​Gospel: Matthew 25:14-30
 
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“A man going on a journey
   called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.
To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one--
   to each according to his ability.
Then he went away.
Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them,
   and made another five.
Likewise, the one who received two made another two.
But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground
   and buried his master’s money.
After a long time
   the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.
The one who had received five talents
   came forward bringing the additional five.
He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents.
See, I have made five more.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
   I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master’s joy.’
Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said,
   ‘Master, you gave me two talents.
See, I have made two more.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
   I will give you great responsibilities.
Come, share your master’s joy.’
Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said,
   ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
   harvesting where you did not plant
   and gathering where you did not scatter;
   so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.’
His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
   and gather where I did not scatter?
Should you not then have put my money in the bank
   so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?
Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.
For to everyone who has,
  more will be given and he will grow rich;
   but from the one who has not,
   even what he has will be taken away.
And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside,
   where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’”

Preacher: Andy Misquez

​Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13
 
Jesus told his disciples this parable:
“The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
   who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
   brought no oil with them,
   but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
   they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
   ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise,
   ‘Give us some of your oil,
   for our lamps are going out.’
But the wise ones replied,
   ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
While they went off to buy it,
   the bridegroom came
   and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
   ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’
But he said in reply,
   ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Therefore, stay awake,
   for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Preacher: Margarita Rodriguez

​Gospel: Mark 6:17-29
The Passion of Saint John the Baptist
Memorial
 
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
   on account of Herodias,
   the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
   “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
   and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
   and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
   yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
   gave a banquet for his courtiers,
   his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias’ own daughter came in
   and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
   “Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
   “I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
   even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
   “What shall I ask for?”
She replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
   “I want you to give me at once
   on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
   but because of his oaths and the guests
   he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
   to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
   they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Preacher: Christian McNally

​Gospel: Matthew 23:27-32
Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Memorial
 
Jesus said,
   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,
   but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.
Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,
   but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
 
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You build the tombs of the prophets
   and adorn the memorials of the righteous,
   and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
   we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’
Thus you bear witness against yourselves
   that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;
   now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

Preacher: Adriana Haro

​Gospel: Matthew 23:23-26
Saint Monica, Mother of Saint Augustine
Memorial
 
Jesus said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
   and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
   judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
 
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
   but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
   so that the outside also may be clean.”

Preacher: Tony Mercado

​Gospel: Matthew 23:13-22
 
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.
You do not enter yourselves,
   nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
 
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You traverse sea and land to make one convert,
   and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna
   twice as much as yourselves.
 
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say,
   ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
   but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
   or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing,
   but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,
   or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
   one who swears by the temple swears by it
   and by him who dwells in it;
   one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God
   and by him who is seated on it.”

Preacher: Mila Rolle

Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40
St. Rose of Lima, Optional Memorial​

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
   they gathered together, and one of them,
   a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
   “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
   “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
   with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
   You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Preacher: John Harold Lucas

​Gospel: Matthew 19:13-15
 
Children were brought to Jesus
   that he might lay his hands on them and pray.
The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said,
   “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
   for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

Preacher: Andy Misquez

​Gospel: Matthew 19:3-12
 
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
   “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
   the Creator made them male and female and said,
   For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
   and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
   that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
   Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
   but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
   (unless the marriage is unlawful)
   and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
   “If that is the case of a man with his wife,
   it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
   but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
   some, because they were made so by others;
   some, because they have renounced marriage
   for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Preacher: Margarita Rodriguez