Tuesday 09 th august 2022
- Teresa Benedicta
of the Cross
(1891 – 1942)
She was born Edith Stein into a Jewish family. She had a distinguished career as a philosopher and received a doctorate at Freiburg. She entered a Carmelite monastery in Cologne and took the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Teresa Benedicta was taken to Auschwitz and killed on 9 August 1942.
Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Ps 73: 20, 19, 22, 23
Look to your covenant, O Lord, and forget not the life of your poor ones for ever. Arise, O God, and defend your cause, and forget not the cries of those who seek you.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father; bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts, the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. 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 : Ezekiel 2:8-3:4
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, meanings.’ 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.’
Psalm 118:14,24,72,103,111,131
R/ Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.
- I rejoiced to do your will as though all riches were mine. Your will is my delight; your statutes are my counsellors.
- The law from your mouth means more to me than silver and gold. Your promise is sweeter to my taste than honey in the mouth.
- Your will is my heritage for ever, the joy of my heart. I open my mouth and I sigh as I yearn for your commands.
Gospel Acclamation : Mt11:25
Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children. Alleluia!
Gospel : Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14
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.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Be pleased, O Lord, to accept the offerings of your Church, for in your mercy, you have given them to be offered and by your power you transform them into the mystery of our salvation. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Ps 147: 12, 14
O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord, who gives you your fill of finest wheat.
Prayer after Communion
May the communion in your Sacrament that we have consumed, save us, O Lord, and confirm us in the light of your truth. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Today, Jesus places before our eyes a little child, whose innocence we have to copy; someone who still presents the state in which our dignity as children of God, our deepest identity, is unblemished. We are all called to become the beloved sons of the Father. The Holy Spirit himself affirms in our minds that we are children of God. God, in his goodness, has willed it so. That is why it is necessary for us to become like little children: we must respond to the availability of God who gives himself eternally, with a commitment capable of welcoming this divine gift at every moment.