Listen all you have ears and understand that Abba Father loves you dearly and only wants what is best for you. And so, He has given us His living Word, His Word made flesh, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Through Him we have hope of eternal life and yet even while we are still alive, we can live our lives to the full in Him. We have the Blessed assurance that as we die in Him, we shall rise to new life with Him.

And so how are we embracing our dearest Father in Heaven’s Word given in great love for us? Are dwelling on His word daily in His presence? Having received His Word and Will for us, have we then put it into action? For if we have that we should have already started yielding a harvest for Him.

Jesus, I want to walk with You this day and every day in Your presence, in the land of the living. Let Your Word be a lamp unto my feet. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 15:35-37,42-49 ·

The resurrected body is heavenly by nature

Someone may ask, ‘How are dead people raised, and what sort of body do they have when they come back?’ They are stupid questions. Whatever you sow in the ground has to die before it is given new life and the thing that you sow is not what is going to come; you sow a bare grain, say of wheat or something like that. It is the same with the resurrection of the dead: the thing that is sown is perishable but what is raised is imperishable; the thing that is sown is contemptible but what is raised is glorious; the thing that is sown is weak but what is raised is powerful; when it is sown it embodies the soul, when it is raised it embodies the spirit.

    If the soul has its own embodiment, so does the spirit have its own embodiment. The first man, Adam, as scripture says, became a living soul; but the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. That is, first the one with the soul, not the spirit, and after that, the one with the spirit. The first man, being from the earth, is earthly by nature; the second man is from heaven. As this earthly man was, so are we on earth; and as the heavenly man is, so are we in heaven. And we, who have been modelled on the earthly man, will be modelled on the heavenly man.

Gospel

Luke 8:4-15

The parable of the sower

With a large crowd gathering and people from every town finding their way to him, Jesus used this parable:

    ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell on the edge of the path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up. Some seed fell on rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture. Some seed fell amongst thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell into rich soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold.’ Saying this he cried, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’

    His disciples asked him what this parable might mean, and he said, ‘The mysteries of the kingdom of God are revealed to you; for the rest there are only parables, so that

they may see but not perceive,

listen but not understand.

‘This, then, is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God. Those on the edge of the path are people who have heard it, and then the devil comes and carries away the word from their hearts in case they should believe and be saved. Those on the rock are people who, when they first hear it, welcome the word with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of trial they give up. As for the part that fell into thorns, this is people who have heard, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life and do not reach maturity. As for the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.’

When we preach or share Christ with others it is the joy of the Resurrected Lord working in our very own lives! His light should shine bright within us into the world. And by our love put into action for Him and our brethren we are declaring that we have new life to the full in Him. Death where is your sting?!

Our previous lives in darkness is no more for Jesus came while we were still sinners and set us free by His life, death and resurrection! For had we remained where we were, we would still be searching for love in all the wrong places, searching for fleeting peace of mind, gaining short lived happiness through worldly possessions and desires. Slowly but surely withering away like flowers without hope.

Praise the Lord for His great mercy and love, now grace filled we are sent into the world to share His mercy and love with one and all! We are men and women after the heart of God, important members of our Lord’s Apostolate. We are beacons of our resurrected Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen Alleluia!

APOSTOLATE

The work of an apostle, not only of the first followers of Christ but of all the faithful who carry on the original mission entrusted by the Savior to the twelve to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The apostolate belongs essentially to the order of grace. Its purpose is not temporal welfare, however noble, but to bring people to the knowledge and love of Christ and, through obedience to his teaching, help them attain life everlasting.

First reading

1 Corinthians 15:12-20 ·

If Christ has not been raised, your belief is useless

Now if Christ raised from the dead is what has been preached, how can some of you be saying that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, Christ himself cannot have been raised, and if Christ has not been raised then our preaching is useless and your believing it is useless; indeed, we are shown up as witnesses who have committed perjury before God, because we swore in evidence before God that he had raised Christ to life. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins. And what is more serious, all who have died in Christ have perished. If our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people.

    But Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep.

Gospel

Luke 8:1-3

The women who accompanied Jesus

Jesus made his way through towns and villages preaching, and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments: Mary surnamed the Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and several others who provided for them out of their own resources.

At the cross her station keeping,

Stood the mournful Mother weeping,

Close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,

All His bitter anguish bearing,

Now at length the sword had passed.

Oh, how sad and sore distressed

Was that Mother highly blest,

Of the sole begotten One!

Christ above in torment hangs.

She beneath beholds the pangs

Of her dying glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,

Whelmed in miseries so deep,

Christ’s dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain

From partaking in her pain,

In that Mother’s pain untold?

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,

She beheld her tender Child,

All with bloody scourges rent.

For the sins of His own nation,

Saw Him hang in desolation

Till His spirit forth He sent.

O thou Mother: fount of love!

Touch my spirit from above,

Make my heart with thine accord.

Make me feel as thou hast felt;

Make my soul to glow and melt

With the love of Christ my Lord.

Holy Mother, pierce me through;

In my heart each wound renew

Of my Savior crucified.

Let me share with thee His pain,

Who for all my sins was slain,

Who for me in torment died.

Let me mingle tears with thee,

Mourning Him who mourned for me,

All the days that I may live.

By the Cross with thee to stay;

There with thee to weep and pray,

Is all I ask of thee to give.

Virgin of all virgins best,

Listen to my fond request:

Let me share thy grief divine.

Let me to my latest breath,

In my body bear the death

Of that dying Son of thine.

Wounded with His every wound,

Steep my soul till it hath swooned

In His very blood away.

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,

Lest in flames I burn and die,

In His awful Judgment day.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,

Be Thy Mother my defense,

Be Thy Cross my victory.

While my body here decays,

May my soul Thy goodness praise,

Safe in Paradise with Thee. Amen.

(STABAT MATER)

Our Lady of Sorrows pray of us…

First reading

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ·

I preached what the others preach, and you all believed

Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.

    Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.

    I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed.

Gospel

John 19:25-27

‘Woman, this is your son’

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.

Why do we Exalt the Holy Cross? When Christ died once for us and had already redeemed the world? For by His resurrection are we not already free to live in His light?

Because we remember that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (RM 5:8)For God our Father showed His great love for us by sending His only begotten Son for this very reason.

1 Chronicles 16:15 – He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations.

Luke 1:54-55 – “He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Isaiah 65:16-17 – “Because he who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth;

Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight! “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.

Isaiah 65:16-17 – “Because he who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth;

Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight! “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.

Luke 22:17-20  -And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

We Adore You, O Christ, and We Praise You. Because by Your Holy Cross, You Have Redeemed the World. Amen

First reading

Numbers 21:4-9 ·

If anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked up at the bronze serpent and lived

On the way through the wilderness the people lost patience. They spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither bread nor water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food.’

    At this God sent fiery serpents among the people; their bite brought death to many in Israel. The people came and said to Moses, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede for us with the Lord to save us from these serpents.’ Moses interceded for the people, and the Lord answered him, ‘Make a fiery serpent and put it on a standard. If anyone is bitten and looks at it, he shall live.’ So Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard, and if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.

Gospel

John 3:13-17

God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

‘No one has gone up to heaven

except the one who came down from heaven,

the Son of Man who is in heaven;

and the Son of Man must be lifted up

as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.

Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost

but may have eternal life.

For God sent his Son into the world

not to condemn the world,

but so that through him the world might be saved.’

Song of the Cross

Jesus truly saves and gives life! In today’s Gospel we see just how compassionate and loving our Lord is that He would breathe life back into a young man so that he could care for his aged mother who would have been left alone in the world unlikely to survive in those days. So, in essence two lives were saved not one!

Are we likewise as compassionate and loving as we are called to be after our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Do we exercise the gifts of the Holy Spirit to build up God’s Kingdom and to serve our brethren? St Paul in today’s first reading is not saying that we are limited in our gifts given to us individually! For those of us living in the life in the Spirit know well that the deeper our relationship with the Lord our God; the more gifts we will have to minister to our brethren for the building up of His Kingdom. Amen

Saint John Chrysostom pray of us…

First reading

1 Corinthians 12:12-14,27-31 ·

You together are Christ’s body: each of you a different part

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

    Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them? Be ambitious for the higher gifts.

