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Young European Catholics release manifesto: ‘The revolution has begun’
Posted on 07/2/2025 20:47 PM (CNA Daily News)

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 16:47 pm (CNA).
A project conceived as a true “spiritual revolution” was presented at the Vatican on July 2, promoted by young Christians from all over Europe who, in their search for meaning, aspire to place Christ at the center of their lives and, with hope, restore the soul of the Old Continent.
The initiative began to take shape two years ago when, acting on an inspiration, Bishop Mikel Garciandía — bishop of Palencia, Spain, and former rector of St. Michael Shrine in Navarre — saw the possibility of coordinating the participation of young people in a project through the Network of St. Michael Shrines in Europe.
However, what initially appeared would end with the Jubilee of Hope in 2025 has taken on an international dimension and a broader horizon, with its sights now set on the Jubilee of Redemption in 2033, to be celebrated in Jerusalem. “Things are happening that seemed impossible a month ago,” Garciandía commented during the July 2 presentation.
With the support of the Bishops’ Subcommission for Youth and Children of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference as well as the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, the Church in Jerusalem, and, more recently, the Vatican, a new proposal has taken shape, inviting young Christians across the continent to open up a pathway to faith and hope for a new European generation.
As a result, “Rome ‘25, the Way of James ‘27, Jerusalem ‘33” is underway. It’s a project created by young people for young people, including those who do not believe but who nonetheless seek meaning in their lives. Specifically, the initiative invites Christians to encounter the Lord through pilgrimage, healing, and evangelization.
In June, the project’s promoters presented the initiative to Pope Leo XIV. “We are convinced that he supports the project,” Garciandía stated Wednesday, adding that this conviction is what led them to officially present it today at the Vatican.
Foundational to the project has been the development of a manifesto, discerned and written by thousands of young Europeans: a “living voice” of a generation “that doesn’t give up, that believes, that dreams, and above all, that loves,” as stated in the document’s presentation.
“This text didn’t originate in an office or from an institutional strategy. It is born from the wound of a generation that has suffered, that is looking for meaning, and that, even so, believes. We believe that Christ is alive, that the Church remains a home, and that Europe can rediscover its soul if it dares to listen to it,” explained Fernando Moscardó, a spokesman and one of the project’s coordinators.
‘The revolution has begun’
Speaking before the media gathered at the Holy See Press Office, the young Spaniard emphasized that “we’re not coming to engage in politics” but to “proclaim the Gospel, to joyfully raise a banner that is not ideological but profoundly spiritual and ecclesial.”
“This manifesto is an act of faith and a call to hope. It’s the voice of young people who do not want to stay on the sidelines, who do not have to say forcefully, ‘We want more’; we want Christ at the center... The revolution has begun, the Spirit is blowing,” he said.
The document will be published on the project’s official website, and all those “who feel part of it” are encouraged to sign it. In addition, all information, updates, and progress on the initiative will be shared through social media under the name J2R2033 (Journey to Redemption 2033).
Also participating in the press conference was Father Antonio Ammirati, secretary-general of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences, who reiterated his support for the initiative to accompany young people in their “search for meaning.”
The presentation included a video address by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, where the project will conclude. The cardinal said that the young people of the Church in the Holy Land “also want to be part of this beautiful project.”
After lamenting that due to the political situation and the war ravaging the region, many young people are unable to make the pilgrimage to Rome, he assured them of his prayers that “in 2033 the world will be different and there will be peace.”
The religious dimension of pilgrimage
Monsignor Graziano Borgonovo, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, explained the meaning of the word “pilgrim” and emphasized that following Christ does not mean standing still but rather “setting out on a journey” to “proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, present and alive.”
Archbishop Paolo Giulietti of Lucca, Italy, representing the Italian Bishops’ Conference, emphasized the need to restore to pilgrimage sites and routes their “religious dimension,” sometimes obscured by consumerism and tourism.
“These places were established for spiritual quests and the celebration of faith,” the Italian prelate said.
Also participating in the extensive briefing — via remote connection — was the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Francisco José Prieto Fernández, who recalled the invitation St. John Paul II extended to Europe to return to its roots: “Europe, be yourself,” the sainted pope exhorted in 1982.
