A Reading from the Book of Judith (10:1-8) And it came to pass, that Judith ceased crying out to the God of Israel and completed all these words. And she rose from falling prostrate and summoned her favorite slave-woman and went down into the house where she stayed on Sabbath days and on her feast days. Then Judith removed the sackcloth which she had put on and stripped off the garments of her widowhood, and she bathed her body with water and anointed herself with thick ointment, and combed the hairs of her head and placed a headdress upon it and put on the garments of her gladness which she had clothed herself in the days of the life of her husband Manasseh. Then she chose sandals for her feet and put on anklets and bracelets and rings and earrings and the whole constellation of her ornaments, and she adorned herself for enticing the eyes of men, all who would see her. And she gave her favored slave-woman a leather bag of wine and a jar of oil and she filled a bag with barley meal and fig cake and fine bread, and she wrapped all of her vessels and placed them upon her slave-woman. So they went out to the gate of the city of Bethulia and they came upon Uzziah and the elders of the city, Chabris and Charmis. When they saw her and her face was trans- formed and her attire altered, they marveled at her beauty, greatly and repeatedly, and said to her: “May the God of our mothers and fathers grant you be the means of grace and may you accomplish your mission, for the pride of the daughters and sons of Israel and the exaltation of Jerusalem.”
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Psalm 69

Save me, God,
for the waters have come to my throat.
I sink in deep mire, there is no foothold;
I come into deep waters, and the flood overwhelms me.
I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, waiting for my God.
Yet I make my prayer to you,
the WISDOM OF THE AGES.
At a favorable time, God, in the wealth of your faithful love,
answer me, with your certain salvation.
Rescue me from the mire, and let me not be sunk;
let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.
Let not the flood waters overwhelm me, let not the Deep swallow me up;
let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
Answer me, GRACIOUS GOD, for your faithful love is good;
according to the wealth of your maternal love, turn to me.
Do not hide your face from your slave,
for I am in distress; hurry to answer me.
I will praise the name of God with song;
I will magnify her with thanksgiving.
This will please the CREATOR OF ALL
more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts flourish.
For the FAITHFUL GOD hears the needy,
and those who belong to her and are imprisoned, she does not despise.
Let the heavens and earth praise her,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever.   Amen.

A Reading from the Letter of Paul to Philemon (1:1-16)
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus the Messiah and Timothy our brother: To Philemon our beloved and our coworker, and to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our comrade in arms, and to the church in your house: Much joy and encouragement have I from your love, because the beating hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother. Therefore, I have great freedom in the Messiah to command you in what is proper. For the sake of love would I rather petition; this I, Paul, do as an elder and now also as a prisoner of Jesus the Messiah. I am appealing to you for my child whom I birthed during my imprisonment, Onesimus. Formerly to you he was useless, but now, to you and to me he is useful. I am sending him to you, he who is my own heartbeat. I wanted to hold him with me in your place so that he might serve me during my imprisonment for the gospel. However, without your consent I would do nothing so that your good work would not be forced rather, voluntary. Perhaps for this reason he removed himself from you for some time that for all time you would then have him. No longer as a slave but more than a slave -a brother beloved-especially to me but even more to you, both in the flesh and in the Redeemer.
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke (13:10-17)
Glory to you, Lord Christ
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And suddenly there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity that for eighteen years had crippled her; she was bent over and was not able to stand up completely. Now when Jesus saw her, he called out and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he laid his hands on her and immediately she stood up straight and began glorifying God. But the leader of the synagogue, being indignant because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had cured, said to the crowd of women, men and children, “There are six days on which one ought work; so come on those and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Messiah answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Each of you, do you not on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the manger and lead it to drink? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham and Sarah whom Satan bound-Look!-for eighteen long years, ought she not be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” When Jesus said this, all those who opposed him were put to shame and the entire crowd rejoiced at all the glorious things being done by him.
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Christ