Gospel

Luke 7:11-17

The only son of his mother, and she a widow

Jesus went to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a great number of people. When he was near the gate of the town it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable number of the townspeople were with her. When the Lord saw her he felt sorry for her. ‘Do not cry’ he said. Then he went up and put his hand on the bier and the bearers stood still, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you to get up.’ And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Everyone was filled with awe and praised God saying, ‘A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.’ And this opinion of him spread throughout Judaea and all over the countryside.

Too often we forget that our homes are an extension of the Eucharistic Celebration held on Sunday. That is when we sit down for a meal as family we should do so as if it was the Lord’s supper that we have gathered for. We pray as one before and after the meal and during the meal we talk about our day in and with the Lord our God. This should be the same likewise in our community meetings.

Yet how is it that in retreats, festivities or gatherings folks rush for their food at buffet lines? Not minding young children, the elderly and such! Even at sit down dinners some are rushing to eat and run! More important things to do? People to be with? What can be more important than being together and having a meal in the presence of our Lord?

For we the faithful know that there is power in the Word amongst us. How wonderful it is when we brought to the realisation that when we are gathered as One to have a meal, pray and worship; His mercy and grace abounds. Healing in all its forms takes place and we are filled with His peace and love.

Glory and praise be Yours O Lord our God. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 11:17-26,33 ·

If each one hurries to be first, it is not the Lord’s Supper you are eating

On the subject of instructions, I cannot say that you have done well in holding meetings that do you more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you all come together as a community, there are separate factions among you, and I half believe it – since there must no doubt be separate groups among you, to distinguish those who are to be trusted. The point is, when you hold these meetings, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you are eating, since when the time comes to eat, everyone is in such a hurry to start his own supper that one person goes hungry while another is getting drunk. Surely you have homes for eating and drinking in? Surely you have enough respect for the community of God not to make poor people embarrassed? What am I to say to you? Congratulate you? I cannot congratulate you on this.

    For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death. So to sum up, my dear brothers, when you meet for the Meal, wait for one another.

Gospel

Luke 7:1-10

Give the word, and my servant will be healed

When Jesus had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him. ‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not worthy to have you under my roof; and for this same reason I did not presume to come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant 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 these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith like this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health.

We cannot constantly give in to the temptations and distractions that take us away from Jesus then pray and hope that we are forgiven. Neither can we continue to live individual lives and lifestyles away from community thinking we can remain steadfast on our own!

For it was through Christ Jesus our Lord who bore the sins of the world so that we can live free as One Body in Him. Holy Eucharist is not a one Sunday event of thanksgiving but a means for us to enter into the divine life of our Saviour. Having received His Body, Blood, soul and divinity we unite ourselves fully with Him and One another in the Holy embrace of Communion!

How then can we allow us to fall so easily to ‘idolatry’?! That which takes us away from the union we share in the One true and living God?

I pray to You O Lord for I love You Lord my strength. For You are my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Amen (Ps. 18:1-2)

First reading

1 Corinthians 10:14-22 ·

We are a single body because we all share the one bread

My dear brothers, you must keep clear of idolatry. I say to you as sensible people: judge for yourselves what I am saying. The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf. Look at the other Israel, the race, where those who eat the sacrifices are in communion with the altar.

    Does this mean that the food sacrificed to idols has a real value, or that the idol itself is real? Not at all. It simply means that the sacrifices that they offer they sacrifice to demons who are not God. I have no desire to see you in communion with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take your share at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons. Do we want to make the Lord angry; are we stronger than he is?

Gospel

Luke 6:43-49

Whoever hears me builds his house on a rock

Jesus said to his disciples:

    ‘There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.

    ‘Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord” and not do what I say?

    ‘Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!’

Do we see clearly the glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Do we hear clearly His word and Will for us? Do we feel His presence with us from the early morn to the dead of night? If our answer is Yes!

Then surely we see Him in our brethren of whom we love and serve. Especially in those who are difficult to love, who probably have not experienced His love and mercy yet. We will not see the faults in them or others but rather we will strive to examine our very own consciences daily as we seek to be perfected by Jesus who alone is perfect!

We will affirm the good works of one another and are edified by the successes of our brethren who glorify the Lord our God by their lives. We never tire or give up hope in our endeavours to share the Good News, for even in our shortcomings and seeming ‘failures’ it is Christ our Lord who waters and grows the seed we sow for Him. We are always lifted and strengthened through His grace and love for us.

Lord Jesus Bless us and keep us in Your loving care as we live our lives for the sake of the Gospel, Your everlasting Word. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-27

We go into strict training, like fighters at the games

I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.

    So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.

    All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither. That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air. I treat my body hard and make it obey me, for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified.

Gospel

Luke 6:39-42

Can the blind lead the blind?

Jesus told a parable to the disciples: ‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.’

On this day O beautiful Mother, on this day we celebrate your birth. For it was God our Heavenly Father from the very beginning that chose you to bring to birth, His One and only begotten Son. Your whole life was in loving relationship with Abba Father. And you magnified Him by your life. Truly a lowly handmaid yet Blessed amongst all women!

In the Gospel we also hear of St Joseph your most chaste spouse. A humble man whose love and obedience to God our Heavenly Father was an ideal loving foster father and husband. What joy he must have had to have Jesus as his son!

It gives me great hope that I may be a nobody in this vast and big world, but I am a child of God so loved by Him and by my obedience and love, I too can magnify His Glory to all. So that everyone will feel and know the presence of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. God is truly with us! Amen Alleluia

First reading

Micah 5:1-4 ·

He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord

The Lord says this:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

the least of the clans of Judah,

out of you will be born for me

the one who is to rule over Israel;

his origin goes back to the distant past,

to the days of old.

The Lord is therefore going to abandon them

till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.

Then the remnant of his brothers will come back

to the sons of Israel.

He will stand and feed his flock

with the power of the Lord,

with the majesty of the name of his God.

They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power

to the ends of the land.

He himself will be peace.

Gospel

Matthew 1:1-16,18-23

The ancestry and conception of Jesus Christ

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother,

Perez was the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram was the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother,

Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother,

Obed was the father of Jesse;

and Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Solomon was the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa,

Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,

Joram the father of Azariah,

Azariah was the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah;

and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers.

Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

After the deportation to Babylon:

Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud,

Abiud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

Azor was the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Achim,

Achim the father of Eliud,

Eliud was the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob;

and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary;

of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son

and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

What is your vocation in life? Whether we are single or married, rich or poor we are all called to holiness and to the building up of God our Father’s Kingdom. And that should be our primary focus, to glorify the Lord our God by our lives. For our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ set us free to live fully in His love, mercy and peace. He has given us everything!

How then can we withhold anything for ourselves? Can we who have more than enough withhold food and drink from our hungry, thirsty brethren who have none? Can we leave those who are mourning, depressed or struggling without comfort while we rejoice on our own?

We should never be content with what we own or what material wealth we have. For we have been raised with Christ, and must set our hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Let us set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. Amen (Col 3:1-2)

First reading

1 CORINTHIANS 7:25-31 ·

The world as we know it is passing away

About remaining celibate, I have no directions from the Lord but give my own opinion as one who, by the Lord’s mercy, has stayed faithful. Well then, I believe that in these present times of stress this is right: that it is good for a man to stay as he is. If you are tied to a wife, do not look for freedom; if you are free of a wife, then do not look for one. But if you marry, it is no sin, and it is not a sin for a young girl to get married. They will have their troubles, though, in their married life, and I should like to spare you that.

Brothers, this is what I mean: our time is growing short. Those who have wives should live as though they had none, and those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for; those who are enjoying life should live as though there were nothing to laugh about; those whose life is buying things should live as though they had nothing of their own; and those who have to deal with the world should not become engrossed in it. I say this because the world as we know it is passing away.

Gospel

LUKE 6:20-26

Happy are you who are poor, who are hungry, who weep

Fixing his eyes on his disciples Jesus said:

‘How happy are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God.

Happy you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied.

Happy you who weep now: you shall laugh.

Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.

‘But alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now.

Alas for you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry.

Alas for you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.

‘Alas for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.’

