Browsing News Entries
New Jersey jury awards man $5 million for clergy sexual assault in 1976
Posted on 10/9/2025 15:14 PM (CNA Daily News)

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2025 / 11:14 am (CNA).
A jury in New Jersey has awarded a man $5 million in damages for a sexual assault that occurred at a Catholic school there nearly 50 years ago.
The Morris County jury ruled unanimously that the plaintiff, a man in his 60s identified as “T.M.,” was entitled to the damages. It held that Father Richard Lott, who at trial last month denied the allegations, was 35% liable for the assault, while the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey was found 65% liable.
The $5 million represents compensatory damages in the case. The jury will decide on Oct. 14 whether or not the Benedictine order will pay punitive damages, according to local news reports.
In a statement on Oct. 8, Headmaster Father Michael Tidd, OSB, of the Delbarton School, which is run by the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, said the institution was “extremely disappointed in the verdict.” The statement was cosigned by Administrator Abbot Jonathan Licari of St. Mary’s Abbey, which is also run by the Benedictine monks.
“While the communities of St. Mary’s Abbey and Delbarton School have genuine compassion for any victim of abuse, we do not believe that the damages awarded in this case are either fair or reasonable, and our legal representatives are considering all legal options,” the statement said.
“The alleged incident in question in this trial occurred 50 years ago, when modern safeguards did not exist at secular or religious schools or other youth-serving institutions,” the leaders said. “That fact cannot be an excuse for abuse of any kind, but it is a truth that must be reflected in the verdict.”
The historic ruling comes several years after hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits were filed against New Jersey Catholic priests and leaders.
The flood of suits came during a two-year period New Jersey provided under the 2019 Child Victims Act to allow victims who otherwise would have been barred by the state’s statute of limitation to file lawsuits.
Thirty-six lawsuits were filed against the Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey, which faced the highest number of lawsuits among the state’s religious orders.
Disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was named in 10 lawsuits. McCarrick died in April.
Earlier this year the New Jersey Supreme Court said the state government would be allowed to assemble a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse.
The Camden Diocese had been embroiled in a yearslong fight with the state over the potential grand jury empanelment, arguing that the state lacked the authority to convene an investigatory panel.
Shortly after being installed on March 17, however, Camden Bishop Joseph Williams indicated that the diocese would back away from challenging the state, vowing to “do the right thing” by abuse survivors.
Delbarton School traces its roots to the early 20th century; it officially opened in 1939.
Pope Leo XIV: News agencies have ‘crucial role’ in forming consciences, sharing the truth
Posted on 10/9/2025 14:44 PM (CNA Daily News)

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 10:44 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday said news agencies have the responsibility to uphold principles that protect a person’s right to access “accurate and balanced” information while avoiding “degrading” practices such as manipulation and “clickbait.”
In a private meeting at the Vatican with participants of the Oct. 9–10 MINDS Conference in Rome, the Holy Father expressed his desire for greater collaboration between producers and consumers of news content to create a “virtuous circle” that benefits society as a whole.
“Information is a public good that we should all protect,” Leo said. “For this reason, what is truly productive is a partnership between citizens and journalists in the service of ethical and civic responsibility.”

“Communication must be freed from the misguided thinking that corrupts it, from unfair competition, and from the degrading practice of so-called clickbait,” he added.
While encouraging people to “value and support professionals and agencies that demonstrate seriousness and true freedom in their work,” the Holy Father said media professionals should uphold the values of transparency, accountability, quality, and objectivity, to earn the trust of citizens.
During the meeting, the Holy Father also spoke of his high regard for countless journalists, particularly front-line reporters in conflict zones, who work to ensure information is not “manipulated for ends that are contrary to truth and human dignity.”
“In times such as ours, marked by widespread and violent conflicts, many have died while carrying out their duties,” he said. “They are victims of war and of the ideology of war, which seeks to prevent journalists from being there at all.”
“We must not forget them! If today we know what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, and every other land bloodied by bombs, we largely owe it to them,” he continued.
Addressing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on communications media, the Holy Father said people are not destined to live in a world where “truth is no longer distinguishable from fiction” and called for vigilance to guarantee technology and algorithms do not “replace human beings” or remain “in the hands of a few.”
