Saints Cornelius, Pope,
and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
Red
Cornelius was made bishop of the church in Rome in the year 251. He fought against the Novatian schismatics and established his authority with the aid of Cyprian. The emperor Gallus sent him into exile, and he died at Civitavecchia in June 253. He is buried in Rome. Cyprian was born in Carthage and spent most of his life in the practice of the law. He was converted to Christianity, and was made bishop of Carthage in 249. On 14th of September he was executed.
Entrance Antiphon
The souls of the Saints are rejoicing in heaven, the Saints who followed the footsteps of Christ, and since for love of him they shed their blood, they now exult with Christ for ever.
Collect
O God, who gave Saints Cornelius and Cyprian to your people as diligent shepherds and valiant Martyrs, grant that through their intercession we may be strengthened in faith and constancy and spend ourselves without reserve for the unity of the Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
First reading : 1 Corinthians 11:17-26, 33
On the subject of instructions, I cannot say that you have done well in holding meetings that do you more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you all come together as a community, there are separate factions among you, and I half believe it – since there must no doubt be separate groups among you, to distinguish those who are to be trusted. The point is, when you hold these meetings, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you are eating, since when the time comes to eat, everyone is in such a hurry to start his own supper that one person goes hungry while another is getting drunk. Surely you have homes for eating and drinking in? Surely you have enough respect for the community of God not to make poor people embarrassed? What am I to say to you? Congratulate you? I cannot congratulate you on this. For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death. So to sum up, my dear brothers, when you meet for the Meal, wait for one another.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 39:7-10,17
R/ Proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here I am .
In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart.
Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord.
O let there be rejoicing and gladness for all who seek you. Let them ever say: ‘The Lord is great’, who love your saving help.
Gospel Acclamation : Ps118:27
Alleluia, alleluia! Make me grasp the way of your precepts, and I will muse on your wonders. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 7:1-10
When Jesus had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him. ‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not worthy to have you under my roof; and for this same reason I did not presume to come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith like this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive, we pray, O Lord, the offerings of your people in honour of the passion of your holy Martyrs Saints Cornelius and Cyprian, and may the gifts that gave them courage under persecution make us, too, steadfast in all trials. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Lk 22: 28-30
It is you who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer a kingdom on you, says the Lord, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.
Prayer after Communion
Through these mysteries which we have received, we humbly beseech you, O Lord, that by the example of the Martyrs Saints Cornelius and Cyprian we may be strengthened with the fortitude of your Spirit to bear witness to the truth of the Gospel. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Faith is not believing that God can; it is knowing that He will. Faith allows God to do for us and with us what we could never do alone. The Roman soldier’s faith takes us inside true faith and shows how and what faith does. The story is significant because this was a Gentile who exercised this faith. Even Jesus remarks “not even in Israel have I found such faith.” The faith of the centurion led to the healing of his slave. He believed that Jesus Christ could heal his slave. One of the amazing testimonies in this event is that, the centurion recognized first his unworthiness to receive Jesus Christ under his roof and at the same time, he believed in the power of the “Word” of Jesus. “But say the word and let my servant be healed.” There is power in the word of Jesus. Jesus’ words are healing, they are peace, they are joy, and they are fulfilling. He is the greatest physician. He wants to heal us of our diseases; we only need to invite him to say that word of healing, that we may be healed.