We often gloss over today’s Gospel as simply Jesus choosing the twelve apostles. Special and anointed Men set apart to do God’s will. But really how special was each and every one of them? Most of us know that some of them were uneducated fishermen, we know of a tax collector, zealot and so on. It was Jesus who set them apart and anointed them. He changed them from within and they became more like Him. They surrendered everything took up their cross and followed Him.

Jesus is doing the very same thing today for you and me. He is setting us apart, He has anointed us through our baptism and confirmation, and we are sent into the world to be powerful instruments of His grace. How many of us are living out our call? Surrendering everything, taking up our cross and following after our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? How many lives have changed because we brought them closer to Jesus our Lord and our God?

Or are we still bickering with one another or who is right and who is wrong? Who has the Parish priest ear and who doesn’t? What other ugly sides are we showing to unbelievers instead of the face of Christ Jesus our Lord?

Both lungs of our Church in which the Holy Spirit breathes has the institutional dimension as well as the Charismatic dimension. Are we still focussed only on the institutional dimension? How alive in the Spirit is our Church? Our Ministries? Our Communities? Our Homes?

Come fill us with Your Presence Holy Spirit come dwell among us. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Do not drag your brother to a pagan for judgement

How dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the law courts of the unjust instead of before the saints? As you know, it is the saints who are to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases? Since we are also to judge angels, it follows that we can judge matters of everyday life; but when you have had cases of that kind, the people you appointed to try them were not even respected in the Church. You should be ashamed: is there really not one reliable man among you to settle differences between brothers and so one brother brings a court case against another in front of unbelievers? It is bad enough for you to have lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t you to let yourselves be wronged, and let yourselves be cheated? But you are doing the wronging and the cheating, and to your own brothers.

    You know perfectly well that people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: people of immoral lives, idolaters, adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, usurers, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God. These are the sort of people some of you were once, but now you have been washed clean, and sanctified, and justified through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of our God.

Gospel

Luke 6:12-19

Jesus chooses his twelve apostles

Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

    He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.

We cannot tolerate sin amongst us for it corrupts and if allowed to fester will eventually affect the whole community. Yes indeed we love the sinner, but he/she must be remorseful and seek to repent. There is no such thing as private sin, between the sinner and the Lord God Himself! Take for example a man in an adulterous relationship with another. Can He say it a private matter between Himself and God? Can we as community remain silent? See how his sin will affect and is already affecting his relationship with his spouse, his children, his community, his friends!

There is no such thing as a good time to love neighbour, brethren or family. We must love them in the present and do what we must now so that they can be healed, renewed and set free. For Jesus Himself shows us in today’s Gospel that love must come first above all else, law, due process and so on. He chose to heal the sufferers immediately out of love for him.

Saint Teresa of Kolkata Pray for us…

First reading

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 ·

Get rid of the old yeast of evil and wickedness

I have been told as an undoubted fact that one of you is living with his father’s wife. This is a case of sexual immorality among you that must be unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning. A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present. When you are assembled together in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I am spiritually present with you, then with the power of our Lord Jesus he is to be handed over to Satan so that his sensual body may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

    The pride that you take in yourselves is hardly to your credit. You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be. Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast, then, by getting rid of all the old yeast of evil and wickedness, having only the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Gospel

Luke 6:6-11

Is it against the law on the sabbath to save life?

On the sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.

By His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has made us new creations in Him by our baptism. Are we then living our new lives fully in His love? Are we living it with such peace and joy in our hearts that His radiance shines through our faces. And all those who look upon us, want what we have and that is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ walking with us.

This can only come about if we are truly living in the light of His resurrection. Not looking back to past lives and holding on to past sins! For He had freed us and restored us, so that we can live holy lives in His name. We can bear our crosses joyfully as we follow after Him. We live our lives with integrity and in service of Him and brethren, as St Paul says in today’s first reading; People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God.

Into Your hands I commit my spirit Lord, this and every day. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 ·

The Lord alone is our judge

People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. Not that it makes the slightest difference to me whether you, or indeed any human tribunal, find me worthy or not. I will not even pass judgement on myself. True, my conscience does not reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God.

Gospel

Luke 5:33-39

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

The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’

    He also told them this parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; if he does, not only will he have torn the new one, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old.

    ‘And nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good” he says.’

Who seeks to divide the church and separate us from one another? Who stands to gain when we fight and bicker over who is right and who is wrong? The answer is clear if and when this happens, we have lost sight and focus on Jesus our Lord and Saviour who died to unite the world on to Himself.

We have chosen to rely on our own wisdom instead of turning to the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us. We have forgotten how as unworthy as we were, He came and called us to follow Him! Weighed down by our sins He lifted us up with His great mercy and love. “Do not be afraid” He reminds us as He will be with us, when we go out to gather others who do not yet know Him and bring them to Him. So that they too can be set free to live fully in His love.

Instead of saying to You Lord, leave me I am a sinful man. I pray Lord, be with me always! I want more and more of You each and every day. Come Lord Jesus Come. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 3:18-23 ·

The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God

Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

Gospel

Luke 5:1-11

They left everything and followed him

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

    When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

    When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

Are you still an infant in your faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

When you should not be battling habitual sin any longer but instead battling evil and encouraging others to turn away from sinfulness and sin to live in the presence of the Lord our God. You should be rebuking fevers and praying for healing in Jesus’s name and proclaiming the Good news of the kingdom of God here on earth!

Recently I remarked to my spiritual director that I was amazed and impressed by some Christian brothers and sisters who have been doing street evangelisation by reaching out to strangers in the street and performing healing in our Lord’s name. He replied what happens after the healing? Meaning to say what is the follow up. Although I left it there without answer, I have seen that our Christian sisters and brothers lead them first to prayer in accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour and perhaps inviting some of them to Church. To me they were living out their faith put into action.

We who have the fullness of faith should be doing likewise and more! How can we remain infants in our faith?! As St Paul says in today’s first reading, we are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building. Let us be bold in our sowing and invite the Lord our God to be the one who makes things grow. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 ·

Neither the planter nor the waterer matters, only God, who makes things grow

Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still unspiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’?

    After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building.

Gospel

Luke 4:38-44

He would not allow them to speak because they knew he was the Christ

Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.

    At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.

    When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.

Although very few will openly share their skepticism, many still do not fully believe in the Holy Spirit. And the sad reality is that it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can hope to reach the depths of God. Still many claim to believe and are even willing to pray set prayers to the Holy Spirit invoking Him to come and dwell within them and yet do not live a life in the Spirit!

For to live a life in the Spirit takes discipline, and a growing desire to want more and more of Him. To grow deeper in love with Jesus our Lord each day and always seeking to know the mind and Will of God our Heavenly Father. We awake each day with joy as we await new adventures as we walk in His presence.

Then all will know the power of our resurrected Lord as we become powerful instruments of His grace. Amen Alleluia!

First reading

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 ·

The Spirit reaches even the depths of God

The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us. Therefore we teach, not in the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by means of the Spirit. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything, and his own value is not to be judged by other men. As scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so who can teach him? But we are those who have the mind of Christ.

Gospel

Luke 4:31-37

‘I know who you are: the Holy One of God’

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.

    In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the surrounding countryside.

Are we willing to stick our necks out for Jesus? To stand up for what is right? Are we brave enough to face unafraid the challenges that comes from living out our Christian values for the glory of God? Such that we declare with all our hearts, If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. RM 14:8

Are we then living a life in the Spirit? If our answer is Yes then what are the accompanying signs and wonders? What are the fruits we bring forth at every Eucharist to be laid down at the altar? How many souls have we won for Him? How many have we brought into faith not just by our testimonies but through acts of love in the power of the Spirit?

Lord I will not live as a closet Christian! I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Amen (RM 1:16)

First reading

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ·

The only knowledge I claimed was of the crucified Christ

When I came to you, brothers, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed. During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ. Far from relying on any power of my own, I came among you in great ‘fear and trembling’ and in my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God.

Gospel

Mark 6:17-29

The beheading of John the Baptist

Herod sent to have John arrested, and had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife whom he had married. For John had told Herod, ‘It is against the law for you to have your brother’s wife.’ As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him; but she was not able to, because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a good and holy man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.

