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The Kingdom of heaven has been given to us, just as the parable of the Sower who hoped that the seed scattered would fall on fertile ground! Have our faith and love for the Lord our God grown in great height, width and depth? Such that everyone who sees us, can see the great love of God within us and are touched?

Or have we turned to the golden calves in our lives? Turned to the distractions that seem to give us instant gratification and pleasure! Far from the harsh realities of life, toil and hardship that we have to face. Are we so prone to evil that we have forgotten the mercy and love of our Lord? Have we still not learnt that our hearts are restless till they rest in God?

Just as Moses stood in the breach for the Israelites let us turn to Jesus who now intercedes for us. Let us make a decision this day to renounce our many sins and to follow after Him. So that through His mercy and grace we may be once again worthy of His promises.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done! Amen

Saint Ignatius Loyola pray for us…

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First reading

Exodus 32:15-24,30-34

The golden calf

Moses made his way back down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, tablets inscribed on both sides, inscribed on the front and on the back. These tablets were the work of God, and the writing on them was God’s writing engraved on the tablets.

    Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. ‘There is the sound of battle in the camp’, he told Moses. Moses answered him:

‘No song of victory is this sound,

no wailing for defeat this sound;

it is the sound of chanting that I hear.’

As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the groups dancing, Moses’ anger blazed. He threw down the tablets he was holding and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He seized the calf they had made and burned it, grinding it into powder which he scattered on the water; and he made the sons of Israel drink it. To Aaron Moses said, ‘What has this people done to you, for you to bring such a great sin on them?’ ‘Let not my lord’s anger blaze like this’ Aaron answered. ‘You know yourself how prone this people is to evil. They said to me, “Make us a god to go at our head; this Moses, the man who brought us up from Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So I said to them, “Who has gold?,” and they took it off and brought it to me. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.’

    On the following day Moses said to the people, ‘You have committed a grave sin. But now I shall go up to the Lord: perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.’ And Moses returned to the Lord. ‘I am grieved,’ he cried ‘this people has committed a grave sin, making themselves a god of gold. And yet, if it pleased you to forgive this sin of theirs…! But if not, then blot me out from the book that you have written.’ The Lord answered Moses, “It is the man who has sinned against me that I shall blot out from my book. Go now, lead the people to the place of which I told you. My angel shall go before you but, on the day of my visitation, I shall punish them for their sin.’

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Gospel

Matthew 13:31-35

The smallest of all seeds grows into the biggest shrub of all

Jesus put a parable before the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’

    He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’

    In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy:

I will speak to you in parables and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.

Blood is life! Even in this day and age we have blood donation drives because blood saves lives. How precious is it then that the Lord our God from the Old Testament (“But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life” Deut. 12:23) to the New, would use blood first as a symbol first thereafter offer us His own life-giving blood as a new covenant. The sprinkling of blood on His people enjoining the Lord our God with His people in a new God-given life.

Today we arise to new life in Him each time we receive Holy Eucharist, body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ Jesus our Lord! For He said to Martha and all of us,”I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

Save us Saviour of the world, for by Your Cross and Resurrection You have set us free. Amen

Saint Martha pray for us…

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First reading

Exodus 24:3-8 ·

This is the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you

Moses went and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. In answer, all the people said with one voice, ‘We will observe all the commands that the Lord has decreed.’ Moses put all the commands of the Lord into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing-stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to the Lord as communion sacrifices. Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar. And taking the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, ‘We will observe all that the Lord has decreed; we will obey.’ Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people. This’ he said ‘is the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you, containing all these rules.’

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Gospel

John 11:19-27

I am the resurrection and the life

Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:

‘I am the resurrection and the life.

If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,

and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

To have a better appreciation of today’s first reading and Gospel combined, we should respond to each with a simple commitment.

For instance instead of you shall not… We say, “Because I love You Lord, I shall have no gods except You.” We do this right to the last one. “Lord because I love You, I shall not covet my neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.”  We reflect not only on our love for the Lord our God through out, but on His great love for us.

For Jesus died for us so we can be free from the clutches of evil and sin. To live freely in His love To listen His voice and live His Word in our lives. In doing so, we yield a harvest which produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’ Amen


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First reading
Exodus 20:1-17

The Law given at Sinai

God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
    ‘You shall have no gods except me.
    ‘You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God and I punish the father’s fault in the sons, the grandsons, and the great-grandsons of those who hate me; but I show kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
    ‘You shall not utter the name of the Lord your God to misuse it, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who utters his name to misuse it.
    ‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals nor the stranger who lives with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that these hold, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why the Lord has blessed the sabbath day and made it sacred.
    ‘Honour your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God has given to you.
    ‘You shall not kill.
    ‘You shall not commit adultery.
    ‘You shall not steal.
    ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
    ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.’

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Gospel
Matthew 13:18-23

The man who hears the word and understands it yields a rich harvest

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’

How majestic and wonderous O Lord my God when you appeared to Moses and spoke with him amongst Your people. What a frightful and yet awesome experience it must have been to witness. But again, how comforting that the great power and presence of the Lord their God was with them, protecting them that they should feel at ease.

How Blessed are we now today, to be able to simply bask in Your presence in the quiet and stillness of the day. To listen to You speak to our hearts! We hear You and understand because, You have taken away all our sins. Our pure hearts listen to Your voice, and we follow!

When we stray and can no longer listen or understand, we can turn our hearts back to You; renounce our sins and in Your mercy and love You will restore us to where we need to be. So that we can once again hear Your sweet gentle voice!

Open the eyes of my heart Lord, so that I may always see You, open my ears to always hear You, open my hands Lord to always serve You and my brethren. Amen

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First reading

Exodus 19:1-2,9-11,16-20

Moses speaks with God on Sinai

Three months after they came out of the land of Egypt, on that day the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sinai. From Rephidim they set out again; and when they reached the wilderness of Sinai, there in the wilderness they pitched their camp; there facing the mountain Israel pitched camp.

    The Lord said to Moses, ‘I am coming to you in a dense cloud so that the people may hear when I speak to you and may trust you always.’ And Moses took the people’s reply back to the Lord.

    The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and tell them to prepare themselves today and tomorrow. Let them wash their clothing and hold themselves in readiness for the third day, because on the third day the Lord will descend on the mountain of Sinai in the sight of all the people.’

    Now at daybreak on the third day there were peals of thunder on the mountain and lightning flashes, a dense cloud, and a loud trumpet blast, and inside the camp all the people trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. The mountain of Sinai was entirely wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. Like smoke from a furnace the smoke went up, and the whole mountain shook violently. Louder and louder grew the sound of the trumpet. Moses spoke, and God answered him with peals of thunder. The Lord came down on the mountain of Sinai, on the mountain top, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain; and Moses went up.

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Gospel

Matthew 13:10-17

Prophets and holy men longed to hear what you hear

The disciples went up to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’ ‘Because’ he replied, ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:

You will listen and listen again, but not understand,

see and see again, but not perceive.

For the heart of this nation has grown coarse,

their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,

for fear they should see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their heart,

and be converted

and be healed by me.

‘But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

What is the connection between the first reading and the Gospel? Must there really be a connection between the two? Well let’s not worry about that and just let the Word of God fill us up as we dwell deeply on His wisdom and Will for us through His Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. His name was, is and forever will be Jesus our Lord and Saviour. He is the living bread come down from Heaven, the bread that gives us life! He nourishes and feeds us of Himself, through Holy Eucharist! We are partakers of His divinity. Through Him we have full communion with Him and One another.

The Word deep within us will take root, it is the rich soil that produces their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Amen

Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary pray for us…


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First reading
Exodus 16:1-5,9-15 ·

The Lord sends quails and manna from heaven

From Elim they set out, and the whole community of the sons of Israel reached the wilderness of Sin – between Elim and Sinai – on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt. And the whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said to them, ‘Why did we not die at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our heart’s content! As it is, you have brought us to this wilderness to starve this whole company to death!’
    Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now I will rain down bread for you from the heavens. Each day the people are to go out and gather the day’s portion; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they have brought in, this will be twice as much as the daily gathering.’
    Moses said to Aaron, ‘To the whole community of the sons of Israel say this, “Present yourselves before the Lord, for he has heard your complaints.”’ As Aaron was speaking to the whole community of the sons of Israel, they turned towards the wilderness, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the form of a cloud. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, “Between the two evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have bread to your heart’s content. Then you will learn that I, the Lord, am your God.”’ And so it came about: quails flew up in the evening, and they covered the camp; in the morning there was a coating of dew all round the camp. When the coating of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was a thing delicate, powdery, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground. When they saw this, the sons of Israel said to one another, ‘What is that?’ not knowing what it was. ‘That’ said Moses to them ‘is the bread the Lord gives you to eat.’


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Gospel
Matthew 13:1-9

A sower went out to sow

Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables.
    He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up straight away, because there was no depth of earth; but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Listen, anyone who has ears!’

Being empowered to minister to our brethren, in the power of the Holy Spirit is not something we can earn for ourselves! It comes from the humility of simply desiring to honour and glorify the Lord by our lives. By seeking the Jeremiah 29:11 heart of God for His people. Then doing all we that can, even if means dying to ourselves so that they who are sent to us can live freely in His love and in His presence.

We are only earthenware jars that hold the treasure of knowing our Lord and Jesus Christ intimately and ministering to His people out of that intimacy. We open the heavens for them, so that the grace of the Lord our God can be multiplied among His people.

Lord I am Your servant, and I serve my brethren as I would serve You, with all my heart, mind, strength and soul. Amen

Saint James pray for us…

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First reading

2 Corinthians 4:7-15 ·

Such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us

We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us. We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed; always, wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too, may be openly shown. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

    But as we have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us. You see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is multiplied among people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.

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Gospel

Matthew 20:20-28

‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’

The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered. ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ ‘Very well,’ he said ‘you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.’

    When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

Can we fathom the terror and panic the Israelites must have gone through? Six hundred of Pharaoh’s best chariots and many more who were not deemed the best still coming fast and hot on their heels! They were armed and ready to drive them to their deaths. Just the thunderous sounds of the horses and chariots chasing them down must have been a nightmare. Amidst that chaos a voice reassures them, “The Lord will do the fighting for you: you have only to keep still”

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Our Lord and God, our Saviour Jesus Christ assures us Himself today.

So then, what greater sign can there ever be of God’s love, peace and joy then in Jesus! Amen

Saint Charbel Makhlouf pray for us…

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First reading

Exodus 14:5-18

Pharaoh sets out in pursuit of the sons of Israel

When Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was told that the Israelites had made their escape, he and his courtiers changed their minds about the people. ‘What have we done,’ they said ‘allowing Israel to leave our service?’ So Pharaoh had his chariot harnessed and gathered his troops about him, taking six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots in Egypt, each manned by a picked team. The Lord made Pharaoh, king of Egypt, stubborn, and he gave chase to the sons of Israel as they made their triumphant escape. So the Egyptians gave chase and came up with them where they lay encamped beside the sea – all the horses, the chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, his army – near Pi-hahiroth, facing Baal-zephon. And as Pharaoh approached, the sons of Israel looked round – and there were the Egyptians in pursuit of them!

    The sons of Israel were terrified and cried out to the Lord. To Moses they said, ‘Were there no graves in Egypt that you must lead us out to die in the wilderness? What good have you done us, bringing us out of Egypt? We spoke of this in Egypt, did we not? Leave us alone, we said, we would rather work for the Egyptians! Better to work for the Egyptians than die in the wilderness!’

