September 28, 2025 - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year (C)

 

1st Reading - Am 6:1a.4-7

    Thus says the Lord the God of hosts: “Woe to the complacent in Zion! Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches, they eat lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall! Improvising to the music of the harp, like David, they devise their own accompaniment. They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the best oils; yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph! Therefore, now they shall be the first to go into exile, and their wanton revelry shall be done away with.” 

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 146 

R –Praise the Lord, my soul!

* Blessed is he who keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. R.

* The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord raises up those who were bowed down. The Lord loves the just. The Lord protects strangers. R.

* The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. The Lord shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. R.

2nd Reading - 1 Tm 6:11-16 

    You, man of God, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment with- out stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ that the blessed and only Ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Gospel Acclamation 2 Cor 8:9

Alleluia, Alleluia. Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel - Lk 16:19-31 

    Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.

    When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his side. 

    And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’ ” 

September 21, 2025 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year (C)

 

1st Reading - Am 8:4-7

    Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land!

    “When will the new moon be over,” you ask, “that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! We will buy the lowly for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!”

    The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Never will I forget a thing they have done!” 

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 113:1-2.4-6.7-8

R –Praise the Lord who lifts up the poor.

* Praise, you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord both now and forever. R.

* High above all nations is the Lord; above the heavens is his glory. Who is like the Lord, our God, who is enthroned on high and looks upon the heavens and the earth below? R.

* He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor to seat them with princes, with the princes of his own people. R.

2nd Reading - 1 Tm2:1-8 

    Beloved, first of all, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.

    This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all.

    This was the testimony at the proper time. For this I was appointed preacher and apostle – I am speaking the truth, I am not lying – teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

    It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument. 

Gospel Acclamation - 2 Cor 8:9

Alleluia, alleluia. 
Though our Lord Jesus Christ was rich, he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel - Lk 16:1-13 

    Jesus said to his disciples: “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’

    He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ 

    And the master commend- ed that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

    For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

    I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest 

wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

    The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trust- worthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?

    No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” 

September 14, 2025 - Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross Year (C)

 

1st Reading - Nm 21:4-9

    With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

    In punishment the Lord sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.

    Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray the Lord to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.”

    Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 78 

R –Do not forget the works of the Lord! 

* Hearken, my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of old. R.

* While he slew them, they sought him and inquired after God again, remembering that God was their rock and the Most High God, their redeemer. R.

* But they flattered him with their mouths and lied to him with their tongues, though their hearts were not stead- fast toward him, nor were they faithful to his covenant. R.

* But he, being merciful, forgave their sin and destroyed them not; often he turned back his anger and let none of his wrath be roused. R.

2nd Reading - Phil 2:6-11 

    Brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God some- thing to be grasped.

    Rather, he emptied him- self, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness.

    And found human in appearance, he humbled him- self, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

    Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world. 
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel - Jn 3:13-17 

    Jesus said to Nicodemus: “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” 

September 7, 2025 - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year (C)

 

1st Reading - Wis 9:13-18

    Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty. But when things are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given Wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?

    And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight. 

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 90:3-4.5-6.12-13.14-17

R – In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge. 

* You turn man back to dust, saying, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night. R.

* You make an end of them in their sleep; the next morning they are like the changing grass, which at dawn springs up anew, but by evening wilts and fades. R.

* Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! R.

* Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days. And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands! R.

2nd Reading - Phlm 9-10.12-17 

    I, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus, urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me; but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord.

    So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me. 

Gospel Acclamation - Ps 119:135

Alleluia, alleluia.
Let your face shine upon your servant; and teach me your laws. 
Alleluia, Alleluia.

Gospel - Lk 14:25-33 

    Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “Whoever comes to me without turning one’s back on one’s father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even one’s own life, he/she cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry one’s own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

    Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’

    Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.

    In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” 

August 31, 2025 - 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

 

1st Reading - Sir 3:17-18.20.28-29 

    My child, conduct your affairs with humility and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not.

    The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise. Water quenches a flaming fire, and alms atone for sins. 

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 68:4-5.6-7.10-11

R–God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor. 

* The just rejoice and exult before God; they are glad and rejoice. Sing to God, chant praise to his name; whose name is the Lord. R.

* The father of orphans and the defender of widows is God in his holy dwelling. God gives a home to the forsaken; he leads forth prisoners to prosperity. R. 

