DR Squared: Optional Memorial Of The First Holy Martyrs Of The Holy Roman Church

First Reading:  Romans 8:31b-39

If God be for us, who is against us? He that spared not even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath he not also, with him, given us all things? Who shall accuse against the elect of God? God that justifieth. Who is he that shall condemn? Christ Jesus that died, yea that is risen also again; who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword (As it is written: For thy sake we are put to death all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.) But in all these things we overcome, because of him that hath loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 124 (123):7a; V. 2-3, 4-5, 7b-8

R.  Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers.

V.  If it had not been that the Lord was with us,

     When men rose up against us,

     Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive.

     When their fury was enkindled against us,

V.  Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.

     Our soul hath passed through a torrent:

     perhaps our soul had passed through

     a water insupportable.

V.  The snare is broken,

     and we are delivered.

     Our help is in the name of the Lord,

     who made heaven and earth.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 24:4-13

And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you:  For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many. And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places:  Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

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Originally posted 6/30/2025.

DR Squared: Tuesday Of The Thirteenth Week In Ordinary Time (Year II)

First Reading:  Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12

Hear the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O ye children of Israel: concerning the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:  You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities. Shall two walk together except they be agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest, if he have no prey? will the lion's whelp cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? Will the bird fall into the snare upon the earth, if there be no fowler? Shall the snare be taken up from the earth, before it hath taken somewhat? Shall the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord hath not done? For the Lord God doth nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion shall roar, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who shall not prophesy?  destroyed some of you, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet you returned not to me, saith the Lord. Therefore I will do these things to thee, O Israel: and after I shall have done these things to thee, be prepared to meet thy God, O Israel.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 5:9a; V. 4b-6a, 6b-7, 8

R.  Conduct me, O Lord, in thy justice:

V.  O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice.

     In the morning I will stand before thee, and will see:

     because thou art not a God that willest iniquity.

     Neither shall the wicked dwell near thee:

V.  (N)or shall the unjust abide before thy eyes.

     Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity:

     Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie.

     The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor.

V.  But as for me in the multitude of thy mercy,

     I will come into thy house;

     I will worship towards thy holy temple,

     in thy fear.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 8:23-27

And when he entered into the boat, his disciples followed him:  And behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves, but he was asleep. And they came to him, and awaked him, saying: Lord, save us, we perish. And Jesus saith to them: Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds, and the sea, and there came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying: What manner of man is this, for the winds and the sea obey him?

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

DR Squared: Solemnity Of Saints Peter And Paul, Apostles--Mass During The Day

First Reading:  Acts 12:1-11

And at the same time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to afflict some of the church. And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter also. Now it was in the days of the Azymes. And when he had apprehended him, he cast him into prison, delivering him to four files of soldiers to be kept, intending, after the pasch, to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison. But prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him: and a light shined in the room: and he striking Peter on the side, raised him up, saying: Arise quickly. And the chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said to him: Gird thyself, and put on thy sandals. And he did so. And he said to him: Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And going out, he followed him, and he knew not that it was true which was done by the angel: but thought he saw a vision. And passing through the first and the second ward, they came to the iron gate that leadeth to the city, which of itself opened to them. And going out, they passed on through one street: and immediately the angel departed from him. And Peter coming to himself, said: Now I know in very deed, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 34 (33):5b; V. 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R.  (H)e delivered me from all my troubles.

V.  I will bless the Lord at all times,

     his praise shall be always in my mouth.

     In the Lord shall my soul be praised:

     let the meek hear and rejoice.

V.  O magnify the Lord with me;

     and let us extol his name together.

     I sought the Lord, and he heard me;

     and he delivered me from all my troubles.

V.  Come ye to him and be enlightened:

     and your faces shall not be confounded.

     This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him:

     and saved him out of all his troubles.

V.  The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him:

     and shall deliver them.

     O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet:

     blessed is the man that hopeth in him. 

Second Reading:  2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18

For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord the just judge will render to me in that day: and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming. Make haste to come to me quickly. But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that by me the preaching may be accomplished, and that all the Gentiles may hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. The Lord hath delivered me from every evil work: and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 16:13-19

And Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

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Originally posted 6/29/2025.

DR Squared: Solemnity Of Saints Peter And Paul, Apostles--Vigil

First Reading:  Acts 3:1-10

Now Peter and John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of prayer. And a certain man who was lame from his mother's womb, was carried: whom they laid every day at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, that he might ask alms of them that went into the temple. He, when he had seen Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked to receive an alms. But Peter with John fastening his eyes upon him, said: Look upon us. But he looked earnestly upon them, hoping that he should receive something of them.