    Moses answered the people, ‘Have no fear! Stand firm, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today: the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will do the fighting for you: you have only to keep still.’

    The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me so? Tell the sons of Israel to march on. For yourself, raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and part it for the sons of Israel to walk through the sea on dry ground. I for my part will make the heart of the Egyptians so stubborn that they will follow them. So shall I win myself glory at the expense of Pharaoh, of all his army, his chariots, his horsemen. And when I have won glory for myself, at the expense of Pharaoh and his chariots and his army, the Egyptians will learn that I am the Lord.’

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Gospel

Matthew 12:38-42

There is something greater than Solomon here

Some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. ‘Master,’ they said ‘we should like to see a sign from you.’ He replied, ‘It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.’

For You my soul is thirsting, O Lord, my God!

Every hour of everyday I seek to be in Your presence my Jesus, for by the power of Your resurrection I have been set free and empowered to overcome all evil and minister to Your flock that You O Lord have sent my way.

Let me never stray from You, hold me close in the shadow of Your wings.

Let Your praise be ever on my lips!

Let my every thought, word and action be from You, as I seek to bring the joy of the Gospel to one and all.

Through You, with You and in You. Amen

Saint Mary Magdalen Pray for us… 

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First reading

Song of Songs 3:1-4 ·

I found him whom my heart loves

The bride says this:

On my bed, at night, I sought him

whom my heart loves.

I sought but did not find him.

So I will rise and go through the City;

in the streets and in the squares

I will seek him whom my heart loves.

I sought but did not find him.

The watchmen came upon me

on their rounds in the City:

‘Have you seen him whom my heart loves?’

Scarcely had I passed them

when I found him whom my heart loves.

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Gospel

John 20:1-2,11-18

‘Mary, go and find the brothers and tell them’

It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb’ she said ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

    Meanwhile Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.

Lord thank You for today’s wonderful reminder of Your great love for us. From the institution of the Passover to the institution of the Holy Eucharist, Your plan for our salvation was fulfilled through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! The Passover from death into new life free from all bondages, slavery of sin.

Now You feed and nourish us through the Holy Eucharist, we become One with and in You; filled with Your divine grace we overcome and conquer all sin! You are the bread of life and the drink from the cup of our salvation that we partake. For through You alone, we have life to the full.

We love, because You first loved us and we are merciful, because we have experienced Your mercy. We adore You our Eucharistic Lord and God! Now and forever. Amen

Saint Laurence of Brindisi pray for us…

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First reading

Exodus 11:10-12:14

Moses and Aaron worked many wonders in the presence of Pharaoh. But the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and he did not let the sons of Israel leave his country.

    The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

    ‘This month is to be the first of all the others for you, the first month of your year. Speak to the whole community of Israel and say, “On the tenth day of this month each man must take an animal from the flock, one for each family: one animal for each household. If the household is too small to eat the animal, a man must join with his neighbour, the nearest to his house, as the number of persons requires. You must take into account what each can eat in deciding the number for the animal. It must be an animal without blemish, a male one year old; you may take it from either sheep or goats. You must keep it till the fourteenth day of the month when the whole assembly of the community of Israel shall slaughter it between the two evenings. Some of the blood must then be taken and put on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where it is eaten. That night, the flesh is to be eaten, roasted over the fire; it must be eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but roasted over the fire, head, feet and entrails. You must not leave any over till the morning: whatever is left till morning you are to burn. You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand. You shall eat it hastily: it is a passover in honour of the Lord. That night, I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, man and beast alike, and I shall deal out punishment to all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord! The blood shall serve to mark the houses that you live in. When I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape the destroying plague when I strike the land of Egypt. This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour. For all generations you are to declare it a day of festival, for ever.”’

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Gospel

Matthew 12:1-8

The Son of Man is master of the sabbath

Jesus took a walk one sabbath day through the cornfields. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, ‘Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath.’ But he said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the sabbath day the Temple priests break the sabbath without being blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’

Hallowed be Your name O Lord our God on earth as it is in Heaven! You are the living God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Moses and the Lord our God for all eternity!

The same merciful God who heard the cries of His people and sent Moses to deliver them from slavery, sent His only begotten Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to free us once for all time from the bondages of sin. He the great ‘I Am’ now bears the name above all names! And at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1

My heart is restless Lord, till I rest in You. Amen

Saint Apollinaris Pray for us…

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First reading

Exodus 3:13-20 ·

God reveals his name to Moses

Moses, hearing the voice of God coming from the middle of the bush, said to him, ‘I am to go, then, to the sons of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I Am who I Am. This’ he added ‘is what you must say to the sons of Israel: “I Am has sent me to you.”’ And God also said to Moses, ‘You are to say to the sons of Israel: “The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name for all time; by this name I shall be invoked for all generations to come.

    ‘Go and gather the elders of Israel together and tell them, “The Lord, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; and he has said to me: I have visited you and seen all that the Egyptians are doing to you. And so I have resolved to bring you up out of Egypt where you are oppressed, into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land where milk and honey flow.” They will listen to your words, and with the elders of Israel you are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has come to meet us. Give us leave, then, to make a three days’ journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice to the Lord our God.” For myself, knowing that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless he is forced by a mighty hand, I shall show my power and strike Egypt with all the wonders I am going to work there. After this he will let you go.’

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Gospel

Matthew 11:28-30

My yoke is easy and my burden light

Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

See the fire of God’s love calling out to you, mesmerizing, glorious, awesome!

See the life flourishing from within the fire, not being consumed by the flames, set aglow for the world to see!

See the power of God’s love dispelling all darkness, His mercy calling on mercy for the world!

See He sends us forth to free His people and set their hearts aglow with fire of His love! We are the flames bursting forth to set the world ablaze!

Here I am Lord, I come to do Your Will! Amen

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First reading

Exodus 3:1-6,9-12 ·

The burning bush

Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the shape of a flame of fire, coming from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but it was not being burnt up. ‘I must go and look at this strange sight,’ Moses said, ‘and see why the bush is not burnt.’

    Now the Lord saw him go forward to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush. ‘Moses, Moses!’ he said. ‘Here I am,’ Moses answered. ‘Come no nearer,’ he said. ‘Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your fathers,’ he said, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ At this Moses covered his face, afraid to look at God.

    And the Lord said, ‘The cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have witnessed the way in which the Egyptians oppress them, so come, I send you to Pharaoh to bring the sons of Israel, my people, out of Egypt.’

    Moses said to God, ‘Who am I to go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?’ ‘I shall be with you,’ was the answer ‘and this is the sign by which you shall know that it is I who have sent you… After you have led the people out of Egypt, you are to offer worship to God on this mountain.’

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Gospel

Matthew 11:25-27

You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

Even in the face of anguish, anxiety and in the most desperate of circumstances we must trust in the Lord our God with all hearts, mind, strength and soul just as we declare our love of Him as such.

Although not mentioned in so many words we see the mother of Moses surrendering her child to the hands of the Lord our God. She must have been distraught in having to let go, but let go she did nonetheless. We can be sure she prayed with all her heart to the Lord our God while entrusting her child to His care as she let go completely of the papyrus basket. What did our loving Lord do? He led the child into a life of abundance and straight back into his mother’s arms to be nursed! Yes indeed we all need the divine grace of God our Father’s hand in our lives.

It is when we decide to turn our backs to Him, thinking we know better! Trusting in own abilities, counting the costs and seeking to glorify ourselves without losing a shred of our lofty pride that we will face the judgement we deserve!

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36

Let us therefore take heed from the psalmist in today responsorial psalm, “Seek the Lord, you who are poor, and your hearts will revive.” Amen

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First reading

Exodus 2:1-15 ·

Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses among the bulrushes

There was a man of the tribe of Levi who had taken a woman of Levi as his wife. She conceived and gave birth to a son and, seeing what a fine child he was, she kept him hidden for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him; coating it with bitumen and pitch, she put the child inside and laid it among the reeds at the river’s edge. His sister stood some distance away to see what would happen to him.

    Now Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe in the river, and the girls attending her were walking along by the riverside. Among the reeds she noticed the basket, and she sent her maid to fetch it. She opened it and looked, and saw a baby boy, crying; and she was sorry for him. ‘This is a child of one of the Hebrews’ she said. Then the child’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and find you a nurse among the Hebrew women to suckle the child for you?’ ‘Yes, go,’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her; and the girl went off to find the baby’s own mother. To her the daughter of Pharaoh said, ‘Take this child away and suckle it for me. I will see you are paid.’ So the woman took the child and suckled it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter who treated him like a son; she named him Moses because, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’

    Moses, a man by now, set out at this time to visit his countrymen, and he saw what a hard life they were having; and he saw an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his countrymen. Looking round he could see no one in sight, so he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. On the following day he came back, and there were two Hebrews, fighting. He said to the man who was in the wrong, ‘What do you mean by hitting your fellow countryman?’ ‘And who appointed you’ the man retorted, ‘to be prince over us, and judge? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Moses was frightened. ‘Clearly that business has come to light’ he thought. When Pharaoh heard of the matter he would have killed Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and made for the land of Midian.

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Gospel

Matthew 11:20-24

It will not go as hard with Sodom on Judgement Day as with you

Jesus began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.

    ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and Sidon as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on Judgement day as with you.’

I strongly believe that separation, segregation, division are all the goals of the evil one! And those especially who do not know the Lord our God are more susceptible to the ploys of the evil one; which has given rise to racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing, all sorts of prejudices and biases. For the scatterer seeks to scatter!

Jesus came into the world to gather all unto Himself, for He had said “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Jn 12:32 For God our Heavenly Father so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son not to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:17 And through Jesus we become One Body in Him. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves[a] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 1 Cor 12:13-14

Yet free will has been given to each and everyone so that they might choose by their own accord to love the Lord our God. And so even within our very own families there can be division when family members choose to go their own way. Far from the love of God! Far from the prince of Peace who offers the peace that the world cannot give!

Lord Jesus for me and my household, we will serve You now and forever. Amen

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First reading

Exodus 1:8-14,22 ·

The Egyptians force the sons of Israel into slavery

There came to power in Egypt a new king who knew nothing of Joseph. ‘Look,’ he said to his subjects ‘these people, the sons of Israel, have become so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us. We must be prudent and take steps against their increasing any further, or if war should break out, they might add to the number of our enemies. They might take arms against us and so escape out of the country.’ Accordingly they put slave-drivers over the Israelites to wear them down under heavy loads. In this way they built the store-cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the more they were crushed, the more they increased and spread, and men came to dread the sons of Israel. The Egyptians forced the sons of Israel into slavery, and made their lives unbearable with hard labour, work with clay and with brick, all kinds of work in the fields; they forced on them every kind of labour.

    Pharaoh then gave his subjects this command: ‘Throw all the boys born to the Hebrews into the river, but let all the girls live.’

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Gospel

Matthew 10:34-11:1

It is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.

    ‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

    ‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.

    ‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.

    ‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.’

    When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

There are no promises made that we shall not die! In fact we will all surely die, but what is more important is how we have lived. For if we lived faithful, faith filled lives then we know we shall rise again to life eternal with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

How then should we live? The first reading gives us an important lesson that we shall not judge, in other words we shall NOT place ourselves in God’s place. But we shall be merciful and forgiving as He is. We shall declare ourselves for Him unafraid in the presence of all. For if we truly His disciples then for all time we shall proclaim Him Lord of lords, King of kings, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

And we shall lead all that He sends our way unto Him, so that together we shall all one day be reunited in Heaven. Amen!

