Saturday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time

Letter to the Colossians 1:21-23.
And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind because of evil deeds
he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him,
provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, am a minister.

Psalms 54(53):3-4.6.8.
O God, by your name save me. By your strength defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer. Listen to the words of my mouth.
God is present as my helper; the Lord sustains my life.
Then I will offer you generous sacrifice and praise your gracious name, LORD,

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:1-5.
While he was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.
Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”
Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those (who were) with him were hungry?
(How) he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions.”
Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

Commentary of the day : Saint Macarius
“The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

Friday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time

Letter to the Colossians 1:15-20.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross (through him), whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Psalms 100(99):1-5.
A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
worship the LORD with cries of gladness; come before him with joyful song.
Know that the LORD is God, our maker to whom we belong, whosepeople we are, God’s well-tended flock.
Enter the temple gates with praise, its courts with thanksgiving. Give thanks to God, bless his name;
good indeed is the LORD, Whose love endures forever, whose faithfulness lasts through every age.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5:33-39.
And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.”
Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”
And he also told them a parable. “No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one. Otherwise, he will tear the new and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
(And) no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.'”

Commentary of the day : Saint Augustine
“While the bridegroom is with them”

Thursday of the Twenty-second week in Ordinary Time

Letter to the Colossians 1:9-14.
Therefore, from the day we heard this, we do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding
to live in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God,
strengthened with every power, in accord with his glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy
giving thanks to the Father, who has made you fit to share in the inheritance of the holy ones in light.
He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Psalms 98(97):2-6.
The LORD has made his victory known; has revealed his triumph for the nations to see,
Has remembered faithful love toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy to the King, the LORD.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5:1-11.
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

Commentary of the day : Saint Antony of Padua
“Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men”