The prelate highlighted the path toward the “horizon of transcendence” that this initiative presents, a “beautiful metaphor for following Christ” throughout life.
Finally, Monsignor Marco Gnavi, parish priest at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and host of the upcoming Aug. 1 event, where the manifesto will be presented in the context of the July 28 to Aug. 3 Jubilee of Youth, said he was “surprised by the enthusiasm of young people,” especially in a time of “painful changes.”
“In a desperate world, full of conflict, it is important to be oriented toward the horizon,” remarked the prelate, who envisions this event as “a waystation of prayer and joy” for young people, who will return home “having received something more,” a special grace.
This story was first publishedby ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Prominent Catholic bioethics center in Oxford, England, shuttered amid financial strain
Posted on 07/2/2025 20:17 PM (CNA Daily News)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 16:17 pm (CNA).
A prominent Catholic bioethics center in Oxford, England, has shut down after nearly 50 years due to financial constraints, according to an announcement from its director, David Albert Jones.
“It is with immense sadness we announce that staff have recently been informed of ‘the closure of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, Oxford’” Jones wrote in a statement on Anscombe’s website. “This decision has been made on financial grounds by the center’s corporate trustee, the Catholic Trust for England and Wales.”
The center said it is no longer accepting donations and will no longer respond to queries after July 31.
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is an Oxford-based research institute dedicated to serving the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland through its promotion of research on bioethics.
Bioethicists at the center have regularly engaged in global discussion on bioethics, publishing biomedical research and academic books as well as making frequent expert commentary on breaking news stories in the media, including for CNA.
Anscombe is the oldest national institute in bioethics in the British and Irish Isles, according to its website. The center takes its name from Elizabeth Anscombe, a Catholic philosopher who “taught in Oxford and Cambridge, debated with C.S. Lewis, and studied with Wittgenstein [and] was well-known for her defense of human life and for sparking the contemporary revival of virtue ethics.”
Describing the announcement as being “in sorrow but with gratitude and steadfast hope,” Jones thanked Anscombe’s donors, noting that much of its funding had been provided through “the generosity of many thousands of parishioners” across the U.K. as well as the Catholic community in Ireland.
“We would like to emphasize that, though the center is now being closed, these donations have not been wasted but have helped educate and support generations of conscientious health care professionals, clerics, and laypeople over almost 50 years,” Jones wrote. “This support has also helped prevent repeated attempts to legalize euthanasia or assisted suicide in Britain and Ireland from 1993 to the present.”
Even in instances where laws that go against Church teaching on human dignity have passed, Jones noted that “the center has maintained a witness [to] the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.”
“We give thanks to God, and to our patron St. Raphael, for all that has been done through our work,” he said.
While Anscombe will soon no longer be able to provide expert witness on bioethics, Jones encouraged people to make use of its resources made available throughout the years and to continue to “engage with the Scottish Parliament and with the House of Lords as these bodies continue to debate dangerous and ill-thought-out legislation.”
“The burning issues of our day, from IVF to genetic manipulation of humans, to end-of-life decision-making, demand an expert voice to be able to explain the key moral and ethical concerns that are at stake, and to do so in a way that is convincing in the midst of our turbulent and confused culture,” Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior bioethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA in reaction to the news.
“The Anscombe Bioethics Centre provided a much-needed voice in the midst of so many of these challenging public debates, not only in Britain but in Europe and beyond,” he continued. “We are all very grateful for the excellent work they offered. Their closing reminds us of the importance of assuring robust and ongoing support for the unique kind of ethical analysis offered by committed Catholics working together in the fields of medical ethics and bioethics.”
Vatican grants exemption from Traditional Latin Mass restrictions to Texas parish
Posted on 07/2/2025 18:51 PM (CNA Daily News)

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 2, 2025 / 14:51 pm (CNA).
The Vatican has granted a parish in Texas an exemption from restrictions to the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) imposed by Pope Francis’ decree Traditionis Custodes.
The exemption, requested by Bishop Michael Sis on Feb. 6, was granted to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas.
No other such exemption by Pope Leo XIV has been reported since the start of his pontificate.
