PRAYER OF THE DAY

SUSCIPE

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding

and my entire will,

All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace.

That is enough for me.

(St. Ignatius of Loyola)

DAILY MASS READINGS

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Priest

Reading

Jer 14:17-22

Let my eyes stream with tears

day and night, without rest,

Over the great destruction which overwhelms

the virgin daughter of my people,

over her incurable wound.

If I walk out into the field,

look! those slain by the sword;

If I enter the city,

look! those consumed by hunger.

Even the prophet and the priest

forage in a land they know not.

Have you cast Judah off completely?

Is Zion loathsome to you?

Why have you struck us a blow

that cannot be healed?

We wait for peace, to no avail;

for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.

We recognize, O LORD, our wickedness,

the guilt of our fathers;

that we have sinned against you.

For your name's sake spurn us not,

disgrace not the throne of your glory;

remember your covenant with us, and break it not.

Among the nations' idols is there any that gives rain?

Or can the mere heavens send showers?

Is it not you alone, O LORD,

our God, to whom we look?

You alone have done all these things.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 79:8, 9, 11 And 13

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;

may your compassion quickly come to us,

for we are brought very low.

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

Help us, O God our savior,

because of the glory of your name;

Deliver us and pardon our sins

for your name's sake.

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

Let the prisoners' sighing come before you;

with your great power free those doomed to death.

Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,

will give thanks to you forever;

through all generations we will declare your praise.

R. For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.

Gospel

Mt 13:36-43

Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house.

His disciples approached him and said,

"Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

He said in reply,

"He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,

the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom.

The weeds are the children of the Evil One,

and the enemy who sows them is the Devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire,

so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send his angels,

and they will collect out of his Kingdom

all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.

They will throw them into the fiery furnace,

where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun

in the Kingdom of their Father.

Whoever has ears ought to hear."

SAINT OF THE DAY

July 31

St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

The founder of the Jesuits was on his way to military fame and fortune when a cannon ball shattered his leg. Because there were no books of romance on hand during his convalescence, Ignatius whiled away the time reading a life of Christ and lives of the saints. His conscience was deeply touched, and a long, painful turning to Christ began. Having seen the Mother of God in a vision, he made a pilgrimage to her shrine at Montserrat (near Barcelona). He remained for almost a year at nearby Manresa, sometimes with the Dominicans, sometimes in a pauper’s hospice, often in a cave in the hills praying. After a period of great peace of mind, he went through a harrowing trial of scruples. There was no comfort in anything—prayer, fasting, sacraments, penance. At length, his peace of mind returned.

It was during this year of conversion that Ignatius began to write down material that later became his greatest work, the Spiritual Exercises.

He finally achieved his purpose of going to the Holy Land, but could not remain, as he planned, because of the hostility of the Turks. He spent the next 11 years in various European universities, studying with great difficulty, beginning almost as a child. Like many others, his orthodoxy was questioned; Ignatius was twice jailed for brief periods.

In 1534, at the age of 43, he and six others (one of whom was St. Francis Xavier) vowed to live in poverty and chastity and to go to the Holy Land. If this became impossible, they vowed to offer themselves to the apostolic service of the pope. The latter became the only choice. Four years later Ignatius made the association permanent. The new Society of Jesus was approved by Paul III, and Ignatius was elected to serve as the first general.

When companions were sent on various missions by the pope, Ignatius remained in Rome, consolidating the new venture, but still finding time to found homes for orphans, catechumens and penitents. He founded the Roman College, intended to be the model of all other colleges of the Society.

Ignatius was a true mystic. He centered his spiritual life on the essential foundations of Christianity—the Trinity, Christ, the Eucharist. His spirituality is expressed in the Jesuit motto, ad majorem Dei gloriam—“for the greater glory of God.” In his concept, obedience was to be the prominent virtue, to assure the effectiveness and mobility of his men. All activity was to be guided by a true love of the Church and unconditional obedience to the Holy Father, for which reason all professed members took a fourth vow to go wherever the pope should send them for the salvation of souls.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 66 (67)

Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

O God, take pity on us and bless us,

and let your face shine upon us,

so that your ways may be known across the world,

and all nations learn of your salvation.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice,

for you judge the peoples with fairness

and you guide the nations of the earth.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has produced its harvest:

may God, our God, bless us.

May God bless us,

may the whole world revere him.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

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.

– Come, let us worship Christ, the prince of shepherds.

