October 20
Tuesday, week 29 in Ordinary Time
Year II
Canada : St. Hedwig, religious
Today the Church observes a ferial day, meaning there is no specific saint or feast appointed in the universal Roman calendar for this date. Ferial days, or 'feriae', come from the Latin word for 'free days', though in the Christian liturgical context, they refer to ordinary weekdays that are not solemnities, feasts, or obligatory memorials. During such days, the liturgy focuses on the regular rhythm of prayer and the daily readings from Scripture, especially following the sequence of the liturgical season – in this case, Ordinary Time.
Ordinary Time is the longest part of the liturgical year, stretching between the seasons of Christmas and Lent and then again after Pentecost until Advent. On ferial days, the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours draw attention to God's ongoing work in the world and the call to holiness in everyday life. There may sometimes be an option to celebrate a votive Mass, or to remember a saint locally, but the central theme remains the unfolding of Christ's mystery in the ordinary course of Christian living. The Church invites the faithful to encounter God amid daily routines, deepening their spiritual lives without the special focus of a feast day. This rhythm sustains and prepares believers for the more intense celebrations of the major liturgical seasons.
Permanent link
Ask a question about today’s feast
Questions about Tuesday, week 29 in Ordinary Time (Novus Ordo Missae)
Local variations
- Canada — St. Hedwig, religious
The liturgical day
Mass readings
ReadingEp 2, 12-22
Brothers,
at the time when you were pagans,
you did not have Christ,
you were not citizens with Israel,
you were strangers to the covenants and the promise,
you were without hope
and, in the world, you were without God.
But now, in Christ Jesus,
you who once were far off,
have become near by the blood of Christ.
It is he, Christ, who is our peace:
from the two, Jew and Gentile, he has made a single reality;
by his crucified flesh,
he has destroyed what separated them, the wall of hatred;
he abolished the legal prescriptions of the law of Moses.
Thus, from the two, Jew and Gentile,
he wanted to create in himself one new Man
making peace,
and to reconcile both with God in a single body
through the cross;
in his person, he put hatred to death.
He came to announce the good news of peace,
peace for you who were far away,
peace for those who were near.
For through him, both of us,
have access in one Spirit to the Father.
So then, you are no longer strangers or temporary guests,
you are fellow citizens with the saints,
you are members of God’s household,
for you have been integrated into the building
that has the Apostles and prophets as its foundation;
and the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
In him, the whole building is joined together harmoniously
to become a holy temple in the Lord.
In him, you too are being built together
to become a dwelling place of God through the Holy Spirit.
– The Word of the Lord.
PsalmPs 84 (85), 9ab.10, 11-12, 13-14
I listen: what will the Lord God say?
What he says is peace for his people and his faithful!
His salvation is near to those who fear him,
and glory will dwell in our land.
Love and truth will meet,
justice and peace will embrace;
truth will spring up from the earth
and from heaven justice will look down.
The Lord will give his blessings,
and our land will yield its fruit.
Justice will walk before him,
and his steps will mark out the way.
GospelLc 12, 35-38
At that time,
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay ready for service,
your belts fastened around your waists,
and your lamps lit.
Be like people who are waiting for their master
to return from the wedding feast,
so that they may open the door immediately when he arrives and knocks.
Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes,
finds awake.
Truly, I tell you:
it is he who, with his belt around his waist,
will have them sit at the table
and will come to serve them.
If he comes in the middle of the night or toward dawn
and finds them so,
they are blessed!”
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org