“The world needs free, rigorous, and objective information,” he insisted.
“In this context, it is worth remembering Hannah Arendt’s warning that ‘the ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced communist but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist,’” he said, citing the German American philosopher’s book “The Origins of Totalitarianism.”
Urging news journalists to “never sell out your authority,” Leo XIV told those present at the morning audience that their “patient and rigorous work” can be a pillar to bring “civility” back into society.
“You can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing,” he said.
“The communications sector cannot and must not separate its work from the sharing of truth,” he added.
Pope Leo XIV commends Catholic Charities USA’s ministry to migrants, refugees
Posted on 10/9/2025 13:12 PM (CNA Daily News)

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 09:12 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV sent a letter this week commending Catholic Charities USA for being “agents of hope” to vulnerable people, especially migrants and refugees.
As migrants and refugees “are not able to rely on their own resources and have to depend on God and the goodness of others, in many ways your ministry makes the Lord’s providence concrete for them,” the pontiff wrote, addressing the 115th annual meeting of the Catholic Charities USA Network, taking place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oct. 6–9.
“Through providing food, shelter, medical care, legal assistance, and many other gestures of kindness, Catholic Charities affiliates across the United States show what Pope Francis often referred to as God’s ‘style’ of closeness, compassion, and tenderness,” he added.
Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), founded in 1910, is a network of 168 independent Catholic Charities agencies across all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories.
CCUSA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson said the network is “profoundly grateful to Pope Leo XIV for the apostolic blessing he has imparted upon the Catholic Charities network, and we are inspired and invigorated by the solidarity and encouragement he offered in his letter.”
In his letter, the pontiff said while those affected by poverty and forced migration face many challenges, “they can also be witnesses to hope not only through their trust in divine assistance but also by their resilience in often having to overcome many obstacles on their journeys.”
He also pointed out the positive influence many Catholic migrants and refugees have had on different nations, including the U.S., through their vibrant faith and popular devotions.
“It might be said that through assisting displaced persons to find their new homes in your country, you also act as bridge builders between nations, cultures, and peoples,” Leo wrote. “I encourage you, then, to continue helping the communities who receive these newly arrived brothers and sisters to be living witnesses of hope, recognizing that they have an intrinsic human dignity and are invited to participate fully in community life.”
Christians warn of marginalization in Lebanon’s expat voting debate
Posted on 10/9/2025 12:12 PM (CNA Daily News)

ACI MENA, Oct 9, 2025 / 08:12 am (CNA).
Lebanon’s diaspora has long been celebrated as the country’s greatest strength, yet when it comes to voting rights their role remains a source of division and unease.
The most recent cabinet sessions have brought the matter back into sharp focus, underscoring both the fragility of political consensus and the mistrust that continues to paralyze reform. For many Christians, the matter carries a particular weight. Behind the technical arguments lies a deeper fear: that limiting the diaspora’s voice is less about electoral procedure and more about gradually eroding their influence in Lebanon’s fragile balance of power.
Flying home, voting overseas
The right for Lebanese to vote abroad in national elections was first introduced in the 2017 electoral law. Before then, anyone living outside Lebanon had to fly home if they wanted to cast a ballot.
The new law allowed expats to vote from abroad through embassies and consulates. It also created a plan to set aside six seats in Parliament specifically for expat voters: one for each of Lebanon’s major religious communities (Maronite, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Sunni, Shiite, and Druze).
Under that plan, expats would not vote for all 128 members of Parliament (MPs) like residents do but only for six deputies chosen in newly created overseas districts divided by continent.
However, no such constituency was established. The law itself left the mechanism vague, with no clear way to implement it.
As a result, in both the 2018 and 2022 elections, Lebanese abroad voted for the full 128 members of Parliament, just like citizens inside the country. Their votes counted in their original home districts, not in a separate “expat-only” bloc.
Hezbollah pushes to limit diaspora vote
With the next elections set for 2026, there is growing pressure — led mainly by Hezbollah and its allies — to finally activate the six-seat plan and confine diaspora voters to it.
On the other side, 68 members of Parliament (MPs), representing more than half the chamber — from parties including the Lebanese Forces, Kataeb, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), independents, and others — are pushing to amend the law and make the district-based system permanent.
