SAINT VERONICA
Psalter IV | GREEN
“According to Christian tradition, she was a woman from Jerusalem who was moved by pity to offer Jesus her veil to wipe his face as he carried the cross to Golgotha. The veil, miraculously, bore an imprint of Christ’s face.”
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 105: 47
Save us, O Lord our God! And gather us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, and make it our glory to praise you.
Collect
Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honour you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. 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: 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him, “Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the people, that I may know their number.” Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered: in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service; in Judah, five hundred thousand. Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people, and said to the Lord: “I have sinned grievously in what I have done. But now, Lord, forgive the guilt of your servant, for I have been very foolish.” When David rose in the morning, the Lord had spoken to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying: “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I offer you three alternatives; choose one of them, and I will inflict it on you.'” Gad then went to David to inform him. He asked: “Do you want a three years’ famine to come upon your land, or to flee from your enemy three months while he pursues you, or to have a three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must reply to him who sent me.” David answered Gad: “I am in very serious difficulty. Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful; but let me not fall by the hand of man.” Thus David chose the pestilence. Now it was the time of the wheat harvest when the plague broke out among the people. The Lord then sent a pestilence over Israel from morning until the time appointed, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died. But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord regretted the calamity and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people, “Enough now! Stay your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was striking the people, he said to the Lord: “It is I who have sinned; it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong. But these are sheep; what have they done? Punish me and my kindred.”
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
R/ Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
- Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile.
- Then I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, “I confess my faults to the Lord,” and you took away the guilt of my sin.
- For this shall every faithful man pray to you in time of stress. Though deep waters overflow, they shall not reach him.
- You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
Gospel Acclamation: John 10:27
Alleluia, alleluia. My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Mark 6:1-6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Prayer over the Offerings
O Lord, we bring to your altar these offerings of our service: be pleased to receive them, we pray, and transform them into the Sacrament of our redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 30: 17-18
Let your face shine on your servant. Save me in your merciful love. O Lord, let me never be put to shame, for I call on you.
Prayer after Communion
Nourished by these redeeming gifts, we pray, O Lord, that through this help to eternal salvation true faith may ever increase. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
“He was amazed at their lack of faith.” David ordered a census in order to know how many subjects he had and how many soldiers he had at his service. In so doing, he forgot that his power came from God and his military victories were the result of God’s protection and not his own military might. The people of Nazareth rejected Jesus because they refused to see in him anything more than the ordinary person who had grown up in their midst; he could not be more than the person they knew him to be. Their attitude, like that of David, reflected a lack of trust. Lack of faith in God is at the root of all sin. We sin because we count on ourselves and not on God, because we refuse to allow God to be in control of our lives, because we fail to recognise the power of God. Let us, like David ask God for forgiveness for all the times when we have not trusted him, when we have counted on ourselves and not on him. Let us reaffirm our belief in Jesus and allow him to work wonders in our lives. Let us ask Jesus to increase our faith.