Saint Bonaventure, Pray for us….. 

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First reading

Genesis 49:29-33,50:15-26

‘God has turned the evil you planned into good’

Jacob gave his sons these instructions, ‘I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me near my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial-plot. There Abraham was buried and his wife Sarah. There Isaac was buried and his wife Rebekah. There I buried Leah. I mean the field and the cave in it that were bought from the sons of Heth.’

    When Jacob had finished giving his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, and breathing his last was gathered to his people.

    Seeing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘What if Joseph intends to treat us as enemies and repay us in full for all the wrong we did him?’ So they sent this message to Joseph: ‘Before your father died he gave us this order: “You must say to Joseph: Oh forgive your brothers their crime and their sin and all the wrong they did you.” Now therefore, we beg you, forgive the crime of the servants of your father’s God.’ Joseph wept at the message they sent to him.

    His brothers came themselves and fell down before him. ‘We present ourselves before you’ they said ‘as your slaves.’ But Joseph answered them, ‘Do not be afraid; is it for me to put myself in God’s place? The evil you planned to do me has by God’s design been turned to good, that he might bring about, as indeed he has, the deliverance of a numerous people. So you need not be afraid; I myself will provide for you and your dependants.’ In this way he reassured them with words that touched their hearts.

    So Joseph stayed in Egypt with his father’s family; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children, as also the children of Machir, Manasseh’s son, who were born on Joseph’s lap. At length Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die; but God will be sure to remember you kindly and take you back from this country to the land that he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ And Joseph made Israel’s sons swear an oath, ‘When God remembers you with kindness be sure to take my bones from here.’

    Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten; they embalmed him and laid him in his coffin in Egypt.

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Gospel

Matthew 10:24-33

Everything now hidden will be made clear

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?

    ‘Do not be afraid of them therefore. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.

    ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.

    ‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’

As it was in yesteryears so is it now, that the evil one will not rest till he scatters all the unfaithful! Today in the Gospel we hear how it happened then and will happen again! The division is not the Lord’s doing but the evil one who instigates and causes rifts in the family separating those who believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and those who do not or have lost their way.

Today’s first reading gives us hope especially for families, for what seemed unlikely or impossible was made possible by the Lord our God. Jacob aka Israel’s family was reunited through by the hand of the Lord our God.

Therefore we do not need to worry about what we should say or how we should act so long as we are faithful the Holy Spirit is already with us to guide and show us the way.

Lord, Holy Spirit let Your thoughts be my thoughts, Your Words be my words in all that I say and do. Amen

Saint Camillus of Lellis, Pray for us… 

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First reading

Genesis 46:1-7,28-30

‘I can die, now that I have seen you alive’

Israel left Canaan with his possessions, and reached Beersheba. There he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in a vision at night, ‘Jacob, Jacob’, he said. ‘I am here’, he replied. ‘I am God, the God of your father’, he continued. ‘Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I myself will go down to Egypt with you. I myself will bring you back again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.’ Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons conveyed their father Jacob, their little children and their wives in the waggons Pharaoh had sent to fetch him.

    Taking their livestock and all that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his family with him: his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his grand-daughters, in a word, all his children he took with him to Egypt.

    Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph, so that the latter might present himself to him in Goshen. When they arrived in the land of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as he appeared he threw his arms round his neck and for a long time wept on his shoulder. Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now I can die, now that I have seen you again, and seen you still alive.’

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Gospel

Matthew 10:16-23

The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.

    ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.’

Remember the wonders the Lord has done!

A reminder that all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Rm 8:28

We see in today’s reading how an unthinkable situation at the very beginning of Joseph’s life is turned around and He becomes the saviour for his family. And he witnesses to God our Father’s hand in his life when he tell his brothers, “God sent me before you to preserve your lives.” What was once scattered becomes whole again through full reconciliation. Mercy and forgiveness bring forth new life! Does this not bring to mind Christ Jesus our Lord who laid down His life for us? He who was crucified and died on the cross for us brought about full reconciliation with God our Father. For He paid the price for our sins so that we might be fully redeemed to live new lives in Him!

Likewise we are called to bring the mercy of the Lord our God into the lives of all those scattered in the world. To proclaim the good news of the Gospel and to witness to Jesus by our lives.  So that all may know that the kingdom of heaven is truly close at hand. Amen

Saint Henry pray for us…

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First reading

Genesis 44:18-21,23-29,45:1-5

Joseph reveals himself to his brothers

Judah went up to Joseph and said, ‘May it please my lord, let your servant have a word privately with my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. My lord questioned his servants, “Have you father or brother?” And we said to my lord, “We have an old father, and a younger brother born of his old age. His brother is dead, so he is the only one left of his mother, and his father loves him.” Then you said to your servants, “Bring him down to me that my eyes may look on him.” But you said to your servants, “If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not be admitted to my presence again.” When we went back to your servant my father, we repeated to him what my lord had said. So when our father said, “Go back and buy us a little food,” we said, “We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go down, for we cannot be admitted to the man’s presence unless our youngest brother is with us.” So your servant our father said to us, “You know that my wife bore me two children. When one left me, I said that he must have been torn to pieces. And I have not seen him to this day. If you take this one from me too and any harm comes to him, you will send me down to Sheol with my white head bowed in misery.” If I go to your servant my father now, and we have not the boy with us, he will die as soon as he sees the boy is not with us, for his heart is bound up with him. Then your servants will have sent your servant our father down to Sheol with his white head bowed in grief.’

    Then Joseph could not control his feelings in front of all his retainers, and he exclaimed, ‘Let everyone leave me.’ No one therefore was present with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers, but he wept so loudly that all the Egyptians heard, and the news reached Pharaoh’s palace.

    Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?’ His brothers could not answer him, they were so dismayed at the sight of him. Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ When they had come closer to him he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not grieve, do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here, since God sent me before you to preserve your lives.’

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Gospel

Matthew 10:7-15

You received without charge: give without charge

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep.

    ‘Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you. And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgement it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town.’

I cannot help but think of all those who have left the Church as I reflect on the Gospel of the day. Yes, it is important for us to evangelize so that all who do not yet know Jesus our Lord can come to experience Him through us, come to believe and have eternal life with Him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16

But what then about the least of our brethren? In today’s first reading we hear of how Joseph’s brothers are made to account for their youngest brother. Do we not think that God our loving Father would not want us to account for our brethren who have left the Church especially during the pandemic? What have we done to reach out to them and bring them home to Him?

We are His disciples, sent to the lost sheep. And as we go, we shall proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. We can demonstrate the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ through the authority He has given us over unclean spirits, with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. Amen

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First reading

Genesis 41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24

Joseph’s brothers in his power

When the whole country of Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. But Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.’ There was famine all over the world. Then Joseph opened all the granaries and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine grew worse in the land of Egypt. People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy grain from Joseph, for the famine had grown severe throughout the world.

    Israel’s sons with others making the same journey went to buy grain, for there was famine in the land of Canaan. It was Joseph, as the man in authority over the country, who sold the grain to all comers. So Joseph’s brothers went and bowed down before him, their faces touching the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers he recognised them. But he did not make himself known to them, and he spoke harshly to them. Then he kept them all in custody for three days.

    On the third day Joseph said to them, ‘Do this and you shall keep your lives, for I am a man who fears God. If you are honest men let one of your brothers be kept in the place of your detention; as for you, go and take grain to relieve the famine of your families. You shall bring me your youngest brother; this way your words will be proved true, and you will not have to die!’ This they did. They said to one another, ‘Truly we are being called to account for our brother. We saw his misery of soul when he begged our mercy, but we did not listen to him and now this misery has come home to us.’ Reuben answered them, ‘Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you did not listen, and now we are brought to account for his blood.’ They did not know that Joseph understood, because there was an interpreter between them. He left them and wept.

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Gospel

Matthew 10:1-7

‘Go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel’

Jesus summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.

    These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows:

    ‘Do not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’

If only I had such conviction to wrestle with temptation and sin so that the Lord might Bless me! Surely, I will proclaim with heartfelt joy, “Lord in my justice I shall see Your face!”

Nay! For Yes indeed, we must wrestle with temptation and sin with all our might! But we cannot win the fight alone! We need Jesus! We can cry out to Him and He will make haste to help up! Have we forgotten that just on the Sunday that passed, He assured us, ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” For through Him, with Him and in Him, victory over sin and temptation is ours!

So let us renounce the works of the enemy and stand in the authority of Christ Jesus our Lord; for we sent to into the world, to heal and set free all those who are weary and burdened. And through the power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they will be set free indeed; to live life to the full in Him. Amen

Saint Benedict, Abbot pray for us…

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First reading

Genesis 32:23-33

Jacob wrestles with God

Jacob rose, and taking his two wives and his two slave-girls and his eleven children he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream and sent all his possessions over too. And Jacob was left alone.

    And there was one that wrestled with him until daybreak who, seeing that he could not master him, struck him in the socket of his hip, and Jacob’s hip was dislocated as he wrestled with him. He said, ‘Let me go, for day is breaking.’ But Jacob answered, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ He then asked, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob’, he replied. He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have been strong against God, you shall prevail against men.’ Jacob then made this request, ‘I beg you, tell me your name’, but he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there.

    Jacob named the place Peniel, ‘Because I have seen God face to face,’ he said ‘and I have survived.’ The sun rose as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip. That is the reason why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sciatic nerve which is in the socket of the hip; because he had struck Jacob in the socket of the hip on the sciatic nerve.

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Gospel

Matthew 9:32-37

The harvest is rich but the labourers are few

A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’

    Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.

    And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’ What if I told you that thought was a given! In fact, the Lord our God wants us to dream bigger! Hope in Him for more! For if we stand in the authority of Christ Jesus our Lord, we can open the Heavens, and He will send His angels to minister to us and whom we pray for.

In other words we unite earth with Heaven! Just see what miracles we will work in His most precious name. For even today He wants to give us life to the full in Him. Through us His disciples we will heal, cast our evil spirits, and restore what is lost for we are empowered by Him to minister to His flock. Will He find such faith in us?

I am ready Lord, send me! Amen

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First reading

Genesis 28:10-22 ·

Jacob’s dream of the ladder at Bethel

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he had reached a certain place he passed the night there, since the sun had set. Taking one of the stones to be found at that place, he made it his pillow and lay down where he was. He had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and there were angels of God going up it and coming down. And the Lord was there, standing over him, saying, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give to you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants shall be like the specks of dust on the ground; you shall spread to the west and the east, to the north and the south, and all the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.

    ‘Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you before I have done all that I have promised you.’

    Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Truly, the Lord is in this place and I never knew it!’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awe-inspiring this place is! This is nothing less than a house of God; this is the gate of heaven!’ Rising early in the morning, Jacob took the stone he had used for his pillow, and set it up as a monument, pouring oil over the top of it. He named the place Bethel, but before that the town was called Luz.

    Jacob made this vow, ‘If God goes with me and keeps me safe on this journey I am making, if he gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return home safely to my father, then the Lord shall be my God. This stone I have set up as a monument shall be a house of God.’

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Gospel

Matthew 9:18-26

‘Your faith has restored you to health’

While Jesus was speaking, up came one of the officials, who bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him. Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’ Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’ And from that moment the woman was well again.

    When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion he said, ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.’ And they laughed at him. But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up. And the news spread all round the countryside.

While we may frown upon the ‘stolen’ blessing conferred upon Jacob, we should also reflect on the mystery and learn from his determination and sole desire to be Blessed by his father Isaac. That same determination and sole desire in which he wrestled with the Lord our God refusing to let go till he received His Blessing!

