15 Sep - Tension Mounts As Christians Protest

http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/4690

Tension Mounts As Christians Protest Attacks On Karnataka Churches

MANGALORE, India, September 15, 2008--Christian-Hindu tension has gripped Karnataka after Christians protested attacks on churches in the southern Indian state.

The broken windowpanes of the Poor Clares of the Perpetual Adoration Monastery in Mangalore, southern India, on Sept. 14, after it was attacked.

Hindu groups have claimed responsibility for the Sept. 14 attacks on 15 churches in various parts of the state. They said the attacks were in retaliation for Christians indulging in religious conversion.

Ten of the affected churches were in Dakshina Kannada district, a Catholic stronghold in the territory of Mangalore diocese. Three churches were damaged in Chikmagalur and two in Udupi districts. Most affected churches belonged to Pentecostal sects.

On Sept. 15, Bishop Aloysius Paul D'Souza of Mangalore appeared on a local television channel asking Catholics to remain calm and avoid violent protests.

Catholic leaders in Dakshina Kannada, which includes Mangalore city, 2,290 kilometers south of New Delhi, had called for a general strike that day. The strike paralyzed normal life in the district. Christians gathered before all churches, defying a three-day prohibition on large gatherings that the administration imposed following the attacks.

In Mangalore that day sectarian tension increased after police drove around 500 protesting Catholics inside a church and locked them in from outside, while some 200 members of Bajrang Dal (party of the strong and stout), a Hindu group involved in the attacks, waited outside. The police released the Catholics later in the day. As they came out, some skirmishes developed with the Hindu militants, but the police chased away both groups.

In another incident, police entered a church and beat Catholics praying for atonement for church desecration, eyewitnesses told UCA News.

Stany Alvares, a Catholic youth leader in Mangalore, told UCA News the attacks and police's "hostile attitude" have "deeply hurt" Christians.

Satheesh Kumar, top police official in the district, told UCA News his department was able to prevent more harm from being done, because it had received hints about the attacks on churches.

ia_mangalore.gifHowever, the precaution could not save the Poor Clares of the Perpetual Adoration Monastery in Mangalore. Despite three police guards, miscreants forcefully entered the convent.

Sister Mary Carmel, the convent's superior, told UCA News about 30 people came to the chapel where people were praying before the Blessed Sacrament.

The intruders shouted anti-Christian slogans, destroyed windows, furniture and the tabernacle, and injured some of the worshippers.

The apparently organized attacks on churches took place between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., when people were in churches for Sunday services. Attackers destroyed religious objects such as crosses, tabernacles and bibles, as well as furniture, and wounded several people including some pastors.

Several parishes were holding Mass when news of the attack on the nuns' chapel reached them. Worshippers abruptly ended their celebrations of the feast of the Holy Cross and joined protesters.

Some Muslims also reportedly supported Christians in Mangalore. Several people were wounded when the police baton-charged protesters. Police alleged the protesters had turned violent and damaged police and other vehicles, but Christians blamed the police.

Police arrested some 20 people, both Hindus and Christians, on Sept. 14.

The administration has called for additional forces to control the situation in Mangalore. Police squads moved around the city and guarded churches, and strategic and sensitive points.

M.B. Puranik, a local leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (world Hindu council) told a Sept. 14 press conference his group has great regard for Catholics and Protestants, but they should not support conversion or insult Hindu Gods.

Mahendra Kumar, Bajrang Dal state convener, said his people attacked only prayer centers that indulged in conversion.

Stephen Quodros, secretary of Mangalore diocesan pastoral council, noted Mangalore Christians normally shun violence. "But this time, they are all virtually in the streets to express their grief," he told UCA News. (UCAN)

15 Sep - Persecution of Christians in Orissa

dhttp://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/4689

Persecution Of Christians In Orissa Will Be Raised At European Union-India Summit, As Concern Grows In Europe

ROME, September 15, 2008--The persecution of Christians in the eastern Indian state of Orissa starting in late August is slated to be discussed at the European Union (EU)-India Summit scheduled Sept. 29-30 in Paris.

The Council of Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU member states decided this at an informal meeting in early September. Italy raised the issue and other states agreed it should be placed on the agenda for the summit, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini revealed to the media after that gathering.

The Republic of India and European Union, its largest trading partner, benefit from a longstanding relationship that goes back around 40 years.

A cooperation agreement between the two sides in 1994 opened the door to a broad political dialogue, punctuated by annual summits, and they entered into "a strategic partnership" for the 21st century in 2004.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will head his country's delegation to the September summit, while President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, will lead the EU delegation.