Hymn

Worship, glory, praise and honour

To our God, high-throned above:

We, with many generations

Join to praise thy name of love.

In the scriptures, by the Spirit,

May we see the Saviour’s face,

Hear his word and heed his calling,

Know his will and grow in grace.

Psalm 9B (10)

Thanksgiving

The Lord will protect the rights of the oppressed.

With what purpose, Lord, do you stay away,

hide yourself in time of need and trouble?

The wicked in their pride persecute the weak,

trap them in the plots they have devised.

The sinner glories in his desires,

the miser congratulates himself.

The sinner in his arrogance rejects the Lord:

“there is no God, no retribution.”

This is what he thinks

– and all goes well for him.

Your judgements are far beyond his comprehension:

he despises all who stand against him.

The sinner says to himself: “I will stand firm;

nothing can touch me, from generation to generation.”

His mouth is full of malice and deceit,

under his tongue hide trouble and distress.

He lies in ambush by the villages,

he kills the innocent in some secret place.

He watches the weak,

he hides like a lion in its lair, and makes plans.

He plans to rob the weak,

lure him to his trap and rob him.

He rushes in, makes a dive,

and the poor victim is caught.

For he has said to himself, “God has forgotten.

He is not watching, he will never see.”

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.

The Lord will protect the rights of the oppressed.

Psalm 9B (10)

Lord, you have seen our trouble and our sorrow.

Rise up, Lord, raise your hand!

Do not forget the weak.

Why does the wicked man spurn God?

Because he says to himself, “you will not take revenge.”

But you do see: you see the trouble and the pain,

and then you take things into your own hands.

The weak fall to your care,

and you are the help of the orphan.

Break the arms of the sinner and evil-doer:

seek out wickedness until there is no more to be found.

The Lord is King for ever and for ever.

The Gentiles have perished from his land.

You have heard the prayer of the weak, Lord,

and you will strengthen their hearts.

You will lend your ear to the pleas of the orphans and the helpless,

so mere mortals can frighten them no longer.

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.

Lord, you have seen our trouble and our sorrow.

Psalm 11 (12)

A prayer against the proud

The words of the Lord are words without alloy, 

silver from the furnace, seven times refined.

Save me, Lord, for the good men are all gone:

there is no-one to be trusted among the sons of men.

Neighbour speaks falsehood to neighbour:

with lying lips and crooked hearts they speak.

Let the Lord condemn all lying lips,

all boastful tongues.

They say “Our tongues will make us great,

our lips are ours, we have no master.”

“On account of the sufferings of the poor,

the groans of the weak, I will rise up,” says the Lord.

“I will bring to safety the one whom men despise.”

The words of the Lord are pure words,

silver tried by fire, freed from dross,

silver seven times refined.

You, Lord, will help us

and guard us from now to all eternity –

while the wicked walk round outside,

where the vilest are most honoured of the children of men.

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.

The words of the Lord are words without alloy, 

silver from the furnace, seven times refined.

The Lord will guide the humble on the right path.

– He will teach his ways to the meek.

Reading

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

There is really no need for me to write to you on the subject of offering your services to the saints, since I know how anxious you are to help; in fact, I boast about you to the Macedonians, telling them, ‘Achaia has been ready since last year.’ So your zeal has been a spur to many more. I am sending the brothers all the same, to make sure that our boasting about you does not prove to have been empty this time, and that you really are ready as I said you would be. If some of the Macedonians who are coming with me found you unprepared, we should be humiliated – to say nothing of yourselves – after being so confident. That is why I have thought it necessary to ask these brothers to go on to you ahead of us, and make sure in advance that the gift you promised is all ready, and that it all comes as a gift out of your generosity and not by being extorted from you.

Do not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings which God can send you – he will make sure that you will always have all you need for yourselves in every possible circumstance, and still have something to spare for all sorts of good works. As scripture says: He was free in almsgiving, and gave to the poor: his good deeds will never be forgotten.

The one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide you with all the seed you want and make the harvest of your good deeds a larger one, and, made richer in every way, you will be able to do all the generous things which, through us, are the cause of thanksgiving to God. For doing this holy service is not only supplying all the needs of the saints, but it is also increasing the amount of thanksgiving that God receives. By offering this service, you show them what you are, and that makes them give glory to God for the way you accept and profess the gospel of Christ, and for your sympathetic generosity to them and to all. And their prayers for you, too, show how they are drawn to you on account of all the grace that God has given you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Responsory

Give to others, and God will give to you: you will receive a full measure, a generous helping poured into your hands – all you can hold. 