Do we wrestle daily with sin for the sole purpose of remaining holy unto God and to continue to receive His Blessing in our lives. Do we wrestle not to lose our patience with others, determined to be a reflection of the light of our Saviour! Yes indeed we should fight the good fight so as to live out our new lives in Him. New wine fresh skins!

Bless me Father! Amen

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First reading

Genesis 27:1-5,15-29 ·

Jacob obtains Isaac’s blessing by fraud

Isaac had grown old, and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see. He summoned his elder son Esau. ‘My son!’ he said to him, and the latter answered, ‘I am here.’ Then he said, ‘See, I am old and do not know when I may die. Now take your weapons, your quiver and bow; go out into the country and hunt me some game. Make me the kind of savoury I like and bring it to me, so that I may eat, and give you my blessing before I die.’

    Rebekah happened to be listening while Isaac was talking to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the country to hunt game for his father, Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which she had in the house, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them, covering his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skins of the kids. Then she handed the savoury and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

    He presented himself before his father and said, ‘Father.’ ‘I am here;’ was the reply ‘who are you, my son?’ Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your first-born; I have done as you told me. Please get up and take your place and eat the game I have brought and then give me your blessing.’ Isaac said to his son, ‘How quickly you found it, my son!’ ‘It was the Lord your God’ he answered ‘who put it in my path.’ Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come here, then, and let me touch you, my son, to know if you are my son Esau or not.’ Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice but the arms are the arms of Esau!’ He did not recognise him, for his arms were hairy like his brother Esau’s, and so he blessed him. He said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ And he replied, ‘I am.’ Isaac said, ‘Bring it here that I may eat the game my son has brought, and so may give you my blessing.’ He brought it to him and he ate; he offered him wine, and he drank. His father Isaac said to him, ‘Come closer, and kiss me, my son.’ He went closer and kissed his father, who smelled the smell of his clothes.

    He blessed him, saying:

‘Yes, the smell of my son

is like the smell of a fertile field blessed by the Lord.

May God give you

dew from heaven,

and the richness of the earth,

abundance of grain and wine!

May nations serve you

and peoples bow down before you!

Be master of your brothers;

may the sons of your mother bow down before you!

Cursed be he who curses you;

blessed be he who blesses you!’

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Gospel

Matthew 9:14-17

When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast

John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’

Today’s reading reminds us of God our Father’s faithfulness to His servant and how through Abraham’s faithfulness he walked always in the presence of the Lord our God. For in his moment of grief the Lord was there with him, making all things good. From securing a burial plot in a foreign land for his beloved wife to the finding of a daughter in law amongst his own kinfolks. It is not about ethnic purity but rather of Abraham keeping to the spiritual purity of the promise made by God our Father to Abraham about his descendants.

Where else in the universe, in heaven or earth can we find so great and an ever loving faithful God? Who did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:17 All who come to believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will have eternal life with Him! This is a promise fulfilled by my Lord’s life, death and resurrection which we claim for ourselves and our famililes. Amen

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First reading

Genesis 23:1-4,19,24:1-8,62-67

‘Choose a wife for my son Isaac’

The length of Sarah’s life was a hundred and twenty-seven years. She died at Kiriath-arba, or Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn and grieve for her.

    Then leaving his dead, Abraham spoke to the sons of Heth: ‘I am a stranger and a settler among you,’ he said. ‘Let me own a burial-plot among you, so that I may take my dead wife and bury her.’

    After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah opposite Mamre, in the country of Canaan.

    By now Abraham was an old man well on in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. Abraham said to the eldest servant of his household, the steward of all his property, ‘Place your hand under my thigh, I would have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live. Instead, go to my own land and my own kinsfolk to choose a wife for my son Isaac.’ The servant asked him, ‘What if the woman does not want to come with me to this country? Must I take your son back to the country from which you came?’ Abraham answered, ‘On no account take my son back there. The Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, took me from my father’s home, and from the land of my kinsfolk, and he swore to me that he would give this country to my descendants. He will now send his angel ahead of you, so that you may choose a wife for my son there. And if the woman does not want to come with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.’

    Isaac, who lived in the Negeb, had meanwhile come into the wilderness of the well of Lahai Roi. Now Isaac went walking in the fields as evening fell, and looking up saw camels approaching. And Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She jumped down from her camel, and asked the servant, ‘Who is that man walking through the fields to meet us?’ The servant replied, ‘That is my master’; then she took her veil and hid her face. The servant told Isaac the whole story, and Isaac led Rebekah into his tent and made her his wife; and he loved her. And so Isaac was consoled for the loss of his mother.

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Gospel

Matthew 9:9-13

It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick

As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

    While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’

We can be sure that the Lord our God will never abandon us in any situation or circumstance. “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deut 31:8 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Heb 13:5 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:20

Even when evil overwhelms us and has a foot hold in our lives, our Lord will set us free. If not Himself then He will send our brethren our aid! For Jesus had called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. Matt 10:1 Likewise He has given us the same authority to minister to all, He sends our way.

 Thank You Lord for rescuing me, by Your love You have set me free to live life to the full in and through You. Now and forever Amen.

Saint Antony Mary Zaccaria pray for us…

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First reading

Genesis 21:5,8-20 ·

Hagar and Ishmael, expelled for Sarah’s sake, saved by the Lord

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham gave a great banquet on the day Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah watched the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. ‘Drive away that slave-girl and her son,’ she said to Abraham; ‘this slave-girl’s son is not to share the inheritance with my son Isaac.’ This greatly distressed Abraham because of his son, but God said to him, ‘Do not distress yourself on account of the boy and your slave-girl. Grant Sarah all she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. But the slave-girl’s son I will also make into a nation, for he is your child too.’ Rising early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water and, giving them to Hagar, he put the child on her shoulder and sent her away.

    She wandered off into the wilderness of Beersheba. When the skin of water was finished she abandoned the child under a bush. Then she went and sat down at a distance, about a bowshot away, saying to herself, ‘I cannot see the child die.’ So she sat at a distance; and the child wailed and wept.

    But God heard the boy wailing, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. ‘What is wrong, Hagar?’ he asked. ‘Do not be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s cry where he lies. Come, pick up the boy and hold him safe, for I will make him into a great nation.’ Then God opened Hagar’s eyes and she saw a well, so she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

    God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the wilderness, and he became a bowman.

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Gospel

Matthew 8:28-34

The Gadarene swine

When Jesus reached the country of the Gadarenes on the other side of the lake, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs – creatures so fierce that no one could pass that way. They stood there shouting, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?’ Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding, and the devils pleaded with Jesus, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.’ And he said to them, ‘Go then’, and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off and made for the town, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs. At this the whole town set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave the neighbourhood.

Are you ready now to receive our Lord when He comes to visit? Why wait till Advent or Lent to reflect on whether we are staying awake? The Lord has on many occasions given us opportunity to welcome Him into our loves. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Rev 3:20

Will our Lord find us hospitable? He may come to visit in the guise of a beggar, an elderly even an orphan. Will He be turned away? His only desire is to find us discipled and rooted in His Word. For the fruit of that is in our ability to love in corporal and spiritual acts of mercy. He will Bless us and all things shall be possible through love of Him. Nothing is impossible for the Lord our God! We will heal and restore all that is lost in His powerful name!

Lord in knowing I am not worthy to have You enter under my roof, You have made me worthy. You have Blessed and anointed me, and I stand ready to greet You when You come again. Amen

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First reading

Genesis 18:1-15 ·

‘Next year your wife Sarah will have a son’

The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’

    Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.

    ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’ Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well on in years, and Sarah had ceased to have her monthly periods. So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ‘Now that I am past the age of child-bearing, and my husband is an old man, is pleasure to come my way again!’ But the Lord asked Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh and say, “Am I really going to have a child now that I am old?” Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the same time next year I shall visit you again and Sarah will have a son.’ ‘I did not laugh’ Sarah said, lying because she was afraid. But he replied, ‘Oh yes, you did laugh.’

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Gospel

Matthew 8:5-17

‘I am not worthy to have you under my roof: give the word, and my servant will be healed’

When Jesus went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.’ ‘I will come myself and cure him’ said Jesus. The centurion replied, ‘Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the subjects of the kingdom will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go back, then; you have believed, so let this be done for you.’ And the servant was cured at that moment.

    And going into Peter’s house Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

    That evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He cast out the spirits with a word and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah:

He took our sicknesses away and carried our diseases for us.

We have been blessed, baptised and given beautiful names? Are we living up to our names, our potential? Or rather are we living up to the great plan and vision of God our Heavenly Father for us?

If we are then no one will ever us hear us pray, if You want to Lord, You can cure me or if You want to Lord….and so on. For we will be living out of the authority given to us through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Will be opening up the heavens for others and reconciling them with the Lord their God. We will be ministering to all He sends our way, healing, casting our evil, restoring what was lost by the scatterer!

Here I am Lord Jesus I come to do Your Will. Amen

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First reading

Genesis 17:1,9-10,15-22 ·

The Lord make a covenant and gives Abram and Sarai new names

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am El Shaddai. Bear yourself blameless in my presence, and I will make a Covenant between myself and you. You on your part shall maintain my Covenant, yourself and your descendants after you, generation after generation. Now this is my Covenant which you are to maintain between myself and you, and your descendants after you: all your males must be circumcised.’

    God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah. I will bless her and moreover give you a son by her. I will bless her and nations shall come out of her; kings of peoples shall descend from her.’ Abraham bowed to the ground, and he laughed, thinking to himself, ‘Is a child to be born to a man one hundred years old, and will Sarah have a child at the age of ninety?’ Abraham said to God, ‘Oh, let Ishmael live in your presence!’ But God replied, ‘No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac. With him I will establish my Covenant, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be his God and the God of his descendants after him. For Ishmael too I grant you your request: I bless him and I will make him fruitful and greatly increased in numbers. He shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But my Covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear you at this time next year.’ When he had finished speaking to Abraham God went up from him.

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Gospel

Matthew 8:1-4

‘If you want to, you can cure me’

After Jesus had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him. A leper now came up and bowed low in front of him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And his leprosy was cured at once. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Mind you do not tell anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, as evidence for them.’

Praise the Lord in all things! For He sends His angels many, many times over and throughout our lives to come to our aid! Whether it was to prevent a fall down the stairs, a bad twist of the ankle, an almost fatal car accident, or simply when we saw no way out of a challenging situation. It is through His divine intervention that we still have time and opportunities to glorify Him through the way we lead our lives for Him and for brethren!

Jesus our Lord and loving Saviour, we love and adore You with all our hearts. Minds, strength and soul! For through You we are united with all the Saints and Angels, One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. To You be glory and praise forever!

Lead us Lord to greater works of faith, love and charity. Amen

Saints Peter and Paul pray for us….

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First reading

Acts 12:1-11 ·

‘Now I know the Lord really did save me from Herod’

King Herod started persecuting certain members of the Church. He beheaded James the brother of John, and when he saw that this pleased the Jews he decided to arrest Peter as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread, and he put Peter in prison, assigning four squads of four soldiers each to guard him in turns. Herod meant to try Peter in public after the end of Passover week. All the time Peter was under guard the Church prayed to God for him unremittingly.

