Saturday of the First Week of Advent
Reading 1 Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.
He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (see Isaiah 30:18d) Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Great is our LORD and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
Alleluia Isaiah 33:22
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The LORD is our Judge, our Lawgiver, our King;
he it is who will save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."
Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."
- Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Nicholas, Bishop
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.
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord.
Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days
Saturday, August 9 (today) // Optional Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (also known as Saint Edith Stein)
Sunday, August 10 // Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Monday, August 11// Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin
Tuesday, August 12 // Optional Memorial of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious
Wednesday, August 13 // Optional Memorial of Saint Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and Saint Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr
Thursday August 14 // Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
Friday, August 15 // Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Letter from the Editor //
Dear Sister,
On this Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, we pray along with the psalmist a prayer that is in the hearts of all people of faith: “Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20). But we know from experience that it is hard to wait, and that waiting well is even harder. We see this in the parable Jesus gives in this Sunday’s Gospel about the servants waiting for the return of their master. Jesus tells us that our waiting is not something we do idly, but that we “also must be prepared” (Luke 12:40). The book of Wisdom tells us about the Israelites who waited for deliverance in Egypt, how they had faith in the Lord on the night of Passover, a night which prefigured Christ’s offering as the Lamb of God.
In another prefiguring of Christ, Hebrews tells us that “by faith Abraham obeyed” and was ready to sacrifice his son, and because he acted in faith he received back what he offered to the Lord. Like Abraham and his descendants, we will one day die “in faith,” having received some of the resurrection life we hope in and that we have been promised—but in this vale of tears we only “[see] and [greet] it from afar” (Hebrews 11:13). So, we must live as people of faith, realizing what is hoped for, believing what is not seen—always ready for the coming of the Lord by keeping close to Him through prayer and by receiving the Sacraments. And when the Lord calls us to Himself, He will find us “vigilant” (Luke 12:37).
In Christ’s Love,
Susanna
Read the Readings for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time:
First Reading // Wisdom 18:6-9
Psalm // Psalm 33:1, 12, 18-19, 20-22
Second Reading // Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19
Gospel // Luke 12:32-48
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Devotions Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer and editor and a teacher-in-training living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew , Listen to Him: A Meditation on Mark, and Abide in His Love: A Meditation on John. She was narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God and a contributing author and editor for our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up. She was the Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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