The measure you use for others is the one God will use for you.

Each one should give as he has decided, not regretting his decision, or from a sense of duty. 

The measure you use for others is the one God will use for you.

Reading

From the life of Saint Ignatius from his own words 

by Luis Gonzalez

Put inward experiences to the test to see if they come from God

Ignatius was passionately fond of reading worldly books of fiction and tales of knight-errantry. When he felt he was getting better, he asked for some of these books to pass the time. But no book of that sort could be found in the house; instead they gave him a life of Christ and a collection of the lives of saints written in Spanish.

By constantly reading these books he began to be attracted to what he found narrated there. Sometimes in the midst of his reading he would reflect on what he had read. Yet at other times he would dwell on many of the things which he had been accustomed to dwell on previously. But at this point our Lord came to his assistance, insuring that these thoughts were followed by others which arose from his current reading.

While reading the life of Christ our Lord or the lives of the saints, he would reflect and reason with himself: “What if I should do what Saint Francis or Saint Dominic did?” In this way he let his mind dwell on many thoughts; they lasted a while until other things took their place. Then those vain and worldly images would come into his mind and remain a long time. This sequence of thoughts persisted with him for a long time.

But there was a difference. When Ignatius reflected on worldly thoughts, he felt intense pleasure; but when he gave them up out of weariness, he felt dry and depressed. Yet when he thought of living the rigorous sort of life he knew the saints had lived, he not only experienced pleasure when he actually thought about it, but even after he dismissed these thoughts, he still experienced great joy. Yet he did not pay attention to this, nor did he appreciate it until one day, in a moment of insight, he began to marvel at the difference. Then he understood his experience: thoughts of one kind left him sad, the others full of joy. And this was the first time he applied a process of reasoning to his religious experience. Later on, when he began to formulate his spiritual exercises, he used this experience as an illustration to explain the doctrine he taught his disciples on the discernment of spirits.

Responsory

Whoever preaches must preach God’s words; whoever serves must serve with the strength that God gives him, 

so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Above everything, love one another sincerely, 

so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Let us pray.

Lord God,

you raised up Saint Ignatius Loyola in your Church

to give greater glory to your name.

Grant that, aided by his prayers,

we may fight against all that is evil on earth,

and with him receive the crown of victory in heaven.

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 bless the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

PRAYER TO ST. LEOPOLD MANDIC

O God,

source of life and love,

you gave Saint Leopold a tremendous compassion for sinners and a desire for church unity.

Through his prayers,

grant that we may acknowledge our need of forgiveness,

show love to others,

and strive to bring about a living unity among Christians.

Through Our Lord Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

Jer 13:1-11

The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth;

wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water.

I bought the loincloth, as the LORD commanded, and put it on.

A second time the word of the LORD came to me thus:

Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing,

and go now to the Parath;

there hide it in a cleft of the rock.

Obedient to the LORD's command, I went to the Parath

and buried the loincloth.

After a long interval, the LORD said to me:

Go now to the Parath and fetch the loincloth

which I told you to hide there.

Again I went to the Parath, sought out and took the loincloth

from the place where I had hid it.

But it was rotted, good for nothing!

Then the message came to me from the LORD:

Thus says the LORD:

So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot,

the great pride of Jerusalem.

This wicked people who refuse to obey my words,

who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts,

and follow strange gods to serve and adore them,

shall be like this loincloth which is good for nothing.

For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man's loins,

so had I made the whole house of Israel

and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD;

to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty.

But they did not listen.

Responsorial Psalm

Dt 32:18-19, 20, 21

R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you,

You forgot the God who gave you birth.

When the LORD saw this, he was filled with loathing

and anger toward his sons and daughters.

R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

"I will hide my face from them," he said,

"and see what will then become of them.

What a fickle race they are,

sons with no loyalty in them!"

R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

"Since they have provoked me with their 'no-god'

and angered me with their vain idols,

I will provoke them with a 'no-people';

with a foolish nation I will anger them."

R. You have forgotten God who gave you birth.

Gospel

Mt 13:31-35

Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed

that a person took and sowed in a field.

It is the smallest of all the seeds,

yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants.

It becomes a large bush,

and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.'"

He spoke to them another parable.

"The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast

that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour

until the whole batch was leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.