    An opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee. When the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and his guests; so the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me anything you like and I will give it you.’ And he swore her an oath, ‘I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist.’ The girl hurried straight back to the king and made her request, ‘I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head, here and now, on a dish.’ The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her. So the king at once sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John’s head. The man went off and beheaded him in prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

As scripture says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.

Why not instead let the our Lord boast about us, His disciples to all nations!

Can He though about You and me?

Are we living our lives obedient unto Him? Are we living with such joy in our hearts that others are drawn to have what we have; Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Have we been bold in our proclamation of the Gospel we hold so dear? Have we given away our all? All the gifts and talents He had given us to glorify His name and to build His Kingdom. Have we not realised by now that it is only in the giving away that we receive? Perhaps we did not fully embrace Jesus’s words when He says “For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough.” For if we have been living as we are called to, then surely He can boast about us.  As we will often hear Him say to us “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”

In You O Lord our hearts rejoice, for we trust in Your Holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Amen

(Ps 33-21-22)

Saint Monica Pray for us…

First reading

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ·

God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, to shame the wise

Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything. The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.

Gospel

Matthew 25:14-30

You have been faithful in small things: come and join in your master’s happiness

Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.

    ‘The man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

    ‘Now a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here are five more that I have made.”

    ‘His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”

    ‘Next the man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s happiness.”

    ‘Last came forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’

STAY AWAKE!

Will we have a problem staying awake in joyful hope of the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, if we awake daily seeking to walk in His presence? If we listen eagerly to hear Him speak to us through His living Word? If we pray each day for the Holy Spirit to come upon us to guide us throughout the day? For Jesus is the power and wisdom of God; and will forever be our One true Love!

If all that is said above holds true for us then we have nothing to fear for we have our lamps brightly lit and ready to meet Him when He comes again.

Come Lord Jesus, we are eagerly waiting for You. Amen

First reading

1 Corinthians 1:17-25

We preach a crucified Christ, the power and wisdom of God

Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed. The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save. As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned. Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes? Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom? If it was God’s wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach. And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Gospel

Matthew 25:1-13

The wise and foolish virgins

Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.” But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.” They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.’

Read and re-read the first reading and see how your Parish, our Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church should be! And if it is not then why not?

Enriched in many ways in Christ, fully alive and grace filled such that everyone who comes in contact with a disciple of Jesus Christ desires to be one him or herself.

Perhaps a clue as to why not or rather not yet is to be found in the Gospel of today. Many have fallen asleep! Many are not awake to the workings of the Holy Spirit already outpoured for us and are not living a life in the Spirit. Consumed day to day with other more ‘important’ things refusing to spend any time in the presence of the Lord our God and in community. For without a community no one can claim to be disciple of Christ!

Come Holy Spirit fill my very being with Your graces this very morning, come fill me again at noon, in the evening and in the night. Be with me every hour, guide me so that I may draw ever closer to the bosom of my Lord and my God. Amen Alleluia.

First reading

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 ·

You have been enriched in many ways in Christ

I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.

    I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and preachers; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is faithful.

Gospel

Matthew 24:42-51

He is coming at an hour you do not expect

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

    ‘What sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time,” and sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’

Jesus my Lord and Saviour may You find in me integrity, one who like St Bartholomew You found to be incapable of deceit. Let my yes be yes to glorify You Lord and my no be No to all forms of sin and temptation!

Let me live always in Your presence Lord and if it is Your will may I see Heaven laid open, with You and the angels of God ascending and descending. For it is Your glory I long to witness, and to be a witness of Your love for all.

Grant me a double share of Your Spirit Lord. Amen

Saint Bartholomew pray for us….

First reading

Apocalypse 21:9-14 ·

He showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven

The angel came to speak to me, and said, ‘Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’ In the spirit, he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Gospel

John 1:45-51

You will see heaven laid open, and the Son of Man

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael. ‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.’

We have been given the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit and apart from Him, we too have been given the gift of the Holy Sacraments let us never take them for granted. For it was from Jesus Himself who instituted and handed them down for us to experience His everlasting presence here on earth; and so that through them we have life to the full.

Therefore let us seek to be renewed by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ each and every day. To be changed from within as we strive to turn fully away from all sin and to be faithful to the Gospel.

Jesus I want more of You in my life. Change me Lord to be ever more like You. So that I may bring Your light, joy, peace and love into this broken world in need of You our Saviour. Amen

Saint Rose of Lima Pray for us…. 

First reading

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3,14-17 ·

Stand firm and keep the traditions we have taught you

To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in this way.

    Through the Good News that we brought God called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.

Gospel

Matthew 23:23-26

Clean the inside of the cup first, so that the outside may become clean

Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!

    ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.’

The contrast between the First reading and the Gospel is striking indeed!  Steadfast is the faith of our Lord’s disciples in the first reading and as such there is growth and life! Love abounds between them and all gathered round them and their lives are changed because of it. Facing challenges and persecutions only made them more resolute in carrying their cross to follow Jesus. St Paul affirms and reminds them that God’s judgement is just and they have purpose in their sufferings which will find them worthy of the Kingdom of God.

On the other hand in today’s Gospel the scribes and pharisees who are supposed take the lead in showing the way to God’s Kingdom; are far from it themselves. Jesus reminds them that God our Father’s judgement is just and they who are found wanting, stubbornly wicked and unrepentant will be remain forever outside His Kingdom. Just as in Sunday’s Gospel just passed, these will say “Lord, open to us” but He will answer, “I do not know where you come from.”

Find me faithful Lord, for my heart cries out for Your grace and mercy to be upon me each and every day. Amen

Our Lady, Mother and Queen Pray for us….

Readings for the feria (Monday)

First reading

2 Thessalonians 1:1-5,11-12 ·

We thank God for your faith and your love

From Paul, Silvanus and Timothy, to the Church in Thessalonika which is in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ; wishing you grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    We feel we must be continually thanking God for you, brothers; quite rightly, because your faith is growing so wonderfully and the love that you have for one another never stops increasing; and among the churches of God we can take special pride in you for your constancy and faith under all the persecutions and troubles you have to bear. It all shows that God’s judgement is just, and the purpose of it is that you may be found worthy of the kingdom of God; it is for the sake of this that you are suffering now.

    Knowing this, we pray continually that our God will make you worthy of his call, and by his power fulfil all your desires for goodness and complete all that you have been doing through faith; because in this way the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in you and you in him, by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel

Matthew 23:13-22

Alas for you, blind guides!

Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to go in who want to.

    ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when you have him you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.

    ‘Alas for you, blind guides! You who say, “If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound.” Fools and blind! For which is of greater worth, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? Or else, “If a man swears by the altar it has no force; but if a man swears by the offering that is on the altar, he is bound.” You blind men! For which is of greater worth, the offering or the altar that makes the offering sacred? Therefore, when a man swears by the altar he is swearing by that and by everything on it. And when a man swears by the Temple he is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it. And when a man swears by heaven he is swearing by the throne of God and by the One who is seated there.’

How can we welcome our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ deep into our very beings and let His glory shine from within us when we will not prepare room for Him? When we are seated affixed in the centre of the throne room of our hearts? When our Holy temples are filled with hopes of personal glory and want of affirmation?

If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labour; if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil. In vain is your earlier rising, your going later to rest, you who toil for the bread you eat: when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber. Truly sons are a gift from the Lord, a blessing, the fruit of the womb. Indeed the sons of youth are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. O the happiness of the man who has filled his quiver with these arrows! He will have no cause for shame when he disputes with his foes in the gateways. Psalm 127

The Book of Proverbs emphasizes the primacy of divine action for a community’s well-being and does so radically, asserting: “It is the Lord’s blessing that brings wealth, and no effort can substitute for it” (Prov 10: 22).

Come Lord Jesus, Come dwell in my heart!

Let us place Jesus at the centre of our lives, and we will be true witnesses of hope and peace. Amen

Saint Bernard Pray for us….

First reading

Ezekiel 43:1-7 ·

The vision of the coming of the glory of the Lord to the Temple

The angel took me to the gate, the one facing east. I saw the glory of the God of Israel approaching from the east. A sound came with it, like the sound of the ocean, and the earth shone with his glory. This vision was like the one I had seen when I had come for the destruction of the city, and like the one I had seen on the bank of the river Chebar. Then I prostrated myself.

