While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.”
He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Mary, Virgin and Mother, you who, moved by the Holy Spirit, welcomed the word of life in the depths of your humble faith: as you gave yourself completely to the Eternal One, help us to say our own “yes” to the urgent call, as pressing as ever, to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Filled with Christ’s presence, you brought joy to John the Baptist, making him exult in the womb of his mother (Lk 1:41). Brimming over with joy, you sang of the great things done by God (Lk 1:46 f). Standing at the foot of the cross with unyielding faith (Jn 19:25), you received the joyful comfort of the resurrection, and joined the disciples in awaiting the Spirit so that the evangelizing Church might be born (Acts 1:14). Obtain for us now a new ardour born of the resurrection, that we may bring to all the Gospel of life which triumphs over death. Give us a holy courage to seek new paths, that the gift of unfading beauty may reach every man and woman. Virgin of listening and contemplation (Lk 2:19), Mother of fair love (Si 24:24 Vg), Bride of the eternal wedding feast (Rev 19:7), pray for the Church, whose pure icon you are, that she may never be closed in on herself or lose her passion for establishing God’s kingdom. Star of the new evangelization, help us to bear radiant witness to communion, service, ardent and generous faith, justice and love of the poor, that the joy of the Gospel may reach to the ends of the earth, illuminating even the fringes of our world. Mother of the living Gospel, wellspring of happiness for God’s little ones, pray for us. Amen. Alleluia!
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Thus says the LORD: Let the nations bestir themselves and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there will I sit in judgment upon all the neighboring nations.
Apply the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; Come and tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for great is their malice.
Crowd upon crowd in the valley of decision; For near is the day of the LORD in the valley of decision.
Sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withhold their brightness.
The LORD roars from Zion, and from Jerusalem raises his voice; The heavens and the earth quake, but the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the men of Israel.
Then shall you know that I, the LORD, am your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain; Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall pass through her no more.
And then, on that day, the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk; And the channels of Judah shall flow with water: A fountain shall issue from the house of the LORD, to water the Valley of Shittim.
Egypt shall be a waste, and Edom a desert waste, Because of violence done to the people of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land.
But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.
I will avenge their blood, and not leave it unpunished. The LORD dwells in Zion.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad.
Clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the foundation of his throne. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his justice, and all peoples see his glory. Light dawns for the just; And gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just, And give thanks to his holy name.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will delight and exult in your name; I will sing hymns to your name, Most High. You rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; their name you blotted out forever and ever.
The nations are sunk in the pit they have made; in the snare they set, their foot is caught. But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has set up his throne for judgment.
He judges the world with justice; he governs the peoples with equity.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’
But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that person is worse than the first.”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
My fathers, brothers, children: in his anger the enemy endlessly attacks us but, without end, he is thrust away by the divine power (…). It is when someone makes room for him, having rejected the Holy Spirit and exposed himself to the foreigner who teaches him to say and do everything he wishes, that the latter finds his prey. So then, let us examine the properties of the two forces at work and, if you will, pay attention to what is to follow (…). Whoever possesses the Holy Spirit possesses joy, peace, long-suffering, charity. He offers words that are sweeter than honey or wax, for “it is from the overflow of the heart”, as our Lord said, “that all these things arise” (cf. Mt 12:34; Gal 5:22) and become illumination and consolation for those who receive them (…). Would you like to hear what the adversary is like? (…) What does that heart produce if not anger, resentment, insult, reproach, infidelity, animosity, hatred and self-sufficiency, indocility, argumentativeness, and disobedience. From that soul illumination, holiness and piety have truly vanished; lowliness, compunction and patience have fled; groanings, tears and lamentations have dried up (cf. Is 35:10; 51:11 LXX) (…); joy in those things that cannot be spoken or contemplated or conceived, those blessings reserved for us in the kingdom of heaven. (…) May what is detestable flee from you and what is desirable come and lead you to Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and from age to age. Amen.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Gird yourselves and weep, O priests! wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! The house of your God is deprived of offering and libation.
Proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the elders, all who dwell in the land, Into the house of the LORD, your God, and cry to the LORD!
Alas, the day! for near is the day of the LORD, and it comes as ruin from the Almighty.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming;
Yes, it is near, a day of darkness and of gloom, a day of clouds and somberness! Like dawn spreading over the mountains, a people numerous and mighty! Their like has not been from of old, nor will it be after them, even to the years of distant generations.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.
And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. He is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers. Not so, the wicked, not so; they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