But Peter said: Silver and gold I have none; but what I have, I give thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise, and walk. And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up, and forthwith his feet and soles received strength. And he leaping up, stood, and walked, and went in with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. And they knew him, that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19 (18):5a; V. 2-3, 4-5

R.  Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth:

V.  The heavens shew forth the glory of God,

     and the firmament declareth the work of his hands.

     Day to day uttereth speech,

     and night to night sheweth knowledge.

V.  There are no speeches nor languages,

     where their voices are not heard.

     Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth:

     and their words unto the ends of the world.

Second Reading:  Galatians 1:11-20

For I give you to understand, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For neither did I receive it of man, nor did I learn it; but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion: how that, beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it. And I made progress in the Jews' religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased him, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, immediately I condescended not to flesh and blood. Neither went I to Jerusalem, to the apostles who were before me: but I went into Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went to Jerusalem, to see Peter, and I tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles I saw none, saving James the brother of the Lord. Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not.

Gospel Reading:  John 21:15-19

When therefore they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith to him: Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith to him: Feed my lambs. He said to him the third time: Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he had said to him the third time: Lovest thou me? And he said to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: thou knowest that I love thee. He said to him: Feed my sheep. Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he saith to him: Follow me.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

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Originally posted 6/28/2025.

DR Squared: Thirteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time (Year A)

First Reading:  2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a

And there was a day when Eliseus passed by Sunam: now there was a great woman there, who detained him to eat bread; and as he passed often that way, he turned into her house to eat bread. And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who often passeth by us. Let us therefore make him a little chamber, and put a little bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when he cometh to us, he may abide there. Now there was a certain day when he came and turned in to the chamber, and rested there. And he said: What will she then that I do for her? And Giezi said: Do not ask, for she hath no son, and her husband is old. Then he bid him call her: And when she was called, and stood before the door. He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life accompany, thou shalt have a son in thy womb.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 89 (88):2a; V. 2-3, 16-17, 18-19

R.  The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever.

V.  The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever.

     I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.

     For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens:

     thy truth shall be prepared in them.

V.  Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation.

     They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance:

     And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day,

     and in thy justice they shall be exalted.

V.  For thou art the glory of their strength:

     and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted.

     For our protection is of the Lord,

     and of our king the holy one of Israel.

Second Reading:  Romans 6:3-4, 8-11

Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ:  Knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God:  So do you also reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 10:37-42

He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it. He that receiveth you, receiveth me: and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive the reward of a prophet: and he that receiveth a just man in the name of a just man, shall receive the reward of a just man. And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

DR Squared: Optional Memorial Of Saint Cyril Of Alexandria, Bishop And Doctor Of The Church

First Reading:  2 Timothy 4:1-5

I charge thee, before God and Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead, by his coming, and his kingdom:  Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine. For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears:  And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables. But be thou vigilant, labour in all things, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill thy ministry.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 89 (88):2; V. 2-3, 4-5, 21-22, 25 and 27

R.  The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever.

V.  The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever.

     I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.

     For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens:

     thy truth shall be prepared in them.

V.  I have made a covenant with my elect:

     I have sworn to David my servant:

     Thy seed will I settle for ever.

     And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation.

V.  I have found David my servant:

     with my holy oil I have anointed him.

     For my hand shall help him:

     and my arm shall strengthen him.

V.  And my truth and my mercy shall be with him:

     and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

     He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father:

     my God, and the support of my salvation.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 5:13-19

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here 

DR Squared: Saturday Of The Twelfth Week In Ordinary Time (Year II)

First Reading:  Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19

The Lord hath cast down headlong, and hath not spared, all that was beautiful in Jacob: he hath destroyed in his wrath the strong holds of the virgin of Juda, and brought them down to the ground: he hath made the kingdom unclean, and the princes thereof. The ancients of the daughter of Sion sit upon the ground, they have held their peace: they have sprinkled their heads with dust, they are girded with haircloth, the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. My eyes have failed with weeping, my bowels are troubled: my liver is poured out upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people, when the children, and the sucklings, fainted away in the streets of the city.  They said to their mothers: Where is corn and wine? when they fainted away as the wounded in the streets of the city: when they breathed out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers. To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? to what shall I equal thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Sion? for great as the sea is thy destruction: who shall heal thee? Thy prophets have seen false and foolish things for thee: and they have not laid open thy iniquity, to excite thee to penance: but they have seen for thee false revelations and banishments. Their heart cried to the Lord upon the walls of the daughter of Sion: Let tears run down like a torrent day and night: give thyself no rest, and let not the apple of thy eye cease. Arise, give praise in the night, in the beginning of the watches: pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands to him for the life of thy little children, that have fainted for hunger at the top of all the streets.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 74:1b-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21

R.  (A)nd forget not to the end the souls of thy poor.

V.  O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end:

     why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?

     Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. 