    The glory of the Lord arrived at the Temple by the east gate. The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; I saw the glory of the Lord fill the Temple. And I heard someone speaking to me from the Temple while the man stood beside me. The voice said, ‘Son of man, this is the dais of my throne, the step on which I rest my feet. I shall live here among the sons of Israel for ever.’

Gospel

Matthew 23:1-12

They do not practise what they preach

Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.

    ‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.’

What are you and I doing for those who spiritually dead? Those who have not yet encountered Him? Who are living listless lives just struggling to get through the day. Who searches each day for meaning for their lives and peace of mind? What are we doing for these dry bones!? Nothing?

Can we then declare that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind? Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 1 John 4:20 “Oh but I do not hate them!” Isn’t feigned ignorance a form of hate? For you do not care enough if a person is alive or dead! His or her existence does not matter to you.

Love is not simply the warmth of companionship. It is the willing generosity of a parent to helpless young child. Son and daughter caring for aged parent/s. Wife to husband struggling with addiction. Husband to paralysed wife or critically ill. Loving care for the orphan, aged, homeless, poor and those in prison. Frequently reaching out to those who live in  peripheries those urban, those social and those existential.

Loving the Lord our God is love put into action for Him and brethren. And He will surely breathe life into us and those whom we serve in His name. For through Him we have life to the full! Amen

First reading

Ezekiel 37:1-14

A vision of Israel’s death and resurrection

The hand of the Lord was laid on me, and he carried me away by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley, a valley full of bones. He made me walk up and down among them. There were vast quantities of these bones on the ground the whole length of the valley; and they were quite dried up. He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘You know, Lord.’ He said, ‘Prophesy over these bones. Say, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this to these bones: I am now going to make the breath enter you, and you will live. I shall put sinews on you, I shall make flesh grow on you, I shall cover you with skin and give you breath, and you will live; and you will learn that I am the Lord.”’ I prophesied as I had been ordered. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a sound of clattering; and the bones joined together. I looked, and saw that they were covered with sinews; flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them. He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man. Say to the breath, “The Lord says this: Come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead; let them live!”’ I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life again and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army.

    Then he said, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They keep saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead.” So prophesy. Say to them, “The Lord says this: I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. And I shall put my spirit in you, and you will live, and I shall resettle you on your own soil; and you will know that I, the Lord, have said and done this – it is the Lord who speaks.”’

Gospel

Matthew 22:34-40

The commandments of love

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:32

And so at every Eucharistic Celebration we ‘unworthy’ sinners are invited to His Heavenly Banquet here on earth to partake and receive His grace, mercy and love. To be reminded of His great love for us and how we should be living truly in His likeness and image. Sons and daughters of God our Heavenly Father so loved by Him. He desires to take out our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. In other words He will take out all that is dead, not of Him and give us His life and divinity!

So then can we view attending the Eucharistic Celebration as an obligation?

Do we continue to be inattentive, aloof, ignorant or asleep? To be talking among ourselves? To treat the Celebration as purely ritualistic and unwelcomed? If so sisters and brothers then we have failed to put on the ‘wedding garment’.

For every Eucharist is a Celebration, a thanksgiving for the great love poured out for us all! And so we partakers of the Heavenly Banquet with hearts disposed to receive, welcome Him fully into our beings. We rejoice for our hearts are transformed, transfigured into His likeness. He receives us; just as we receive Him, body, blood, soul and divinity! And having such abundant graces, mercy and love we go out into the World to share the joy of the Gospel by our lives.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen

First reading

Ezekiel 36:23-28 ·

I will remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them. And the nations will learn that I am the Lord – it is the Lord who speaks – when I display my holiness for your sake before their eyes. Then I am going to take you from among the nations and gather you together from all the foreign countries, and bring you home to your own land. I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances. You will live in the land which I gave your ancestors. You shall be my people and I will be your God.’

Gospel

Matthew 22:1-14

Invite everyone you can to the wedding

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’

I pray Lord that You never find me idle ever again, for You came and chose me to work in Your Kingdom. And I have been Blessed Lord abundantly, for there is no greater reward then to be fully alive in Your presence. No greater joy then to see the fruits of my labour in the love, joy and peace of the lives whom I serve in Your name. You have called me to shepherd your flock, I earnestly do so after the heart of the Good Shepherd, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I know I am not alone, and so walk in communion with You and my fellow Shepherds who tend to Your flock.

My only plea Lord is that You grant me a fresh anointing each day and keep me safe against the snares and wickedness of the enemy. So that I may always walk in the power of Your resurrection and glorify You by my life. Amen Alleluia!

First reading

Ezekiel 34:1-11

An oracle against bad and selfish shepherds

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them:

    ‘“Shepherds, the Lord says this: Trouble for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shepherds ought to feed their flock, yet you have fed on milk, you have dressed yourselves in wool, you have sacrificed the fattest sheep, but failed to feed the flock. You have failed to make weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick ones, or bandage the wounded ones. You have failed to bring back strays or look for the lost. On the contrary, you have ruled them cruelly and violently. For lack of a shepherd they have scattered, to become the prey of any wild animal; they have scattered far. My flock is straying this way and that, on mountains and on high hills; my flock has been scattered all over the country; no one bothers about them and no one looks for them.

    ‘“Well then, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, I swear it – it is the Lord who speaks – since my flock has been looted and for lack of a shepherd is now the prey of any wild animal, since my shepherds have stopped bothering about my flock, since my shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock, in view of all this, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. The Lord says this: I am going to call the shepherds to account. I am going to take my flock back from them and I shall not allow them to feed my flock. In this way the shepherds will stop feeding themselves. I shall rescue my sheep from their mouths; they will not prey on them any more.”

    ‘For the Lord says this: “I am going to look after my flock myself and keep all of it in view.”’

Gospel

Matthew 20:1-16

Why be envious because I am generous?

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, “You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage.” So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too.” In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first.” So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner. “The men who came last” they said “have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day’s work in all the heat.” He answered one of them and said, “My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’

What can we do to add to the greatness to the Lord our God? Absolutely nothing!  What can we do to add to His Glory? The true answer would be as the first absolutely nothing! Yet we who love, honour and worship Him as the One True God are called to glorify Him by the way we live our lives.

He had already told us what we must do and we should do well to remember always…

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

    And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

    and to walk humbly[a] with your God. Micah 6:8

For this is truly how we have already entered the gates of Heaven if we are living out His Will for us. For is it not Heaven when we walk humbly with Lord our God in His presence? Amen

First reading

Ezekiel 28:1-10 ·

Against the arrogance of the king of Tyre

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre, “The Lord says this:

Being swollen with pride,

you have said: I am a god;

I am sitting on the throne of God,

surrounded by the seas.

Though you are a man and not a god,

you consider yourself the equal of God.

You are wiser now than Daniel;

there is no sage as wise as you.

By your wisdom and your intelligence

you have amassed great wealth;

you have piles of gold and silver

inside your treasure-houses.

Such is your skill in trading,

your wealth has continued to increase,

and with this your heart has grown more arrogant.

And so, the Lord says this:

Since you consider yourself the equal of God,

very well, I am going to bring foreigners against you,

the most barbarous of the nations.

They will draw sword against your fine wisdom,

they will defile your glory;

they will throw you down into the pit

and you will die a violent death

surrounded by the seas.

Are you still going to say: I am a god,

when your murderers confront you?

No, you are a man and not a god

in the clutches of your murderers!

You will die like the uncircumcised

at the hand of foreigners.

For I have spoken – it is the Lord who speaks.”’

Gospel

Matthew 19:23-30

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ When the disciples heard this they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.’

    Then Peter spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.

    ‘Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.’

It is fitting that the Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who deigned that she would be our mother too, would show us the way to eternal life with Him. From her fiat to earnest fidelity, she magnified the Lord our God by the way she lived her life; that she truly loved Him with all her heart, strength, mind and soul.

She was assumed into Heaven by the first-fruit of all who have fallen asleep. And through her Son of whom she always leads us closer and deeper to, through her powerful intercession; we have hope of being raised with and through Him on the last day!

