Thursday 24 th november 2022
Ss Andrew Dũng-Lac and
his Companions, Martyrs
Andrew Dung Lac was born in Vietnam in 1785. He became a Catholic priest. He was beheaded on December 21, 1839 in Hanoi, Vietnam, for the offense of being a priest. Many martyrs died at the hands of religious persecutors following Andrew’s death. We remember them all today.
Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Gal 6: 14; cf. 1 Cor 1: 18
May we never boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the word of the Cross is the power of God to us who have been saved.
Collect
O God, source and origin of all fatherhood, who kept the Martyrs Saint Andrew Dũng-Lac and his companions faithful to the Cross of your Son, even to the shedding of their blood, grant, through their intercession, that, spreading your love among our brothers and sisters, we may be your children both in name and in truth. 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 : Apocalypse18:1-2, 21-23, 19:1-3,9
I, John, saw an angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth was lit up with his glory. At the top of his voice he shouted, ‘Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird. Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone, and as he hurled it into the sea, he said, ‘That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be seen again. Never again in you, Babylon, will be heard the song of harpists and minstrels, the music of flute and trumpet; never again will craftsmen of every skill be found or the sound of the mill be heard; never again will shine the light of the lamp, never again will be heard the voices of bridegroom and bride. Your traders were the princes of the earth, all the nations were under your spell. After this I seemed to hear the great sound of a huge crowd in heaven, singing, ‘Alleluia! Victory and glory and power to our God! He judges fairly, he punishes justly, and he has condemned the famous prostitute who corrupted the earth with her fornication; he has avenged his servants that she killed.’ They sang again, ‘Alleluia! The smoke of her will go up for ever and ever.’ The angel said, ‘Write this: Happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb’, and he added, ‘All the things you have written are true messages from God.’
Psalm 99:2-5
R/ Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
- Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing for joy.
- Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
- Go within his gates, giving thanks. Enter his courts with songs of praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.
- Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love. He is faithful from age to age.
Gospel Acclamation : Mt24:42,44
Alleluia, alleluia! Stay awake and stand ready, because you do not know the hour when the Son of Man is coming. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 21:20-28
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you must realise that she will soon be laid desolate. Then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in country districts must not take refuge in it. For this is the time of vengeance when all that Scripture says must be fulfilled. Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come! They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive to every pagan country; and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the pagans until the age of the pagans is completely over. ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves; men dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive, O holy Father, the offerings we bring as we venerate the passion of the holy Martyrs, so that amid the trials of this life we may always be found faithful and may offer ourselves to you as an acceptable sacrifice. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Mt 5: 10
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer after Communion
Renewed by the one Bread as we commemorate the holy Martyrs, we humbly beseech you, O Lord, that, abiding as one in your love, we may merit by endurance an eternal prize. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
In the midst of all the gloom and doom, while Babylon (Rome) lies prostrate, while the citizens of Rome are denied the simple pleasures of everyday life, the citizens of heaven are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. What may qualify us to receive this all-important invitation to the Lamb’s wedding feast? We have to avoid living the kind of life that brought Rome and Jerusalem to their knees: a life of arrogance and licentiousness. The two readings draw our attention to the danger of hinging our satisfaction on temporal accomplishments. The incomprehensible fall of both Babylon and Jerusalem have modern echoes in the economic and social crisis of the most developed nations of our time, an indication to the fact that man can never be his own salvation.