PRAYER OF THE DAY
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary,
full of grace!
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
DAILY MASS READINGS
Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Reading
Gal 3:22-29
Brothers and sisters:
Scripture confined all things under the power of sin,
that through faith in Jesus Christ
the promise might be given to those who believe.
Before faith came, we were held in custody under law,
confined for the faith that was to be revealed.
Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian for Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.
For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free person,
there is not male and female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants,
heirs according to the promise.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel
Lk 11:27-28
While Jesus was speaking,
a woman from the crowd called out and said to him,
"Blessed is the womb that carried you
and the breasts at which you nursed."
He replied,
"Rather, blessed are those
who hear the word of God and observe it."
SAINT OF THE DAY
October 13
St. Edward the Confessor (c. 1013)
Edward the Confessor was the son of King Ethelred III and his Norman wife, Emma, daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy. He was born at Islip, England, and sent to Normandy with his mother in the year 1013 when the Danes under Sweyn and his son Canute invaded England. Canute remained in England and the year after Ethelred's death in 1016, married Emma, who had returned to England, and became King of England. Edward remained in Normandy, was brought up a Norman, and in 1042, on the death of his half-brother, Hardicanute, son of Canute and Emma, and largely through the support of the powerful Earl Godwin, he was acclaimed king of England.
In 1044, he married Godwin's daughter Edith. His reign was a peaceful one characterized by his good rule and remission of odious taxes, but also by the struggle, partly caused by his natural inclination to favor the Normans, between Godwin and his Saxon supporters and the Norman barons, including Robert of Jumieges, whom Edward had brought with him when he returned to England and whom he named Archbishop of Canterbury in 1051. In the same year, Edward banished Godwin, who took refuge in Flanders but returned the following year with a fleet ready to lead a rebellion. Armed revolt was avoided when the two men met and settled their differences; among them was the Archbishop of Canterbury, which was resolved when Edward replaced Robert with Stigand, and Robert returned to Normandy. Edward's difficulties continued after Godwin's death in 1053 with Godwin's two sons: Harold who had his eye on the throne since Edward was childless, and Tostig, Earl of Northumbria. Tostig was driven from Northumbria by a revolt in 1065 and banished to Europe by Edward, who named Harold his successor.
After this Edward became more interested in religious affairs and built St. Peter's Abbey at Westminster, the site of the present Abbey, where he is buried. His piety gained him the surname "the Confessor". He died in London on January 5, and he was canonized in 1161 by Pope Alexander III.
OFFICE OF READINGS
O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 99 (100)
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us worship.
– The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us worship.
Rejoice in the Lord, all the earth,
and serve him with joy.
Exult as you enter his presence.
– The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us worship.
Know that the Lord is God.
He made us and we are his
– his people, the sheep of his flock.
– The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us worship.
Cry out his praises as you enter his gates,
fill his courtyards with songs.
Proclaim him and bless his name;
for the Lord is our delight.
His mercy lasts for ever,
his faithfulness through all the ages.
– The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us worship.
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’s is the earth and its fullness: come, let us worship.
Hymn
How great the tale, that there should be,
In God’s Son’s heart, a place for me!
That on a sinner’s lips like mine
The cross of Jesus Christ should shine!
Christ Jesus, bend me to thy will,
My feet to urge, my griefs to still;
That e’en my flesh and blood may be
A temple sanctified to Thee.
No rest, no calm my soul may win,
Because my body craves to sin;
Till thou, dear Lord, thyself impart
Peace on my head, light in my heart.
May consecration come from far,
Soft shining like the evening star.
My toilsome path make plain to me,
Until I come to rest in thee.
Psalm 106 (107)
Thanksgiving after rescue
Let them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his kindness is for ever.
Let them say this, the people the Lord has redeemed,
those whom he rescued from their enemies
whom he gathered together from all lands,
from east and west, from the north and the south.
They wandered through desert and wilderness,
they could find no way to a city they could dwell in.
Their souls were weary within them,
weary from hunger and thirst.
They cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He set them on the right path
towards a city they could dwell in.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
the Lord, who feeds hungry creatures
and gives water to the thirsty to drink.
They sat in the darkness and shadow of death,
imprisoned in chains and in misery,
because they had rebelled against the words of God
and spurned the counsels of the Most High.
He wore out their hearts with labour:
they were weak, there was no-one to help.
They cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He led them out of the darkness and shadow of death,
he shattered their chains.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
the Lord, who shatters doors of bronze,
who breaks bars of iron.
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 them thank the Lord for his love,
for the wonders he does for men.
Psalm 106 (107)
They have seen the Lord’s deeds and the wonders he does.
The people were sick because they transgressed,
afflicted because of their sins.
All food was distasteful to them,
they were on the verge of death.
They cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He sent forth his word and healed them,
delivered them from their ruin.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
Let them offer a sacrifice of praise
and proclaim his works with rejoicing.
Those who go down to the sea in ships,
those who trade across the great waters –
they have seen the works of the Lord,
the wonders he performs in the deep.
He spoke, and a storm arose,
and the waves of the sea rose up.
They rose up as far as the heavens
and descended down to the depths:
the sailors’ hearts melted from fear,
they staggered and reeled like drunkards,
terror drove them out of their minds.
But they cried to the Lord in their trouble
and he rescued them from their distress.
He turned the storm into a breeze
and silenced the waves.