“The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments informed me in a decree of May 28, 2025, that my request has been granted for a further two years for a dispensation from article 3§2 of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, so that Mass according to the ‘Missale Romanum’ of 1962 may be celebrated in the parish church of St. Margaret of Scotland in San Angelo,” Sis, who previously served as a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, said in a statement he shared with CNA.
“Just as before,” he added, “the granting of this dispensation is based upon an ongoing effort to promote the full appreciation and acceptance of the liturgical books renewed by decree of the Second Vatican Council and promulgated by popes St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II.”
Sis noted further that when he submitted his request for the extension to the Vatican, he did so “with a spirit of total openness to whatever is the will of God.”
He continued: “I trust the judgment of our Holy Father Pope Leo and those who assist him in his ministry of unity through the various dicasteries of the Holy See.”
The exemption was originally announced in a June 27 social media post by the diocese’s director of vocations, Father Ryan Rojo.
I’m grateful to @Pontifex and to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments for allowing the TLM to continue to exist in our parish church, extending permission for another two years. We look forward to shepherding them to heaven with love and care. pic.twitter.com/NBKUU0TRY4
— Fr. Ryan Rojo 🇺🇸🇻🇦🇲🇽 (@FrRyanRojo) June 27, 2025
“I’m grateful to @Pontifex and to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments for allowing the TLM to continue to exist in our parish church, extending permission for another two years,” Rojo wrote in the June 27 post.
St. Margaret’s pastor, Father Freddy Perez, told CNA: “Now that we have the permission, the attitude is one of relief; I saw a lot of relief this past weekend.” Although the Vatican’s approval was dated May 28, Perez said he did not receive notification of the approval from his bishop until last week.
Perez revealed that the letter from the Vatican praised St. Margaret’s for the steps it took to follow the Holy Father’s motu proprio. The Vatican “commended our efforts and our ‘pastoral concern to instill a clear appreciation for the Church as unique, lex orandi,’” Perez told CNA, adding: “That’s a direct quote from the letter we were sent.”
Though the pastor noted some negativity from parishioners about having to ask permission to celebrate the TLM, his approach is to explain that “this is where the Church is right now, and is where we have to be obedient.”
Beyond the two-year extension, Perez said, “my hopes are just to continue to bring a positive experience of the liturgy to all of my people, to try to bring them into the Gospel, into the teachings of the Church, as we’re taught, and to try to teach them that the Mass gets us ready for heaven.”
Though the parish experienced uncertainty over whether it would be allowed to continue celebrating the TLM, Perez said the advice of Auxiliary Bishop Mario Avilés helped guide him. “The advice he gave me was very simple,” the pastor recalled. “He said: ‘Just be obedient, son.”
“And I think just putting my eyes on the Lord has satisfied everything that I wouldn’t be able to do through my own spirit of protest or my spirit of just being angry about not getting my way, by conforming my will to the will of Our Lord,” Perez reflected. “We’re in this world temporarily, and at the end of the day, we are asked to be faithful to Our Lord Jesus Christ and his holy mother Church.”
According to Perez, St. Margaret’s has been offering the TLM for just over five years, currently on Sunday afternoons and Thursday mornings.
The TLM community, he said, consists mostly of young families as well as curious people who are interested in experiencing the liturgy. The small parish consists of about 200 families, he said, noting that attendance at the TLM is usually on the larger side for the parish, with about 140 to 200 people each week.
News of St. Margaret’s exemption comes after the Archdiocese of Detroit announced earlier this month that non-parish churches in the archdiocese will be allowed to continue celebrating the TLM despite an earlier statement saying that most of the TLM celebrated in the area would be suspended.
The archdiocese reported that permissions given to parish church priests to carry out the TLM would expire and they could not be renewed, but Detroit Archbishop Edward Weisenburger said he would recognize at least four non-parish locations in the archdiocese where the TLM could still be celebrated.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, a champion of the traditional liturgy, has said he asked Pope Leo to remove measures restricting the celebration of TLM, stating at a conference in London recently: “It is my hope that he will, as soon as is reasonably possible, take up the study of this question.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the decree Traditionis Custodes as an encyclical. It is a motu proprio, a type of papal decree. (Published July 3, 2025)
Pope Leo XIV appoints Texan bishop to shepherd the Diocese of Austin
Posted on 07/2/2025 17:49 PM (CNA Daily News)

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 13:49 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Daniel Garcia of Monterey, California, as the sixth bishop of Austin, Texas.