He spoke to them only in parables,

to fulfill what had been said through the prophet:

I will open my mouth in parables,

I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation

of the world.

SAINT OF THE DAY

July 30

St. Leopold Mandic (1887-1942)

Western Christians who are working for greater dialogue with Orthodox Christians may be reaping the fruits of Father Leopold’s prayers.

A native of Croatia, Leopold joined the Capuchin Franciscans and was ordained several years later in spite of several health problems. He could not speak loudly enough to preach publicly. For many years he also suffered from severe arthritis, poor eyesight and a stomach ailment.

Leopold taught patrology, the study of the Church Fathers, to the clerics of his province for several years, but he is best known for his work in the confessional, where he sometimes spent 13-15 hours a day. Several bishops sought out his spiritual advice.

Leopold’s dream was to go to the Orthodox Christians and work for the reunion of Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. His health never permitted it. Leopold often renewed his vow to go to the Eastern Christians; the cause of unity was constantly in his prayers.

At a time when Pope Pius XII said that the greatest sin of our time is "to have lost all sense of sin," Leopold had a profound sense of sin and an even firmer sense of God’s grace awaiting human cooperation.

Leopold, who lived most of his life in Padua, died on July 30, 1942, and was canonized in 1982.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 94 (95)

Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

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.

– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

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.

– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

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.

– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

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.”

– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

“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.”

– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

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.

– Let us come before the Lord and proclaim our thanks.

Hymn

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

O God of truth, prepare our minds

To hear and heed your holy word;

Fill every heart that longs for you

With your mysterious presence, Lord.

Almighty Father, with your Son

And blessed Spirit, hear our prayer:

Teach us to love eternal truth

And seek its freedom everywhere.

Psalm 6

A prayer for relief from affliction

Lord, save me in your merciful love.

Lord, do not condemn me in your fury:

do not destroy me in your anger.

Take pity on me, Lord, for I am sick;

heal me, Lord, for my bones are in disarray.

My spirit is deeply disturbed,

and you, Lord – how long?

Turn to me, Lord, rescue my spirit:

in your pity, save me.

If I die, how can I praise you?

Can anyone in the underworld proclaim your name?

I struggle and groan,

soak my bed with weeping night after night;

my eyes are troubled with sadness:

I grow older as my enemies watch.

Leave me, all who do evil,

for the Lord has heard my voice as I wept.

The Lord listened to my prayer,

granted me what I asked.

Let my enemies be ashamed and confounded:

let shame and confusion overtake them soon.

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.

Lord, save me in your merciful love.

Psalm 9A (9)

Thanksgiving for victory

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed in times of distress.

I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of your wonders.

I will rejoice in you and triumph,

make music to your name, O Most High.

Because my enemies are in full retreat;

they stumble and perish at your presence.

For you have given judgement in my favour,

upheld my case,

taken your seat on the throne of judgement.

You have rebuked the nations,

condemned the wicked,

wiped out their name for ever and for ever.

My enemies are no more;

their land is a desert for ever.

You have demolished their cities,

their very memory is wiped away.

But the Lord will reign for ever:

he has made his throne his judgement-seat.

He himself will judge the whole world in justice,

judge the peoples impartially.

The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed,

a refuge in good times and in bad.

Let them put their hope in you, those who know your name;

for you, Lord, have never abandoned those who seek you.

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.

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed in times of distress.

Psalm 9A (9)

I will recount all your praise at the gates of the city of Sion.

Sing to the Lord who dwells in Zion,

proclaim to the nations his loving care.

For he has remembered the poor and avenged them with blood:

he has not forgotten the cry of the weak.

Take pity on me, Lord:

see how my enemies torment me.

You raise me up from the gates of death,

and I will proclaim your praise at the gates of the daughter of Zion;

I will rejoice in your salvation.

The nations have fallen into the pit that they made,

into the very trap that they set: their feet are caught fast.

The Lord’s justice shines forth:

the sinner is trapped by his very own action.

Sinners will go down to the underworld,

and all nations that forget God.

For the weak will not always be forgotten:

the hope of the weak will never perish.

Rise up, Lord, let men not be complacent:

let the nations come before you to be judged.

Put fear into them, Lord:

let them know that they are only men.

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 will recount all your praise at the gates of the city of Sion.

Give me understanding, and I will follow your law.

– I will keep it wholeheartedly.

