Friday, July 11, 2014

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Prayer To St. Benedict

O glorious St. Benedict,
sublime model of all virtues,
pure vessel of God's grace!
Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet.
I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God.
To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me.
Shield me against my enemies,
inspire me to imitate thee in all things.
May thy blessing be with me always,
so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need,
in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion,
and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee.
I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers
and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore

(mention it),

if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Help me,
O great St. Benedict,
to live and die as a faithful child of God,
to be ever submissive to His holy will,
and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Memorial of Saint Benedict
Abbot

Reading
HOS 14:2-10

Thus says the LORD:

Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion.”
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
“I am like a verdant cypress tree”—
because of me you bear fruit!

Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.


Responsorial Psalm
PS 51:3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14 AND 17

R. My mouth will declare your praise.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.

R. My mouth will declare your praise.

Behold, you are pleased with sincerity of heart,
and in my inmost being you teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

R. My mouth will declare your praise.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

R. My mouth will declare your praise.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

R. My mouth will declare your praise.


Gospel
MT 10:16-23

Jesus said to his Apostles:

“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of men,
for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

July 11

St. Benedict (480?-543)

It is unfortunate that no contemporary biography was written of a man who has exercised the greatest influence on monasticism in the West. Benedict is well recognized in the later Dialogues of St. Gregory, 
but these are sketches to illustrate miraculous elements of his career.

Benedict was born into a distinguished family in central Italy, studied at Rome and early in life was drawn to the monastic life. 
At first he became a hermit, leaving a depressing world—
pagan armies on the march, the Church torn by schism, people suffering from war, morality at a low ebb.

He soon realized that he could not live a hidden life in a small town any better than in a large city, so he withdrew to a cave high in the mountains for three years. Some monks chose him as their leader for a while, but found his strictness not to their taste. Still, the shift from hermit to community life had begun for him. He had an idea of gathering various families of monks into one “Grand Monastery” to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity, permanent worship in one house. 
Finally he began to build what was to become one of the most famous monasteries in the world—
Monte Cassino, commanding three narrow valleys running toward the mountains north of Naples.

The Rule that gradually developed prescribed a life of liturgical prayer, study, manual labor and living together in community under a common father (abbot). Benedictine asceticism is known for its moderation, and Benedictine charity has always shown concern for the people in the surrounding countryside. In the course of the Middle Ages, 
all monasticism in the West was gradually brought under the Rule of St. Benedict.

Today the Benedictine family is represented by two branches: the Benedictine Federation and the Cistercians.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 94 (95)

How wonderful is God among his saints:
come, let us adore him.

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,
let us acclaim God our salvation.
Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks,
let us acclaim him with songs.

How wonderful is God among his saints:
come, let us adore him.

For the Lord is a great God,
a king above all gods.
For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands,
and the peaks of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his: he made it;
and his hands formed the dry land.

How wonderful is God among his saints:
come, let us adore him.

Come, let us worship and bow down,
bend the knee before the Lord who made us;
for he himself is our God and we are his flock,
the sheep that follow his hand.

How wonderful is God among his saints:
come, let us adore him.

If only, today, you would listen to his voice:
“Do not harden your hearts
as you did at Meribah,
on the day of Massah in the desert,
when your fathers tested me –
they put me to the test,
although they had seen my works.”

How wonderful is God among his saints:
come, let us adore him.

“For forty years they wearied me,
that generation.
I said: their hearts are wandering,
they do not know my paths.
I swore in my anger:
they will never enter my place of rest.”

How wonderful is God among his saints:
come, let us adore him.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

How wonderful is God among his saints:
come, let us adore him.


Hymn

God has spoken by his prophets,
Spoken his unchanging word,
Each from age to age proclaiming
God the One, the righteous Lord.
Mid the world’s despair and turmoil,
one firm anchor holdeth fast:
God is King, his throne eternal,
God the first and God the last.
God has spoken by Christ Jesus,
Christ, the everlasting Son,
Brightness of the Father’s glory,
With the Father ever one;
Spoken by the Word incarnate,
God of God, ere time began,
Light of Light, to earth descending,
Man, revealing God to man.