They rejoiced at the ending of the storm
and he led them to the port that they wanted.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness,
for the wonders he works for men:
let them exalt him in the assembly of the people,
give him praise in the council of the elders.
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.
They have seen the Lord’s deeds and the wonders he does.
Psalm 106 (107)
The upright see and rejoice; they consider the love of the Lord.
The Lord has turned rivers into wilderness,
he has made well-watered lands into desert,
fruitful ground into salty waste
because of the evil of those who dwelt there.
But he has made wilderness into ponds,
deserts into the sources of rivers,
he has called together the hungry
and they have founded a city to dwell in.
They have sowed the fields, planted the vines;
they grow and harvest their produce.
He has blessed them and they have multiplied;
he does not let their cattle decrease.
But those others became few and oppressed
through trouble, evil, and sorrow.
He poured his contempt on their princes
and set them to wander the trackless waste.
But the poor he has saved from their poverty
and their families grow numerous as sheep.
The upright shall see, and be glad,
and all wickedness shall block up its mouth.
Whoever is wise will remember these things
and understand the mercies of the Lord.
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 upright see and rejoice; they consider the love of the Lord.
Lord, your faithfulness reaches up to the clouds.
– Your judgements reach down to the depths.
Reading
1 Timothy 6:11-21
As a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made your profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many witnesses. Now, before God the source of all life and before Christ, who spoke up as a witness for the truth in front of Pontius Pilate, I put to you the duty of doing all that you have been told, with no faults or failures, until the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who at the due time will be revealed
by God, the blessed and only Ruler of all,
the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
who alone is immortal,
whose home is in inaccessible light,
whom no man has seen and no man is able to see:
to him be honour and everlasting power. Amen.
Warn those who are rich in this world’s goods that they are not to look down on other people; and not to set their hopes on money, which is untrustworthy, but on God who, out of his riches, gives us all that we need for our happiness. Tell them that they are to do good, and be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share – this is the way they can save up a good capital sum for the future if they want to make sure of the only life that is real.
My dear Timothy, take great care of all that has been entrusted to you. Have nothing to do with the pointless philosophical discussions and antagonistic beliefs of the ‘knowledge’ which is not knowledge at all; by adopting this, some have gone right away from the faith. Grace be with you.
Responsory
Live your whole life in Christ Jesus our Lord,
according to the tradition you have received of him.
You are to be rooted and built up in Christ,
your faith established in the teaching you have received,
and be filled with thanksgiving.
Do not lay up treasure for yourselves on earth:
lay up treasure for yourselves in heaven.
You are to be rooted and built up in Christ,
your faith established in the teaching you have received,
and be filled with thanksgiving.
Reading
A homily of Pope St Gregory the Great
The performance of our ministry
Let us listen to what the Lord says as he sends the preachers forth: The harvest is great but the labourers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. We can speak only with a heavy heart of so few labourers for such a great harvest, for although there are many to hear the good news there are only a few to preach it. Look about you and see how full the world is of priests, yet in God’s harvest a labourer is rarely to be found; for although we have accepted the priestly office, we do not fulfil its demands.
Beloved brothers, consider what has been said: Pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest. Pray for us so that we may have the strength to work on your behalf, that our tongue may not grow weary of exhortation, and that after we have accepted the office of preaching, our silence may not condemn us before the just judge. For frequently the preacher’s tongue is bound fast on account of his own wickedness; while on the other hand it sometimes happens that because of the people’s sins, the word of preaching is withdrawn from those who preside over the assembly.
With reference to the wickedness of the preacher, the psalmist says: But God asks the sinner: Why do you recite my commandments? And with reference to the latter, the Lord tells Ezekiel: I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be dumb and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. He clearly means this: the word of preaching will be taken away from you because as long as this people irritates me by their deeds, they are unworthy to hear the exhortation of truth. It is not easy to know for whose sinfulness the preacher’s word is withheld, but it is indisputable that the shepherd’s silence while often injurious to himself will always harm his flock.
There is something else about the life of the shepherds, dearest brothers, which discourages me greatly. But lest what I claim should seem unjust to anyone, I accuse myself of the very same thing, although I fall into it unwillingly – compelled by the urgency of these barbarous times. I speak of our absorption in external affairs; we accept the duties of office, but by our actions we show that we are attentive to other things. We abandon the ministry of preaching and, in my opinion, are called bishops to our detriment, for we retain the honourable office but fail to practise the virtues proper to it. Those who have been entrusted to us abandon God, and we are silent.
They fall into sin, and we do not extend a hand of rebuke.
But how can we who neglect ourselves be able to correct someone else? We are wrapped up in worldly concerns, and the more we devote ourselves to external things,
the more insensitive we become in spirit.
For this reason the Church rightfully says about her own feeble members: They made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. We are set to guard the vineyards but do not guard our own,
for we get involved in irrelevant pursuits and neglect the performance of our ministry.
Responsory
The harvest is plentiful enough, but the labourers are few:
you must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send labourers out for the harvesting.
Israelites one and all, put your confidence in him,
and lay the homage of your hearts at his feet:
you must ask the Lord to whom the harvest belongs to send labourers out for the harvesting.
Let us pray.
Almighty, ever-living God,
whose love surpasses all that we ask or deserve,
open up for us the treasures of your mercy.
Forgive us all that weighs on our conscience,
and grant us more even than we dare to ask.
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.