Dearest Mother of our Lord, our mother, assumed into Heaven pray for us. Amen

First reading

Apocalypse 11:19,12:1-6,10 ·

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman adorned with the sun

The sanctuary of God in heaven opened and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it.

    Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with the twelve stars on her head for a crown. She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. Then a second sign appeared in the sky, a huge red dragon which had seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. Its tail dragged a third of the stars from the sky and dropped them to the earth, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was having the child, so that he could eat it as soon as it was born from its mother. The woman brought a male child into the world, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne, while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had made a place of safety ready.

    Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ.’

Second reading

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 ·

Christ will be brought to life as the first-fruits and then those who belong to him

Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of all who have fallen asleep. Death came through one man and in the same way the resurrection of the dead has come through one man. Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet.

Gospel

Luke 1:39-56

The Almighty has done great things for me

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

    And Mary said:

‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord

and my spirit exults in God my saviour;

because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,

for the Almighty has done great things for me.

Holy is his name,

and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of his arm,

he has routed the proud of heart.

He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.

The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy

– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –

of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

Children are indeed a Blessing from the Lord our God and those who welcome them welcomes Him. For God our Heavenly Father wants to Bless all His children when we turn our hearts to Him.

Think of it this way…Who is it that does not and wants to prevent God our Father’s  Children from receiving His Blessings? Who’s works do we do if by words and actions we stop them from coming to Him through Jesus Christ our Lord?

If a child see his father beating up on his mother what lesson does he learn? Or a mother using abusive language and vulgarities on her father, what does she learn? “You can go for catechism or mass after your exams, stay home and study!” “Attending online masses is good enough!” There we then declare that we are NOT preventing God’s children to come to Him? Yes we are all accountable for our individual sins but our sins can have a ripple effect on our families and community!

Lord Jesus Bless my children and my children’s children as I strive each day to lead them closer to You. And Bless me Father Your loving child. Amen

First reading

Ezekiel 18:1-10,13,30-32 ·

You, not your children, will suffer for your sins: so repent, and live

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows:

    ‘Why do you keep repeating this proverb in the land of Israel: “The fathers have eaten unripe grapes; and the children’s teeth are set on edge”?

    ‘As I live – it is the Lord who speaks – there will no longer be any reason to repeat this proverb in Israel. See now: all life belongs to me; the father’s life and the son’s life, both alike belong to me. The man who has sinned, he is the one who shall die.

    ‘The upright man is law-abiding and honest; he does not eat on the mountains or raise his eyes to the idols of the House of Israel, does not seduce his neighbour’s wife or sleep with a woman during her periods. He oppresses no one, returns pledges, never steals, gives his own bread to the hungry, his clothes to the naked. He never charges usury on loans, takes no interest, abstains from evil, gives honest judgement between man and man, keeps my laws and sincerely respects my observances – such a man is truly upright. It is the Lord who speaks.

    ‘But if anyone has a son prone to violence and bloodshed, then this son shall certainly not live; having committed all these appalling crimes he will have to die, and his blood be on his own head.

    House of Israel, in future I mean to judge each of you by what he does – it is the Lord who speaks. Repent, renounce all your sins, avoid all occasions of sin! Shake off all the sins you have committed against me, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why are you so anxious to die, House of Israel? I take no pleasure in the death of anyone – it is the Lord who speaks. Repent and live!’

Gospel

Matthew 19:13-15

Do not stop the little children coming to me

People brought little children to Jesus, for him to lay his hands on them and say a prayer. The disciples turned them away, but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children alone, and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ Then he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

Fidelity to our spouse is also fidelity to the Lord our God for was it not three who entered into full communion on our Wedding day? Two became One united with the Lord our God in Holy Matrimony. Yet we do often dwell on this fact but instead give in temptations of mind and body that separates from Him.

Even those who remain unmarried are called into a chaste intimate spousal relationship with our ever loving and merciful Lord and God. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness. Lam 3:22-23

Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. Amen

(Isa 25:1)

First reading

Ezekiel 16:1-15,60,63

I clothed you with my own splendour but you made yourself a prostitute

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her filthy crimes. Say, “The Lord says this: By origin and birth you belong to the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. At birth, the very day you were born, there was no one to cut your navel-string, or wash you in cleansing water, or rub you with salt, or wrap you in napkins. No one leaned kindly over you to do anything like that for you. You were exposed in the open fields; you were as unloved as that on the day you were born.

    ‘“I saw you struggling in your blood as I was passing, and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live, and grow like the grass of the fields. You developed, you grew, you reached marriageable age. Your breasts and your hair both grew, but you were quite naked. Then I saw you as I was passing. Your time had come, the time for love. I spread part of my cloak over you and covered your nakedness; I bound myself by oath, I made a covenant with you – it is the Lord who speaks – and you became mine. I bathed you in water, I washed the blood off you, I anointed you with oil. I gave you embroidered dresses, fine leather shoes, a linen headband and a cloak of silk. I loaded you with jewels, gave you bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for your throat. I gave you nose-ring and earrings; I put a beautiful diadem on your head. You were loaded with gold and silver, and dressed in fine linen and embroidered silks. Your food was the finest flour, honey and oil. You grew more and more beautiful; and you rose to be queen. The fame of your beauty spread through the nations, since it was perfect, because I had clothed you with my own splendour – it is the Lord who speaks.

    ‘“You have become infatuated with your own beauty; you have used your fame to make yourself a prostitute; you have offered your services to all comers. But I will remember the covenant that I made with you when you were a girl, and I will conclude a covenant with you that shall last for ever. And so remember and be covered with shame, and in your confusion be reduced to silence, when I have pardoned you for all that you have done – it is the Lord who speaks.”’

Gospel

Matthew 19:3-12

Husband and wife are no longer two, but one body

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, ‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’

    They said to him, ‘Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?’ ‘It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife – I am not speaking of fornication – and marries another, is guilty of adultery.’

    The disciples said to him, ‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is not advisable to marry.’ But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’

By our sins we were stuck with a debt we could not pay! We were trapped with no where to go and no where to escape like slaves in captivity. We were blind to the Lord our God’s goodness because we exiled ourselves from Him. Even then while we were sinners God our Father sent His only begotten Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to pay the debt we could not pay. To free us from the bondages of Sin and to live free in His love by death and resurrection.

Have we then taken His love and mercy for granted? When we refuse to forgive those who owe us by their sins against us? The hurts and pains they may have caused us? Who have momentarily robbed us of our peace of mind and joy in our hearts? Our Lord suffered and died a most heinous, painful death for us yet He forgave us from the cross! Can we do any less for our brethren? Can we withhold forgiveness?

Let us turn to the Lord so that His mercy and grace will be upon us. By His death and the power of His resurrection we are already set free and that means we too are set free from any unforgiveness of heart when we choose to live fully in His love. Amen

Saint Clare Pray for us….

First reading

Ezekiel 12:1-12 ·

The oracle of exile against the whole House of Israel

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, you are living with that set of rebels who have eyes and never see, ears and never hear, for they are a set of rebels. You, son of man, pack an exile’s bundle and emigrate by daylight when they can see you, emigrate from where you are to somewhere else while they watch. Perhaps they will admit then that they are a set of rebels. You will pack your baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight, for them to see, and leave like an exile in the evening, making sure that they are looking. As they watch, make a hole in the wall, and go out through it. As they watch, you will shoulder your pack and go out into the dark; you will cover your face so that you cannot see the country, since I have made you a symbol for the House of Israel.’

    I did as I had been told. I packed my baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight; and in the evening I made a hole through the wall with my hand. I went out into the dark and shouldered my pack as they watched.

    The next morning the word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, did not the House of Israel, did not that set of rebels, ask you what you were doing? Say, “The Lord says this: This oracle is directed against Jerusalem and the whole House of Israel wherever they are living.” Say, “I am a symbol for you; the thing I have done will be done to them; they will go into exile, into banishment.” Their ruler will shoulder his pack in the dark and go out through the wall; a hole will be made to let him out; he will cover his face rather than see the country.’

Gospel

Matthew 18:21-19:1

‘How often must I forgive my brother?’

Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.

    ‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’

    Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and he left Galilee and came into the part of Judaea which is on the far side of the Jordan.

Here is a secret for you revealed to those who love the Lord with all their hearts, mind, strength and soul and has given their all for the Lord and their brethren. They possess the power and light of our Lord’s resurrection within them and the more of the gifts and graces they give away to all those in need, the more they receive all for the Glory of God our Heavenly Father.

They are living examples of what the Lord’s means when He says, “Unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.

Lord Jesus I desire to yield a rich harvest for You and so into Your hands I commend my Spirit. Amen

Saint Laurence Pray for us… 

First reading

2 Corinthians 9:6-10 ·

God loves a cheerful giver

Do not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings which God can send you – he will make sure that you will always have all you need for yourselves in every possible circumstance, and still have something to spare for all sorts of good works. As scripture says: He was free in almsgiving, and gave to the poor: his good deeds will never be forgotten.

    The one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide you with all the seed you want and make the harvest of your good deeds a larger one.

Gospel

John 12:24-26

If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I tell you, most solemnly,

unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies,

it remains only a single grain;

but if it dies,

it yields a rich harvest.

Anyone who loves his life loses it;

anyone who hates his life in this world

will keep it for the eternal life.

If a man serves me, he must follow me,

wherever I am, my servant will be there too.

If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.’

We declare that we are children of God our Father so loved by Him and yet how many of us with childlike innocence calls Him Dad? Daddy? Papa? Pa?

Daddy I love you, be with me throughout the day, I love to be in Your presence as I listen to your Word, it fills me with joy and is sweet to taste! Dad as worried I am about the day ahead, I take comfort that you will be see me through it and will provide that all I need. For nothing or no one can separate me from your love through Christ Jesus your Son. I desire nothing more than to draw closer to you this and every day; and to share Your love with all that I meet.  Amen

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) Pray for us… 

First reading

Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 ·

He gave me the scroll to eat and it was as sweet as honey

I, Ezekiel, heard a voice speaking. It said, ‘You, son of man, listen to the words I say; do not be a rebel like that rebellious set. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give you.’ I looked. A hand was there, stretching out to me and holding a scroll. He unrolled it in front of me; it was written on back and front; on it was written ‘lamentations, wailings, moanings.’ He said, ‘Son of man, eat what is given to you; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel.’ I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat and said, ‘Son of man, feed and be satisfied by the scroll I am giving you.’ I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey.

    Then he said, ‘Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.’

Gospel

Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14

Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me

The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

    ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

    ‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.

    ‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’

If we so desire to see the glory of God in our midst then it is only fitting that we are fully obedient unto to the Lord our God. For to see His glory it must be our One goal to glorify Him by our every word and action.

We must humble ourselves at all times especially in the face of adversity and challenges. We shall not seek nor demand immediate justice but patiently await our Lord’s justice. For we know that in all things surrendered and lifted up to our Lord He will provide. For He keeps us as the apple of His eye and hides us in the shadow of His wings wondrously showing His steadfast love.  Amen

Saint Dominic pray for us….

First reading

Ezekiel 1:2-5,24-28

Ezekiel’s vision of the glory of the Lord

On the fifth of the month – it was the fifth year of exile for King Jehoiachin – the word of the Lord was addressed to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldaeans, on the bank of the river Chebar.

    There the hand of the Lord came on me. I looked; a stormy wind blew from the north, a great cloud with light around it, a fire from which flashes of lightning darted, and in the centre a sheen like bronze at the heart of the fire. In the centre I saw what seemed four animals. They looked like this. They were of human form. I heard the noise of their wings as they moved; it sounded like rushing water, like the voice of Shaddai, a noise like a storm, like the noise of a camp; when they halted, they folded their wings, and there was a noise.

    Above the vault over their heads was something that looked like a sapphire; it was shaped like a throne and high up on this throne was a being that looked like a man. I saw him shine like bronze, and close to and all around him from what seemed his loins upwards was what looked like fire; and from what seemed his loins downwards I saw what looked like fire, and a light all round like a bow in the clouds on rainy days; that is how the surrounding light appeared. It was something that looked like the glory of the Lord. I looked, and prostrated myself.

Gospel

Matthew 17:22-27

‘They will put the Son of Man to death’

One day when they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men; they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised to life again.’ And a great sadness came over them.

    When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel came to Peter and said, ‘Does your master not pay the half-shekel?’ ‘Oh yes’ he replied, and went into the house. But before he could speak, Jesus said, ‘Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?’ And when he replied, ‘From foreigners’, Jesus said, ‘Well then, the sons are exempt. However, so as not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you.’

Abba Father had commanded that we listen to His Son the Chosen One. How well then have we listened to Him?

“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” Lk 10:27

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jn 13:34

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matt 28:9-20

Are all that we meet throughout the course of the day, week, months and year loved? Do they feel loved by us? Have they seen our love put into action for them? Do they experience joy in their hearts when they see us coming? How many are now our Lord’s disciples by our love, sacrifice and guidance?

For if we have listened and obeyed then we are truly living transfigured lives in the light of our resurrected Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

First reading

Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 ·

His robe was white as snow

As I watched:

Thrones were set in place

and one of great age took his seat.

His robe was white as snow,

the hair of his head as pure as wool.

His throne was a blaze of flames,

its wheels were a burning fire.

A stream of fire poured out,

issuing from his presence.

A thousand thousand waited on him,

ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

A court was held

and the books were opened.

I gazed into the visions of the night.

And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,

one like a son of man.

He came to the one of great age

and was led into his presence.

On him was conferred sovereignty,

glory and kingship,

and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.

His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty

which shall never pass away,

nor will his empire ever be destroyed.

Gospel

Luke 9:28-36

Jesus is transfigured before them

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one what they had seen.

It is the Lord who deals death and life. Det 32:39

And He has given us His Blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins so that we have hope of eternal life with Him. Matt 26:28

Are we then fulfilling the claim that we are His disciples by taking up our cross to follow Him? Have we embraced wholeheartedly that we will truly rise with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ when die?

Yes indeed the first step is to die to ourselves, so as to live fully in His presence. To renounce all that is not of Him and to grow in Holiness. But how have we laid down our lives for others for His namesake? What corporal and spiritual acts of mercy have we performed yesterday and today? Not 5, 10 years ago! How many souls have been redeemed by our sacrifice?

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Amen (Rm 14:8)

First reading

Nahum 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7

Israel restored; Nineveh ruined

See, over the mountains the messenger hurries!

‘Peace!’ he proclaims.

Judah, celebrate your feasts,

carry out your vows,

for Belial will never pass through you again;

he is utterly annihilated.

Yes, the Lord is restoring the vineyard of Jacob

and the vineyard of Israel.

For the plunderers had plundered them,

they had broken off their branches.

Woe to the city soaked in blood,

full of lies,

stuffed with booty,

whose plunderings know no end!

The crack of the whip!

The rumble of wheels!

Galloping horse,

jolting chariot,

charging cavalry,

flash of swords,

gleam of spears…

a mass of wounded,

hosts of dead,

countless corpses;

they stumble over the dead.

I am going to pelt you with filth,

shame you, make you a public show.

And all who look on you will turn their backs on you and say,

‘Nineveh is a ruin.’

Could anyone pity her?

Where can I find anyone to comfort her?

Gospel

Matthew 16:24-28

Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?

    ‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’

Do you know Jesus? How deep is your relationship with Him? Are you walking daily in His presence? If someone comes up to you today and asks you who is Jesus for you. what will your answer be?

Will any part of your answer be, “He speaks to me every day and I know His will for me?” “I have dignity, integrity and I am a saint through my baptism in Him” “I will gladly go through suffering, trials and challenges if I can draw closer to Him and perhaps glorify Him by going through them for His namesake.” “Jesus my Lord walks with me now and for all eternity. Amen

Saint John Mary Vianney Pray for us….

First reading

Jeremiah 31:31-34 ·

I will write my Law in their hearts

See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant of mine, so I had to show them who was master. It is the Lord who speaks. No, this is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive – it is the Lord who speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the least no less than the greatest – it is the Lord who speaks – since I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind.

