SAINT Henri
He was born in Bavaria in 973. He became Holy Roman Emperor in 1014. He was noted for his support for the reform of the Church and for his encouragement of its missionary activity. He set up many bishoprics, and he and his wife Cunegunda founded many monasteries. He died in 1024.
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Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 47: 10-11
Your merciful love, O God, we have received in the midst of your temple. Your praise, O God, like your name, reaches the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with saving justice.
Collect
O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. 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 44:18-21,23-29,45:1-5
Judah went up to Joseph and said, “May it please my lord, let your servant have a word privately with my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh himself. My lord questioned his servants, “Have you father or brother?” And we said to my lord, “We have an old father, and a younger brother born of his old age. His brother is dead, so he is the only one left of his mother, and his father loves him.” Then you said to your servants, “Bring him down to me that my eyes may look on him.” But you said to your servants, “If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not be admitted to my presence again.” When we went back to your servant my father, we repeated to him what my lord had said. So when our father said, “Go back and buy us a little food,” we said, “We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go down, for we cannot be admitted to the man’s presence unless our youngest brother is with us.” So your servant our father said to us, “You know that my wife bore me two children. When one left me, I said that he must have been torn to pieces. And I have not seen him to this day. If you take this one from me too and any harm comes to him, you will send me down to Sheol with my white head bowed in misery.” If I go to your servant my father now, and we have not the boy with us, he will die as soon as he sees the boy is not with us, for his heart is bound up with him. Then your servants will have sent your servant our father down to Sheol with his white head bowed in grief.” Then Joseph could not control his feelings in front of all his retainers, and he exclaimed, “Let everyone leave me.” No one therefore was present with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers, but he wept so loudly that all the Egyptians heard, and the news reached Pharaoh’s palace. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father really still alive?” His brothers could not answer him, they were so dismayed at the sight of him. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” When they had come closer to him he said, “I am your brother Joseph whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not grieve, do not reproach yourselves for having sold me here, since God sent me before you to preserve your lives.”
Psalm 104(105):16-21
R/ Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
The Lord called down a famine on the land; he broke the staff that supported them. He had sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave.
His feet were put in chains, his neck was bound with iron, until what he said came to pass and the word of the Lord proved him true.
Then the king sent and released him the ruler of the people set him free, making him master of his house and ruler of all he possessed.
Gospel Acclamation: Ps94:8
Alleluia, alleluia! Harden not your hearts today, but listen to the voice of the Lord. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 10:7-15
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: “As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep. “Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you. And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgement it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town.”
Prayer over the Offerings
May this oblation dedicated to your name purify us, O Lord, and day by day bring our conduct closer to the life of heaven. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Ps 33: 9
Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed the man who seeks refuge in him.
Prayer after Communion
Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, having been replenished by such great gifts, we may gain the prize of salvation and never cease to praise you. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Jesus sends the twelve on a mission with a three-fold articulation: 1. The MANDATE that grants legitimacy and authority to the missionary who goes in the name of the Master. The mission is God’s and the mandate is received, not improvised. 2. THE PURPOSE of the mission is clear: to proclaim the Gospel, to heal the sick, to expel demons, to cleanse lepers and to raise the dead. It is not to fulfil any parallel and obscure agenda. 3. The INSTRUCTIONS consist of the conduct to be followed during the mission. It may be advice or disciplinary restrictions. Stay wherever you are welcome, leave homes or cities where you are not. For a fruitful mission, just as for a successful Christian life, all we need to do is pay attention to these guidelines and live by Jesus’ words.