by L'équipe de publication | Oct 14, 2023 | Evangelium
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalter week IV
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 129: 3-4
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But with you is found forgiveness, O God of Israel.
Collect
May your grace, O Lord, we pray, at all times go before us and follow after and make us always determined to carry out good works. 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: Isaiah 25:6-10
On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines. On this mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations, he will destroy Death for ever. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth, for the Lord has said so. That day, it will be said: See, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation; the Lord is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and we rejoice that he has saved us; for the hand of the Lord rests on this mountain.
Psalm 22(23)
R/ In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit.
He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name. If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear. You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort.
You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes. My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
Second reading: Philippians 4:12-14,19-20
I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too. I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere: full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty. There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength. All the same, it was good of you to share with me in my hardships. In return my God will fulfil all your needs, in Christ Jesus, as lavishly as only God can. Glory to God, our Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Acclamation: Jn1:14,12
Alleluia, alleluia! The Word was made flesh and lived among us: to all who did accept him he gave power to become children of God. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. ‘Tell those who have been invited’ he said, ‘that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.’ But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.’ So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, ‘How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?’ And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, the prayers of your faithful with the sacrificial offerings, that, through these acts of devotedness, we may pass over to the glory of heaven. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Ps 33: 11
The rich suffer want and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
Prayer after Communion
We entreat your majesty most humbly, O Lord, that, as you feed us with the nourishment which comes from the most holy Body and Blood of your Son, so you may make us sharers of his divine nature. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Meditation
A royal wedding feast: this is the image that Jesus presents to us to express the happiness that God wants to share with us for eternity. Already with the prophet Isaiah, there appeared the hope that God would remove the veil of mourning that covers the earth. Man is not meant for death; he was created to live with God in a nuptial love. And it is the risen Jesus who gives us access to the wedding hall. Here is the Bridegroom, come and meet him! God calls us; in his merciful love, he clothes us in the wedding dress to celebrate the Passover of his beloved Son; the feast of the Kingdom, as already here below in the Eucharist. We are all invited, awaited at the wedding feast of the Lamb.
by L'équipe de publication | Oct 13, 2023 | Evangelium
SAINT Callistus I, Pope
From a weakened ex-slave in receipt of an invalidity pension, Callistus rose to be archdeacon, had charge of the Roman catacomb which now bears his name, and ended up as Pope. He lived in a time of peace under the emperor Alexander Severus, whose mother was a Christian, he may have been killed in a riot.
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Est 4: 17
Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. 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: Joel 4: 12-21
The Lord says this: “Let the nations rouse themselves, let them march to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for I am going to sit in judgement there on all the nations round. Put the sickle in: the harvest is ripe; come and tread: the winepress is full, the vats are overflowing, so great is their wickedness!” Host on host in the Valley of Decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision! Sun and moon grow dark, the stars lose their brilliance. The Lord roars from Zion, makes his voice heard from Jerusalem; heaven and earth tremble. But the Lord will be a shelter for his people, a stronghold for the sons of Israel. “You will learn then that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be a holy place, no alien will ever pass through it again.” When that day comes, the mountains will run with new wine and the hills flow with milk, and all the river beds of Judah will run with water. A fountain will spring from the house of the Lord to water the wadi of Acacias. Egypt will become a desolation, Edom a desert waste on account of the violence done to the sons of Judah whose innocent blood they shed in their country. But Judah will be inhabited for ever, Jerusalem from age to age. “I will avenge their blood and let none go unpunished”, and the Lord shall make his home in Zion.
Psalm 96(97):1-2,5-6,11-12
R/ Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.
The Lord is king, let earth rejoice, let all the coastlands be glad. Cloud and darkness are his raiment; his throne, justice and right.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord of all the earth. The skies proclaim his justice; all peoples see his glory.
Light shines forth for the just and joy for the upright of heart. Rejoice, you just, in the Lord; give glory to his holy name.
Gospel Acclamation : Jn 14: 23
Alleluia, alleluia! If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 11:27-28
As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!” But he replied, “Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, we pray, the sacrifices instituted by your commands and, through the sacred mysteries, which we celebrate with dutiful service, graciously complete the sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Lam 3: 25
The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
Prayer after Communion
Grant us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to be transformed into what we consume. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The woman who, in the midst of the crowd, proclaims Mary blessed because she gave birth to and nourished Jesus, restricts the scope of this beatitude happy… She makes it something small and transitory, granted to a single person. There is a certain envy in her cry. But God’s measure is good, packed, shaken, overflowing, and Jesus offers this woman and all of us eternal bliss. Those who hear the word of God and keep it are happy, for they are loved by God who comes to make his home in them. Didn’t Jesus say: “If anyone loves me, he will remain faithful to my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and dwell with him?”
by L'équipe de publication | Oct 12, 2023 | Evangelium
SAINT Edward the Confessor
He became King of England in 1042. He was regarded as a saint during his lifetime, renowned for his generosity to the Church and to the poor and for his readiness to listen to his subjects’ grievances. He died on 5 January 1066.