    On the night before Herod was to try him, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, fastened with double chains, while guards kept watch at the main entrance to the prison. Then suddenly the angel of the Lord stood there, and the cell was filled with light. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him. ‘Get up!’ he said ‘Hurry!’ – and the chains fell from his hands. The angel then said, ‘Put on your belt and sandals.’ After he had done this, the angel next said, ‘Wrap your cloak round you and follow me.’ Peter followed him, but had no idea that what the angel did was all happening in reality; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed through two guard posts one after the other, and reached the iron gate leading to the city. This opened of its own accord; they went through it and had walked the whole length of one street when suddenly the angel left him. It was only then that Peter came to himself. ‘Now I know it is all true’ he said. ‘The Lord really did send his angel and has saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happen to me.’

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Second reading

2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18 ·

All there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me

My life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his Appearing.

    The Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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Gospel

Matthew 16:13-19

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’

We don’t really know how blessed we are until we reflect back on our lives, the challenges we had faced, the trials we had gone through; and recollect just how good and faithful the Lord our God has been throughout the years. He was with us through it all!

Ever since the very beginning He has kept His promises, and each and every promise has been fulfilled through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Truly the Lord remembers His covenant!

Likewise we are called to be faithful. How does our faithfulness in the Lord our God show? By our fruits! The love that others have experienced and felt through our service and sacrifice for love of them. How we bring the presence and peace of the Lord Jesus with us wherever we go. Amen

Saint Irenaeus pray for us…

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First reading

Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 ·

Count the stars: such shall be your descendants

It happened that the word of the Lord was spoken to Abram in a vision, ‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’

    ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘what do you intend to give me? I go childless…’. Then Abram said, ‘See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir.’ And then this word of the Lord was spoken to him, ‘He shall not be your heir; your heir shall be of your own flesh and blood.’ Then taking him outside he said, ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.

    ‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcases but Abram drove them off.

    Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms:

‘To your descendants I give this land,

from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River,

the river Euphrates.’

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Gospel

Matthew 7:15-20

You will be able to tell them by their fruits

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.’

What riches, wealth or property is there that is greater than to live in the presence of the living God who gave us life? We may have nothing to our name but the Lord with us, who can be against us?

Evidence of His presence living with us is seen in how we love our brethren and one another. It is felt in how we treat one another; with honour and respect, as if the very person before us was Christ Himself!

Lead me through the narrow gate Lord for I follow after You. Amen

Saint Cyril of Alexandria pray for us…

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First reading

Genesis 13:2,5-18 ·

Abram settles in the land of Canaan and builds an altar to the Lord

Abram was a very rich man, with livestock, silver and gold. Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had flocks and cattle of his own, and tents too. The land was not sufficient to accommodate them both at once, for they had too many possessions to be able to live together. Dispute broke out between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and those of Lot’s. (The Canaanites and the Perizzites were then living in the land.) Accordingly Abram said to Lot, ‘Let there be no dispute between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and yours, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land open before you? Part company with me: if you take the left, I will go right; if you take the right, I will go left.’

    Looking round, Lot saw all the Jordan plain, irrigated everywhere – this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – like the garden of the Lord or the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar. So Lot chose all the Jordan plain for himself and moved off eastwards. Thus they parted company: Abram settled in the land of Canaan; Lot settled among the towns of the plain, pitching his tents on the outskirts of Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were vicious men, great sinners against the Lord.

    The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted company with him, ‘Look all round from where you are towards the north and the south, towards the east and the west. All the land within sight I will give to you and your descendants for ever. I will make your descendants like the dust on the ground: when men succeed in counting the specks of dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants! Come, travel through the length and breadth of the land, for I mean to give it to you.’

    So Abram went with his tents to settle at the Oak of Mamre, at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

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Gospel

Matthew 7:6,12-14

Treat others as you would like them to treat you

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.

    ‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.

    ‘Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’

Surrendering at any age is difficult to say the least! You have your pride, and your iron will to contend with in your youth. Then as you age you have set ways and comfort zones. As you become old, you have physical and mental limitations. But why must it be so difficult when the person you are surrendering to is Your creator who loves you beyond measure? It is not like you have anything to lose but rather have everything to gain.

Perhaps the question is really about how intimate are you in your relationship with the Lord Your God? What faith and trust do you have in Him? Do you not marvel at the faith and trust Abram had in the Lord His God at seventy-five?!

Recently I was heartbroken to see the changes that had taken place in the ministry I had served in, years ago. The members now seem aloof, cold and simply carrying out their duty like robotic dispensers! Today’s Gospel reminds that I should not judge, no matter how sad and sorry it looks. My only job is to glorify the Lord by my own life and the way I lead it for His greater glory. He will make crooked lines straight in His own time.

Forgive me Lord and help me see everyone through Your loving eyes. Amen

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First reading

Genesis 12:1-9 ·

‘Leave your country, your family, and your father’s house’

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.

‘I will bless those who bless you:

I will curse those who slight you.

All the tribes of the earth

shall bless themselves by you.’

So Abram went as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there.

    Abram passed through the land as far as Shechem’s holy place, the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘It is to your descendants that I will give this land.’ So Abram built there an altar for the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the mountainous district east of Bethel, where he pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. Then Abram made his way stage by stage to the Negeb.

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Gospel

Matthew 7:1-5

Do not judge, and you will not be judged

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How dare you say to your brother, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.’

An old song comes to mind even though it was released years before I was born on trying to get an answer or rather a peek into the future. ‘Que Sera Sera’ made popular by Doris Day. Question asked by the children was what will I be? And the answer from the mother was “Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see. Que sera, sera. What will be, will be.

What if I told you that the Lord our God has already revealed His plan for you?

“As for you, little child, you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High. You shall go ahead of the Lord to prepare his ways before him.” Lk 1:76 Today’s first reading ends with “I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Oh, but this passage is about St John the Baptist or even Jesus Himself! Well let’s hear what our Lord says about it to you then, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matt 5:14

We are the new heralds for the Lord of lords, King of kings, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! We are sent to cast out demons, heal the sick in Jesus’s name. Mark 16:17-18 For we are children of God our Heavenly Father empowered by the grace of His Son to reconcile all those scattered by the deceiver, and to bring them back unto Him.

So while we celebrate the birthday of St John the Baptist, let us also celebrate our own birth through the waters of our Baptism. Come Holy Spirit fall afresh on us! Amen

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First reading

Isaiah 49:1-6 ·

I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth

Islands, listen to me,

pay attention, remotest peoples.

The Lord called me before I was born,

from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.

He made my mouth a sharp sword,

and hid me in the shadow of his hand.

He made me into a sharpened arrow,

and concealed me in his quiver.

He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)

in whom I shall be glorified’;

while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,

I have exhausted myself for nothing’;

and all the while my cause was with the Lord,

my reward with my God.

I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord,

my God was my strength.

And now the Lord has spoken,

he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him,

to gather Israel to him:

‘It is not enough for you to be my servant,

to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;

I will make you the light of the nations

so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’

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Second reading

Acts 13:22-26 ·

Jesus, whose coming was heralded by John

Paul said: ‘God deposed Saul and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose.” To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”

    ‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you.’

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Gospel

Luke 1:57-66,80

‘His name is John’

The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.

    Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.

    Meanwhile the child grew up and his spirit matured. And he lived out in the wilderness until the day he appeared openly to Israel.

I am recovering from a bad case of food poisoning which left me in constant pain and lethargy. In fact, I struggled and pushed myself to reflect on the word and share even though I just wanted to curl up and sleep. As I reflect on today’s first reading I feel a little ashamed, that what I have gone through, is so far from what St Paul suffered for Christ and His Gospel message.

What about the constant battle against sin in our lives? In our struggle against sin, we have not yet resisted to the point of shedding our blood! Heb 12:4

For if we have, then indeed we have life and to the full in Jesus Christ our Lord.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full says the Lord.” Jn 10:10

Lord Jesus You alone are my treasure! Amen

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First reading

2 Corinthians 11:18,21-30

If I am to boast, let me boast of my own feebleness

So many others have been boasting of their worldly achievements, that I will boast myself. But if anyone wants some brazen speaking – I am still talking as a fool – then I can be as brazen as any of them, and about the same things. Hebrews, are they? So am I. Israelites? So am I. Descendants of Abraham? So am I. The servants of Christ? I must be mad to say this, but so am I, and more than they: more, because I have worked harder, I have been sent to prison more often, and whipped many times more, often almost to death. Five times I had the thirty-nine lashes from the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked and once adrift in the open sea for a night and a day. Constantly travelling, I have been in danger from rivers and in danger from brigands, in danger from my own people and in danger from pagans; in danger in the towns, in danger in the open country, danger at sea and danger from so-called brothers. I have worked and laboured, often without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty and often starving; I have been in the cold without clothes. And, to leave out much more, there is my daily preoccupation: my anxiety for all the churches. When any man has had scruples, I have had scruples with him; when any man is made to fall, I am tortured.

    If I am to boast, then let me boast of my own feebleness.

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Gospel

Matthew 6:19-23

Store up treasure for yourselves in heaven

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

    ‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be all darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkness, what darkness that will be!’

St Paul in today’s first reading encourages us to be chaste, pure and faithful to the Gospel which gives us life! Just as Christ Jesus has come to give us His bride, life and life to the full!

Forgiveness is met with forgiveness for our many heinous sins against the Lord our God, withhold forgiveness and we withhold the life we are meant to have in Him.

Let us meditate on the our Father taught us by our Lord,

‘Our Beloved Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn. Manifest your kingdom realm, and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven. We acknowledge you as our Provider of all we need each day. Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil. For you are the King who rules with power and glory forever. Amen.’ Matt 6:9-13 TPT

Saints John Fisher, Bishop, and Thomas More, Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop pray for us…

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First reading

2 Corinthians 11:1-11

I was careful not to be a burden to you in any way

I only wish you were able to tolerate a little foolishness from me. But of course: you are tolerant towards me. You see, the jealousy that I feel for you is God’s own jealousy: I arranged for you to marry Christ so that I might give you away as a chaste virgin to this one husband. But the serpent, with his cunning, seduced Eve, and I am afraid that in the same way your ideas may get corrupted and turned away from simple devotion to Christ. Because any new-comer has only to proclaim a new Jesus, different from the one that we preached, or you have only to receive a new spirit, different from the one you have already received, or a new gospel, different from the one you have already accepted – and you welcome it with open arms. As far as I can tell, these arch-apostles have nothing more than I have. I may not be a polished speechmaker, but as for knowledge, that is a different matter; surely we have made this plain, speaking on every subject in front of all of you.

    Or was I wrong, lowering myself so as to lift you high, by preaching the gospel of God to you and taking no fee for it? I was robbing other churches, living on them so that I could serve you. When I was with you and ran out of money, I was no burden to anyone; the brothers who came from Macedonia provided me with everything I wanted. I was very careful, and I always shall be, not to be a burden to you in any way, and by Christ’s truth in me, this cause of boasting will never be taken from me in the regions of Achaia. Would I do that if I did not love you? God knows I do.

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Gospel

Matthew 6:7-15

How to pray

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,

may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test,

but save us from the evil one.

‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’

For those who have gone through poverty and hardship and have come out of it, are generally far more generous than those who have and had everything they needed from the very beginning.

My own mother is one such individual who struggled with poverty growing up. And I am very much in awe of her generosity with the strangers that has come our way over the years. From the waiters, cleaners, garbage disposal men, nurses, just about anyone regardless of age, language or religion. If not money, she would offer them food and drink. Is she a saint? Well no! She has a fiery temper! But at the same time, she possesses a heart of gold for those who are in need. She loves them after the heart of Christ and shows great affection for the poor and the downtrodden. Is my mom perfect? Well I would simply say, that she has a great desire to be perfected through Jesus Christ our Lord, and entrusts herself to the intercession of His mother whom she has a special devotion to. I pray that I can be half as generous as she is! And endeavour to do better as time goes by.

