by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Sep 10, 2021 | Evangelium

Saturday

11

September

St. Deiniol

(d. 584)

Green / White

He was the first Bishop of Bangor. He may have been consecrated in 545 by St. David.

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 118: 137, 124

You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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: 1 Timothy 1:15-17

Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 112(113):1-7

R/     May the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!

1.     Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! May the name of the Lord be blessed both now and for evermore!

2.     From the rising of the sun to its setting praised be the name of the Lord! High above all nations is the Lord, above the heavens his glory.

3.     Who is like the Lord, our God, who has risen on high to his throne yet stoops from the heights to look down, to look down upon heaven and earth? From the dust he lifts up the lowly, from the dung heap he raises the poor.

Gospel Acclamation: Jn14:6

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 6:43-49

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart. Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and not do what I say? Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!’

Prayer over the Offerings

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 41: 2-3

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Prayer after Communion

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, whom you nourish and endow with life through the food of your Word and heavenly Sacrament, may so benefit from your beloved Son’s great gifts, that we may merit an eternal share in his life. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Meditation

When we examine ourselves, we are moved to thank the Lord for his mercies on us. We are called to be merciful to others because of God’s mercy on us. There is so much wickedness in the world and vengeance because we forget so quickly how merciful God has been to us. Those who remember God’s mercy are always good and merciful towards others. By their fruits we shall know them, for a good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; and a bad man does the same. A man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.

by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Sep 9, 2021 | Evangelium

Friday

10

September

St. Ambrose Barlow OSB

(1585-1641)

Green

In 1615, he became a member of the Order of Saint Benedict and was ordained as a priest in 1617. He was arrested several times during his travels before he eventually suffered a martyr’s death in 1641.

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 118: 137, 124

You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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: 1 Timothy 1:1-2,12-14

From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus appointed by the command of God our saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, true child of mine in the faith; wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-8,11

R/     You are my inheritance, O Lord.

1.     Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.’ O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself who are my prize.

2.     I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight: since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

3.     You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, at your right hand happiness for ever.

Gospel Acclamation : Ps 147:12,15

Alleluia, alleluia! O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! He sends out his word to the earth. Alleluia!

Gospel: Luke 6:39-42

Jesus told a parable to the disciples: ‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.’

Prayer over the Offerings

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 41: 2-3

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Prayer after Communion

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, whom you nourish and endow with life through the food of your Word and heavenly Sacrament, may so benefit from your beloved Son’s great gifts that we may merit an eternal share in his life. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Meditation

We find it easier to see the failings and shortcomings of others. Oftentimes, what we see might actually be a projection of our own shortcomings. Jesus reminds us that we do not grow in our friendship with God by looking at the sins of others. We do so by examining ourselves. It is by looking at ourselves that we see the areas of our lives that still need the light of Jesus. This is why constant examination of conscience is of great importance. When we see where we have failed, we ought to go to confession. Through it, we receive the grace to keep up with our struggle towards perfection.

by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Sep 8, 2021 | Evangelium

Thursday

09

September

St. Peter Claver

(1581 – 1654)

Green / White

St. Peter Claver was a member of the Society of Jesus and is the patron of African missions and of interracial justice, due to his work with slaves in Colombia.

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 118: 137, 124

You are just, O Lord, and your judgement is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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 3:12-17

You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful. Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psalm 150

R/     Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.

1.     Praise God in his holy place, praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his powerful deeds, praise his surpassing greatness.

2. O praise him with sound of trumpet, praise him with lute and harp. Praise him with timbrel and dance, praise him with strings and pipes.

3.     Praise him with resounding cymbals, praise him with clashing of cymbals. Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the lord.

Gospel Acclamation : Jm 1:21

Alleluia, alleluia! Accept and submit to the word, which has been planted in you and can save your souls. Alleluia!

Gospel: Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’

Prayer over the Offerings

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 41: 2-3

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Prayer after Communion

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, whom you nourish and endow with life through the food of your Word and heavenly Sacrament, may so benefit from your beloved Son’s great gifts that we may merit an eternal share in his life. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Meditation

One of the things that is very challenging about being a Christian is the love of our enemies. It is natural to love parents, siblings and family, spouse and friends. If we remain in that circle, we are good human beings only. The Christian challenge is to love, to sacrifice for, to forgive, to wish well for people out of that circle. It is the same for those within that circle whose actions have made us consider them as “enemies”. It often looks like a weakness to love our enemies, but that is what Jesus expects of us. He strengthens us in his Word and sacraments for this.

by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Sep 7, 2021 | Evangelium

Wednesday

08

September

The Nativity fo the Blessed Virgin Mary

White

Adrian was a pagan officer of Nicomedia. Impressed by the courage of a group of Christians who were being tortured, he declared himself a Christian and was imprisoned with them before he was put to death. Adrian is the patron of soldiers and butchers.

Entrance Antiphon

Let us celebrate with joy the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for from her arose the sun of justice, Christ our God.

Collect

Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace, that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin may bring deeper peace to those for whom the birth of her Son was the dawning of salvation .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: Micah 5:1-4

The Lord says this: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of old. The Lord is therefore going to abandon them till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers will come back to the sons of Israel. He will stand and feed his flock with the power of the Lord, with the majesty of the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace.

Psalm 12:6-7

R/     I exult for joy in the Lord.

1.    Lord, I trust in your merciful love. Let my heart rejoice in your saving help.

2.  Let me sing to the Lord for his goodness to me, singing psalms to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise, for the sun of justice, Christ our God, was born of you. Alleluia!

