Pope Saint Gregory the Great (540 – 604)
Psalter: Week II
White
He was elected Pope on 3 September 590, the first monk to be elected to this office. He wrote extensively on pastoral care, spirituality, and morals, and designated himself “servant of the servants of God.” He died on 12 March 604.
Entrance Antiphon
Blessed Gregory, raised upon the throne of Peter, sought always the beauty of the Lord and lived in celebration of that love.
Collect
O God, who care for your people with gentleness and rule them in love, through the intercession of Pope Saint Gregory, endow, we pray, with a spirit of wisdom those to whom you have given authority to govern, that the flourishing of a holy flock may become the eternal joy of the shepherds. 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 : Colossians 1:1-8
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy to the saints in Colossae, our faithful brothers in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. We have never failed to remember you in our prayers and to give thanks for you to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you show towards all the saints because of the hope, which is stored up for you in heaven. It is only recently that you heard of this, when it was announced in the message of the truth. The Good News which has reached you is spreading all over the world and producing the same results as it has among you ever since the day when you heard about God’s grace and understood what this really is. Epaphras, who taught you, is one of our closest fellow workers and a faithful deputy for us as Christ’s servant, and it was he who told us all about your love in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm : Psalm 51(52):10-11
R/ I trust in the goodness of God forever and ever.
I am like a growing olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the goodness of God forever and ever.
I will thank you for evermore; for this is your doing. I will proclaim that your name is good,
in the presence of your friends.
Gospel Acclamation : 1P1:25
Alleluia, alleluia! The word of the Lord remains for ever: What is this word? It is the Good News that has been brought to you. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 4:38-44
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them. At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
Prayer over the Offerings
Grant our supplication, we pray, O Lord, that this sacrifice we present in celebration of Saint Gregory may be for our good, since through its offering you have loosed the offences of all the world. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Lk 12:42
This is the steward, faithful and prudent, whom the Lord set over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time.
Prayer after Communion
Through Christ the teacher, O Lord, instruct those you feed with Christ, the living Bread, that on the feast day of Saint Gregory they may learn your truth and express it in works of charity. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
“We have never failed to remember you in our prayers.” What a joy, what happiness it brings to hear that someone has been praying for me! Reflecting on this, I find myself contemplating whether I have always prayed for the well-being of others, particularly those with whom I do not agree. Moreover, when I meet people who tell me: “Please greet your wife, children, those in your household for me,” have I ever remembered or cared to deliver such heartfelt messages upon returning home?