Thursday 09  febRuary

SAINT TEILO

Teilo lived in the sixth century as a monk, with St David at Mynyw. He founded his own monastery at Llandeilo Fawr where he died. At Llandaff he is venerated as founder of the See.

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 94: 6-7

O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God who made us, for he is the Lord our God.

Collect

Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. 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: Genesis 2:18-25

The Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.” So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed: “This at last is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh! This is to be called woman, for this was taken from man.” This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body. Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame in front of each other.

Psalm 127:1-5

R/ O blessed are those who fear the Lord.

O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways! By the labour of your hands you shall eat. You will be happy and prosper.

Your wife like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house; your children like shoots of the olive, around your table.

Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion

all the days of your life!

Gospel Acclamation: Ps144:13

Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. Alleluia!

Gospel: Mark 7: 24-30

Jesus left Gennesaret and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not pass unrecognised. A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him straightaway and came and fell at his feet. Now the woman was a pagan, by birth a Syrophoenician, and she begged him to cast the devil out of her daughter. And he said to her, ‘The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.’ But she spoke up: ‘Ah yes, sir,’ she replied ‘but the house-dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps.’ And he said to her, ‘For saying this, you may go home happy: the devil has gone out of your daughter.’ So she went off to her home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil gone.

Prayer over the Offerings

O Lord, our God, who once established these created things to sustain us in our frailty, grant, we pray, that they may become for us now the Sacrament of eternal life. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 106: 8-9

Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, his wonders for the children of men, for he satisfies the thirsty soul, and the hungry he fills with good things.

Prayer after Communion

O God, who have willed that we be partakers in the one Bread and the one Chalice, grant us, we pray, so to live that, made one in Christ, we may joyfully bear fruit for the salvation of the world. Through Christ our Lord.

Meditation

See the mother pleading with Jesus! Great faith of a Greek woman – a total pagan and stranger to the ways and customs of those around her. But because of her faith, Jesus paid heed to her needs. The demons depart from her daughter, and the latter is well again… Faith! Yes, faith! Convincing and unwavering, unintimidated and unashamed. She is belittled, but she knows in whom she has put her trust. Jesus praises the woman for her persistent faith and affectionate love. No one whoever sought Jesus with confidence, whether Jew or Gentile, was denied his help. Your story will not be different, so come to Him and be satisfied.