     The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed:

     mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt.

V.  Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end;

     see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

     And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity.

     They have set up their ensigns for signs,

     And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees,

V.  They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down.

     They have set fire to thy sanctuary:

     they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth.

V.  Have regard to thy covenant:

     for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity.

     Let not the humble be turned away with confusion:

     the poor and needy shall praise thy name.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 8:5-17

And when he had entered into Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grieviously tormented. And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal him. And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven:  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour. And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying, and sick of a fever:  And he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and ministered to them. And when evening was come, they brought to him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word: and all that were sick he healed:  That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet Isaias, saying: He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

DR Squared: Friday Of The Twelfth Week In Ordinary Time (Year II)

First Reading:  2 Kings 25:1-12

And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came, he and all his army against Jerusalem: and they surrounded it: and raised works round about it. And the city was shut up and besieged till the eleventh year of king Sedecias, The ninth day of the month: and a famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And a breach was made into the city: and all the men of war fled in the night between the two walls by the king's garden, (now the Chaldees besieged the city round about,) and Sedecias fled by the way that leadeth to the plains of the wilderness. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all the warriors that were with him were scattered, and left him:  So they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon to Reblatha, and he gave judgment upon him. And he slew the sons of Sedecias before his face, and he put out his eyes, and bound him with chains, and brought him to Babylon. In the fifth month, the seventh day of the month, that is, the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, came Nabuzardan commander of the army, a servant of the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and the houses of Jerusalem, and every house he burnt with fire. And all the army of the Chaldees, which was with the commander of the troops, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. And Nabuzardan the commander of the army, carried away the rest of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the common people. But of the poor of the land he left some dressers of vines and husbandmen.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 137 (136):6ab; V. 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

R.  Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee:

V.  Upon the rivers of Babylon,

     there we sat and wept:

     when we remembered Sion:

     On the willows in the midst thereof

     we hung up our instruments.

V.  For there they that led us into captivity required of us

     the words of songs.

     And they that carried us away, said:

     Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.

V.  How shall we sing the song of the Lord

     in a strange land?

     If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,

     let my right hand be forgotten.

V.  Let my tongue cleave to my jaws,

     if I do not remember thee:

     If I make not Jerusalem

     the beginning of my joy.

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 8:1-4

And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him:  And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith to him: See thou tell no man: but go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

DR Squared: Thursday Of The Twelfth Week In Ordinary Time (Year II)

First Reading:  2 Kings 24:8-17

Joachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Nohesta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his father had done. At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was surrounded with their forts. And Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came to the city with his servants to assault it. And Joachin king of Juda went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his nobles, and his eunuchs: and the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign. And he brought out from thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house: and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the valiant men of the army, to the number of ten thousand into captivity: and every artificer and smith: and none were left, but the poor sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Joachin into Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his eunuchs: and the judges of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem into Babylon. And all the strong men, seven thousand, and the artificers, and the smiths a thousand, all that were valiant men and fit for war: and the king of Babylon led them captives into Babylon. And he appointed Matthanias his uncle in his stead: and called his name Sedecias.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 79 (78):9b; V. 1b-2, 3-5, 8, 9

R.  (A)nd for the glory of thy name, O Lord, deliver us:

V.  O God, the heathens are come into thy inheritance,

     they have defiled thy holy temple:

     they have made Jerusalem as a place to keep fruit.

     They have given the dead bodies of thy servants

     to be meat for the fowls of the air:

     the flesh of thy saints for the beasts of the earth.

V.  They have poured out their blood as water,

     round about Jerusalem

     and there was none to bury them.

     We are become a reproach to our neighbours:

     a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

     How long, O Lord, wilt thou be angry for ever:

     shall thy zeal be kindled like a fire?

V.  Remember not our former iniquities:

     let thy mercies speedily prevent us,

     for we are become exceeding poor.

V.  Help us, O God, our saviour:

     and for the glory of thy name, O Lord, deliver us:

     and forgive us our sins

     for thy name's sake:

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 7:21-29

Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity. Every one therefore that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock. And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand, And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof. And it came to pass when Jesus had fully ended these words, the people were in admiration at his doctrine. For he was teaching them as one having power, and not as the scribes and Pharisees.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

May & June 2026 Morning Offering Prayer Intentions

Here was the intention for last month when praying the Morning Offering:

That everyone might have food. Let us pray that everyone, from large producers to small consumers, be committed to avoid wasting food, and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food.

A link is provided for further reflection.

Here is the intention for this month when praying the Morning Offering:

For the values of sports. Let us pray that sports be an instrument of peace, of encounter, and lead to dialogue among cultures and nations so that they promote values such as respect, solidarity, and personal growth.

A link is provided for further reflection.

(I have no excuse for being this late with both. I am sorry.)