SAINT PETER DAMIAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR
Psalter IV | VIOLET
He was a cardinal and doctor of the church, an original leader, and a forceful figure in the Gregorian Reform movement, whose personal example and many writings exercised great influence on religious life in the 11th and 12th.
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 68: 17
Answer us, Lord, for your mercy is kind; in the abundance of your mercies, look upon us.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, look with compassion on our weakness and ensure us your protection by stretching forth the right hand of your majesty. 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: Isaiah 58:9b-14
Thus says the Lord: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you, “Restorer of ruined homesteads.” If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the Lord’s holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice – Then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R/Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
- Incline your ear, O Lord; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God.
- Have mercy on me, O Lord, for to you I call all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
- For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. Hearken, O Lord, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my pleading.
Saint Biography
He was a cardinal and doctor of the church, an original leader, and a forceful figure in the Gregorian Reform movement, whose personal example and many writings exercised great influence on religious life in the 11th and 12th.
Gospel Acclamation: Ezekiel 33:11
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.
Gospel: Luke 5:27-32
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, we pray, O Lord, the sacrifice of conciliation and praise, and grant that, cleansed by its working, we may offer minds well pleasing to you. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Mt 9:13
I desire mercy, not sacrifice, says the Lord, for I did not come to call the just but sinners.
Prayer after Communion
Nourished with the gift of heavenly life, we pray, O Lord, that what remains for us a mystery in this present life may be for us a help to reach eternity. Through Christ our Lord.
Prayer over the People
Abide graciously, O Lord, with your people, who have touched the sacred mysteries, that no dangers may bring affliction to those who trust in you, their protector. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Like the Pharisees, we are very good at pointing out the faults of others. We criticise people for the bad things they do and say, condemn them for the unpleasant aspects of their character, and speak evil about them to others. Jesus invites us today to learn to look at sinners in a different way. The Pharisees saw in Levi a sinner who had to be avoided; Jesus saw in him a sinner who could change. Indeed, God sees in all of us sinners who need to be saved, not condemned, and that is why he sent his Son into the world. The words of Jesus to the Pharisees make this clear: “I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.” We should therefore change our attitude towards those we consider to be bad people; instead of criticising them, we should think of ways of helping them to change. We can advise them, correct them and pray for them, so that through us God may reach out to them and call them to repentance.