After leading the Diocese of Monterey for more than six years since 2018, Garcia, 64, has returned to his home state of Texas to serve the Austin Diocese as its leader.
At a July 2 press conference held by the Diocese of Austin, Garcia gave thanks to God for the local Church, which he described as “diverse in ethnicity, race, language, and way of life.”
“I was ordained a priest for this local Church in May of 1988,” he said on Wednesday. “It is filled with people of so many great gifts and talents and it is my hope to reacquaint myself with all of you whom I have known and get to know you whom I have not yet met.”
During his address given in English and in Spanish, the bishop emphasized that the Church and civil society cannot forget the “poor, the weak, and those who live on the margins” in its policies and practices.
The bishop, who is also a board member of Catholic Relief Services, quoted St. Vincent de Paul during his speech, saying: “It will be the poor who will be our entrance into heaven.”
Garcia, who celebrated the 10th anniversary of his episcopal consecration in January, was previously made auxiliary bishop of Austin and titular bishop of Capso by Pope Francis in 2015 before heading to Monterey.
Before becoming an auxiliary bishop for Austin, Garcia was parish vicar of St. Catherine of Siena there from 1988 to 1990, Cristo Rey from 1990 to 1991, St. Louis from 1991 to 1992, and St. Mary Magdalene from 1992 to 1995. Between 1995 and 2014, he was a parish priest at St. Vincent de Paul.
He is currently part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ subcommittee on divine worship in Spanish.
While attending St. Mary’s Seminary in the 1980s, Garcia obtained a liberal arts degree and a master’s degree in divinity from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He was awarded a master’s degree in liturgy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, in 2007.
Pope Leo XIV: Environment should not be a ‘bargaining chip’ to wield power, exploit poor
Posted on 07/2/2025 16:35 PM (CNA Daily News)

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2025 / 12:35 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV declared that nature should not be a “bargaining chip” in his message announcing the theme “Seeds of Peace and Hope” for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, set for Sept. 1.
Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, released 10 years ago, the Holy Father said the “Bible provides no justification for us to exercise ‘tyranny over creation’” and should therefore not be exploited.
“Nature itself is reduced at times to a bargaining chip, a commodity to be bartered for economic or political gain,” Leo said. “As a result, God’s creation turns into a battleground for the control of vital resources.”
The pope said poor nations, marginalized societies, and Indigenous communities are destabilized and penalized as a result of conflicts over water and natural resources as well as the destruction of forests and agricultural areas.
“These various wounds are the effect of sin,” he added. “This is surely not what God had in mind when he entrusted the earth to the men and women whom he created in his image.”
In his July 2 message, the pope said three things are necessary for genuine environmental justice: prayer, determination, and concrete actions.
Leo invited Catholics to prayerfully consider the significance of seeds as a metaphor of coming of the kingdom of God in Scripture, saying: “Jesus often used the image of the seed.”
“In Christ, we too are seeds, and indeed, ‘seeds of peace and hope,’” he said. “The prophet Isaiah tells us that the Spirit of God can make an arid and parched desert into a garden, a place of rest and serenity.”
Insisting that environmental justice is not an “abstract concept” or a “distant goal,” the Holy Father said “now is the time to follow words with deeds” in his message dedicated to the care of creation.
“By working with love and perseverance, we can sow many seeds of justice and thus contribute to the growth of peace and the renewal of hope,” he said.
This year, Pope Leo has twice visited sites linked to the Holy See’s integral ecology projects outside of Rome. In addition to visiting the Borgo Laudato Si’ project at Castel Gandolfo in May, he toured the proposed Vatican solar energy project site in Santa Maria di Galeria in June.
The Holy Father praised these initiatives, which serve as examples of “how people can live, work, and build community by applying the principles of the encyclical Laudato Si’.”
