Saint Boniface, Bishop, Martyr (675- 754)
Red
Born in England about 680, St. Boniface became a Benedictine monk. He was appointed the first bishop of Germany by Pope Gregory II. Together with thirty companions, he died a martyrs dead in 754.
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Phil 2: 30
This Saint went as far as death, handing over his life to destruction for the work of Christ.
Collect
May the Martyr Saint Boniface be our advocate, O Lord, that we may firmly hold the faith he taught with his lips and sealed in his blood and confidently profess it by our deeds. 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: 2 Timothy 1:1-3,6-12
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers. That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but for his own purpose and by his own grace. This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the Appearing of our saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News; and I have been named its herald, its apostle and its teacher. It is only on account of this that I am experiencing fresh hardships here now; but I have not lost confidence, because I know who it is that I have put my trust in, and I have no doubt at all that he is able to take care of all that I have entrusted to him until that Day.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 122(123):1-2
R/ To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
To you have I lifted up my eyes, you who dwell in the heavens; my eyes, like the eyes of slaves on the hand of their lords.
Like the eyes of a servant on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God till he show us his mercy.
Gospel Acclamation: Jn17:17
Alleluia, alleluia! Your word is truth, O Lord: consecrate us in the truth. Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 12:18-27
Some Sadducees – who deny that there is a resurrection – came to him and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a wife and then died leaving no children. The second married the widow, and he too died leaving no children; with the third it was the same, and none of the seven left any children. Last of all the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken.’
Prayer over the Offerings
As we commemorate the martyrdom of Saint Boniface, O Lord, we make our offerings at your altar, praying that we, who celebrate the mysteries of our Lord’s Passion, may imitate what we now do. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Mk 8: 35
Whoever loses his life for the sake of the Gospel will save it, says the Lord.
Prayer after Communion
As we celebrate the heavenly banquet, we beseech you, Lord, that, in following such a great example of faith, we may be encouraged by the remembrance of the blessed Martyr Saint Boniface and led on by hi gracious intercession. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
In today’s Gospel, the Sadducees are so blinded by their denial of the resurrection that they concoct a laughable story to question the reality of the resurrection. Jesus teaches them that marriage does not exist after the resurrection and that God’s introduction of himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – despite these men being physically dead but alive with God – meant that he was a God of the living, not the dead. All religions allude to life after death. Wouldn’t human life be a hoax if everything ended here? Of what use would it be to strive for perfection all our years on earth if there is nothing else afterwards? In Jesus’ words, «You are very much mistaken» if you are wasting your time trying to prove that there is no resurrection. It is far more profitable to live a good life in the hope of enjoying a blissful eternity with God.