Friday 13th  october

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.

Thursday 12th october

SAINT  Wilfrid

Wilfrid was born in Northumbria in 634. He took part in the Synod of Whitby (664), where he promoted Romes 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.

Mercredi  11  octobre

SAINT Jean XXIII, Pape

Élu à 76 ans comme simple pape de transition, Jean XXIII a pourtant chamboulé le Vatican pour se rapprocher du peuple, au point d’hériter du surnom de “bon pape” auprès des fidèles. L’italien Angelo Roncalli a profondément marqué l’Église par son pontificat. Celui qui devient Jean XXIII en 1958 crée principalement la surprise en lançant Vatican II, un concile qu’il veut synonyme d’aggiornamento, c’est-à-dire de “mise à jour”, moins de trois mois après son élection.

Antienne  d’ouverture : Est 13, 9. 10-11

Tout dépend de ta volonté, Seigneur, et rien ne peut lui résister: C’est toi qui as fait le ciel et la terre et les merveilles qu’ils contiennent. Tu es le Maître de l’univers.

Prière  d’ouverture

Dans ton amour inépuisable, Dieu éternel et tout-puissant, tu combles ceux qui t’implorent, bien au-delà de leurs mérites et de leurs désirs. Répands sur nous ta miséricorde en délivrant notre conscience de ce qui l’inquiète et en donnant plus que nous n’osons demander. Par Jésus.

1ère  lecture : Jonas 4, 1-11

Quand il vit que Dieu pardonnait aux habitants de Ninive, Jonas trouva la chose très mauvaise et se mit en colère. Il fit cette prière au Seigneur : « Ah ! Seigneur, je l’avais bien dit lorsque j’étais encore dans mon pays! C’est pour cela que je m’étais d’abord enfui à Tarsis. Je savais bien que tu es un Dieu tendre et miséricordieux, lent à la colère et plein d’amour, renonçant au châtiment.  Eh bien, Seigneur, prends ma vie ; mieux vaut pour moi mourir que vivre. »  Le Seigneur lui dit:« As-tu vraiment raison de te mettre en colère?»  Jonas sortit de Ninive et s’assit à l’est de la ville. Là, il fit une hutte et s’assit dessous, à l’ombre, pour voir ce qui allait arriver dans la ville.  Le Seigneur Dieu donna l’ordre à un arbuste, un ricin, de pousser au-dessus de Jonas pour donner de l’ombre à sa tête et le délivrer ainsi de sa mauvaise humeur. Jonas se réjouit d’une grande joie à cause du ricin. Mais le lendemain, à l’aube, Dieu donna l’ordre à un ver de piquer le ricin, et celui-ci se dessécha. Au lever du soleil, Dieu donna l’ordre au vent d’est de brûler ; Jonas fut frappé d’insolation. Se sentant défaillir, il demanda la mort et ajouta : « Mieux vaut pour moi mourir que vivre. »  Dieu dit à Jonas : « As-tu vraiment raison de te mettre en colère au sujet de ce ricin? » Il répondit : «Oui, j’ai bien raison de me mettre en colère jusqu’à souhaiter la mort.» Le Seigneur répliqua : « Toi, tu as pitié de ce ricin, qui ne t’a coûté aucun travail et que tu n’as pas fait grandir, qui a poussé en une nuit, et en une nuit a disparu. Et moi, comment n’aurais-je pas pitié de Ninive, la grande ville, où, sans compter une foule d’animaux, il y a plus de cent vingt mille êtres humains qui ne distinguent pas encore leur droite de leur gauche ? »

Psaume : 85 (86), 3-4, 5-6, 9-10

R/ Toi, Seigneur, Dieu de tendresse et de pitié !

Prends pitié de moi, Seigneur, toi que j’appelle chaque jour. Seigneur, réjouis ton serviteur : vers toi, j’élève mon âme !

Toi qui es bon et qui pardonnes, plein d’amour pour tous ceux qui t’appellent, écoute ma prière, Seigneur, entends ma voix qui te supplie.