Lord Jesus we thank You for all Your disciples whom we have encountered, who are inspirations for us to love others as You do. Teach and show us the way to love everyone with Your love, let us love them in the perfect love of God our Heavenly Father. Amen

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First reading

2 Corinthians 8:1-9 ·

The Lord Jesus was rich but became poor for your sake

Now here, brothers, is the news of the grace of God which was given in the churches in Macedonia; and of how, throughout great trials by suffering, their constant cheerfulness and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity. I can swear that they gave not only as much as they could afford, but far more, and quite spontaneously, begging and begging us for the favour of sharing in this service to the saints and, what was quite unexpected, they offered their own selves first to God and, under God, to us.

    Because of this, we have asked Titus, since he has already made a beginning, to bring this work of mercy to the same point of success among you. You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too. It is not an order that I am giving you; I am just testing the genuineness of your love against the keenness of others. Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty.

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Gospel

Matthew 5:43-48

Pray for those who persecute you

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

We are saints in the making are we not? Well, the code of conduct for a saint can be found in today’s first reading! As much as I would like to say we will all surely get there, the truth is that unless we are prepared to suffer; surrender fully to the will of the Lord our God, renounce ourselves and take up our cross then we will hardly make any headway. We need to live in the power of the Holy Spirit everyday of our lives for the endurance needed to run the race.

Impossible? NO! For nothing is impossible for the Lord our God. We have everything we need in Him, so let us stay the course!

Your word is a lamp for my steps Lord and a light for my path. Amen

Saint Philip Minh, Priest, and Companions pray for us… 

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First reading

2 Corinthians 6:1-10 ·

How we prove that we are God’s servants

As his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. For he says: At the favourable time, I have listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to your help. Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation.

    We do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit on our function as God’s servants. Instead, we prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering: in times of hardship and distress; when we are flogged, or sent to prison, or mobbed; labouring, sleepless, starving. We prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by a spirit of holiness, by a love free from affectation; by the word of truth and by the power of God; by being armed with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, prepared for honour or disgrace, for blame or praise; taken for impostors while we are genuine; obscure yet famous; said to be dying and here are we alive; rumoured to be executed before we are sentenced; thought most miserable and yet we are always rejoicing; taken for paupers though we make others rich, for people having nothing though we have everything.

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Gospel

Matthew 5:38-42

Offer the wicked man no resistance

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.’

How blessed are we to have a loving Father in Heaven who is slow to anger, compassionate and kind to all His children. So loved He the world that He gave us His only begotten Son so that the world might be reconciled unto to Him.

We have a beautiful sacrament given to us by Jesus to that we might know we are forgiven and set free through His powerful grace in the Sacrament of reconciliation. Yet how many of us go regularly to be forgiven by Jesus Himself in this Holy Sacrament. A disciple of Christ knows that without proper reconciliation with the Lord our God, we cannot serve Him as we ought to neither can we truly be free to love our brethren the way we should. That is fully through His love and a grace filled life!

Let us pray for the intercession of our Blessed Mother who in today’s Gospel, shows us that upset as she was with Jesus worrying her and Joseph. She was slow to anger, compassionate and kind. She carried the heart of God our Heavenly Father with her. And dwelled in His love remembering His goodness in her life.

Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us…Amen

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First reading

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 ·

From now onwards we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh

The love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them.

    From now onwards, therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh. Even if we did once know Christ in the flesh, that is not how we know him now. And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.

Gospel

Luke 2:41-51

Mary stored up all these things in her heart

Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere.

    Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’

    ‘Why were you looking for me?’ he replied. ‘Did you not know that I must be busy with my Father’s affairs?’ But they did not understand what he meant.

    He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart.

How can we say we do not know the heart of the Lord our God? When all barriers have been taken down through the life, death and resurrection of God’s only begotten Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Through our baptism we have been consecrated to the Lord our God and are intimately One with Him, He dwells in our hearts just as we dwell in His. Our once restless hearts now rest in Him and we have hope of eternal life with Him.

And again for love of us, His laws are written on hearts. By living an ordered life according to His Will for us, we are beacons of His glory. We are His light in the world shining brightly before all, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Heavenly Father.

To Jesus’ Heart, all burning

with fervent love for men,

my heart with fondest yearning

shall rise its joyful strain.

While ages course along,

blest be with loudest song

the Sacred Heart of Jesus

by ev’ry heart and tongue.

O Heart, for men on fire

with love no man can speak,

my yet untold desire

God gives me for thy sake.

Too true, I have forsaken

thy love for wilful sin;

yet now let me be taken

back by thy grace again.

As thou art meek and lowly,

and ever pure of heart,

so may my heart be wholly

of thine the counterpart.

When life is flying,

and earth’s false glare is done:

still, Sacred Heart, in dying,

I’ll say I’m all thine own.

(TO JESUS’ HEART, ALL BURNING (HYMN)

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus pray for us…

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First reading

Deuteronomy 7:6-11 ·

The Lord set his heart on you and chose you

Moses said to the people: ‘You are a people consecrated to the Lord your God; it is you that the Lord our God has chosen to be his very own people out of all the peoples on the earth.

    ‘If the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, it was not because you outnumbered other peoples: you were the least of all peoples. It was for love of you and to keep the oath he swore to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with his mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know then that the Lord your God is God indeed, the faithful God who is true to his covenant and his graciousness for a thousand generations towards those who love him and keep his commandments, but who punishes in their own persons those that hate him. He is not slow to destroy the man who hates him; he makes him work out his punishment in person. You are therefore to keep and observe the commandments and statutes and ordinances that I lay down for you today.’

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Second reading

1 John 4:7-16 ·

Let us love one another, since love comes from God

My dear people,

let us love one another

since love comes from God

and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,

because God is love.

God’s love for us was revealed

when God sent into the world his only Son

so that we could have life through him;

this is the love I mean:

not our love for God,

but God’s love for us when he sent his Son

to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

My dear people,

since God has loved us so much,

we too should love one another.

No one has ever seen God;

but as long as we love one another

God will live in us

and his love will be complete in us.

We can know that we are living in him

and he is living in us

because he lets us share his Spirit.

We ourselves saw and we testify

that the Father sent his Son

as saviour of the world.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

God lives in him, and he in God.

We ourselves have known and put our faith in

God’s love towards ourselves.

God is love

and anyone who lives in love lives in God,

and God lives in him.

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Gospel

Matthew 11:25-30

You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

    ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

When the same message is repeated by the Lord, it would be wise for us to take heed. The day before yesterday, Jesus reminded us that we are the light of the world and our light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing our good works, they may give the praise to our Father in heaven. Yesterday’s reflection on the readings gave us the assurance that the veil separating us from God our Father had been torn and we are given the opportunity to have a deep intimate relationship with the Lord our God!

His law has been written on our hearts, we know them just as we know Him who loves us so! Today we are reminded as well as warned not to take His love for us for granted; by allowing the veil of sin and unforgiveness to separate from God our Heavenly Father. It is the Gospel that keeps us rooted to Him, by choosing Him always through filial piety and steadfastness; through His word, prayer and almsgiving our unveiled faces will reflect the brightness of the Lord. We become One with and in Him.

Let the glory of the Lord dwell in our land, as we radiate the light of Christ on our faces. Amen

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First reading

2 Corinthians 3:15-4:1,3-6 ·

The veil over their eyes will not be removed until they turn to the Lord

Even today, whenever Moses is read, the veil is over their minds. It will not be removed until they turn to the Lord. Now this Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit.

    Since we have by an act of mercy been entrusted with this work of administration, there is no weakening on our part. If our gospel does not penetrate the veil, then the veil is on those who are not on the way to salvation; the unbelievers whose minds the god of this world has blinded, to stop them seeing the light shed by the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For it is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. It is the same God that said, ‘Let there be light shining out of darkness’, who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.

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Gospel

Matthew 5:20-26

Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

    ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’

Yesterday I mentioned that if we are true followers of Christ Jesus our Lord, then there is no switching off the light of Christ we carry within us. Today in the readings we learn that we have no excuse to say we did not know any better than to fall into any form of sin! For the laws of God has been written on our hearts, He is our God and we are His people.

Through Jesus our Lord the veil has been torn and we see Him face to face. How wonderful indeed to have such intimacy with the Lord our God. We are no longer servants but He calls us friends! We are no longer slaves to fear, we are children of God our Heavenly Father!

And so if we are ever tempted to stray, perhaps we should recall the deep, meaningful words of St Peter in Jn 6:68 when he answered Jesus, ““Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life [you are our only hope].” Amen

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First reading

2 Corinthians 3:4-11

The new covenant is a covenant of the Spirit

Before God, we are confident of this through Christ: not that we are qualified in ourselves to claim anything as our own work: all our qualifications come from God. He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant, which is not a covenant of written letters but of the Spirit: the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the administering of death, in the written letters engraved on stones, was accompanied by such a brightness that the Israelites could not bear looking at the face of Moses, though it was a brightness that faded, then how much greater will be the brightness that surrounds the administering of the Spirit! For if there was any splendour in administering condemnation, there must be very much greater splendour in administering justification. In fact, compared with this greater splendour, the thing that used to have such splendour now seems to have none; and if what was so temporary had any splendour, there must be much more in what is going to last for ever.

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Gospel

Matthew 5:17-19

I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’

There is no switching off the light as we please, when it the light of Christ we carry with us. Therefore, we must strive at all times for holiness, we cannot afford to lose our tempers through impatience or allow anyone or anything to trigger rage within us. We must speak the peace of Christ into any situation even if we are on the receiving end of an injustice or aggressive behaviour towards us.

Let us call upon the Holy Spirit for His wisdom, guide and good counsel. We can also ask our Blessed Mother to intercede of us as she prays for the gift fortitude for us. Through a steadfast spirit in Christ Jesus our Lord, may we perform such good works which is seen by all and that they may give praise to our Father in heaven. Amen

Saint Anthony of Padua pray for us…

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First reading

2 Corinthians 1:18-22 ·

God himself has anointed us and given us his Spirit

I swear by God’s truth, there is no Yes and No about what we say to you. The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you – I mean Silvanus and Timothy and I – was never Yes and No: with him it was always Yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him. That is why it is ‘through him’ that we answer Amen to the praise of God. Remember it is God himself who assures us all, and you, of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us, marking us with his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts.

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Gospel

Matthew 5:13-16

Your light must shine in the sight of men

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.

    ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’

There is an old beautiful hymn that goes like this…”Thank you, Lord, for the trials that come my way. In that way I can grow each day as I let you lead.” A truth which is hard to accept due to our human nature, but one that every disciple appreciates as necessary to grow in deeper faith and loving relationship with the Lord our God. “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. Jn 15:2

St Paul in today’s first reading reaffirms the love of God our Father, sharing with us that He is a gentle Father who comforts His children in all their sorrows so that we can offer others in their sorrows the consolation we have received from our Loving Father in Heaven. As we unite our sufferings with that of Christ and share in our sufferings, so too we will share in our consolations.