Psalm 37 (38)
The plea of a sinner in great peril

Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.

Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath,
do not ruin me in your anger:
for I am pierced by your arrows
and crushed beneath your hand.
In the face of your anger
there is no health in my body.
There is no peace for my bones,
no rest from my sins.
My transgressions rise higher than my head:
a heavy burden, they weigh me down.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Do not punish me, Lord, in your rage.


Psalm 37 (38)

O Lord, you know all my longing.

My wounds are corruption and decay
because of my foolishness.
I am bowed down and bent,
bent under grief all day long.
For a fire burns up my loins,
and there is no health in my body.
I am afflicted, utterly cast down,
I cry out from the sadness of my heart.
Lord, all that I desire is known to you;
my sighs are not hidden from you.
My heart grows weak, my strength leaves me,
and the light of my eyes – even that has gone.
My friends and my neighbours
keep far from my wounds.
Those closest to me keep far away,
while those who would kill me set traps,
those who would harm me make their plots:
they plan mischief all through the day.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

O Lord, you know all my longing.


Psalm 37 (38)

I confess my guilt to you, Lord;
do not forsake me, my savior.

But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
like one who is dumb, I do not open my mouth.
I am like someone who cannot hear,
in whose mouth there is no reply.
For in you, Lord, I put my trust:
you will listen to me, Lord, my God.
For I have said, “Let them never triumph over me:
if my feet stumble, they will gloat.”
For I am ready to fall:
my suffering is before me always.
For I shall proclaim my wrongdoing:
I am anxious because of my sins.
All the time my enemies live and grow stronger;
they are so many, those who hate me without cause.
Returning evil for good they dragged me down,
because I followed the way of goodness.
Do not abandon me, Lord:
my God, do not leave me.
Hurry to my aid,
O Lord, my savior.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

I confess my guilt to you, Lord;
do not forsake me, my savior.


My eyes are weary with longing for your salvation
– and for your words of justice.


First Reading
1 Kings 1:11-35,2:10-12

Then Nathan said to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, ‘Have you not heard that unknown to our lord David, Adonijah, Haggith’s son, has become king? Well, this is my advice to you if you want to save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go straight in to King David and say, “My lord king, did you not make your servant this promise on oath: Your son Solomon is to be king after me; he is the one who is to sit on my throne? How is it, then, that Adonijah is king?” 
And while you are still there talking to the king, I will come in after you and confirm what you say.’

So Bathsheba went to the king in his room (he was very old and Abishag of Shunem was in attendance on him). She knelt down and did homage to the king, and the king said, ‘What is your wish?’ ‘My lord,’ she answered ‘you swore this to your servant by the Lord your God, “Your son Solomon is to be king after me; he is the one who is to sit on my throne.” And now here is Adonijah king and you, my lord king, knowing nothing about it. He has sacrificed quantities of oxen and fatted calves and sheep, and invited all the royal princes, the priest Abiathar, and Joab the army commander; but he has not invited your servant Solomon. Yet you are the man, my lord king, to whom all Israel looks, to name for them the successor of my lord the king. 
And when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, my son Solomon and I will be made to suffer for this.’

She was still speaking when the prophet Nathan entered. ‘The prophet Nathan is here’ they told the king; and he came into the king’s presence and bowed down to the ground on his face before the king. ‘My lord king,’ said Nathan ‘is this, then, your decree: “Adonijah is to be king after me; he is the one who is to sit on my throne”? For he has gone down today and sacrificed quantities of oxen and fattened calves and sheep, and invited all the royal princes, the army chiefs, and the priest Abiathar; and they are there now, eating and drinking in his presence and shouting, “Long live King Adonijah!” He has not, however, invited me your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your servant Solomon. Is this with my lord the king’s approval? 
Or have you not told those loyal to you who is to succeed to the throne of my lord the king?’