* A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance; you restored the land when it languished. Your flock settled in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy. R.

2nd Reading - Heb 12:18-19.22-24 

    Brothers and sisters:

    You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no mes- sage be further addressed to them.

    No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless 
angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel. 

Gospel Acclamation - Mt 11:29 

Alleluia, alleluia.
“Take my yoke upon you,” says the Lord, “and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” 
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel - Lk 14:1.7-14 

    On a Sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.

    “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you, he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles him- self will be exalted.” 

    Then he said to the host who invited him, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. Blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” 

August 24, 2025 - 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

 

1st Reading - Is 66:18-21 

    Thus says the Lord: “I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them. I will spare some of them and send them to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations.

    They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the Lord in clean vessels.

    Some of these I will take as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. 

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 117:1.2

R - Go out to all the world and tell the good news.

* Praise the Lord, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples! 

* For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever. R.

2nd Reading - Heb 12:5-7.11-13

You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines. He scourges every son he acknowledges.”

Endure your trials as “discipline.” God treats you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteous- ness to those who are trained by it.

So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed. 

Gospel Acclamation - Jn 14:6 

All –Alleluia, alleluia.
“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” says the Lord; “no one comes to the Father, except through me.”
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel - Lk 13:22-30 

    Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.

Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.

After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves cast out.

And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” 

August 17, 2025 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

 

1st Reading - Jer 38:4-6.8-10

    In those days, the princes said to the king: “Jeremiah ought to be put to death; he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such things to them. He is not interested in the welfare of our people, but in their ruin.” King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your power”; for the king could do nothing with them. And so they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah, which was in the quarters of the guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the cis- tern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

    Ebed-melech, a court official, went there from the pal- ace and said to him: “My lord king, these men have been at fault in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah, casting him into the cistern. He will die of famine on the spot, for there is no more food in the city.” Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite to take three men along with him, and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he should die.

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 40:2.3.4.18

R- Lord, come to my aid! 

* I have waited, waited for the Lord, and he stooped to- ward me. R.

* The Lord heard my cry. He drew me out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud of the swamp; he set my feet upon a crag; he made firm my steps. R 

* And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. Many shall look in awe and trust in the Lord. R.

* Though I am afflicted and poor, yet the Lord thinks of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, hold not back! R.

2nd Reading - Heb 12:1-4 

    Brothers and sisters:

    Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Je- sus, the leader and perfecter of faith.

    For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. 

Gospel Acclamation - Jn 10:27 

All –Alleluia, alleluia.
“My sheep hear my voice,” says the Lord; “I know them, and they follow me.” 
Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel - Lk 12:49-53 

    Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

    Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a house- hold of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

August 10, 2025 - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

1st Reading - Wis 18:6-9 

    The night of the Passover was known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage.

    Your people awaited the salvation of the just and the destruction of their foes. For when you punished our adversaries, in this you glorified us whom you had summoned. For in secret the holy children of the good were offering sacrifice and putting into effect with one accord the divine institution. 

Responsorial Psalm - Ps 33:1.12.18-19.20-22

R–Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own! 

* Exult, you just, in the Lord; praise from the upright is fitting. Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. R.

* See, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. R.

* Our soul waits for the Lord, who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us who have put our hope in you.

2nd Reading - Heb 11:1-2.8-19

    Brothers and sisters:

    Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.

    By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the promised land as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs of the same promise; for he was look- ing forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and maker is God. By faith he received power to generate, even though he was past the normal age – and Sarah herself was sterile – for he thought that the one who had made the promise was trustworthy. So it was that there came forth from one man, himself as good as dead, descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore.

    All these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth, for those who speak thus show that they are seeking a home- land. If they had been thinking of the land from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better homeland, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

    By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready to offer his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac, descendants shall bear your name.” He reasoned that God was able to raise even from the dead, and he received Isaac back as a symbol. 

Gospel Acclamation - Mt 24:42.44

All –Alleluia, Alleluia.
Stay awake and be ready! For you do not know on what day the Son of Man will come.
Alleluia, Alleluia.

Gospel - Lk 12:32-48

    Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.

    Sell your belongings and give alms. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

    Gird your loins and light your lamps, and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. And should he come in the second or third watch and find them prepared in this way, blessed are those servants.

    Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

    Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”

    And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds do-ing so. Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property.

    But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish the servant severely, and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

    That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”