by | Sep 12, 2022 | Evangelium

Tuedday 13th  September 2022

 

St. John Chrysostom

(349 – 407)

 

He was born in Antioch. After a thorough education, he took up the ascetic life. He was ordained to the priesthood, and became a fruitful and effective preacher. The term Chrysostom meaning “golden-mouthed” was given to him because of his great eloquence.

 

Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Dn 12: 3

Those who are wise will shine brightly like the splendour of the firmament and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars for ever.

 

Collect

O God, strength of those who hope in you, who willed that the Bishop Saint John Chrysostom should be illustrious by his wonderful eloquence and his experience of suffering, grant us, we pray, that, instructed by his teachings, we may be strengthened through the example of his invincible patience. 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 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31

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.

 

Psalm 99:1-5

R/  We are his people, the sheep of his flock.

 

  1. Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing for joy.
  2. Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
  3. Go within his gates, giving thanks. Enter his courts with songs of praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.
  4. Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love. He is faithful from age to age.

 

Gospel Acclamation : cf.2Tim1:10

Alleluia, alleluia! Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death and he has proclaimed life through the Good News. Alleluia!

 

Gospel : Luke 7:11-17

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.

 

Prayer over the Offerings

May the sacrifice which we gladly present in commemoration of Saint John Chrysostom be pleasing to you, O God, for, taught by him, we, too, give ourselves entirely to you in praise. Through Christ our Lord.

 

Communion Antiphon : Cf. 1 Cor 1: 23-24

We proclaim Christ crucified; Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 

Prayer after Communion

Grant, O merciful God, that these mysteries we have received as we commemorate Saint John Chrysostom, may confirm us in your love and enable us to be faithful in confessing your truth. Through Christ our Lord.

 

 

Meditation

Different situations of suffering in life call for pity. It is the case with widows, especially in the days of Jesus. A widow was an object of pity, since women had status in the society because they were married and even more so because they had a child or children. Here is one who neither had a husband nor a son. What Jesus did was to wipe her tears away. This is what we are called to do to one another. There was no miracle Jesus worked to entertain or to show some superior power and thus be acclaimed by onlookers. He did miracles to wipe the tears of the sufferers and to send a strong message to those around. At the sixth station, Veronica wiped Jesus’ face. We too can wipe the faces and tears of all those suffering among us, especially those found at the periphery of society. This will be a miracle they may have been awaiting for a long time.