Opening Prayer
By Your invitation and divine initiative, we are blessed to carry within us the promise of Your Kingdom, O God of Life. You have planted the seeds of Your glory in our hearts and sealed us with Your Holy Spirit, that the fullness of Your life, Your dreams, and Your loving reign may grow within us and blossom in beautiful fulfillment. You are our beginning and our end, our source and our fullness. Nurture within us all that is born of Your love. Gently remove whatever hinders the growth of Your grace, and cultivate in us hearts of compassion, generosity, humility, peace, and selfless love. May we faithfully nurture the life You have entrusted to us, allowing Your Kingdom to flourish through our words, our choices, and our relationships. Help us to recognize, cherish, and embrace the sacred worth and divine glory with which You have blessed us. Draw us ever closer to the life-giving springs of Your mercy and love. May we drink deeply and wholeheartedly from the abundance of Your grace, until our deepest longings are satisfied in You. Fill us with Your presence, transform us by Your love, and bring to fullness the beautiful work You have begun within us. May our lives become a joyful expression of Your goodness, a living witness to Your Kingdom, and a reflection of Your glory. For You are all in all, O God of Life, and our hearts find their truest home in You. Amen
Reading 1 Ephesians 1:11-14
Brothers and sisters:
In Christ we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.
In him you also, who have heard the word of truth,
the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him,
were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
which is the first installment of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Alleluia Psalm 33:22
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
May your kindness, LORD, be upon us;
who have put our hope in you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Luke 12:1-7
At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Hedwig, Religious
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.