tuesday 11 February 2020
Our Lady of Lourdes
In 1858 the Immaculate Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, near Lourdes in France, in the cavern called “de Massabielle.”Through her, Mary calls on sinners to change their lives.
Green/White
Entrance Antiphon:
Hail, Holy Mother, who gave birth to the King who rules heaven and earth for ever.
Collect
Grant us, O merciful God, protection in our weakness, that we, who keep the Memorial of the Immaculate Mother of God, may, with the help of her intercession, rise up from our iniquities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30
In the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord and, stretching out his hands towards heaven, said, ‘O Lord, God of Israel, not in heaven above nor on earth beneath is there such a God as you, true to your covenant and your kindness towards your servants when they walk wholeheartedly in your way. Yet will God really live with men on the earth? Why, the heavens and their own heavens cannot contain you. How much less this house that I have built! Listen to the prayer and entreaty of your servant, O Lord my God; listen to the cry and to the prayer your servant makes to you today. Day and night let your eyes watch over this house, over this place of which you have said, “My name shall be there.” Listen to the prayer that your servant will offer in this place. ‘Hear the entreaty of your servant and of Israel your people as they pray in this place. From heaven where your dwelling is, hear; and, as you hear, forgive.’
Psalm 83(84):3-5, 10-11
R/ How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.
- My soul is longing and yearning is yearning for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God.
- The sparrow herself finds a home and the swallow a nest for her brood; she lays her young by your altars, Lord of hosts, my king and my God.
- They are happy, who dwell in your house, forever singing your praise. Turn your eyes, O God, our shield, look on the face of your anointed.
- One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. The threshold of the house of God I prefer to the dwellings of the wicked.
Gospel Acclamation: Ps 118:24
Alleluia, alleluia! Train me, Lord, to observe your law, to keep it with my heart. Alleluia!
Gospel : Mark 7:1-13
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. For the Pharisees, and the Jews in general, follow the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down to them concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes. So these Pharisees and scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?’ He answered, ‘It was of you hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.’ And he said to them, ‘How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and, Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death. But you say, “If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Corban (that is, dedicated to God), then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother.” In this way you make God’s word null and void for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive, O Lord, we ask, the prayers of your people with the sacrificial offerings, that, through the intercession of Blessed Mary, the Mother of your Son, no petition may go unanswered, no request be made in vain. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon Cf. Lk 11: 27
Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary, which bore the Son of the eternal Father.
Prayer after Communion
As we receive this heavenly Sacrament, we beseech, O Lord, your mercy, that we, who rejoice in commemorating the Blessed Virgin Mary, may by imitating her serve worthily the mystery of our redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Nowadays, there is so much talk about handwashing. A day has even been set aside as the World Day of Handwashing. This seeks to help people to adopt the practice of handwashing so as to avoid bacteria intake. What purpose would it serve, if we wash our hands and eat food that has not been properly prepared? In the Gospel passage, Jesus stresses the point that our material hygiene needs to agree with our spiritual hygiene, our outward cleanliness with our inward purity. Today, therefore, we pray for the grace to live authentic lives, following in the footsteps of Jesus himself.