Gospel: Matthew 1:1-16,18-23

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, Tamar being their mother, Perez was the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, Salmon was the father of Boaz, Rahab being his mother, Boaz was the father of Obed, Ruth being his mother, Obed was the father of Jesse; and Jesse was the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife, Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Azariah, Azariah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah; and Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place. After the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob; and Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

Prayer over the Offerings

May the humanity of your Only Begotten Son come, O Lord, to our aid, and may he, who at his birth from the Blessed Virgin did not diminish but consecrated her integrity, by taking from us now our wicked deeds, make our oblation acceptable to you. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Is 7: 14; Mt 1: 21

Behold, the Virgin will bear a son, who will save his people from their sins.

Prayer after Communion

May your Church exult, O Lord, for you have renewed her with these sacred mysteries, as she rejoices in the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was the hope and the daybreak of salvation for all the world. Through Christ our Lord.

Meditation

Mary was conceived and born the natural way, like any other human being. But unlike any other, she was conceived without original sin. Her family history shows that in her was the fulfilment of a plan God had formed long ago. He chose her because she would be the mother of Jesus. Celebrating the birth of the Blessed Virgin reminds us that God has a plan for each of us. We are called to be in constant discernment to know God’s will for us, and pray to him daily for the fortitude and wisdom to do what he expects of us in fulfilment of his plan.

by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Sep 6, 2021 | Evangelium

Tuesday

07

September

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

(1090 – 1153)

Green

Bernard was born near Dijon, in France, in 1090, of a noble family. In 1112 he joined the new monastery at Cîteaux. This had been founded fourteen years before, in a bid to reject the laxity and riches of much of the Benedictine Order of the time (as exemplified by the great monasteries such as Cluny) and to return to a primitive poverty and austerity of life.

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 118: 137, 124

You are just, O Lord, and your judgement is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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 2:6-15

You must live your whole life according to the Christ you have received – Jesus the Lord; you must be rooted in him and built on him and held firm by the faith you have been taught, and full of thanksgiving. Make sure that no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some second-hand, empty, rational philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ. In his body lives the fullness of divinity, and in him you too find your own fulfilment, in the one who is the head of every Sovereignty and Power. In him you have been circumcised, with a circumcision not performed by human hand, but by the complete stripping of your body of flesh. This is circumcision according to Christ. You have been buried with him, when you were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead, because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins. He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross; and so he got rid of the Sovereignties and the Powers, and paraded them in public, behind him in his triumphal procession.

Psalm 144(145):1-2,8-11

R/     How good is the Lord to all.

1.     I will give you glory, O God my king,I will bless your name for ever.I will bless you day after dayand praise your name for ever.

2.     The Lord is kind and full of compassion,slow to anger, abounding in love.How good is the Lord to all,compassionate to all his creatures.

3. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,and your friends shall repeat their blessing.They shall speak of the glory of your reignand declare your might, O God.

Gospel Acclamation: Ph2:15-16

Alleluia, alleluia! You will shine in the world like bright stars because you are offering it the word of life.Alleluia!

Gospel: Luke 6:12-19

Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor. He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.

Prayer over the Offerings

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Ps 41: 2-3

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Prayer after Communion

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, whom you nourish and endow with life through the food of your Word and heavenly Sacrament, may so benefit from your beloved Son’s great gifts that we may merit an eternal share in his life. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Meditation

Jesus made an odd choice and combination of people for his apostles. A zealot was a natural enemy of a tax collector (who worked for the Romans), for example. The fishermen were uneducated, some were. There was much more diversity in the group. Each apostle had his shortcomings. Yet they were expected to walk and work with Jesus and continue his mission. In the different groups and associations in which we find ourselves in the Church, there will always be as much diversity as there was among apostles. United by our common baptism, we ought to journey together to heaven and bear witness to the reality of the Kingdom of God.       

by Jude Thaddeus Langeh | Sep 5, 2021 | Evangelium

Monday

06

September

Pope St. Leo the Great

(- 461)

Green

Leo was born in Etruria and became Pope in 440. He was a true shepherd and father of souls. He constantly strove to keep the faith whole and strenuously defended the unity of the Church. He repelled the invasions of the barbarians or alleviated their effects, famously persuading Attila the Hun not to march on Rome in 452, and preventing the invading Vandals from massacring the population in 455.

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 118: 137, 124

You are just, O Lord, and your judgement is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love.

Collect

O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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 1:24-2:3

It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ. It is for this I struggle wearily on, helped only by his power driving me irresistibly. Yes, I want you to know that I do have to struggle hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for so many others who have never seen me face to face. It is all to bind you together in love and to stir your minds, so that your understanding may come to full development, until you really know God’s secret in which all the jewels of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

Psalm 61(62):6-7,9

R/    In God is my safety and glory.

1.     In God alone be at rest, my soul; for my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock, my stronghold, my fortress: I stand firm.

2.     Take refuge in God, all you people. Trust him at all times. Pour out your hearts before him for God is our refuge.

Gospel Acclamation : Ps118:105

Alleluia, alleluia! Your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path. Alleluia!

Gospel: Luke 6:6-11

On the sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.

Prayer over the Offerings

O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Ps 41: 2-3

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Prayer after Communion

Grant that your faithful, O Lord, whom you nourish and endow with life through the food of your Word and heavenly Sacrament, may so benefit from your beloved Son’s great gifts that we may merit an eternal share in his life. Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Meditation

The deformity of the withered hand was normally supposed to keep the man out of the discussion on Scripture discussion in the synagogue. He could attend the service and listen, but he could not speak. Jesus cures him on the Sabbath and sets him free, making him like any other person in that synagogue. Truth and law are to help free people in life and in their worship of, and relationship with God, not hinder them. A proper understanding and application of God’s law will not result in the development of roadblocks on the path to God, but will open up access for all people. What is our approach to laws? Do they help us and others grow closer to God?