Reading

2 Corinthians 8:1-24

Now here, brothers, is the news of the grace of God which was given in the churches in Macedonia; and of how, throughout great trials by suffering, their constant cheerfulness and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity. I can swear that they gave not only as much as they could afford, but far more, and quite spontaneously, begging and begging us for the favour of sharing in this service to the saints and, what was quite unexpected, they offered their own selves first to God and, under God, to us.

Because of this, we have asked Titus, since he has already made a beginning, to bring this work of mercy to the same point of success among you. You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too. It is not an order that I am giving you; I am just testing the genuineness of your love against the keenness of others. Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty. As I say, I am only making a suggestion; it is only fair to you, since you were the first, a year ago, not only in taking action but even in deciding to. So now finish the work and let the results be worthy, as far as you can afford it, of the decision you made promptly. As long as the readiness is there, a man is acceptable with whatever he can afford; never mind what is beyond his means. This does not mean that to give relief to others you ought to make things difficult for yourselves: it is a question of balancing what happens to be your surplus now against their present need, and one day they may have something to spare that will supply your own need. That is how we strike a balance: as scripture says: The man who gathered much had none too much, the man who gathered little did not go short.

I thank God for putting into Titus’ heart the same concern for you that I have myself. He did what we asked him; indeed he is more concerned than ever, and is visiting you on his own initiative. As his companion we are sending the brother who is famous in all the churches for spreading the gospel. More than that, he happens to be the same brother who has been elected by the churches to be our companion on this errand of mercy that, for the glory of God, we have undertaken to satisfy our impatience to help. We hope that in this way there will be no accusations made about our administering such a large fund; for we are trying to do right not only in the sight of God but also in the sight of men. To accompany these, we are sending a third brother, of whose keenness we have often had proof in many different ways, and who is particularly keen about this, because he has great confidence in you. Titus, perhaps I should add, is my own colleague and fellow worker in your interests; the other two brothers, who are delegates of the churches, are a real glory to Christ. So then, in front of all the churches, give them a proof of your love, and prove to them that we are right to be proud of you.

Responsory

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

He gave up his equality with God and took the nature of a servant. Rich as he was, he made himself poor for your sake in order to make you rich by means of his poverty.

Reading

A sermon of St Caesarius of Arles

On divine and human mercy

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ‘Mercy’ is a beautiful word: more beautiful still is the thing itself. All men wish to receive it, but the worst thing is that not all of them behave in a way that deserves it. Although everyone wishes to be shown mercy only a few wish to show it.

O man, how can you have the effrontery to ask for what you refuse to give to others? You must show mercy in this world if you want to receive mercy in heaven. So, my dearest brethren, since we all desire mercy, let us make ourselves mercy’s slaves in this world so that she can give us our freedom in the world to come. For there is mercy in heaven and we come to it through earthly mercies. As Scripture says: Lord, your mercy is in heaven.

So there is earthly and heavenly mercy: that is, human and divine. What is human mercy? Exactly this: to have care for the sufferings of the poor. What is divine mercy? Without doubt, to grant forgiveness of sins. Whatever human mercy gives away on the journey, divine mercy pays back when we arrive at last in our native land. For it is God who feels cold and hunger, in the person of the poor. As he himself has said: As much as you have done for the least of these, you have done it for me. What God deigns to give on heaven, he yearns to receive on earth.

What sort of people are we if we want to receive, when God offers, but when God asks, we refuse to give? For when a poor man hungers, it is Christ who suffers want, as he himself has said: I was hungry and you gave me no food. Do not despise the misery of the poor if you want a sure hope of forgiveness for your sins. Christ is hungry now, brethren, in all the poor. He consents to suffer hunger and thirst – and whatever he receives on earth he will give back in heaven.

I ask you, brethren: when you come to church, what do you want? what are you looking for? Is it anything other than mercy? Then give earthly mercy and you will receive the heavenly kind. The poor man asks of you, and you ask of God: the poor man for food, you for eternal life. Give to the beggar what you want to deserve from Christ. Hear Christ saying Give and it will be given to you. I do not know how you can have the effrontery to want to receive what you do not want to give. And so, when you come to church, give, whatever you can afford as alms for the poor.

Responsory

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and gifts will be yours.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and gifts will be yours.

Let us pray.

Lord God, protector of those who hope in you,

without whom nothing is strong, nothing holy,

support us always with your love.

Guide us so to use the good things of this world,

that even now we may hold fast to what endures for ever.

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 bless the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.