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.)

Solfege's Start

The article from New Advent describes the use of this hymn during today's Divine Office/Liturgy of the Hours. Wikipedia gives another brief account of its history. It is the cornerstone of sight reading and ear training for musicians.

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Ut queant laxis resonare fibris

mira gestorum famuli tuorum,

solve polluti labiis reatum,

sancte Joannes.

Nuntius celso veniens Olympo,

te patri magnum fore nasciturum,

nomen, et vitae seriem gerendae,

ordine promit.

Ille promissi dubius superni

per didit promptae modulos loquelae;

sed reformasti genitus peremptae

organa vocis.

Laudibus cives celebrant superni

te, Deus simplex pariterque trine;

supplices ac nos veniam precamur:

parce redemptis.

Ventris obstruso recubans cubili,

senseras Regem thalamo manentem:

hinc parens, nati, meritis, uterque,

abdita pandit.

Sit decus Patri, genitaeque proli

et tibi, compare utriusque virtus,

Spiritus semper, Deus unus, omni

Temporis aevo. Amen.

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For thy spirit, holy John, to chasten

Lips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen;

So by thy children might thy deeds of wonder

Meetly be chanted.

Lo! a swift herald, from the skies descending,

Bears to thy father promise of thy greatness;

How he shall name thee, what thy future story,

Duly revealing.

Scarcely believing message so transcendent,

Him for a season power of speech forsaketh,

Till, at thy wondrous birth, again returneth

Voice to the voiceless.

The heavenly citizens celebrate you

with lauds, one God and at once triune;

we also come imploring forgiveness;

spare us among the redeemed.

Thou, in thy mother's womb all darkly cradled,

Knewest thy Monarch, biding in His chamber,

Whence the two parents, through their children's merits,

Mysteries uttered.

Praise to the Father, to the Son begotten,

And to the Spirit, equal power. possessing,

One God whose glory, through the lapse of ages,

Ever resoundeth.

Amen.

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Originally posted 6/24/2024.

Re-posted 6/24/2025.

DR Squared: Solemnity Of The Nativity Of Saint John The Baptist--Mass During The Day

First Reading:  Isaiah 49:1-6

Give ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath been mindful of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow: in his quiver he hath hidden me. And he said to me: Thou art my servant Israel, for in thee will I glory. And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain: therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, that I may bring back Jacob unto him, and Israel will not be gathered together: and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. And he said: It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

R.  I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified:

V.  Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:

     Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.

     Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off:

     my path and my line thou hast searched out.

V. For thou hast possessed my reins:

     thou hast protected me from my mother's womb.

     I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified:

     wonderful are thy works,

V.  (A)nd my soul knoweth right well.

     My bone is not hidden from thee,

     which thou hast made in secret:

     and my substance in the lower parts of the earth. 

Second Reading:  Acts 13:22-26

And when he had removed him, he raised them up David to be king: to whom giving testimony, he said: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills. Of this man's seed God according to his promise, hath raised up to Israel a Saviour, Jesus:  John first preaching, before his coming, the baptism of penance to all the people of Israel. And when John was fulfilling his course, he said: I am not he, whom you think me to be: but behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men, brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fear God, to you the word of this salvation is sent.

Gospel Reading:  Luke 1:57-66, 80

Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son. And her neighbours and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had shewed his great mercy towards her, and they congratulated with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they called him by his father's name Zachary. And his mother answering, said: Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And demanding a writing table, he wrote, saying: John is his name. And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came upon all their neighbours; and all these things were noised abroad over all the hill country of Judea. And all they that had heard them laid them up in their heart, saying: What an one, think ye, shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. And the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

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Originally posted 6/24/2025.

DR Squared: Solemnity Of the Nativity Of Saint John The Baptist--Vigil

First Reading:  Jeremiah 1:4-10

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:  Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth:  Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root up, and pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 71 (70):6b; V. 1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab and 17

R.  (F)rom my mother's womb thou art my protector.

V.  In thee, O Lord, I have hoped,

     let me never be put to confusion:

     Deliver me in thy justice, and rescue me.