Yet Speaker Nabih Berri has so far refused to put their proposal on Parliament’s agenda, leaving the issue unresolved.
Two recent sessions highlighted the deadlock. On Monday, Berri refused to put the amendment on the agenda, prompting Lebanese Forces and Kataeb MPs — the country’s two main Christian parties — to walk out and break quorum. The next day’s session collapsed for the same reason, as boycotts continued.
Hezbollah and its allies have the most to lose from an empowered diaspora, and the numbers from 2022 explain why. Nearly 130,000 Lebanese abroad turned out to vote, triple the figure from 2018, and many of their ballots went to independents and reformists openly critical of Hezbollah’s role in the country.
Amal-Hezbollah’s share of the expatriate vote slid from 20% to 13%, while the Free Patriotic Movement — Hezbollah’s main Christian partner — sank from 16% to 7%.
What unsettles the establishment even more is that these voters are not detached migrants but recent emigrants who fled the financial collapse in 2019 and the Beirut port blast in 2020 — a younger electorate with little patience for the old order. With projections that up to 300,000 expats could register in 2026, Hezbollah sees the diaspora not as a distant constituency but as a looming electoral threat, one it hopes to contain through the six-seat plan.
Logistical excuses or political pretexts?
Hezbollah, for its part, does not openly admit that the push for six seats is about limiting the diaspora’s influence. Instead, its leaders frame the issue around “logistical difficulties,” challenges in monitoring voting abroad, and the risk that expatriates could face pressure.
But in an interview with ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, MP Pierre Bou Assi rejected those claims outright. “These arguments are entirely unfounded,” he said. “It is impossible to exert pressure on voters casting their ballots in privacy behind the curtain. From a logistical perspective, the process of voting for 128 MPs has already proven successful, while the feasibility of voting for only six MPs abroad is untested.”
He added that the diaspora itself has been vocal in demanding the right to vote for the full 128 seats and that support for this demand cuts across Lebanon’s political and sectarian lines.
“Undoubtedly, restricting the Christian vote to six MPs is a deliberate marginalization of Christian voices and a reduction of their political impact,” he said. “It is a weakening of true representation and a reduction of Christian participation in real political partnership and in national decision-making.”
According to the Interior Ministry’s latest voter rolls published in 2022, Christians make up about one-third of Lebanon’s electorate overall, similar to their share among residents inside the country. But among registered expatriates, Christians form a clear majority: 53.2%, compared with 20% Sunni, 20% Shiite, and 6.4% Druze.
Assi, who previously headed the Foreign Relations Department of the Lebanese Forces, stressed to ACI MENA that Lebanese abroad are not detached from their homeland. On the contrary, he said, they remain deeply attached to Lebanon and aspire to return or invest in it.
“The Lebanese abroad possess enormous resources — scientific, intellectual, financial — and their expertise spans many fields. What they ask for above all is stability. This is why, as the Lebanese Forces, we place stability as our highest priority, and the only path to that is by strengthening the state and ensuring that the monopoly over arms and the decision of war and peace rests solely in its hands.”
Assi underlined that the Christian presence and role in Lebanon is the community’s “very reason for being.” Once stability is secured, he argued, the diaspora will play a decisive role in Lebanon’s prosperity.
Young Christians abroad voice frustration
Lebanese abroad, especially Christians, are increasingly angry at the prospect of losing their full voting rights. Charbel Abi Younes, a 27-year-old political scientist who left for Australia in 2022, said he feels “excluded from the politics of my own country.” If the law confines diaspora voters to six seats, he added, he will not cast a ballot: “It would feel like my own country telling me that I am not a part of it.”
Younes described the push for restrictions as “an attempt by specific sides at consolidating power because they are aware that the immigrant vote would topple them.”
Reflecting on the wider role of the diaspora for Lebanon’s Christians, he noted: “The Christians of Lebanon have had to rely heavily on the diaspora over the past few years, be it economically through money from overseas or politically through lobbying. I hope one day the Christian community in Lebanon will be strong enough to not need anyone’s help but its own.”
This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated for and adapted by CNA.
New Catholic app hopes to ‘relight the hope of Catholic dating’
Posted on 10/9/2025 11:10 AM (CNA Daily News)

CNA Staff, Oct 9, 2025 / 07:10 am (CNA).
