Saint Anthelm of Belley (1107–1178)
Psalter: Week IV
White
Anthelm was born in 1107 in a castle near Chambery, in Savoy, France. He was a prior of the Carthusian Grand Chartreuse and bishop of Belley. In liturgical art, Anthelm is depicted with a lamp lit by a divine hand. He was remarkable for monastic reforms.
Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Ps 27: 8-9
The Lord is the strength of his people, a saving refuge for the one he has anointed. Save your people, Lord, and bless your heritage, and govern them for ever.
Collect
Grant, O Lord, that we may always revere and love your holy name, for you never deprive of your guidance those you set firm on the foundation of your love. 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 16:1-12,15-16
Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no child, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, ‘Listen, now! Since the Lord has kept me from having children, go to my slave-girl. Perhaps I shall get children through her.’ Abram agreed to what Sarai had said. Thus after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan for ten years Sarai took Hagar her Egyptian slave-girl and gave her to Abram as his wife. He went to Hagar and she conceived. And once she knew she had conceived, her mistress counted for nothing in her eyes. Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘May this insult to me come home to you! It was I who put my slave-girl into your arms but now she knows that she has conceived, I count for nothing in her eyes. Let the Lord judge between me and you.’ ‘Very well,’ Abram said to Sarai ‘your slave-girl is at your disposal. Treat her as you think fit.’ Sarai accordingly treated her so badly that she ran away from her. The angel of the Lord met her near a spring in the wilderness, the spring that is on the road to Shur. He said, ‘Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ ‘I am running away from my mistress Sarai’ she replied. The angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ The angel of the Lord said to her, ‘I will make your descendants too numerous to be counted.’ Then the angel of the Lord said to her: ‘Now you have conceived, and you will bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your cries of distress. A wild-ass of a man he will be, against every man, and every man against him, setting himself to defy all his brothers.’ Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave to the son that Hagar bore the name Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 105(106):1-5
R/ O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his love endures for ever. Who can tell the Lord’s mighty deeds? Who can recount all his praise?
They are happy who do what is right, who at all times do what is just. O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
Come to me, Lord, with your help that I may see the joy of your chosen ones and may rejoice in the gladness of your nation and share the glory of your people.
Gospel Acclamation: Heb4:12
Alleluia, alleluia! The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts. Alleluia!
Gospel Matthew 7:21-29
The wise man built his house on a rock Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?” Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!
‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’ Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people because he taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive, O Lord, the sacrifice of conciliation and praise and grant that, cleansed by its action, we may make offering of a heart pleasing to you. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Ps 144: 15
The eyes of all look to you, Lord, and you give them their food in due season.
Prayer after Communion
Renewed and nourished by the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of your Son, we ask of your mercy, O Lord, that what we celebrate with constant devotion may be our sure pledge of redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
There is a song that goes: Christ is my rock, my refuge, my stronghold. We should build the houses of our lives on a solid, rocky foundation, that is, on Jesus. In other words, we should place him at the centre of our lives. We should commune with him daily in prayer and meditation. We should let his Word guide our words and actions. We should incarnate and promote the values of the Gospel. In short, we should live in accordance with the will of God. When we reject his will in favour of our own, our lives fall apart. Abram experienced this. Instead of waiting for God to fulfil his promise of giving him a son, he chose to listen to his wife Sarai and have a child by Hagar, her slave-girl. The result chaos in his household; Hagar, began to despise Sarai, and in retaliation, Sarai treated her so badly that she ran away. When we listen to God’s Word and act on it, we succeed in everything we undertake. Trials come and go, but we stand firm.