Gospel

Matthew 16:13-23

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.’ Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

    From that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’

The perennial question we often ask is if the Lord our God is all good why does He permit evil? Why does He allow His children to fall into sickness and often death? The thing is are we asking the right question to begin with? If we look into the first reading we have our answer. God our Father loves with an everlasting love! “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:11-13

So the real question then should be, who caused sin and all calamity it brings to enter into our world to begin with? And are we then praying fervently, persistently in His presence interceding on behalf of our children, family, community and the world for the power and light of our Lord’s Resurrection to dispel the darkness? Have we begun to realise that we called to beacons of His light? To heal the world as we go out to make disciples of all nations.

By His own choice the Father made us His children by the message of the truth, so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he created. James1:18

First reading

Jeremiah 31:1-7 ·

You shall be rebuilt, virgin of Israel

I will be the God of all the clans of Israel – it is the Lord who speaks – they shall be my people.

The Lord says this:

They have found pardon in the wilderness,

those who have survived the sword.

Israel is marching to his rest.

The Lord has appeared to him from afar:

I have loved you with an everlasting love,

so I am constant in my affection for you.

I build you once more; you shall be rebuilt,

virgin of Israel.

Adorned once more, and with your tambourines,

you will go out dancing gaily.

You will plant vineyards once more

on the mountains of Samaria

the planters have done their planting:

they will gather the fruit.

Yes, a day will come when the watchmen shout

on the mountains of Ephraim,

‘Up! Let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God!’

For the Lord says this:

Shout with joy for Jacob!

Hail the chief of nations!

Proclaim! Praise! Shout:

‘The Lord has saved his people,

the remnant of Israel!’

Gospel

Matthew 15:21-28

The Canaanite woman debates with Jesus and saves her daughter

Jesus left Gennesaret and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Then out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, ‘Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.’ But he answered her not a word. And his disciples went and pleaded with him. ‘Give her what she wants,’ they said ‘because she is shouting after us.’ He said in reply, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’ But the woman had come up and was kneeling at his feet. ‘Lord,’ she said ‘help me.’ He replied, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ She retorted, ‘Ah yes, sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.’ And from that moment her daughter was well again.

When are you going to embrace the fact that you are a child of God so loved by Your Heavenly Father? You are chosen, a royal priesthood, a member of a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Pet 2:9

Yes indeed you should be living in the powerful light of our Lord’s resurrection and yet you still see yourself as inadequate, lacking; and still mourning after your sins and sins to come! Have you forgotten that the price was paid and victory already won for us by His life, death and resurrection? See how in today’s Gospel that you too are able to ‘walk on water’ if you only have faith and are focused on Jesus. And again that you too will sink when you start looking inwardly and rely on your own strength. How deep is your faith? And not faith alone, but faith put into action.

Wake up! For we are all meant to be living fully in the light of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Whoever believes in Him will do the works He had been doing, and they will do even greater things than those. Jn 14:12 Amen

First reading

Jeremiah 30:1-2,12-15,18-22

Your wound is incurable but I will heal you

The word addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord: the Lord, the God of Israel says this: Write all the words I have spoken to you in a book.

Yes, the Lord says this:

Your wound is incurable,

your injury past healing.

There is no one to care for your sore,

no medicine to make you well again.

All your lovers have forgotten you,

they look for you no more.

Yes, I have struck you as an enemy strikes,

with harsh punishment

so great is your guilt, so many your sins.

Why bother to complain about your wound?

Your pain is incurable.

So great is your guilt, so many your sins,

that I have done all this to you.

The Lord says this:

Now I will restore the tents of Jacob,

and take pity on his dwellings:

the city shall be rebuilt on its ruins,

the citadel restored on its site.

From them will come thanksgiving

and shouts of joy.

I will make them increase, and not diminish them,

make them honoured, and not disdained.

Their sons shall be as once they were,

their community fixed firm in my presence,

and I will punish all their oppressors.

Their prince will be one of their own,

their ruler come from their own people.

I will let him come freely into my presence

and he can come close to me;

who else, indeed, would risk his life

by coming close to me? – it is the Lord who speaks.

And you shall be my people and I will be your God.

Gospel

Matthew 14:22-36

Jesus walks on the water

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ It was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’

    Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the local people recognised him they spread the news through the whole neighbourhood and took all that were sick to him, begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched it were completely cured.

How wonderful it must be to prophesy in the name of the Lord? To declare freedom by the Lord for all sins so that all who listen are comforted, that they will no longer face the consequences of their words and actions. No! Woe to false prophets who preach such nonsense only to win a following for themselves!

For the Lord indeed wants to set His people free all their sins but they must repent fully of them in their hearts and turn back to Him in humility so that His mercy and love can be outpoured upon them.

Great His love for us all that He wills for us to be nourished as we draw close to Him. Of the loaves and fishes He said “Bring them here to me” He then gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass. Matt 14:18-19 All were nourished by God our Father’s abounding love through Jesus His Son. Amen

Saint Alphonsus Mary de’ Liguori pray for us…

First reading

Jeremiah 28:1-17

Jeremiah and the lying prophet Hananiah

At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, a Gibeonite, spoke as follows to Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and of all the people. ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says this, “I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. In two years’ time I will bring back all the vessels of the Temple of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon carried off from this place and took to Babylon. And I will also bring back Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who have gone to Babylon – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, I am going to break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”’

    The prophet Jeremiah then replied to the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people there in the Temple of the Lord. ‘I hope so’ the prophet Jeremiah said. ‘May the Lord do so. May he fulfil the words that you have prophesied and bring the vessels of the Temple of the Lord and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. Listen carefully, however, to this word that I am now going to say for you and all the people to hear: From remote times, the prophets who preceded you and me prophesied war, famine and plague for many countries and for great kingdoms; but the prophet who prophesies peace can only be recognised as one truly sent by the Lord when his word comes true.’

    The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it. In front of all the people Hananiah then said, ‘The Lord says this, “This is how, two years hence, I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and take it off the necks of all the nations.”’ At this, the prophet Jeremiah went away.

    After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke which he had taken off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah the word of the Lord was addressed to Jeremiah, ‘Go to Hananiah and tell him this, “The Lord says this: You can break wooden yokes? Right, I will make them iron yokes instead! For the Lord Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this: An iron yoke is what I now lay on the necks of all these nations to subject them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They will be subject to him; I have even given him the wild animals.”’

    The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, ‘Listen carefully, Hananiah: the Lord has not sent you; and thanks to you this people are now relying on what is false. Hence – the Lord says this, “I am going to throw you off the face of the earth: you are going to die this year since you have preached apostasy from the Lord.”’

    The prophet Hananiah died the same year, in the seventh month.

Gospel

Matthew 14:13-21

The feeding of the five thousand

When Jesus received the news of John the Baptist’s death he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.

    When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’ ‘Bring them here to me’ he said. He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves handed them to his disciples who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps remaining; twelve baskets full. Those who ate numbered about five thousand men, to say nothing of women and children.

Simply hearing the Truth and accepting it brings forth life. Rejecting the Truth will lead us to face consequences and eventually death. What is Truth? Pilate and many have asked the same question then and today.

Jesus gave us the answer, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jn 14:6

How then are we living this reality in our very own lives?

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Ps 25:5 Amen

First reading

Jeremiah 26:11-16,24

‘This man has spoken to us in the name of the Lord’

The priests and prophets addressed the officials and all the people, ‘This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.’

    Jeremiah, however, replied to the people as follows:

    ‘The Lord himself sent me to say all the things you have heard against this Temple and this city. So now amend your behaviour and actions, listen to the voice of the Lord your God: if you do, he will relent and not bring down on you the disaster he has pronounced against you. For myself, I am as you see in your hands. Do whatever you please or think right with me. But be sure of this, that if you put me to death, you will be bringing innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its citizens, since the Lord has truly sent me to you to say all these words in your hearing.’

    The officials and all the people then said to the priests and prophets, ‘This man does not deserve to die: he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.’

    Jeremiah had a protector in Ahikam son of Shaphan, so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

Gospel

Matthew 14:1-12

The beheading of John the Baptist

Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus, and said to his court, ‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’

    Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her.’ He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet. Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked. Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish.’ The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her, and sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.