When Emily Wilson-Hussem began sharing “matchmaking” posts on Instagram, inviting Catholic singles to share their names and locations to connect with others, she wasn’t expecting that her lighthearted experiment would lead to 12 marriages, 20 engagements, hundreds of dating couples, and even a baby.
The Catholic speaker and digital content creator realized that young Catholics are in search of holy marriages but need help finding one another. This led her and her husband, Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app — SacredSpark.
The new matchmaking app blends technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections with the goal of creating lasting offline relationships.
“Over these years I have seen the difficulty singles [have] to connect with one another, especially of the same age, and a lot of the young single Catholics I met were having a really hard time, and so I felt like a nudge from the Lord,” Wilson-Hussem told CNA.
After seeing the immense response from young people on her matchmaking posts, yet realizing the downfalls of trying to help connect people on Instagram, the Hussems decided to create an app that was intentional and focused on the fact that each user was made in the image and likeness of God.

One of the main features of SacredSpark is its commitment to more meaningful connections between people. To foster that, all profile pictures are blurred. Photos become unblurred once both individuals match with one another. So instead of simply swiping through images of a person, users can record audio messages introducing themselves and other users can listen and determine if they believe there could be a connection.
Hussem explained that this feature was created “because we want to start meaningful connections beyond just the appearance.”
The couple also pointed out that unlike other dating apps that allow users to place filters on things like physical traits, including eye color, hair color, or even height, SacredSpark does not allow for any filters to be placed on physical qualities.
“For us, we want it to be extremely intentional about the person as a whole, not just their physical appearance,” Hussem shared. “If you’re looking at the general scope of a sacramental marriage, are those things — someone’s color of their eyes or the color of their hair or their height — I think those are more superficial things that people can get sidetracked by versus just these intentional things.”
“Our focus is on the image and likeness of God in each person you will connect with on the app. That’s a huge part of the core of what we’re doing,” Wilson-Hussem added.
The app also includes a matchmaking feature, which allows the user to invite a friend or family member to act as a matchmaker on their behalf on the app. Wilson-Hussem explained that this feature was added into the app because of the great success matchmakers had on her Instagram posts.
“A huge part of the success was a girl saying, ‘I have a brother, Jeff. He’s 31 and he lives in Wisconsin. If there are any great gals out there, I would love to connect you,’” she shared. “I would say at least half of the marriages have been from one person who put one person out there and was linking two other people and we thought, ‘Wow. A, that’s amazing because a lot of people know single Catholics, they have fun with it, but B, our singles need support. They need to feel like people are in their corner.’”
She added: “You can hire a matchmaker for thousands of dollars — a person who has to get to know you, a person who has to look at who you are on paper. The people who have known you your whole life know you best. They know what you’re looking for. So, why don’t we find a way to activate those people and support our singles?”
SacredSpark will be launched and open to the public in mid-October, but interested singles can already sign up to join the waitlist.
The Hussems said they hope the new app will “relight the hope of Catholic dating.”
“The overall mission is actually to help build up the Church one relationship at a time,” Daniël Hussem said.
“I think a big part of the cultural breakdown is the breakdown of the family, and we want SacredSpark to really be a place, down the road, where we can connect people who will build up the Church because they’ve entered into a sacramental marriage and will build up the family,” Wilson-Hussem added. “The restoration of the family is going to be a huge part of the next many years and we think SacredSpark, hopefully, will play a part in that.”
Pope Leo XIV, in his first major document, says the poor evangelize us
Posted on 10/9/2025 10:01 AM (CNA Daily News)

Vatican City, Oct 9, 2025 / 06:01 am (CNA).
In the first major document of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV writes that the poor are not only objects of charity but also evangelists who can prompt us to conversion through their example of weakness and reliance on God.
“The poor can act as silent teachers for us, making us conscious of our presumption and instilling within us a rightful spirit of humility,” Leo writes in Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”), released by the Vatican on Thursday. “The elderly, for example, by their physical frailty, remind us of our own fragility, even as we attempt to conceal it behind our apparent prosperity and outward appearance. The poor ... remind us how uncertain and empty our seemingly safe and secure lives may be.”
