Blessed Isidore Bakanja
(c.1886 – 1909)
Psalter: Week III
Red
He was born in Bokendela in Congo around 1886 and baptied on 6 May 1906 after receiving instruction from Trappists missionaries. Rosary in hand, he used any chance to share his faith; though untrained, many considered him as a catechist. He worked as a domestic on a Belgian rubber plantation. He was ordered to stop teaching fellow workers how to pray: “You’ll have the whole village praying, and no one will work!” He was chained and beaten to death for refusing to discard his Carmelite scapular.
Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Ps 73: 20, 19, 22, 23
Look to your covenant, O Lord, and forget not the life of your poor ones for ever. Arise, O God, and defend your cause, and forget not the cries of those who seek you.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father; bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts, the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. 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: Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Moses proceeded to address these words to the whole of Israel, ‘I am one hundred and twenty years old now, and can no longer come and go as I will. The Lord has said to me, “You shall not cross this Jordan.” It is the Lord your God who will cross it at your head to destroy these nations facing you and dispossess them; and Joshua too shall cross at your head, as the Lord has said. The Lord will treat them as he treated Sihon and Og the Amorite kings and their land, destroying them. The Lord will hand them over to you, and you will deal with them in exact accordance with the commandments I have enjoined on you. Be strong, stand firm, have no fear of them, no terror, for the Lord your God is going with you; he will not fail you or desert you.’ Then Moses summoned Joshua and in the presence of all Israel said to him, ‘Be strong, stand firm; you are going with this people into the land the Lord swore to their fathers he would give them; you are to give it into their possession. The Lord himself will lead you; he will be with you; he will not fail you or desert you. Have no fear, do not be disheartened by anything.’
Deuteronomy 32:3-4,7-9
R/ The Lord’s portion was his people.
I proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, tell the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are Equity.
Think back on the days of old, think over the years, down the ages. Ask of your father, let him teach you; of your elders, let them enlighten you.
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided the sons of men, he fixed their bounds according to the number of the sons of God; but the Lord’s portion was his people, Jacob his share of inheritance.
Gospel Acclamation: Mt11:25
Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14
The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. ‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven. ‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Be pleased, O Lord, to accept the offerings of your Church, for in your mercy, you have given them to be offered and by your power you transform them into the mystery of our salvation. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Ps 147: 12, 14
O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord, who gives you your fill of finest wheat.
Prayer after Communion
May the communion in your Sacrament that we have consumed, save us, O Lord, and confirm us in the light of your truth. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The disciples’ discussion with Jesus about who is the greatest may initially seem surprising, but it reflects a universal trait in human nature. We all tend to do the same thing. The desire for glory and greatness seems to be deeply ingrained in us. Who does not cherish the ambition to be “somebody” whom others admire rather than a “nobody”? Even the Psalms echo this sentiment about the glory God has destined for us. “You have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honour” (Psalm 8:5). The yearning for significance is part of our human experience. However, Jesus asserts that the greatest in God’s kingdom is the most humble and lowly of heart. This greatness is not defined by status or worldly achievement but by one’s total dependence on God, the ultimate source of all goodness and every good gift. The lesson is for us to shift our focus from the pursuit of worldly glory to finding true significance in humility through our reliance on God.