This is how we can live out the beatitudes in our lives, with the peace, love and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

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First reading

2 Corinthians 1:1-7 ·

God comforts us so that we can console others

From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Timothy, one of the brothers, to the church of God at Corinth and to all the saints in the whole of Achaia. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrows, so that we can offer others, in their sorrows, the consolation that we have received from God ourselves. Indeed, as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so, through Christ, does our consolation overflow. When we are made to suffer, it is for your consolation and salvation. When, instead, we are comforted, this should be a consolation to you, supporting you in patiently bearing the same sufferings as we bear. And our hope for you is confident, since we know that, sharing our sufferings, you will also share our consolations.

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Gospel

Matthew 5:1-12

How happy are the poor in spirit

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

‘How happy are the poor in spirit;

    theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy the gentle:

    they shall have the earth for their heritage.

Happy those who mourn:

    they shall be comforted.

Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right:

    they shall be satisfied.

Happy the merciful:

    they shall have mercy shown them.

Happy the pure in heart:

    they shall see God.

Happy the peacemakers:

    they shall be called sons of God.

Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right:

    theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven: this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.’

Today’s first reading is so precious because it is a guide for Christians on their pilgrim journey to their Heavenly inheritance given by St Raphael one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord. If one says that it is simply a work of fiction, I would rather we review that statement simply with this thought, “Is Tobit not an inspired work of God?”

• Always and above Bless God, utter His praise before all the living.
• Testify to His goodness and all He has done in your life.
• Never tire of giving Him thanks (heart of gratitude towards the Lord Your God)
• Proclaim His wondrous deeds.
• Do what is good and avoid all evil.
• Pray, give alms with right conduct.
• Do not hoard your wealth.
• Do not hesitate to do what is right, make haste to help those in need.

If you reflect a little more deeply on today’s Gospel, you will see that the poor widow did all as it is mentioned above in one way or another.

Blessed be God who lives forever in our midst and in our hearts. Amen

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First reading

Tobit 12:1,5-15,20

‘I am one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord’

When the feasting was over, Tobit called his son Tobias and said, ‘My son, you ought to think about paying the amount due to your fellow traveller; give him more than the figure agreed on.’ So Tobias called his companion and said, ‘Take half of what you brought back, in payment for all you have done, and go in peace.’

    Then Raphael took them both aside and said, ‘Bless God, utter his praise before all the living for all the favours he has given you. Bless and extol his name. Proclaim before all men the deeds of God as they deserve, and never tire of giving him thanks. It is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right to reveal and publish the works of God. Thank him worthily. Do what is good, and no evil can befall you.

    ‘Prayer with fasting and alms with right conduct are better than riches with iniquity. Better to practise almsgiving than to hoard up gold. Almsgiving saves from death and purges every kind of sin. Those who give alms have their fill of days; those who commit sin and do evil, bring harm on themselves.

    ‘I am going to tell you the whole truth, hiding nothing from you. I have already told you that it is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right too to reveal in worthy fashion the works of God. So you must know that when you and Sarah were at prayer, it was I who offered your supplications before the glory of the Lord and who read them; so too when you were burying the dead. When you did not hesitate to get up and leave the table to go and bury a dead man, I was sent to test your faith, and at the same time God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord.

    ‘Now bless the Lord on earth and give thanks to God. I am about to return to him above who sent me.’

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Gospel

Mark 12:38-44

This poor widow has put in more than all

In his teaching Jesus said, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’

    He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’

Here is a truth for today in this day and age. That is, we do not Bless one another as often and as much as we should! We are quick tempered and readily criticise those who do not perform or act according to our standards; or hold our tongues but mutter under our breath. We would rather curse instead of bless and so it begs the question whom is it that we serve? Whom is it that we love?

If it is the Lord our God then we should seize any and every opportunity to Bless one another, whether it is with a kind word or an act of love. For Blessing one another is likewise giving praise and glory to God our Heavenly Father who is Blessed in turn; for we live as His children in the light of the resurrection of His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We follow after the heart of Christ who turns all curses into Blessings!

Jesus Son of the living God Bless us and keep us close to You. Amen

Saint Ephraem pray for us…

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First reading

Tobit 11:5-17 ·

Tobit’s sight is restored to him

Anna was sitting, watching the road by which her son would come. She was sure at once it must be he and said to the father, ‘Here comes your son, with his companion.’

    Raphael said to Tobias before he reached his father, ‘I give you my word that your father’s eyes will open. You must put the fish’s gall to his eyes; the medicine will smart and will draw a filmy white skin off his eyes. And your father will be able to see and look on the light.’

    The mother ran forward and threw her arms round her son’s neck. ‘Now I can die,’ she said ‘I have seen you again.’ And she wept. Tobit rose to his feet and stumbled across the courtyard through the door. Tobias came on towards him (he had the fish’s gall in his hand). He blew into his eyes and said, steadying him, ‘Take courage, father!’ With this he applied the medicine, left it there a while, then with both hands peeled away a filmy skin from the corners of his eyes. Then his father fell on his neck and wept. He exclaimed, ‘I can see, my son, the light of my eyes!’ And he said:

‘Blessed be God!

Blessed be his great name!

Blessed be all his holy angels!

Blessed be his great name for evermore!

For he had scourged me

and now has had pity on me

and I see my son Tobias.’

Tobias went into the house, and with a loud voice joyfully blessed God. Then he told his father everything: how his journey had been successful and he had brought the silver back; how he had married Sarah, the daughter of Raguel; how she was following him now, close behind, and could not be far from the gates of Nineveh.

    Tobit set off to the gates of Nineveh to meet his daughter-in-law, giving joyful praise to God as he went. When the people of Nineveh saw him walking without a guide and stepping forward as briskly as of old, they were astonished. Tobit described to them how God had taken pity on him and had opened his eyes. Then Tobit met Sarah, the bride of his son Tobias, and blessed her in these words, ‘Welcome, daughter! Blessed be your God for sending you to us, my daughter. Blessings on your father, blessings on my son Tobias, blessings on yourself, my daughter. Welcome now to your own house in joyfulness and in blessedness. Come in, my daughter.’ He held a feast that day for all the Jews of Nineveh.

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Gospel

Mark 12:35-37

‘David himself calls him Lord’

At that time while teaching in the Temple, Jesus said, ‘How can the scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, moved by the Holy Spirit, said:

The Lord said to my Lord:

Sit at my right hand

and I will put your enemies

under your feet.

David himself calls him Lord, in what way then can he be his son?’ And the great majority of the people heard this with delight.

Wonderful is it not to Bless the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, strength and soul and only then do we petition Him that He might Bless us too as He readily does! Is this not singleness of heart?

Likewise married couples too should Bless the Lord everyday and pray for singleness of heart in Him and with one another all the days of their lives.

Now see today’s Gospel through the lens of ‘singleness of heart’ and we shall see that the Lord our God desires such an intimate relationship with Him. That we shall love Him, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength. Singleness of Heart! And we shall love one another as we love ourselves. Singleness of Heart! Loving one another as One Body in Him. Amen

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First reading

Tobit 6:10-11,7:1,9-14,8:4-9

‘We must pray and petition the Lord’

Raphael and Tobit entered Media and had nearly reached Ecbetana when Raphael said to the boy, ‘Brother Tobias.’ ‘Yes?’ he answered. The angel went on, ‘Tonight we shall be staying with Raguel, who is a kinsman of yours. He has a daughter called Sarah, but apart from Sarah he has no other son or daughter.’

    As they entered Ecbatana, Tobias said, ‘Brother Azarias, take me at once to our brother Raguel’s.’ And he showed him the way to the house of Raguel, whom they found sitting beside his courtyard door. They greeted him first, and he replied, ‘Welcome and greetings, brothers.’ And he took them into his house. He said to his wife Edna, ‘How like my brother Tobit this young man is!’ Raguel killed a sheep from the flock, and they gave them a warm-hearted welcome.

    They washed and bathed and sat down to table. Then Tobias said to Raphael, ‘Brother Azarias, will you ask Raguel to give me my sister Sarah?’ Raguel overheard the words, and said to the young man, ‘Eat and drink, and make the most of your evening; no one else has the right to take my daughter Sarah – no one but you, my brother. In any case I, for my own part, am not at liberty to give her to anyone else, since you are her next of kin. However, my boy, I must be frank with you: I have tried to find a husband for her seven times among our kinsmen, and all of them have died the first evening, on going to her room. But for the present, my boy, eat and drink; the Lord will grant you his grace and peace.’ Tobias spoke out, ‘I will not hear of eating and drinking till you have come to a decision about me.’ Raguel answered, ‘Very well. Since, as prescribed by the Book of Moses, she is given to you, heaven itself decrees she shall be yours. I therefore entrust your sister to you. From now you are her brother and she is your sister. She is given to you from today for ever. The Lord of heaven favour you tonight, my child, and grant you his grace and peace.’ Raguel called for his daughter Sarah, took her by the hand and gave her to Tobias with these words, ‘I entrust her to you; the law and the ruling recorded in the Book of Moses assign her to you as your wife. Take her; take her home to your father’s house with a good conscience. The God of heaven grant you a good journey in peace.’ Then he turned to her mother and asked her to fetch him writing paper. He drew up the marriage contract, how he gave his daughter as bride to Tobias according to the ordinance in the Law of Moses.

    After this they began to eat and drink. The parents, meanwhile, had gone out and shut the door behind them. Tobias rose from the bed, and said to Sarah, ‘Get up, my sister! You and I must pray and petition our Lord to win his grace and his protection.’ She stood up, and they began praying for protection, and this was how he began:

‘You are blessed, O God of our fathers;

blessed, too, is your name

for ever and ever.

Let the heavens bless you

and all things you have made

for evermore.

It was you who created Adam,

you who created Eve his wife

to be his help and support;

and from these two the human race was born.

It was you who said,

“It is not good that the man should be alone;

let us make him a helpmate like himself.”

And so I do not take my sister

for any lustful motive;

I do it in singleness of heart.

Be kind enough to have pity on her and on me

and bring us to old age together.’

And together they said, ‘Amen, Amen’, and lay down for the night.

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Gospel

Mark 12:28-34

‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’

One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more.

Today’s first reading and Gospel are very comforting indeed! For they reiterate the fact that we are children of the resurrection! That we Christians living in Christ Jesus our Lord, are destined for eternal life with God our Heavenly Father. When we die we become like the angels, therefore we are united with the Saints who have gone before us and can intercede for those we leave behind.

Even now we can pray to the Lord our God to send his angels to come to our aid. And we do not have to pray just to St Michael to aid us in our battle against evil, we can pray to St Raphael and the rest of the Heavenly hosts!

Sing praises to the living God, glory hallelujah! Amen

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First reading

Tobit 3:1-11,16-17

Raphael is sent to bring remedy to the house of Tobit

Sad at heart, I, Tobit, sighed and wept, and began this prayer of lamentation:

‘You are just, O Lord,

and just are all your works.

All your ways are grace and truth,

and you are the Judge of the world.

‘Therefore, Lord, remember me, look on me.

Do not punish me for my sins

or for my heedless faults

or for those of my fathers.

‘For we have sinned against you

and broken your commandments;

and you have given us over to be plundered,

to captivity and death,

to be the talk, the laughing-stock and scorn

of all the nations among whom you have dispersed us.

‘Whereas all your decrees are true

when you deal with me as my faults deserve,

and those of my fathers,

since we have neither kept your commandments

nor walked in truth before you;

so now, do with me as you will;

be pleased to take my life from me;

I desire to be delivered from earth

and to become earth again.

For death is better for me than life.

I have been reviled without a cause

and I am distressed beyond measure.

‘Lord, I wait for the sentence you will give

to deliver me from this affliction.

