Friday

10

September

St. Ambrose Barlow OSB

(1585-1641)

Green

In 1615, he became a member of the Order of Saint Benedict and was ordained as a priest in 1617. He was arrested several times during his travels before he eventually suffered a martyr’s death in 1641.

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 118: 137, 124

You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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 Timothy 1:1-2,12-14

From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus appointed by the command of God our saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, true child of mine in the faith; wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-8,11

R/     You are my inheritance, O Lord.

1.     Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.’ O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself who are my prize.

2.     I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight: since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

3.     You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, at your right hand happiness for ever.

Gospel Acclamation : Ps 147:12,15

Alleluia, alleluia! O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! He sends out his word to the earth. Alleluia!

Gospel: Luke 6:39-42

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.’

Prayer over the Offerings

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 41: 2-3

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Prayer after Communion

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, whom you nourish and endow with life through the food of your Word and heavenly Sacrament, may so benefit from your beloved Son’s great gifts that we may merit an eternal share in his life. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Meditation

We find it easier to see the failings and shortcomings of others. Oftentimes, what we see might actually be a projection of our own shortcomings. Jesus reminds us that we do not grow in our friendship with God by looking at the sins of others. We do so by examining ourselves. It is by looking at ourselves that we see the areas of our lives that still need the light of Jesus. This is why constant examination of conscience is of great importance. When we see where we have failed, we ought to go to confession. Through it, we receive the grace to keep up with our struggle towards perfection.