Entrance Antiphon: Est 4: 17
Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. 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: Joel 1: 13-15, 2:1-2
Priests, put on sackcloth and lament. Ministers of the altar, wail. Come, pass the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God. For the house of our God has been deprived of oblation and libation. Order a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly; elders, call together all the inhabitants of the country to the house of the Lord your God. Cry out to the Lord, “Oh, what a day! For the day of the Lord is near, it comes as a devastation from Shaddai.” Sound the trumpet in Zion, give the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, yes, it is near. Day of darkness and gloom, day of cloud and blackness. Like the dawn there spreads across the mountains a vast and mighty host, such as has never been before, such as will never be again to the remotest ages.
Psalm 9a (9): 2-3, 6, 16, 8-9
R/ The Lord will judge the world with justice.
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will recount all your wonders. I will rejoice in you and be glad, and sing psalms to your name, O Most High.
You have checked the nations, destroyed the wicked; you have wiped out their name for ever and ever. The nations have fallen in the pit which they made, their feet caught in the snare they laid.
But the Lord sits enthroned for ever. He has set up his throne for judgement; he will judge the world with justice, he will judge the peoples with his truth.
Gospel Acclamation : Jn 10: 27
Alleluia, alleluia! The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the Lord, I know them and they follow me. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 11:15-26
When Jesus had cast out a devil, some of the people said, “It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.” Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil. “He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, ‘I will go back to the home I came from.’ But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.”
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, we pray, the sacrifices instituted by your commands and, through the sacred mysteries, which we celebrate with dutiful service, graciously complete the sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Lam 3: 25
The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
Prayer after Communion
Grant us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to be transformed into what we consume. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
When Jesus manifests his power, when word and deed agree, twisted minds refuse to see what is truly manifested and seek to see what is not. They attribute to Satan the deliverances wrought by Jesus. They ask for proof of the doctor’s good faith! But to attribute a healing, a liberation, to evil is pure nonsense. This is the battle between God and Satan, which is fought in the human heart. Faced with him, it is impossible to remain neutral, we must choose our side! Jesus warns us against the risks of relapse: it is not enough to have benefited from deliverance or a great spiritual grace to believe that we have been rid of the attacks of the Evil One… If we do not take care to protect the Divine Presence in us, to keep the flame of our faith in Jesus the Saviour alive by listening to the Word, prayer and sacramental life, then the emptiness that gradually sets in attracts all sorts of undesirable demons, starting with negative thoughts.
by L'équipe de publication | Oct 11, 2023 | Evangelium
SAINT Wilfrid
Wilfrid was born in Northumbria in 634. He took part in the Synod of Whitby (664), where he promoted Rome’s way of calculating the date of Easter, and the Roman form of Christian worship. He was missionary, evangelist, monk and bishop. He died in Oundle, in October 709.
Entrance Antiphon: Est 4: 17
Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. 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: Malachi 3:13-20
You say harsh things about me, says the Lord. You ask, “What have we said against you?” You say, “It is useless to serve God; what is the good of keeping his commands or of walking mournfully before the Lord of Hosts? Now we have reached the point when we call the arrogant blessed; yes, they prosper, these evil-doers; they try God’s patience and yet go free.” This is what those who fear the Lord used to say to one another. But the Lord took note and heard them: a book of remembrance was written in his presence recording those who fear him and take refuge in his name. On the day which I am preparing, says the Lord of Hosts, they are going to be my own special possession. I will make allowances for them as a man makes allowances for the son who obeys him. Then once again you will see the difference between an upright man and a wicked one, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him. For the day is coming now, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and the evil-doers will be like stubble. The day that is coming is going to burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, leaving them neither root nor stalk. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays.
Psalm 1:1-4,6
R/ Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Happy indeed is the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked; nor lingers in the way of sinners nor sits in the company of scorners, but whose delight is the law of the Lord and who ponders his law, day and night.
He is like a tree that is planted beside the flowing waters, that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade; and all that he does shall prosper.
Not so are the wicked, not so! For they like winnowed chaff shall be driven away by the wind:
for the Lord guards the way of the just but the way of the wicked leads to doom.
Gospel Acclamation : Jn 14: 6
Alleluia, alleluia! I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord; No one can come to the Father except through me. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 11:5-13
Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants. “So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, we pray, the sacrifices instituted by your commands and, through the sacred mysteries, which we celebrate with dutiful service, graciously complete the sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon Lam 3: 25
The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
Prayer after Communion
Grant us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to be transformed into what we consume. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Does God not hear? Why doesn’t he answer? But Jesus, by telling this parable of the unwelcome friend, wants to show that God always answers our prayers, that he always answers them and that we must believe in the effectiveness of prayer; our heavenly Father is more welcoming than a friend, more loving than a father on earth. That is why he will never grant a request that is contrary to our good, he will never give a snake or a scorpion instead of a fish or an egg. Jesus accumulates words to encourage us to pray with perseverance and trust: ask, knock, seek… God our Father, who knows what we need even before we ask him, wants, in his love, to hear our prayers and to give us what he has best: his Holy Spirit.
by L'équipe de publication | Oct 10, 2023 | Evangelium
saint John XXIII, Pope
He was ordained priest in 1904. He served the Holy See directly in various posts, both in Rome and in Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece, culminating as Apostolic Nuncio to France from 1944 until 1953. He was elected Pope in 1958. He convoked the Roman Synod, instituted the revision of Canon Law, and called the Second Vatican Council, which opened on 11 October 1962.