Let me go away to my everlasting home;

do not turn your face from me, O Lord.

For it is better to die than still to live

in the face of trouble that knows no pity;

I am weary of hearing myself traduced.’

It chanced on the same day that Sarah the daughter of Raguel, who lived in Media at Ecbatana, also heard insults from one of her father’s maids. You must know that she had been given in marriage seven times, and that Asmodeus, that worst of demons, had killed her bridegrooms one after another before ever they had slept with her as man with wife. The servant-girl said, ‘Yes, you kill your bridegrooms yourself. That makes seven already to whom you have been given, and you have not once been in luck yet. Just because your bridegrooms have died, that is no reason for punishing us. Go and join them, and may we be spared the sight of any child of yours!’ That day, she grieved, she sobbed, and went up to her father’s room intending to hang herself. But then she thought, ‘Suppose they blamed my father! They will say, “You had an only daughter whom you loved, and now she has hanged herself for grief.” I cannot cause my father a sorrow which would bring down his old age to the dwelling of the dead. I should do better not to hang myself, but to beg the Lord to let me die and not live to hear any more insults.’

    This time the prayer of each of them found favour before the glory of God, and Raphael was sent to bring remedy to them both. He was to take the white spots from the eyes of Tobit, so that he might see God’s light with his own eyes; and he was to give Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, as bride to Tobias son of Tobit, and to rid her of Asmodeus, that worst of demons. For it was to Tobias before all other suitors that she belonged by right. Tobit was coming back from the courtyard into the house at the same moment as Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, was coming down from the upper room.

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Gospel

Mark 12:18-27

The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is the God of the living

Some Sadducees – who deny that there is a resurrection – came to him and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a wife and then died leaving no children. The second married the widow, and he too died leaving no children; with the third it was the same, and none of the seven left any children. Last of all the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?’

    Jesus said to them, ‘Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken.’

Do we think ourselves Holy, righteous and everyone else falls short? Even family? Whose standards do we measure them against? If we say against the standard of the Lord, our God then we are not truly His disciples! For how can know length, breadth, and depth of the knowledge and wisdom of our God? How humble are we to make such claims that we know? For even if He reveals certain things about our brethren, it is only so we can build them up! Not tear them down!

Therefore let all that we say and do, give glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Let us not be swayed by the ways of the world and give Him all which belongs to Him. We belong to Him! Amen

Saint Norbert pray for us….

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First reading

Tobit 2:9-14 ·

‘Everyone knows what return you have had for your good works’

I, Tobit, took a bath; then I went into the courtyard and lay down by the courtyard wall. Since it was hot I left my face uncovered. I did not know that there were sparrows in the wall above my head; their hot droppings fell into my eyes. White spots then formed, which I was obliged to have treated by the doctors. But the more ointments they tried me with, the more the spots blinded me, and in the end I became blind altogether. I remained without sight four years; all my brothers were distressed; and Ahikar provided for my upkeep for two years, till he left for Elymais.

    My wife Anna then undertook woman’s work; she would spin wool and take cloth to weave; she used to deliver whatever had been ordered from her and then receive payment. Now on March the seventh she finished a piece of work and delivered it to her customers. They paid her all that was due, and into the bargain presented her with a kid for a meal. When the kid came into my house, it began to bleat. I called to my wife and said, ‘Where does this creature come from? Suppose it has been stolen! Quick, let the owners have it back; we have no right to eat stolen goods.’ She said, ‘No, it was a present given me over and above my wages.’ I did not believe her, and told her to give it back to the owners (I blushed at this in her presence). Then she answered, ‘What about your own alms? What about your own good works? Everyone knows what return you have had for them.’

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Gospel

Mark 12:13-17

Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God

The chief priests and the scribes and the elders sent to Jesus some Pharisees and some Herodians to catch him out in what he said. These came and said to him, ‘Master, we know you are an honest man, that you are not afraid of anyone, because a man’s rank means nothing to you, and that you teach the way of God in all honesty. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay, yes or no?’ Seeing through their hypocrisy he said to them, ‘Why do you set this trap for me? Hand me a denarius and let me see it.’ They handed him one and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’ ‘Caesar’s’ they told him. Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God.’ This reply took them completely by surprise.

Happy the man who fears the Lord! Who takes delight in all the Lord’s commands. His justice stands firm for ever, he is the light in the darkness for the upright. He is generous, merciful and just. The good man takes pity and lends and conducts his affairs with honour. (extracted from today’s responsorial psalm 111)

In today’s first reading we hear of such a man! He makes haste to preserve the dignity of a fellow child of God by attending to his burial. He does so unafraid of any repercussions he might face. Such is God fearing man who walks in His presence!

What about those who do not fear the Lord? Who commits injustices, and other heinous crimes against humanity! Whose sins committed in blood cry out to their creator? Jesus tells us what will happen to such men in today’s Gospel.

I shall not waver Lord, remember me when I come into Your Kingdom. Amen

Saint Boniface pray for us…

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First reading

Tobit 1:3,2:1-8

Tobit defies the law by burying the dead

I, Tobit, have walked in paths of truth and in good works all the days of my life. I have given much in alms to my brothers and fellow countrymen, exiled like me to Nineveh in the country of Assyria.

    In the reign of Esarhaddon I returned home, and my wife Anna was restored to me with my son Tobias. At our feast of Pentecost (the feast of Weeks) there was a good dinner. I took my place for the meal; the table was brought to me and various dishes were brought. Then I said to my son Tobias, ‘Go, my child, and seek out some poor, loyal-hearted man among our brothers exiled in Nineveh, and bring him to share my meal. I will wait until you come back, my child.’ So Tobias went out to look for some poor man among our brothers, but he came back again and said, ‘Father!’ I answered, ‘What is it, my child?’ He went on, ‘Father, one of our nation has just been murdered; he has been strangled and then thrown down in the market place; he is there still.’ I sprang up at once, left my meal untouched, took the man from the market place and laid him in one of my rooms, waiting until sunset to bury him. I came in again and washed myself and ate my bread in sorrow, remembering the words of the prophet Amos concerning Bethel:

Your feasts will be turned to mourning,

and all your songs to lamentation.

And I wept. When the sun was down, I went and dug a grave and buried him. My neighbours laughed and said, ‘See! He is not afraid any more.’ (You must remember that a price had been set on my head earlier for this very thing.) ‘The time before this he had to flee, yet here he is, beginning to bury the dead again.’

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Gospel

Mark 12:1-12

They seized the beloved son, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes and the elders in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug out a trough for the winepress and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce from the vineyard. But they seized the man, thrashed him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another servant to them; him they beat about the head and treated shamefully. And he sent another and him they killed; then a number of others, and they thrashed some and killed the rest. He had still someone left: his beloved son. He sent him to them last of all. “They will respect my son” he said. But those tenants said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they seized him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and make an end of the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this text of scripture:

It was the stone rejected by the builders

that became the keystone.

This was the Lord’s doing

and it is wonderful to see?

And they would have liked to arrest him, because they realised that the parable was aimed at them, but they were afraid of the crowds. So they left him alone and went away.

Seek the wisdom of the Lord with all your heart and in purity you will find her!

For in our steadfast desire to follow His Word and Will for us, He has opened the Heavens for us.

And in Authority we have been sent by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to make disciples of all nations! We are empowered by the Lord of lords the King of kings. To lead all He sends our way into His kingdom.

In the light of Your wisdom Lord I declare that Your kingdom come, Your Will be done now and forever. Amen

Saints Charles Lwanga and his Companions pray for us….

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First reading

Ecclesiasticus 51:17-27

Glory be to him who has given me wisdom

I will thank you and praise you,

    and bless the name of the Lord.

When I was still a youth, before I went travelling,

    in my prayers I asked outright for wisdom.

Outside the sanctuary I would pray for her,

    and to the last I will continue to seek her.

From her blossoming to the ripening of her grape

    my heart has taken its delight in her.

My foot has pursued a straight path,

    I have been following her steps ever since my youth.

By bowing my ear a little I have received her,

    and have found much instruction.

Thanks to her I have advanced;

    the glory be to him who has given me wisdom!

For I am determined to put her into practice,

    I have earnestly pursued what is good, I will not be put to shame.

My soul has fought to possess her,

    I have been scrupulous in keeping the Law;

I have stretched out my hands to heaven

    and bewailed my ignorance of her;

I have directed my soul towards her,

    and in purity have found her.

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Gospel

Mark 11:27-33

I will not tell you my authority for acting like this

Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem, and as Jesus was walking in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, ‘What authority have you for acting like this? Or who gave you authority to do these things?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you a question, only one; answer me and I will tell you my authority for acting like this. John’s baptism: did it come from heaven, or from man? Answer me that.’ And they argued it out this way among themselves: ‘If we say from heaven, he will say, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?” But dare we say from man?’ – they had the people to fear, for everyone held that John was a real prophet. So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.’

Are we concerned about leaving behind a legacy when we are dead and gone? Do we want to be remembered for what we did? As I have aged and now am beginning to see folks my age or even younger pass on, thoughts such as these have been playing on my mind.

Yes it would be wonderful if I am remembered as a man of God who tried his utmost to remain steadfast and faithful. But what would be greater is how I made people feel while I was with them. Did they feel the presence of the Lord my God when I spoke and ministered to them. Were they healed, delivered, set free to experience the love of their creator? Did I stir hearts to want to know Him in depth such that they experience His peace and love? How many souls have I saved for His glory?

Well to fulfil this hope and desire then I must ensure that my ‘temple’ that is the temple of the Holy Spirit, is one of prayer, a dwelling place of the Lord my God. I must be able to bear fruit in and out of season! For all things are possible for the one I serve with all my heart, strength and soul. I must fill my heart with His mercy and love, so I forgive readily just as I am forgiven by Him.

Renew me Lord and let my faith deepen, so that I may glorify in all that I say and do; for all the remaining days of my life. Amen

Saints Marcellinus and Peter pray for us…

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First reading

Ecclesiasticus 44:1,9-13

Let us praise illustrious men

Let us praise illustrious men,

    our ancestors in their successive generations.

Some have left no memory,

    and disappeared as though they had not existed,

they are now as though they had never been,

    and so too, their children after them.

But here is a list of generous men

    whose good works have not been forgotten.

In their descendants there remains

    a rich inheritance born of them.

Their descendants stand by the covenants

    and, thanks to them, so do their children’s children.

Their offspring will last for ever,

    their glory will not fade.

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Gospel

Mark 11:11-26

The fig tree; the cleansing of the Temple

After he had been acclaimed by the crowds, Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked all round him, but as it was now late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

    Next day as they were leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree in leaf some distance away, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it, but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. And he addressed the fig tree. ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again’ he said. And his disciples heard him say this.

    So they reached Jerusalem and he went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling and buying there; he upset the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling pigeons. Nor would he allow anyone to carry anything through the Temple. And he taught them and said, ‘Does not scripture say: My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples? But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.’ This came to the ears of the chief priests and the scribes, and they tried to find some way of doing away with him; they were afraid of him because the people were carried away by his teaching. And when evening came he went out of the city.

    Next morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered to the roots. Peter remembered. ‘Look, Rabbi,’ he said to Jesus, ‘the fig tree you cursed has withered away.’ Jesus answered, ‘Have faith in God. I tell you solemnly, if anyone says to this mountain, “Get up and throw yourself into the sea,” with no hesitation in his heart but believing that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. I tell you therefore: everything you ask and pray for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours. And when you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your failings too. But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your failings either.’