The pontiff quotes his predecessor throughout the document, which was first drafted during the previous pontificate and draws heavily on Pope Francis’ first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, on the joy of the Gospel. An apostolic exhortation is one of the most authoritative genres of papal teaching, typically focused on the pastoral application of doctrine.
Christ’s whole life is an example of poverty, Leo writes, and the Church, if it wants to belong to Christ, must give the poor a privileged place.
“For Christians, the poor are not a sociological category but the very ‘flesh’ of Christ,” he writes. “The Lord took on a flesh that hungers and thirsts, and experiences infirmity and imprisonment.”
Inherited from Pope Francis
Leo signed the exhortation on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who is traditionally known as “Il Poverello” (“the Little Poor Man”).
The pontiff explains at the beginning of the document that he received it as an inheritance from Pope Francis, who was working on it during the final months of his life.
“How much of this [document] is Francis, and how much of this is Leo? It’s both,” Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development, said at an Oct. 9 presentation of the document, emphasizing that the document is now part of papal magisterium.
Czerny pushed back on repeated attempts by reporters to draw political connections between the document and the United States and elsewhere.
The world is “in big trouble and part of the troubles are referred to in [Dilexi Te],” he continued. “That doesn’t mean that I can go to so-and-so and say that ‘Dilexi Te went after you.’”
The document traces the Church’s perennial teaching on the poor, drawing on the Old and New Testaments, the practice of the early Christian community, the writings of Church Fathers and doctors, the lives of the saints, the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and the magisterium of the popes since St. John XXIII.
Leo also commends the example of contemplative and active religious orders throughout history that have helped the poor with health care, food, shelter, and education.
“Every movement of renewal within the Church has always been a preferential concern for the poor. In this sense, her work with the poor differs in its inspiration and method from the work carried out by any other humanitarian organization,” he writes.
Technological progress has not eradicated poverty, which only continues to appear in diverse forms, the pope writes. He defines the poor to include the incarcerated, victims of sexual exploitation, those affected by the degradation of the environment, and immigrants.
“The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges,” he says. “And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”
Lack of material and spiritual care
Leo denounces prejudices that he says can lead Christians to neglect their duty to the poor.
“There are those who say: ‘Our task is to pray and teach sound doctrine’ [and argue] that it is the government’s job to care for [the poor], or that it would be better not to lift them out of their poverty but simply to teach them to work,” he writes.
Sometimes “pseudo-scientific data are invoked to support the claim that a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty” or that the rich can enact more effective solutions, the pope writes.
Leo condemns such views as worldly and superficial, and “devoid of any supernatural light.”
Dilexi Te also emphasizes the spiritual needs of the poor, arguing that those are more important than the material, yet often ignored by the Church.
It is not a question of “providing for welfare assistance and working to ensure social justice. Christians should also be aware of another form of inconsistency in the way they treat the poor. In reality, “the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care,’” the pope writes, quoting Pope Francis.
Leo ends his exhortation by emphasizing the duty of almsgiving, which he claims has fallen out of fashion, even among believers.
“Almsgiving, however modest, brings a touch of ‘pietas’ [‘piety’] into a society otherwise marked by the frenetic pursuit of personal gain,” he says, adding that, though it will not be the solution to poverty in the world, it will touch our hearts.
“Our love and our deepest convictions need to be continually cultivated, and we do so through our concrete actions,” he continues. “Remaining in the realm of ideas and theories, while failing to give them expression through frequent and practical acts of charity, will eventually cause even our most cherished hopes and aspirations to weaken and fade away. For this very reason, we Christians must not abandon almsgiving. It can be done in different ways, and surely more effectively, but it must continue to be done. It is always better at least to do something rather than nothing.”
This story was updated at 9:44 a.m. ET.
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Posted on 10/9/2025 08:30 AM ()
Reading 1 Malachi 3:13-20b
You have defied me in word, says the LORD,
yet you ask, "What have we spoken against you?"
You have said, "It is vain to serve God,
and what do we profit by keeping his command,
And going about in penitential dress
in awe of the LORD of hosts?
Rather must we call the proud blessed;
for indeed evildoers prosper,
and even tempt God with impunity."
Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,
and the LORD listened attentively;
And a record book was written before him
of those who fear the LORD and trust in his name.
And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,
my own special possession, on the day I take action.
