September 24
Thursday, week 25 in Ordinary Time
Today is a weekday, or 'feria,' in the 25th Week of Ordinary Time. In the Catholic liturgical calendar, ferial days are those that do not commemorate a particular saint or feast but instead invite the faithful to engage more deeply with the ordinary rhythm of prayer and reflection. The readings at Mass on such days typically follow a sequential passage through Scripture, allowing space to consider the unfolding story of salvation and God’s ongoing work in our lives.
Ordinary Time is marked by the color green, symbolizing hope and growth. The Church encourages us not to overlook the spiritual richness present in these quieter periods. Through the daily readings and prayers, we are called to encounter Christ in our everyday routines, drawing grace from the 'ordinary' circumstances of life. Even without a specific saint or memorial, the liturgy continues to guide and sustain us on our journey of faith.
Observing a ferial day is a reminder that holiness can be found, not just in extraordinary events or dramatic conversions, but in faithful perseverance and attentiveness to God in the midst of ordinary time.
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Questions about Thursday, week 25 in Ordinary Time (Novus Ordo Missae)
The liturgical day
Mass readings
ReadingQo 1, 2-11
Vanity of vanities, said Qoheleth.
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!
What profit does anyone gain
from all the toil with which they toil under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises, and the sun sets;
it hurries back to the place where it rises,
and again it will rise.
The wind blows south, then turns toward the north;
it turns and turns,
and keeps on turning as it goes.
All the rivers flow into the sea,
but the sea is never full;
to the place where the rivers flow,
the rivers continue to flow.
All things are wearisome;
one cannot express them all.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be;
what has been done is what will be done;
nothing is new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look, this is new!”?
– No, it existed already in ages past.
Yet there is no remembrance of former things;
and events to come—
will not be remembered among those who come after.
– The word of the Lord.
PsalmPs 89 (90), 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14.17abc
You turn people back to dust;
you have said: “Return, children of Adam!”
In your eyes, a thousand years are like yesterday,
just a day gone by, an hour in the night.
You sweep them away; they are only a dream;
in the morning, they are like grass that changes:
it blossoms in the morning, it changes;
in the evening, it is wilted, dried up.
Teach us the true measure of our days;
that our hearts may gain wisdom.
Turn back, Lord, why do you delay?
Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us with your love in the morning,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
May the favor of the Lord our God be upon us!
Strengthen for us the work of our hands.
GospelLc 9, 7-9
At that time,
Herod, who was in power in Galilee,
heard about everything that was happening
and he did not know what to think.
Indeed, some were saying that John the Baptist
had been raised from the dead.
Others said,
“It is the prophet Elijah who has appeared.”
And others,
“It is one of the prophets of old who has been raised.”
But Herod said,
“John—I had him beheaded.
But who is this man about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him.
– The Gospel of the Lord.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org