PRAYER OF THE DAY

Prayer to Saint Peter Claver

Dear Saint of our modern times,

you were permeated with compassion for the oppressed,

for human beings sold as slaves and treated as expendable beasts.

While alleviating their natural ills,

you also took away their spiritual ills,

and taught them the surpassing knowledge of Christ.

Inspire many of our contemporaries to become self-sacrificing missionaries like you.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Is 35:4-7a

Thus says the LORD:

Say to those whose hearts are frightened:

Be strong, fear not!

Here is your God,

he comes with vindication;

with divine recompense

he comes to save you.

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,

the ears of the deaf be cleared;

then will the lame leap like a stag,

then the tongue of the mute will sing.

Streams will burst forth in the desert,

and rivers in the steppe.

The burning sands will become pools,

and the thirsty ground, springs of water.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

or:

R. Alleluia.

The God of Jacob keeps faith forever,

secures justice for the oppressed,

gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets captives free.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

or:

R. Alleluia.

The LORD gives sight to the blind;

the LORD raises up those who were bowed down.

The LORD loves the just;

the LORD protects strangers.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

or:

R. Alleluia.

The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,

but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

The LORD shall reign forever;

your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

or:

R. Alleluia.

Reading 2

Jas 2:1-5

My brothers and sisters, show no partiality

as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes

comes into your assembly,

and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in,

and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes

and say, "Sit here, please, "

while you say to the poor one, "Stand there, " or "Sit at my feet, "

have you not made distinctions among yourselves

and become judges with evil designs?

Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters.

Did not God choose those who are poor in the world

to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom

that he promised to those who love him?

Gospel

Mk 7:31-37

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre

and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,

into the district of the Decapolis.

And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment

and begged him to lay his hand on him.

He took him off by himself away from the crowd.

He put his finger into the man's ears

and, spitting, touched his tongue;

then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,

"Ephphatha!"

that is,

"Be opened!"

And immediately the man's ears were opened,

his speech impediment was removed,

and he spoke plainly.

He ordered them not to tell anyone.

But the more he ordered them not to,

the more they proclaimed it.

They were exceedingly astonished and they said,

"He has done all things well.

He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

SAINT OF THE DAY

September 9

St. Peter Claver (1581-1654)

A native of Spain, young Jesuit Peter Claver left his homeland forever in 1610 to be a missionary in the colonies of the New World. He sailed into Cartagena (now in Colombia), a rich port city washed by the Caribbean. He was ordained there in 1615.

By this time the slave trade had been established in the Americas for nearly 100 years, and Cartagena was a chief center for it. Ten thousand slaves poured into the port each year after crossing the Atlantic from West Africa under conditions so foul and inhuman that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit. Although the practice of slave-trading was condemned by Pope Paul III and later labeled "supreme villainy" by Pius IX, it continued to flourish.

Peter Claver's predecessor, Jesuit Father Alfonso de Sandoval, had devoted himself to the service of the slaves for 40 years before Claver arrived to continue his work, declaring himself "the slave of the Negroes forever."

As soon as a slave ship entered the port, Peter Claver moved into its infested hold to minister to the ill-treated and exhausted passengers. After the slaves were herded out of the ship like chained animals and shut up in nearby yards to be gazed at by the crowds, Claver plunged in among them with medicines, food, bread, brandy, lemons and tobacco. With the help of interpreters he gave basic instructions and assured his brothers and sisters of their human dignity and God's saving love. During the 40 years of his ministry, Claver instructed and baptized an estimated 300,000 slaves.

His apostolate extended beyond his care for slaves. He became a moral force, indeed, the apostle of Cartagena. He preached in the city square, gave missions to sailors and traders as well as country missions, during which he avoided, when possible, the hospitality of the planters and owners and lodged in the slave quarters instead.

After four years of sickness which forced the saint to remain inactive and largely neglected, he died on September 8, 1654. The city magistrates, who had previously frowned at his solicitude for the black outcasts, ordered that he should be buried at public expense and with great pomp.

He was canonized in 1888, and Pope Leo XIII declared him the worldwide patron of missionary work among black slaves.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 66 (67)

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord: 

let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.

– Come, let us rejoice in the Lord: 

let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.

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 rejoice in the Lord: 

let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.

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 rejoice in the Lord: 

let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.

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 rejoice in the Lord: 

let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.

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 rejoice in the Lord: 

let us acclaim God our salvation, alleluia.

Hymn

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,

Be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;

Be thou my best thought in the day and the night,

Both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,

Be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;

Be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;

Be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;

Be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might;

Be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my strong tower:

O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise:

Be thou mine inheritance now and always;

Be thou and thou only the first in my heart;

O Sovereign of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of Heaven, thou Heaven’s bright sun,

O grant me its joys after victory is won!;

Great heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Psalm 144 (145)

The greatness and goodness of God

I will bless you day after day, O Lord. Alleluia.

I will praise you to the heights, O God, my king –

I will bless your name for ever and for all time.

I will bless you, O God, day after day –

I will praise your name for ever and all time.

The Lord is great, to him all praise is due –

he is great beyond measuring.

