Saint Marcellus (d. 300)
Psalter: Week II
Green
A centurion from Tingis (Morocco), he not only refused to worship Roman gods but also threw down his soldier’s insignia in front of the legion’s standards. As he did this, he proclaimed his Christian identity, his allegiance to the Lord and rejected the worship of gods made of stone and wood. He was put to death by the sword around the year 300.
Entrance Antiphon : Ps 104: 3-4
Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, increase our faith, hope and charity, and make us love what you command, so that we may merit what you promise. 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: Romans 8:31-39
With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? Could Christ Jesus? No! He not only died for us – he rose from the dead, and there at God’s right hand he stands and pleads for us.Nothing therefore can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. As scripture promised: For your sake we are being massacred daily, and reckoned as sheep for the slaughter. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us.For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 108(109):21-22,26-27,30-31
R/ Save me, O Lord, because of your love.
For your name’s sake act in my defence;in the goodness of your love be my rescuer.For I am poor and needyand my heart is pierced within me.
Help me, Lord my God;save me because of your love.Let them know that is your work,That this is your doing, O Lord.
Loud thanks to the Lord are on my lips. I will praise him in the midst of the throng,for he stands at the poor man’s sideto save him from those who condemn him.
Gospel Acclamation: Ps147:12,15
Alleluia, alleluia! O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!He sends out his word to the earth.Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 13:31-35
Some Pharisees came up to Jesus. ‘Go away’ they said. ‘Leave this place, because Herod means to kill you.’ He replied, ‘You may go and give that fox this message: Learn that today and tomorrow I cast out devils and on the third day attain my end. But for today and tomorrow and the next day I must go on, since it would not be right for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem. ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused! So be it! Your house will be left to you. Yes, I promise you, you shall not see me till the time comes when you say:‘Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Prayer over the Offerings
Look, we pray, O Lord, on the offerings we make to your majesty, that whatever is done by us in your service may be directed above all to your glory. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Ps 19: 6
We will ring out our joy at your saving help and exult in the name of our God.
Prayer after Communion
May your Sacraments, O Lord, we pray, perfect in us what lies within them, that what we now celebrate in signs we may one day possess in truth. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Jesus wanted to establish a community that would bring together diverse individuals who would typically not gather — Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles, the rich and the poor, law-abiding citizens, and sinners, as well as men and women. In today’s gospel, Jesus laments that the people of Jerusalem are unwilling for Him to bring them together. His desire is to gather them in much the same way as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but they resist and are not simply open to the idea. Jesus deeply longs for others to love to the full, but for this desire to be fulfilled, others need to accept the idea. In the first reading, Saint Paul tells us that there are spiritual forces at work trying to hinder us from responding to the Lord’s effort to gather us to Himself. Paul says that human strength alone is not sufficient to combat such forces. We require God’s grace, God’s armour, emphasising the need to pray in the Spirit on every possible occasion to confront and overcome these spiritual challenges.