And I will have compassion on them,
as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
Then you will again see the distinction
between the just and the wicked;
Between the one who serves God,
and the one who does not serve him.
For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
And the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (Ps 40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Alleluia See Acts 16:14b
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Luke 11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within,
'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.'
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?"
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and his Companions, Martyrs
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint John Leonardi, Priest
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Posted on 10/8/2025 08:30 AM ()
Reading 1 Jonah 4:1-11
Jonah was greatly displeased
and became angry that God did not carry out the evil
he threatened against Nineveh.
He prayed, "I beseech you, LORD,
is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?
This is why I fled at first to Tarshish.
I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God,
slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish.
And now, LORD, please take my life from me;
for it is better for me to die than to live."
But the LORD asked, "Have you reason to be angry?"
Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it,
where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade,
to see what would happen to the city.
And when the LORD God provided a gourd plant
that grew up over Jonah's head,
giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort,
Jonah was very happy over the plant.
But the next morning at dawn
God sent a worm that attacked the plant,
so that it withered.
And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind;
and the sun beat upon Jonah's head till he became faint.
Then Jonah asked for death, saying,
"I would be better off dead than alive."
But God said to Jonah,
"Have you reason to be angry over the plant?"
"I have reason to be angry," Jonah answered, "angry enough to die."
Then the LORD said,
"You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor
and which you did not raise;
it came up in one night and in one night it perished.
And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city,
in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons
who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left,
not to mention the many cattle?"
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10
R. (15) Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
you alone are God.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
Alleluia Romans 8:15bc
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Luke 11:1-4
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test."
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Posted on 10/7/2025 08:30 AM ()
- Readings for the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Reading 1 Jonah 3:1-10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:
"Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you."
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,
according to the LORD's bidding.
Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;
it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city,
and had gone but a single day's walk announcing,
"Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,"
when the people of Nineveh believed God;
they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small,
put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh,
he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe,
covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh,
by decree of the king and his nobles:
"Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep,
shall taste anything;
they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth
and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive,
and withhold his blazing wrath,
so that we shall not perish."
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 130:1b-2, 3-4ab, 7-8
R. (3) If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
R. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
Let Israel wait for the LORD,
For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
R. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?
Alleluia Luke 11:28
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are those who hear the word of God
and observe it.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Luke 10:38-42
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Posted on 10/6/2025 08:30 AM ()
Reading 1 Jonah 1:1–2:1-2, 11
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai:
"Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;
their wickedness has come up before me."
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.
He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,
paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,
away from the LORD.
The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,
and in the furious tempest that arose
the ship was on the point of breaking up.
Then the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god.
To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship,
and lay there fast asleep.
The captain came to him and said, "What are you doing asleep?
Rise up, call upon your God!
Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish."
Then they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots
to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune."
So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah.
"Tell us," they said, "what is your business?
Where do you come from?
What is your country, and to what people do you belong?"
Jonah answered them, "I am a Hebrew,
I worship the LORD, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the dry land."
Now the men were seized with great fear and said to him,
"How could you do such a thing!–
They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD,
because he had told them.–
They asked, "What shall we do with you,
that the sea may quiet down for us?"
For the sea was growing more and more turbulent.
Jonah said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea,
that it may quiet down for you;
since I know it is because of me
that this violent storm has come upon you."
Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not,
for the sea grew ever more turbulent.
Then they cried to the LORD: "We beseech you, O LORD,
let us not perish for taking this man's life;
do not charge us with shedding innocent blood,
for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit."
Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea,
and the sea's raging abated.
Struck with great fear of the LORD,
the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him.
But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah;
and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights.
From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed
to the LORD, his God.
Then the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon the shore.
Responsorial Psalm Jonah 2:3, 4, 5, 8
R. (cf. 7) You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Out of my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me;
From the midst of the nether world I cried for help,
and you heard my voice.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood enveloped me;
All your breakers and your billows
passed over me.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Then I said, "I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple."
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the LORD;
My prayer reached you
in your holy temple.
R. You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.
Alleluia John 13:34
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I give you a new commandment:
love one another as I have loved you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Luke 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?"
He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart,
with all your being,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."
But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied,
"A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him.
If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Bruno, Priest
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States]
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.