Vote Early and Often. The Thirty-Second Tuesday of Ordinary Time. Lessons from the secondary feria, according to the ordinary form of the Roman Rite: • Titus 2: 1-8, 11-14. • Psalm 37: 3-4, 18, 23, 27, 29. • Luke 17: 7-10. The Fifth Remaining Tuesday after Epiphany; and, the Commemoration of the Four Holy Crowned Martyrs.* Lessons from the dominica,** according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite: • Colossians 3: 12-17. • Psalm 101: 16-17. • Matthew 13: 24-30. If a Mass for the commemoration is taken, first & third lessons from the proper, Gradual from the common "Intret…" of Many Martyrs: • Hebrews 11: 33-39. • [Gradual] Exodus 15: 11, 6. • Matthew 5: 1-12. The Solemn Holy Day of the Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Michael & All Angelic Powers.*** Lessons from the menaion, according to the Ruthenian recension of the Byzantine Rite: • Hebrews 2: 2-10. • Luke 10: 16-21. FatherVenditti.com

9:55 AM 11/8/2016 — Psalm 37, from which is taken today’s responsorial, was a favorite of the Church in Apostolic times, and was often sung at Holy Mass, and you can see why: it’s at one and the same time a desperate plea for protection in times of persecution as well as a courageous declaration of trust in the Lord’s careful watch over us. We’ve talked about this before: about how we don’t often feel the presence of God, don’t often get the sense that anyone hears our prayers or answers our needs, but how wrong that is because faith doesn’t come from feelings and emotions; it comes from an objective faith.      I got up early today and cast my vote. My guess is that very few of you, also, will need very much time to cast yours;—at least I hope that’s the case—and, it was gratifying to me to see so many more of my fellow citizens who had risen early to do their civic duty. There was a line, but it moved very fast; no one that I could see spent more than a couple of minutes in the voting both. It’s not as if this election year’s decision is hard to make. When I got home I turned on the TV just to see what useless drivel the talking heads were wagging their tongues about; but, I was glad I did because I caught the tail end of an interview with one former candidate for office who offered the thought for the day: he was asked what he would say to those who don’t like either candidate and were resolved to just stay home in disgust. He reminded everyone that, every day, there are men and women in uniform all over the world fighting and dying in defense of the very notion of a government by the people; and, when we choose not to participate because of our own high-and-mighty self-righteousness, thinking that we’re better than that,—that we're somehow "above it all"—we dishonor them.      “Commit thy life to the Lord, and trust in him,” says today’s Psalm in Msgr. Knox’s flowery poetry; “he will prosper thee, making thy honesty clear as the day, the justice of thy cause bright as the sun at noon” (Psalm 37: 5-6 Knox). It’s all a matter of trust. The person of faith does what he or she believes is right according to God’s word, and leaves the rest in the hands of God. So, today we should pray for our beloved country, for ourselves and for our fellow citizens who today will choose the future direction of this great and once God-fearing republic.      Today, at the end of Holy Mass, we will expose our Blessed Lord in the Most Blessed Eucharist, not for a full hour, but just long enough to recite together the Litany of Divine Providence, for whatever intentions you may wish to place before Him, then immediately have Benediction so that everyone can quickly get on about their business, which—I hope—will include casting a vote. Those who do can take as their motto the last line of our Lord’s short and simple parable in today’s Gospel lesson: “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do” (Luke 17: 10 RM3). * Cf. the footnote in last Sunday's post for an explanation regarding the designation of these last remaining week's of the post-Pentecost season.   Severus, Severianus, Carpophorus and Victorinus, all brothers, were cruelly put to death at Rome under Diocletian in the year 304. ** In the extraordinary form, on the ferial days outside of privileged seasons, the lessons are repeated from the previous Sunday. *** This feast is concomitant with that observed in the Latin Church on Sept. 29th.