Toutes les nations, que tu as faites, viendront se prosterner devant toi et rendre gloire à ton nom, Seigneur, car tu es grand et tu fais des merveilles, toi, Dieu, le seul.

Acclamation

Alléluia. Alléluia. Vous avez reçu un Esprit qui fait de vous des fils; c’est en lui que nous crions « Abba», Père. Alléluia (Rm 8, 15bc).

Évangile : Luc 11, 1-4

Il arriva que Jésus, en un certain lieu, était en prière. Quand il eut terminé, un de ses disciples lui demanda : « Seigneur, apprends-nous à prier, comme Jean le Baptiste, lui aussi, l’a appris à ses disciples. » Il leur répondit: « Quand vous priez, dites: “Père, que ton nom soit sanctifié, que ton règne vienne.  Donne-nous le pain dont nous avons besoin pour chaque jour Pardonne-nous nos péchés, car nous-mêmes, nous pardonnons aussi à tous ceux qui ont des torts envers nous. Et ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation.”»

Prière  sur  les  offrandes

Accepte, Seigneur, le sacrifice que tu nous as donné. Dans les mystères que nous célébrons pour te rendre grâce, sanctifie les hommes que tu as sauvés par ton Fils. Lui qui.

Antienne  de  communion : Lm 3, 25

Le Seigneur est bon pour ceux qui se tournent vers lui, pour ceux qui le recherchent.

Prière  après  la  communion

Accorde-nous, Seigneur notre Dieu, de trouver dans cette communion notre force et notre joie, afin que nous puissions devenir ce que nous avons reçu: le corps du Christ. Lui qui.

Méditation

L’enseignement de Jésus sur la prière part de sa propre expérience de cette dernière. Lorsqu’en priant nous reprenons les mots que Jésus nous a laissés, nous ne suivons pas seulement la leçon d’un maître, mais nous faisons nôtre la prière même de Jésus. Par elle, nous sommes introduits dans la relation filiale de Jésus à son Père, qu’il nous apprend à invoquer : Père, Notre Père. Dire à Dieu, Père, c’est être fils, enfant de Dieu. La prière de Jésus nous fait partager les sentiments qui unissent Jésus à son Père. Dès lors nous ne pouvons que désirer ardemment la sanctification du Nom de Dieu, la venue de son Règne. Les demandes du pain, du pardon et de l’éloignement de la tentation sont liées à notre condition humaine blessée en peine, aujourd’hui comme hier. Mais en dernier lieu, elles visent la construction et l’avènement du Royaume de Dieu dès ici-bas.

Wednesday 11th  october

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.

Mardi  10  octobre

Saint Daniel et ses compagnons,

MARTYRS

Avec six autres franciscains ils débarquèrent à Ceuta, au Maroc, pour témoigner du Christ devant les Sarrasins. Ils entrèrent dans la ville musulmane, crucifix à la main, prêchant contre Mahomet. Ils furent aussitôt arrêtés et emprisonnés. Comme ils refusaient d’apostasier, ils furent conduits sur la grande place et, agenouillés, ils furent décapités.

Antienne  d’ouverture : Est 13, 9. 10-11

Tout dépend de ta volonté, Seigneur, et rien ne peut lui résister: C’est toi qui as fait le ciel et la terre et les merveilles qu’ils contiennent. Tu es le Maître de l’univers.

Prière  d’ouverture

Dans ton amour inépuisable, Dieu éternel et tout-puissant, tu combles ceux qui t’implorent, bien au-delà de leurs mérites et de leurs désirs. Répands sur nous ta miséricorde en délivrant notre conscience de ce qui l’inquiète et en donnant plus que nous n’osons demander. Par Jésus.