“I pray that Almighty God will send us in abundance his ‘Spirit from on high,’ so that these seeds, and others like them, may bring forth an abundant harvest of peace and hope,” the pope said.
Diocese of Fresno officially files for bankruptcy amid more than 150 abuse claims
Posted on 07/2/2025 15:17 PM (CNA Daily News)

CNA Staff, Jul 2, 2025 / 11:17 am (CNA).
The Diocese of Fresno in California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, seeking to address more than 150 abuse claims filed there in what Bishop Joseph Brennan said was part of a “journey of conversion through contrition.”
Brennan announced the filing via a video message on Tuesday. The bishop’s message comes more than a year after he announced, in May 2024, that the diocese would seek the bankruptcy filing.
The prelate said the filing was “the only path that will allow us to handle claims of sexual abuse with compassion that is fair and equitable while simultaneously ensuring the continuation of ministry within our diocese.”
As with other dioceses in California and the U.S., the Fresno Diocese is facing a large number of allegations of clergy abuse. Brennan said last year that plaintiffs had lodged 154 sex abuse complaints against the Church there.
Those filings were made under a California law that temporarily relaxed the statute of limitations on sex abuse claims, allowing alleged victims a three-year window from 2019 to 2022 to file the complaints.
Brennan said the Fresno bankruptcy process will include allocating diocesan assets to “satisfy the claims against the diocese.” He added that a fund will also be established to pay abuse claims.
“Our Church must address the suffering that victims of clergy sexual abuse have endured,” he said.
“We know the sin. It will always be before us,” he continued. “Now that we have entered a journey of conversion through contrition and acknowledgement of the victims’ suffering, we must enter a path of reconciliation, which includes resolving the victims’ claims.”
The bishop urged the faithful to pray for abuse victims during the bankruptcy process.
In the bankruptcy petition, filed in U.S. bankruptcy court for the eastern district of California, Brennan authorized diocesan Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Martin and Vicar General Father Salvador Gonzalez to represent the diocese in the proceedings.
The bishop listed the diocese’s assets as between $50 million and $100 million, with between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors.
Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Posted on 07/2/2025 08:30 AM ()
Reading 1 Genesis 21:5, 8-20a
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Isaac grew, and on the day of the child's weaning
Abraham held a great feast.
Sarah noticed the son whom Hagar the Egyptian
had borne to Abraham
playing with her son Isaac;
so she demanded of Abraham:
"Drive out that slave and her son!
No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance
with my son Isaac!"
Abraham was greatly distressed,
especially on account of his son Ishmael.
But God said to Abraham: "Do not be distressed about the boy
or about your slave woman.
Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you;
for it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name.
As for the son of the slave woman,
I will make a great nation of him also,
since he too is your offspring."
Early the next morning Abraham got some bread and a skin of water
and gave them to Hagar.
Then, placing the child on her back, he sent her away.
As she roamed aimlessly in the wilderness of Beer-sheba,
the water in the skin was used up.
So she put the child down under a shrub,
and then went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away;
for she said to herself, "Let me not watch to see the child die."
As she sat opposite Ishmael, he began to cry.
God heard the boy's cry,
and God's messenger called to Hagar from heaven:
"What is the matter, Hagar?
Don't be afraid; God has heard the boy's cry in this plight of his.
Arise, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand;
for I will make of him a great nation."
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.
She went and filled the skin with water, and then let the boy drink.
God was with the boy as he grew up.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 34:7-8, 10-11, 12-13
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Fear the LORD, you his holy ones,
for nought is lacking to those who fear him.
The great grow poor and hungry;
but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Come, children, hear me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
Which of you desires life,
and takes delight in prosperous days?
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Alleluia James 1:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 8:28-34
When Jesus came to the territory of the Gadarenes,
two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him.
They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.
They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God?
Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?"
Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.
The demons pleaded with him,
"If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine."
And he said to them, "Go then!"
They came out and entered the swine,
and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
The swineherds ran away,
and when they came to the town they reported everything,
including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus,
and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
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.
Tuesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Posted on 07/1/2025 08:30 AM ()
Reading 1 Genesis 19:15-29
As dawn was breaking, the angels urged Lot on, saying, "On your way!
