God Indeed Is My Savior; I Am Confident And Unafraid.

Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week
in Ordinary Time
Reading I
Ephesians 3:2-12
Brothers and sisters:
You have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace
that was given to me for your benefit,
namely, that the mystery
was made known to me by revelation,
as I have written briefly earlier.
When you read this
you can understand my insight
into the mystery of Christ,
which was not made known to human beings
in other generations as it has now been revealed
to his holy Apostles and prophets by the Spirit,
that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same Body,
and copartners in the promise
 in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

Of this I became a minister
by the gift of God’s grace that was granted me
in accord with the exercise of his power.
To me, the very least of all the holy ones,
this grace was given,
to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ,
and to bring to light for all
what is the plan of the mystery
hidden from ages past in God who created all things,
so that the manifold wisdom of God
might now be made known through the Church
to the principalities and authorities in the heavens.
This was according to the eternal purpose
that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
in whom we have boldness of speech
and confidence of access through faith in him.
+++    +++    +++    +++  
Responsorial Psalm
Isaiah 12
R. You will draw water joyfully
from the springs of salvation.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
R. You will draw water joyfully
from the springs of salvation.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
R. You will draw water joyfully
from the springs of salvation.
Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
R. You will draw water joyfully
from the springs of salvation.
+++    +++    +++    +++
Gospel
Luke 12:39-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us
or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant
whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, he will put him
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants
and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations
nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant
of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required
of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded
of the person entrusted with more.”
========================
St. Maria Bertilla Boscardin
(1888-1922)

If anyone knew rejection, ridicule and disappointment, it was today’s saint. But such trials only brought Maria Bertilla Boscardin closer to God and more determined to serve him.

Born in Italy in 1888, the young girl lived in fear of her father, a violent man prone to jealousy and drunkenness. Her schooling was limited so that she could spend more time helping at home and working in the fields. She showed few talents and was often the butt of jokes.

In 1904 she joined the Sisters of St. Dorothy and was assigned to work in the kitchen, bakery and laundry. After some time Maria received nurses’ training and began working in a hospital with children suffering from diphtheria. There the young nun seemed to find her true vocation: nursing very ill and disturbed children. Later, when the hospital was taken over by the military in World War I, Sister Maria Bertilla fearlessly cared for patients amidst the threat of constant air raids and bombings.

She died in 1922 after suffering for many years from a painful tumor. Some of the patients she had nursed many years before were present at her canonization in 1961.

Saint of the Day
American Catholic.org