     Incline thy ear unto me, and save me.

V.  Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength:

     that thou mayst make me safe.

     For thou art my firmament and my refuge.

     Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner,

V.  For thou art my patience, O Lord:

     my hope, O Lord, from my youth;

     By thee have I been confirmed from the womb:

     from my mother's womb thou art my protector.

V.  My mouth shall shew forth thy justice;

     thy salvation all the day long.

     Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth:

     and till now I will declare thy wonderful works. 

Second Reading:  1 Peter 1:8-12

Whom having not seen, you love: in whom also now, though you see him not, you believe: and believing shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified; Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and diligently searched, who prophesied of the grace to come in you. Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them did signify: when it foretold those sufferings that are in Christ, and the glories that should follow: To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you they ministered those things which are now declared to you by them that have preached the gospel to you, the Holy Ghost being sent down from heaven, on whom the angels desire to look.

Gospel Reading:  Luke 1:5-17

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course of Abia; and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elizabeth. And they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blame. And they had no son, for that Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well advanced in years. And it came to pass, when he executed the priestly function in the order of his course before God, According to the custom of the priestly office, it was his lot to offer incense, going into the temple of the Lord. And all the multitude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zachary seeing him, was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him: Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John:  And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

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Originally posted 6/23/2025.

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

First Reading:  2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36

(A)nd was going against him, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:  Thus shall you say to Ezechias king of Juda: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. Behold thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered? And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord, And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of Israel, who sitteth upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and earth:  Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us the living God. Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed nations, and the lands of them all. And they have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the works of men's hands of wood and stone, and they destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou art the Lord the only God. And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians. This is the word, that the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it. By the way that he came, he shall return: and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David my servant's sake. And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departing went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.

Responsorial Psalm:  cf. Psalm 48 (47):9d; V. 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 10-11

R.  God hath founded it for ever.

V.  Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised

     in the city of our God,

     in his holy mountain.

     With the joy of the whole earth

V.  (I)s mount Sion founded,

     on the sides of the north, the city of the great king.

     In her houses shall God be known,

     when he shall protect her.

V.  We have received thy mercy, O God,

     in the midst of thy temple.

     According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise

     unto the ends of the earth:

     thy right hand is full of justice.  

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Give not that which is holy to dogs; neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, they tear you. All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.

DR Squared: Optional Memorial Of Saint Paulinus Of Nola, Bishop

First Reading:  2 Corinthians 8:9-15

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that being rich he became poor, for your sakes; that through his poverty you might be rich. And herein I give my advice; for this is profitable for you, who have begun not only to do, but also to be willing, a year ago. Now therefore perform ye it also in deed; that as your mind is forward to be willing, so it may be also to perform, out of that which you have. For if the will be forward, it is accepted according to that which a man hath, not according to that which he hath not. For I mean not that others should be eased, and you burthened, but by an equality. In this present time let your abundance supply their want, that their abundance also may supply your want, that there may be an equality, As it is written: He that had much, had nothing over; and he that had little, had no want.

Responsorial Psalm:  Psalm 40 (39):8a, 9a; V. 2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11

R.  Then said I, Behold I come. That I should do thy will:

V.  With expectation I have waited for the Lord,

     and he was attentive to me.

     And he put a new canticle into my mouth,

     a song to our God.

V.  Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire;

     but thou hast pierced ears for me.

     Burnt offering and sin offering thou didst not require:

     Then said I, Behold I come.

V.  In the head of the book it is written of me

     That I should do thy will: O my God, I have desired it,

     and thy law in the midst of my heart.

V.  I have declared thy justice in a great church,

     lo, I will not restrain my lips: O Lord, thou knowest it.

V.  I have not hid thy justice within my heart:

     I have declared thy truth and thy salvation.

     I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth

     from a great council.

Gospel Reading:  Luke 12:32-34

Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. Sell what you possess and give alms. Make to yourselves bags which grow not old, a treasure in heaven which faileth not: where no thief approacheth, nor moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The readings from the USCCB can be found here.