Take with you your wife and your two daughters who are here,
or you will be swept away in the punishment of Sodom."
When he hesitated, the men, by the LORD's mercy,
seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters
and led them to safety outside the city.
As soon as they had been brought outside, he was told:
"Flee for your life!
Don't look back or stop anywhere on the Plain.
Get off to the hills at once, or you will be swept away."
"Oh, no, my lord!" Lot replied,
"You have already thought enough of your servant
to do me the great kindness of intervening to save my life.
But I cannot flee to the hills to keep the disaster from overtaking me,
and so I shall die.
Look, this town ahead is near enough to escape to.
It's only a small place.
Let me flee there–it's a small place, is it not?–
that my life may be saved."
"Well, then," he replied,
"I will also grant you the favor you now ask.
I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
Hurry, escape there!
I cannot do anything until you arrive there."
That is why the town is called Zoar.
The sun was just rising over the earth as Lot arrived in Zoar;
at the same time the LORD rained down sulphurous fire
upon Sodom and Gomorrah
from the LORD out of heaven.
He overthrew those cities and the whole Plain,
together with the inhabitants of the cities
and the produce of the soil.
But Lot's wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
Early the next morning Abraham went to the place
where he had stood in the LORD's presence.
As he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah
and the whole region of the Plain,
he saw dense smoke over the land rising like fumes from a furnace.
Thus it came to pass: when God destroyed the Cities of the Plain,
he was mindful of Abraham by sending Lot away from the upheaval
by which God overthrew the cities where Lot had been living.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 26:2-3, 9-10, 11-12
R.(3a) O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
Search me, O LORD, and try me;
test my soul and my heart.
For your mercy is before my eyes,
and I walk in your truth.
R. O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
Gather not my soul with those of sinners,
nor with men of blood my life.
On their hands are crimes,
and their right hands are full of bribes.
R. O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
But I walk in integrity;
redeem me, and have mercy on me.
My foot stands on level ground;
in the assemblies I will bless the LORD.
R. O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.
Alleluia Psalm 130:5
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 8:23-27
As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.
Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea,
so that the boat was being swamped by waves;
but he was asleep.
They came and woke him, saying,
"Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
He said to them, "Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?"
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.
The men were amazed and said, "What sort of man is this,
whom even the winds and the sea obey?"
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Junipero Serra, Priest [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.
Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Posted on 06/30/2025 08:30 AM ()
Reading 1 Genesis 18:16-33
Abraham and the men who had visited him by the Terebinth of Mamre
set out from there and looked down toward Sodom;
Abraham was walking with them, to see them on their way.
The LORD reflected: "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
now that he is to become a great and populous nation,
and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him?
Indeed, I have singled him out
that he may direct his children and his household after him
to keep the way of the LORD
by doing what is right and just,
so that the LORD may carry into effect for Abraham
the promises he made about him."
Then the LORD said:
"The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great,
and their sin so grave,
that I must go down and see whether or not their actions
fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me.
I mean to find out."
While the two men walked on farther toward Sodom,
the LORD remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer to him and said:
"Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it
for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?
Far be it from you to do such a thing,
to make the innocent die with the guilty,
so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike!
Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?"
The LORD replied,
"If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,
I will spare the whole place for their sake."
Abraham spoke up again:
"See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord,
though I am but dust and ashes!
What if there are five less than fifty innocent people?
Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?"
He answered, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."
But Abraham persisted, saying, "What if only forty are found there?"
He replied, "I will forbear doing it for the sake of forty."
Then Abraham said, "Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.
What if only thirty are found there?"
He replied, "I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there."
Still Abraham went on,
"Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord,
what if there are no more than twenty?"
He answered, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty."
But he still persisted:
"Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time.
What if there are at least ten there?"
He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it."
The LORD departed as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham,
and Abraham returned home.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 103:1b-2, 3-4, 8-9, 10-11
R. (8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Alleluia Psalm 95:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 8:18-22
When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
“Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of the First Holy Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church
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.
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Posted on 06/29/2025 08:30 AM ()
- Readings for the Vigil
- Readings for the Mass during the Day
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.