PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
Antiphon
Jer 29: 11, 12, 14
The Lord said: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction.
You will call upon me, and I will answer you,
and I will lead back your captives from every place.
Collect
Our God and Father,
who conferred upon your servant Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro
the grace of ardently seeking your greater glory
and the salvation of others,
grant through his intercession and example,
that by faithfully and joyfully performing our daily duties
and effectively assisting those around us,
we may serve you with zeal
and ever seek your glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
DAILY MASS READINGS
OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF BLESSED MIGUEL AGUSTIN PRO
Reading
Sirach 51:1-8
I give you thanks, O God of my father;
I praise you, O God my savior!
I will make known your name, refuge of my life;
you have been my helper against my adversaries.
You have saved me from death,
and kept back my body from the pit,
From the clutches of the nether world you have snatched my feet;
you have delivered me, in your great mercy
From the scourge of a slanderous tongue,
and from lips that went over to falsehood;
From the snare of those who watched for my downfall,
and from the power of those who sought my life;
From many a danger you have saved me,
from flames that hemmed me in on every side;
From the midst of unremitting fire,
from the deep belly of the nether world;
From deceiving lips and painters of lies,
from the arrows of dishonest tongues.
I was at the point of death,
my soul was nearing the depths of the nether world;
I turned every way, but there was no one to help me,
I looked for one to sustain me, but could find no one.
But then I remembered the mercies of the Lord,
his kindness through ages past;
For he saves those who take refuge in him,
and rescues them from every evil.
Responsorial Psalm
126:1bc-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed.
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall Reap Rejoicing.
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
R. Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Alleluia
Jas 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation,
for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life.
Gospel
Matthew 10:28-33
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground
without your Father's knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid;
you are worth more than many sparrows.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father."
SAINT OF THE DAY
November 23
Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro
(1891 - 1927)
“¡Viva Cristo Rey!”—Long live Christ the King!—were the last words Pro uttered before he was executed for being a Catholic priest and serving his flock.
Born into a prosperous, devout family in Guadalupe de Zacatecas, Mexico, Miguel entered the Jesuits in 1911, but three years later fled to Granada, Spain, because of religious persecution in Mexico. He was ordained in Belgium in 1925.
Father Pro immediately returned to Mexico, where he served a Church forced to go “underground.” He celebrated the Eucharist clandestinely and ministered the other sacraments to small groups of Catholics.
He and his brother Roberto were arrested on trumped-up charges of attempting to assassinate Mexico’s president. Roberto was spared, but Miguel was sentenced to face a firing squad on November 23, 1927. His funeral became a public demonstration of faith.
Miguel Pro was beatified in 1988.
OFFICE OF READINGS
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 99 (100)
Come, let us adore the Lord,
for he is our God.
Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,
and serve him with joy.
Exult as you enter his presence.
Come, let us adore the Lord,
for he is our God.
Know that the Lord is God.
He made us and we are his
– his people, the sheep of his flock.
Come, let us adore the Lord,
for he is our God.
Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,
fill his courtyards with songs.
Proclaim him and bless his name;
for the Lord is our delight.
His mercy lasts forever,
his faithfulness through all the ages.
Come, let us adore the Lord,
for he is our God.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Come, let us adore the Lord,
for he is our God.
Hymn
Eternal Father, through your Word
You gave new life to Adam’s race,
And call us now to live in light,
New creatures by your saving grace.
To you who stooped to all who sin
We render homage and give praise:
To Father, Son and Spirit blest
Whose loving gift is endless days.
Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal
Psalm 17 (18)
Thanksgiving
The word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.
The Lord’s ways are pure;
the words of the Lord are refined in the furnace;
the Lord protects all who hope in him.
For what God is there, but our Lord?
What help, but in the Lord our God?
God, who has wrapped me in his strength
and set me on the perfect path,
who has made my feet like those of the deer,
who has set me firm upon the heights,
who trains my hands for battle,
teaches my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
The word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.
Psalm 17 (18)
Lord, your right hand upheld me.
You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand holds me up;
by answering me, you give me greatness.
You have stretched the length of my stride,
my feet do not weaken.
I pursue my enemies and surround them;
I do not turn back until they are no more.
I smash them to pieces, they cannot stand,
they fall beneath my feet.
You have wrapped me round with strength for war,
and made my attackers fall under me.
You turned my enemies’ backs on me,
you destroyed those who hated me.
They cried out, but there was no-one to save them;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not hear.
I have ground them up until they are dust in the wind,
trodden them down like the mud of the street.
You have delivered me from the murmurings of the people
and placed me at the head of the nations.
A people I do not even know serves me –
at a mere rumour of my orders, they obey.
The children of strangers beg for my favor;
they hide away and tremble where they hide.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Lord, your right hand upheld me.
Psalm 17 (18)
Long life to the Lord!
Praised be the God who saves me.
The Lord lives, my blessed Helper.
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
God, you give me my revenge,
you subject peoples to my rule,
you free me from my enraged enemies.
You raise me up from those who attack me,
you snatch me from the grasp of the violent.
And so I will proclaim you among the nations, Lord,
and sing to your name.
Time and again you save your king,
you show your loving kindness to your anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Long life to the Lord!
Praised be the God who saves me.
Uncover my eyes, Lord,
– and I will consider the wonders of your Law.
First Reading
Zechariah 11:4-12:8
This is how the Lord spoke to me, ‘Pasture the sheep bred for slaughter, whose buyers kill them and go unpunished, whose sellers say of them, “Blessed be the Lord; now I am rich!” and their shepherds handle them without kindness. (For no longer am I going to show kindness to the inhabitants of the world – it is the Lord who speaks. But instead I mean to hand over every man to the next, and to his king. They shall devastate the world and I will not deliver them from their hands.)’ Then I began to pasture these sheep bred for slaughter for the sheepdealers. I took two staves: one I called Goodwill, the other Union. And so I began to pasture the sheep. I dismissed the three shepherds in one month. But I began to dislike the sheep, and they equally detested me. I then said, ‘I am going to pasture you no longer; let those that wish to die, die; let those that wish to perish, perish; and let those that are left devour each other’s flesh!’ I then took my staff, Goodwill, and broke it in half, to break the covenant the Lord had made with all the peoples. When it was broken, that day the dealers, who were watching me, realised that this had been a word of the Lord. I then said to them, ‘If you think it right, give me my wages; if not, never mind.’ And they weighed out my wages: thirty shekels of silver. But the Lord told me, ‘Throw it into the treasury, this princely sum at which they have valued me.’ Taking the thirty shekels of silver, I threw them into the Temple of the Lord, into the treasury. I then broke my second staff, Union, in half,
to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
Next, the Lord said to me, ‘Now take the gear of an incompetent shepherd. For I am now going to raise an incompetent shepherd in this country. He will not bother about the lost; he will not look for the stray; he will not heal the wounded; he will not support the weary; but he will only eat the flesh of the fat beasts and tear off their hoofs.
‘Trouble is coming to the worthless shepherd
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
and his right eye!
May his arm wither entirely,
may his eye be totally blinded!’
An oracle. The word of the Lord about Israel.