Then King David spoke. ‘Call Bathsheba to me’ he said. And she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. Then the king swore this oath, ‘As the Lord lives, who has delivered me from all adversity, just as I swore to you by the Lord the God of Israel that your son Solomon should be king after me and take my place on the throne, so I will bring it about this very day.’ Bathsheba knelt down, her face to the ground, and did homage to the king. ‘May my lord King David live for ever!’ she said. Then King David said, ‘Summon Zadok the priest, the prophet Nathan and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.’ So they came into the king’s presence. ‘Take the royal guard with you,’ said the king ‘mount my son Solomon on my own mule and escort him down to Gihon. There Zadok the priest and the prophet Nathan are to anoint him king of Israel; then sound the trumpet and shout, “Long live King Solomon!” 
Then you are to follow him up and he is to come and take his seat on my throne and be king in place of me, 
for he is the man I have appointed as ruler of Israel and of Judah.’


Responsory

Come out, O daughters of Zion,
and see King Solomon wearing the crown that was his mother’s gift to him,
on his day of triumph.

Grant to the king, O God,
your own skill in judgement:
may he deal out justice to the people and to your poor, redress,
on his day of triumph.


Second Reading
From the Rule of Benedict, abbot

Put Christ before everything

Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection; that he, who has honoured us by counting us among his children, may never be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always serve him with the good things he has given us in such a way that he may never – as an angry father disinherits his sons or even like a master who inspires fear – grow impatient with our sins and consign us to everlasting punishment, 
like wicked servants who would not follow him to glory.

So we should at long last rouse ourselves, prompted by the words of Scripture: Now is the time for us to rise from sleep. Our eyes should be open to the God-given light, and we should listen in wonderment to the message of the divine voice as it daily cries out: Today, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts; and again: If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. And what does the Spirit say? Come my sons, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 
Hurry, while you have the light of life, so that death’s darkness may not overtake you.

And the Lord as he seeks the one who will do his work among the throng of people to whom he makes that appeal, says again: Which of you wants to live to the full; who loves long life and the enjoyment of prosperity? And, if when you hear this you say, I do, God says to you: If you desire true and everlasting life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceit; turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. And when you have done these things my eyes will be upon you and my ears will be attentive to your prayers; and before you call upon my name I shall say to you: Behold, I am here. What could be more delightful, dearest brothers, than the voice of our Lord’s invitation to us? In his loving kindness he reveals to us the way of life.

And so, girded with faith and the performance of good works, 
let us follow in his paths by the guidance of the Gospel; then we shall deserve to see him who has called us into his kingdom. 
If we wish to attain a dwelling-place in his kingdom we shall not reach it unless we hasten there by our good deeds.

Just as there exists an evil fervour, a bitter spirit, which divides us from God and leads us to hell, so there is a good fervour which sets us apart from evil inclinations and leads us toward God and eternal life. Monks should put this fervour into practice with an overflowing love: that is, they should surpass each other in mutual esteem, accept their weaknesses, either of body or of behavior, with the utmost patience; and vie with each other in acceding to requests. No one should follow what he considers to be good for himself, but rather what seems good for another. They should display brotherly love in a chaste manner; 
fear God in a spirit of love; revere their abbot with a genuine and submissive affection. 
Let them put Christ before all else; and may he lead us all to everlasting life.


Responsory

In his desire to please God alone,
blessed Benedict abandoned home and patrimony and sought the religious life;
he dwelt by himself, apart,
in the presence of the all-seeing God of heaven.

He left the world of men,
knowingly ignorant of its ways,
and wisely untrained in its wisdom;
he dwelt by himself, apart,
in the presence of the all-seeing God of heaven.

Let us pray.

Lord God, you appointed Saint Benedict
to be a wise master in the school of your service.
Give us grace to put your love before all else,
and so to run with joy in the way of your commandments.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.