SAINT Leo the Great, Pope
He was born in Etruria and became Pope in 440. He was a true shepherd and father of souls. He constantly strove to keep the faith whole and strenuously defended the unity of the Church. He left many doctrinal and spiritual writings behind and a number of them are included in the Office of Readings to this day. He died in 461.
Entrance Antiphon: Sir 45: 30
The Lord established for him a covenant of peace, and made him the prince, that he might have the dignity of the priesthood for ever.
Collect
O God, who never allow the gates of hell to prevail against your Church, firmly founded on the apostolic rock, grant her, we pray, that through the intercession of Pope Saint Leo, she may stand firm in your truth and know the protection of lasting peace. 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: Romans 15:14-21
My brothers, I am quite certain that you are full of good intentions, perfectly well instructed and able to advise each other. The reason why I have written to you, and put some things rather strongly, is to refresh your memories, since God has given me this special position. He has appointed me as a priest of Jesus Christ, and I am to carry out my priestly duty by bringing the Good News from God to the pagans, and so make them acceptable as an offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit. I think I have some reason to be proud of what I, in union with Christ Jesus, have been able to do for God. What I am presuming to speak of, of course, is only what Christ himself has done to win the allegiance of the pagans, using what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. I have always, however, made it an unbroken rule never to preach where Christ’s name has already been heard. The reason for that was that I had no wish to build on other men’s foundations; on the contrary, my chief concern has been to fulfil the text: Those who have never been told about him will see him, and those who have never heard about him will understand.
Psalm 97(98):1-4
R/ The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations. He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.
Gospel Acclamation: 2Co 5: 19
Alleluia, alleluia! God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 16: 1-8
Jesus said to his disciples: “There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.’ Then the steward said to himself, ‘Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.’ Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ‘One hundred measures of oil’ was the reply. The steward said, ‘Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.’ To another he said, ‘And you, sir, how much do you owe?’ ‘One hundred measures of wheat’ was the reply. The steward said, ‘Here, take your bond and write eighty.’ The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.”
Prayer over the Offerings
Through the offerings made here, we pray, O Lord, graciously shed light on your Church, so that your flock may everywhere prosper and that under your governance the shepherds may become pleasing to your name. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Mt 16: 16, 18
Peter said to Jesus: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus replied: You are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church.
Prayer after Communion
Be pleased, O Lord, we pray, to govern the Church you have nourished by this holy meal, so that, firmly directed, she may enjoy ever greater freedom and persevere in integrity of religion. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
“Whatever we have and whatever we are, without friendship-fraternity-solidarity, we are miserable. In speaking of a skilful manager or steward who is truly praised by the Master, today’s Gospel confirms our original point of view. Indeed, having realized his state of disgrace and the imminence of his dismissal, this manager of the Gospel creates a more or less solid fraternal fabric by helping all the debtors of his Master. The lesson that we can draw from this story is simply that each of us can embellish the end of the story of our life even if the beginning and the unfolding were only a rough draft. Through the intercession of St. Leo the Great, may God grant us the wisdom and spirit of discernment without which we are bound to neglect or even break Fraternity.