thursday 23 JANUARY 2020
St. Ildephonsus
St. Ildephonsus is highly regarded in Spain and closely associated with devotion to the Blessed Virgin which he fostered by his famous work concerning her perpetual virginity.
Green
Entrance Antiphon Ps 65: 4
All the earth shall bow down before you, O God, and shall sing to you, shall sing to your name, O Most High!
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace in our times. 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 Samuel 18:6-9,19:1-7
On their way back, as David was returning after killing the Philistine, the women came out to meet King Saul from all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing to the sound of tambourine and lyre and cries of joy; and as they danced the women sang: ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands. Saul was very angry; the incident was not to his liking. ‘They have given David the tens of thousands,’ he said ‘but me only the thousands; he has all but the kingship now.’ And Saul turned a jealous eye on David from that day forward. Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants of his intention to kill David. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, held David in great affection; and so Jonathan warned David; ‘My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you,’ he said ‘so be on your guard tomorrow morning; hide away in some secret place. Then I will go out and keep my father company in the fields where you are hiding, and will talk to my father about you; I will find out what the situation is and let you know.’ So Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father; he said, ‘Let not the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and what he has done has been greatly to your advantage. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it yourself and rejoiced; why then sin against innocent blood in killing David without cause?’ Saul was impressed by Jonathan’s words and took an oath, ‘As the Lord lives, I will not kill him.’ Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought him to Saul, and David attended on him as before.
Psalm 55(56):2-3,9-14
R/ In God I trust: I shall not fear.
- Have mercy on me, God, men crush me; they fight me all day long and oppress me. My foes crush me all day long, for many fight proudly against me.
- You have kept an account of my wanderings; you have kept a record of my tears; (are they not written in your book?) Then my foes will be put to flight on the day that I call to you.
- This I know, that God is on my side. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not fear; what can mortal man do to me?
- I am bound by the vows I have made you. O God, I will offer you praise for you have rescued my soul from death, you kept my feet from stumbling that I may walk in the presence of God and enjoy the light of the living.
Gospel Acclamation: Jn 6:63,68
Alleluia, alleluia! Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
Prayer over the Offerings
Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that we may participate worthily in these mysteries, for whenever the memorial of this sacrifice is celebrated, the work of our redemption is accomplished. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon Cf. Ps 22: 5
You have prepared a table before me, and how precious is the chalice that quenches my thirst.
Prayer after Communion
Pour on us, O Lord, the Spirit of your love, and in your kindness, make those you have nourished by this one heavenly Bread, one in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
There are many roads to hate, but envy is the shortest of them all. One of the saddest things about envy is its smallness; to be envious is to turn eternally like a caged rat within the tight radius of malice. The gospel tells us about the popularity of Jesus as a healer. Great crowds gathered around him acclaiming him as the Son of God. But the Pharisees and the Scribes were not among the crowd. They were so envious of the popularity of Jesus that it grew into fierce hatred against him. We need to remember that the envious person poisons his or her food and then eats it. Saul became envious of David because of his success in the war against the Philistines. Envy can plague not only kings like Saul, but ordinary people like us.