Oct. 3: Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I

Philip Hermogenes Calderon, By the Waters of Babylon, Tate, London, 1852

Readings for Mass
First Reading: Nehemiah 2:1-8
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Gospel: Luke 9:57-62

By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion (NRSV, Psalm 137:1).

Let us pray.

Father, how often we regret our lost innocence, how it must have been before we sinned personally. But, you, O Lord, are there at every moment, in every place, offering us forgiveness and reconciliation through the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit. You who are all present have no past to remember but rather call us to share in your eternal present, to enjoy the free gift of your divine life and to grow in it in every created moment.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.