Entrance Antiphon: Est 4: 17
Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. 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: Jonah 4:1-11
Jonah was very indignant; he fell into a rage. He prayed to the Lord and said, “Ah, Lord, is not this just as I said would happen when I was still at home? That was why I went and fled to Tarshish: I knew that you were a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, relenting from evil. So now, Lord, please take away my life, for I might as well be dead as go on living.” The Lord replied, “Are you right to be angry?” Jonah then went out of the city and sat down to the east of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God arranged that a castor-oil plant should grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head and soothe his ill-humour; Jonah was delighted with the castor-oil plant. But at dawn the next day, God arranged that a worm should attack the castor-oil plant – and it withered. Next, when the sun rose, God arranged that there should be a scorching east wind; the sun beat down so hard on Jonah’s head that he was overcome and begged for death, saying, “I might as well be dead as go on living.” God said to Jonah, “Are you right to be angry about the castor-oil plant?” He replied, “I have every right to be angry, to the point of death.” The Lord replied, “You are only upset about a castor-oil plant which cost you no labour, which you did not make grow, which sprouted in a night and has perished in a night. And am I not to feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, to say nothing of all the animals?”
Psalm 85(86):3-6,9-10
R/ You, O Lord, have mercy and compassion.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. Give joy to your servant, O Lord, for to you I lift up my soul.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of love to all who call. Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.
All the nations shall come to adore you and glorify your name, O Lord: for you are great and do marvellous deeds, you who alone are God.
Gospel Acclamation: Ps118:24
Alleluia, alleluia! Train me, Lord, to observe your law, to keep it with my heart. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 11:1-4
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “Say this when you pray: ‘Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.’”
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, we pray, the sacrifices instituted by your commands and, through the sacred mysteries, which we celebrate with dutiful service, graciously complete the sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Lam 3: 25
The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
Prayer after Communion
Grant us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to be transformed into what we consume. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Jesus’ teaching on prayer starts from his own experience of prayer. Thus, when we take up the words Jesus left us to pray, we are not only following the lesson of a teacher but we are making Jesus’ own prayer ours. Through it, we are introduced into Jesus’ filial relationship with his Father, whom he teaches us to call “Our Father”. To say to God, Father, is to be a son, a child of God. Jesus’ prayer makes us share the feelings and needs that unite him to his Father. The requests for bread, forgiveness and the removal of temptation are linked to our wounded and suffering human condition, today as yesterday. But above all, they are geared towards the construction and advent of the Kingdom of God here below.
by L'équipe de publication | Oct 9, 2023 | Evangelium
SAINT Daniel Comboni
Daniel Comboni was born in Italy in 1831. He felt the call to evangelize the peoples of Central Africa. He set off to Africa and established several missions. Faithful to his motto “Africa or death” and his plan for the salvation of Africa, he lived and worked for the success of the mission until he died in Khartoum (Sudan) on 10 October 1881, at the age of fifty.
Entrance Antiphon: Est 4: 17
Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. 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: Jonah 3:1-10
The word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah: “Up!” he said “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to.” Jonah set out and went to Nineveh in obedience to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare: it took three days to cross it. Jonah went on into the city, making a day’s journey. He preached in these words, “Only forty days more and Nineveh is going to be destroyed.” And the people of Nineveh believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least. The news reached the king of Nineveh, who rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat down in ashes. A proclamation was then promulgated throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his ministers, as follows: “Men and beasts, herds and flocks, are to taste nothing; they must not eat, they must not drink water. All are to put on sackcloth and call on God with all their might; and let everyone renounce his evil behaviour and the wicked things he has done. Who knows if God will not change his mind and relent, if he will not renounce his burning wrath, so that we do not perish?” God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behaviour, and God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened.
Psalm 129(130):1-4,7-8
R/ If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt: Lord, who would survive?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice! O let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleading.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive? But with you is found forgiveness: for this we revere you.
Because with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption, Israel indeed he will redeem from all its iniquity. If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt: Lord, who would survive?
Gospel Acclamation : Jn 15: 15
Alleluia, alleluia! I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 10:38-42
Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered: “Martha, Martha,” he said, “you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.”
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, we pray, the sacrifices instituted by your commands and, through the sacred mysteries, which we celebrate with dutiful service, graciously complete the sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Lam 3: 25
The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
Prayer after Communion
Grant us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to be transformed into what we consume. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
We know the story; it has given rise to many interpretations over the centuries and each one is worth pondering. Is prayer better than action? No. Contemplative life versus active life? No. Is sitting down better than serving guests? Again, no! Jesus’ gentle reproach to Martha is about hoarding, seeking for notice. What she is doing is necessary and good, but it takes up too much of her being, making her unavailable to listen to the Word. Worry and restlessness become her masters to the point of altering her judgement and taking Jesus as judge and witness for herself. Of course, it is good to serve, but to remain free for the only Master. We are busy. Let us remain free to take the time to love and listen!