On Sept. 12, Sarkozy gave a state welcome to Pope Benedict XVI when he stopped over in Paris on his way to Lourdes to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother there. The two leaders had a private meeting, but the content was not reported.

The following day, at the end of the torchlight procession at the famous Marian shrine in Lourdes, the pope spoke about "the suffering in today's world."

He elaborated that he was thinking about "the innocent victims who suffer from violence, war, terrorism and famine; those who bear the consequences of injustices, scourges and disasters, hatred and oppression; of attacks on their human dignity and fundamental rights; on their freedom to act and think."

Pope Benedict then went on to state: "Nor must we forget those who suffer for the name of Christ and die for him." Vatican observers considered those last words particularly significant in light of events in India.

While the question of the anti-Christian violence at Orissa will be raised at the summit meeting, the question of religious freedom, in India and several other countries, is gaining renewed attention in the European Union. It is an issue unlikely to be swept aside easily.

On Aug. 28, four days after the Orissa violence started, the Italian government issued a press statement saying it had instructed its Foreign Ministry to summon Indian Ambassador Arif Shahid Khan to convey its "strong expectation that the Indian authorities would take incisive preventative and repressive action in the face of such unacceptable acts of violence." The ambassador was received at the ministry on Sept. 2.

The actions by Italy, and the European Union at its request, were sparked by widespread media coverage of the anti-Christian violence in Orissa. At least 27 people, mostly Christians, have been reported killed, and around 4,000 Christian homes and 50 churches and Church institutions destroyed. Mobs of Hindu extremists went on a rampage after a Hindu religious leader in the state was killed on Aug. 23, for which Maoists claimed responsibility.

National Italian national dailies -- Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, La Stampa -- as well as national TV and radio, and electronic media carried reports on the Orissa violence, and more recently reported on attacks against Christians in other states, including against Mother Teresa's nuns.

The Catholic daily Avvenire, which the Italian Bishops' Conference owns, sent a special correspondent to Orissa to file first-hand reports on the situation there and gave it extensive coverage.

Vatican Radio broadcast reports on the Orissa violence in its worldwide news service, in various languages, and L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily, also provided substantial coverage, as did Catholic media in other countries including Britain, France and the United States.

The Italian Catholic Church followed the situation and subsequent violent acts against Christians in some other Indian states with increasing concern. It designated Sept. 5, Blessed Teresa of Kolkata's feast day, a nationwide day of solidarity, prayer and fasting with Christians in India.

Bishops' conference president Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa said the local Church wanted "to express our most profound solidarity with our brothers in the faith who are suffering." (UCAN)

Readings and Psalms - 22 Sep

http://www.usccb.org/nab/092208.shtml

September 22, 2008

Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading 1
Prv 3:27-34

Refuse no one the good on which he has a claim
when it is in your power to do it for him.
Say not to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give,” when you can give at once.

Plot no evil against your neighbor,
against one who lives at peace with you.
Quarrel not with a man without cause,
with one who has done you no harm.

Envy not the lawless man
and choose none of his ways:
To the LORD the perverse one is an abomination,
but with the upright is his friendship.

The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
but the dwelling of the just he blesses;
When dealing with the arrogant, he is stern,
but to the humble he shows kindness.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 15:2-3a, 3bc-4ab, 5

R. (1) The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
He who walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.
R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
By whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.
Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
shall never be disturbed.
R. The just one shall live on your holy mountain, O Lord.

Gospel
Lk 8:16-18

Jesus said to the crowd:
“No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel
or sets it under a bed;
rather, he places it on a lampstand
so that those who enter may see the light.
For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,
and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.
Take care, then, how you hear.
To anyone who has, more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he seems to have will be taken away.”

Readings and Psalms - 21 Sep

http://www.usccb.org/nab/092108.shtml

September 21, 2008

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Reading 2 Gospel

Reading 1
Is 55:6-9

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18

R. (18a) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Reading II
Phil 1:20c-24, 27a

Brothers and sisters:
Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain.
If I go on living in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.
And I do not know which I shall choose.
I am caught between the two.
I long to depart this life and be with Christ,
for that is far better.
Yet that I remain in the flesh
is more necessary for your benefit.

Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Gospel
Mt 20:1-16a

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner
who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage,
he sent them into his vineyard.
Going out about nine o’clock,
the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and he said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard,
and I will give you what is just.’
So they went off.
And he went out again around noon,
and around three o’clock, and did likewise.
Going out about five o’clock,
the landowner found others standing around, and said to them,
‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’
He said to them, ‘You too go into my vineyard.’
When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman,
‘Summon the laborers and give them their pay,
beginning with the last and ending with the first.’
When those who had started about five o’clock came,
each received the usual daily wage.
So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more,
but each of them also got the usual wage.
And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying,
‘These last ones worked only one hour,
and you have made them equal to us,
who bore the day’s burden and the heat.’
He said to one of them in reply,
‘My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?’
Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Reading and Psalms - 20 Sep

http://www.usccb.org/nab/092008.shtml

September 20, 2008

Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, priest and martyr, and Saint Paul Chong Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading 1
1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49

Brothers and sisters:
Someone may say, “How are the dead raised?
With what kind of body will they come back?”

You fool!
What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies.
And what you sow is not the body that is to be
but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind.

So also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.
It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious.
It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

So, too, it is written,
“The first man, Adam, became a living being,”
the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
But the spiritual was not first;
rather the natural and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, earthly;
the second man, from heaven.
As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly,
and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one,
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 56:10c-12, 13-14

R. (14) I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me?
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
R. I will walk in the presence of God, in the light of the living.

Gospel
Lk 8:4-15

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.

“This is the meaning of the parable.
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”

Readings and Psalms - 19 Sep

http://www.usccb.org/nab/091908.shtml

September 19, 2008

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading 1
1 Cor 15:12-20

Brothers and sisters:
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead,
then neither has Christ been raised.
And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;
empty, too, your faith.
Then we are also false witnesses to God,
because we testified against God that he raised Christ,
whom he did not raise if in fact the dead are not raised.
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;
you are still in your sins.
Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ,
we are the most pitiable people of all.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,
the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 17:1bcd, 6-7, 8b and 15

R. (15b) Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
Show your wondrous mercies,
O savior of those who flee
from their foes to refuge at your right hand.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking, I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Gospel
Lk 8:1-3

Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,
preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza,
Susanna, and many others
who provided for them out of their resources.

Reading and Psalms - 18 Sep

http://www.usccb.org/nab/091808.shtml

September 18, 2008

Thursday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading 1
1 Cor 15:1-11

I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,
of the Gospel I preached to you,
which you indeed received and in which you also stand.
Through it you are also being saved,
if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,
unless you believed in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he was buried;
that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;
that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once,
most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
After that he appeared to James,
then to all the Apostles.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally,
he appeared to me.
For I am the least of the Apostles,
not fit to be called an Apostle,
because I persecuted the Church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am,
and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them;
not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
Therefore, whether it be I or they,
so we preach and so you believed.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 118:1b-2, 16ab-17, 28

R. (1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
“The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power.”
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
You are my God, and I give thanks to you;
O my God, I extol you.
R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

Gospel
Lk 7:36-50

A certain Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him,
and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
Now there was a sinful woman in the city
who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment,
she stood behind him at his feet weeping
and began to bathe his feet with her tears.
Then she wiped them with her hair,
kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,
“If this man were a prophet,
he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,
that she is a sinner.”
Jesus said to him in reply,
“Simon, I have something to say to you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;
one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.
Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.
Which of them will love him more?”
Simon said in reply,
“The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”
He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon,
“Do you see this woman?
When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
You did not give me a kiss,
but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.
You did not anoint my head with oil,
but she anointed my feet with ointment.
So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;
hence, she has shown great love.
But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”
He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The others at table said to themselves,
“Who is this who even forgives sins?”
But he said to the woman,
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Readings and Psalms - 17 Sep

http://www.usccb.org/nab/091708.shtml

September 17, 2008

Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading 1
1 Cor 12:31-13:13

Brothers and sisters:
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, love is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:2-3, 4-5, 12 and 22

R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the tenstringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
For upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Gospel
Lk 7:31-35

Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare the people of this generation?
What are they like?
They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Readings and Psalms - 16 Sep

http://www.usccb.org/nab/091608.shtml

September 16, 2008

Memorial of Saint Cornelius, pope and martyr, and Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr

Reading 1 Responsorial Psalm Gospel

Reading 1
1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a

Brothers and sisters:
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Now the body is not a single part, but many.

Now you are Christ’s Body, and individually parts of it.
Some people God has designated in the Church
to be, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers;
then, mighty deeds;
then gifts of healing, assistance, administration,
and varieties of tongues.
Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?
Do all work mighty deeds? Do all have gifts of healing?
Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 100

R. (3) We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
For he is good, the LORD,
whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

Gospel
Lk 7:11-17

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst,”
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region.