angels;

they are sons of God,

because they share in the resurrection.

He is not God of the dead but of the living:

for him they are all alive.

They are like angels;

they are sons of God,

because they share in the resurrection.

Second Reading

A sermon of the second century

Let us seek righteousness so that in the end we are saved

Let us therefore find ourselves among those who give thanks, those who have served God, 

and not among the wicked who are judged. Although I myself am a sinner in all things, and still ensnared by the devil, 

I aim for righteousness and hope to get close to it in the end; for I fear the judgement that is to come.

So, brothers and sisters, after we have heard the words of the God of truth, I read you this exhortation. I hope to turn your souls’ full attention to what has been written, so that you bring salvation not only to yourselves but to me as I read the word of God to you. I beg for this reward: that you should do penance wholeheartedly and thus bring salvation and life on yourselves. If we do this then we shall be able to show an example to all the young who want to turn their lives towards the love and goodness of God. And if someone sees our folly and tries to turn us from evil to righteousness, let us not be angry or indignant; for often when we do evil we do not pay attention to the fact 

– either from inner duplicity or from lack of faith – and our minds are clouded by our worthless desires.

Therefore let us be righteous so that in the end we may be saved. 

Blessed are those who obey these precepts: even if they suffer evil in this world for a short while, 

they will reap a harvest of eternal life. 

Let the good man not be saddened if he suffers present troubles: a blessed time awaits him, 

when he will be raised to life and will rejoice with his fathers through an untroubled eternity.

We should not be perturbed if we see the wicked living in comfort while the servants of God suffer want. Brothers and sisters, let us be firm in faith: in this life we are suffering trials that come from the living God, so that we may wear crowns in the next life. None of the righteous receive the fruits of their goodness instantly, but all have to wait for them. If it were otherwise, if God gave quick rewards for righteousness, then it would not be piety that drove us to good acts but a simple matter of business. We would see virtue not as a good thing but as a profitable thing. 

For this reason the judgement of God shakes a spirit that is not filled with righteousness and loads chains upon it.

To the one invisible God, the Father of truth, who sent us our savior as the founder of our immortality and showed us the truth through him and the way to eternal life – to God be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Responsory

Turn away from evil and do good,

for the Lord loves justice and will never forsake his friends.

Do not fret because of the wicked;

do not envy those who do evil,

for the Lord loves justice and will never forsake his friends.

Let us pray.

Defend us, Lord, against every distress

so that, unencumbered in body and soul,

we may devote ourselves to your service in freedom and joy.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us praise the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.