1ère  lecture : Jon 3, 1-10

La parole du Seigneur fut adressée de nouveau à Jonas : « Lève-toi, va à Ninive, la grande ville païenne, proclame le message que je te donne sur elle. » Jonas se leva et partit pour Ninive, selon la parole du Seigneur. Or, Ninive était une ville extraordinairement grande : il fallait trois jours pour la traverser. Jonas la parcourut une journée à peine en proclamant : « Encore quarante jours, et Ninive sera détruite ! » Aussitôt, les gens de Ninive crurent en Dieu. Ils annoncèrent un jeûne, et tous, du plus grand au plus petit, sevêtirent de toile à sac. La chose arriva jusqu’au roi de Ninive. Il se leva de son trône, quitta son manteau, se couvrit d’une toile à sac, et s’assit sur la cendre. Puis il fit crier dans Ninive ce décret du roi et de ses grands : « Hommes et bêtes, gros et petit bétail, ne goûteront à rien, ne mangeront pas et ne boiront pas. Hommes et bêtes, on se couvrira de toile à sac, on criera vers Dieu de toute sa force, chacun se détournera de sa conduite mauvaise et de ses actes de violence. Qui sait si Dieu ne se ravisera pas et  ne se repentira pas, s’il ne reviendra pas de l’ardeur de sa colère ? Et alors nous ne périrons pas ! » En voyant leur réaction, et comment ils se détournaient de leur conduite mauvaise, Dieu renonça au châtiment dont il les avait menacés.

Psaume : 129 (130), 1-2, 3-4, 7bc.8

R/ Si tu retiens nos fautes Seigneur, qui subsistera ?

Des profondeurs je crie vers toi, Seigneur, Seigneur, écoute mon appel ! Que ton oreille se fasse attentive au cri de ma prière !

Si tu retiens les fautes, Seigneur, Seigneur, qui subsistera ? Mais près de toi se trouve le pardonpour que l’homme te craigne.

Oui, près du Seigneur, est l’amour ; près de lui, abonde le rachat.C’est lui qui rachètera Israël de toutes ses fautes.

Acclamation

Alléluia. Alléluia. Heureux ceux qui écoutent la parole de Dieu, et qui la gardent ! Alléluia. (cf. Lc 11, 28)

Évangile : Luc 10, 38-42

En ce temps-là, Jésus entra dans un village. Une femme nommée Marthe le reçut. Elle avait une sœur appelée Marie qui, s’étant assise aux pieds du Seigneur, écoutait sa parole. Quant à Marthe, elle était accaparée par les multiples occupations du service. Elle intervint et dit : « Seigneur, cela ne te fait rien que ma sœur m’ait laissé faire seule le service ? Dis-lui donc de m’aider. » Le Seigneur lui répondit : « Marthe, Marthe, tu te donnes du souci et tu t’agites pour bien des choses. Une seule est nécessaire. Marie a choisi la meilleure part, elle ne lui sera pas enlevée. »

Prière  sur  les  offrandes

Accepte, Seigneur, le sacrifice que tu nous as donné. Dans les mystères que nous célébrons pour te rendre grâce, sanctifie les hommes que tu as sauvés par ton Fils. Lui qui.

Antienne  de  communion : Lm 3, 25

Le Seigneur est bon pour ceux qui se tournent vers lui, pour ceux qui le recherchent.

Prière  après  la  communion

Accorde-nous, Seigneur notre Dieu, de trouver dans cette communion notre force et notre joie, afin que nous puissions devenir ce que nous avons reçu: le corps du Christ. Lui qui.

Méditation

L’évangile de ce jour suscite un point de méditation : La prière est-elle meilleure que l’action ? Non ! La vie contemplative s’oppose-t-elle à la vie active ? Non ! Pour honorer ses invités, s’asseoir est-il meilleur que servir ? Encore non ! Le doux reproche que Jésus fait à Marthe porte sur l’accaparement. Ce qu’elle fait est nécessaire et bien, mais capte tout son être et ne la rend plus disponible à l’écoute de la Parole. L’inquiétude et l’agitation deviennent ses maîtres au point d’altérer son jugement et prendre Jésus comme juge et témoin pour elle-même. Certes, il est bon de servir, mais en restant libre pour le seul maître. Accaparés, nous le sommes. Restons libres pour prendre le temps d’aimer et d’écouter !