Generation will pass to generation the praise of your deeds,

and tell the wonders you have done.

They will tell of your overwhelming power,

and pass on the tale of your greatness.

They will cry out the story of your great kindness,

they will celebrate your judgements.

The Lord takes pity, his heart is merciful,

he is patient and endlessly kind.

The Lord is gentle to all –

he shows his kindness to all his creation.

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 bless you day after day, O Lord. Alleluia.

Psalm 144 (145)

Your kingdom, Lord, is an everlasting kingdom, alleluia.

Let all your creatures proclaim you, O Lord,

let your chosen ones bless you.

Let them tell of the glory of your reign,

let them speak of your power –

so that the children of men may know what you can do,

see the glory of your kingdom and its greatness.

Your kingdom stands firm for all ages,

your rule lasts for ever and ever.

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.

Your kingdom, Lord, is an everlasting kingdom, alleluia.

Psalm 144 (145)

The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. Alleluia.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,

the Lord is holy in all his deeds.

The Lord supports all who are falling,

the Lord lifts up all who are oppressed.

All look to you for help,

and you give them their food in due season.

In your goodness you open your hand,

and give every creature its fill.

The Lord is just in all his ways,

the Lord is kind in all that he does.

The Lord is near to those who call on him,

to all those who call on him in truth.

For those that honour him,

he does what they ask,

he hears all their prayers,

and he keeps them safe.

The Lord keeps safe all who love him,

but he dooms all the wicked to destruction.

My mouth shall tell the praises of the Lord.

Let all flesh bless his holy name,

for ever and ever.

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 faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. Alleluia.

My son, listen to my words.

– Turn your ear to what I am saying.

Reading

Jeremiah 37:21,38:14-28

King Zedekiah then gave an order, and Jeremiah was confined in the Court of the Guard and given a loaf of bread a day from the Street of the Bakers as long as there was bread left in the city. So Jeremiah stayed in the Court of the Guard.

King Zedekiah had the prophet Jeremiah summoned to him at the third entrance to the Temple of the Lord. ‘I want to ask you for a word,’ the king said to Jeremiah ‘keep nothing back from me.’ Jeremiah answered Zedekiah, ‘If I tell you, surely you will have me put to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.’ King Zedekiah then swore this oath in secret to Jeremiah, ‘As the Lord lives, giver of this life of ours, I will neither have you put to death nor handed over into the power of these men who are determined to kill you.’ Jeremiah then said to Zedekiah, ‘The Lord, the God of Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this, “If you go out and surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be safe and this city will not be burnt down; you and your family will survive. But if you do not go out and surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over into the power of the king of the Chaldaeans who will burn it down; and you yourself will not escape their hands.”’ King Zedekiah then said to Jeremiah, ‘I am afraid of the Jews who have already gone over to the Chaldaeans: I might be handed over to them and they would ill-treat me.’ ‘You will not be handed over to them,’ Jeremiah replied ‘just listen to the voice of the Lord, in obedience to which I have spoken, and all will go well with you and your life will be safe. But if you refuse to go, this is what the Lord has shown me: a vision of all the women left in the palace of the king of Judah being led off to the officers of the king of Babylon and singing:

‘“They have misled you, they have overreached you,

your fine friends!

Are your feet sinking in the mud?

They are up and away!”

‘Yes, all your wives and children will be led off to the Chaldaeans, and you yourself will not escape their hands, but will be a prisoner in the clutches of the king of Babylon. And as for this city, it will be burnt down.’

Zedekiah then said to Jeremiah, ‘Do not let anyone else hear these words or you will die. If the officials hear that I have been talking to you, and come to you and say, “Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; keep nothing back from us, or we will put you to death,” you must reply, “I presented this request to the king: that he would not have me sent back to the house of Jonathan to die there.”’

All the officials did in fact come to Jeremiah to question him. He told them exactly what the king had ordered him to say. They then left him in peace, since no part of the conversation had been overheard. Jeremiah stayed in the Court of the Guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

Responsory

We prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering;

in times of hardship and distress; when flogged or sent to prison.

Those who proved faithful under trial were the ones to win God’s favour:

in times of hardship and distress; when flogged or sent to prison.

Reading

A sermon of Pope St Leo the Great

Christian wisdom

The Lord then goes on to say: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. This hunger is not for bodily food, this thirst is not for any earthly drink: it is a longing to be blessed with righteousness, and, by penetrating the secret of all mysteries, to be filled with the Lord himself.

Happy is the soul that longs for the food of righteousness and thirsts for this kind of drink; it would not seek such things if it had not already savoured their delight. When the soul hears the voice of the Spirit saying to it through the prophet: Taste and see that the Lord is good, it has already received a portion of God’s goodness, and is on fire with love, the love that gives joy of the utmost purity. It counts as nothing all that belongs to time; it is entirely consumed with desire to eat and drink the food of righteousness. The soul lays hold of the true meaning of the first and great commandment: You shall love the Lord God with your whole heart, and your whole mind and your whole strength, for to love God is nothing else than to love righteousness.

Finally, just as concern for one’s neighbour is added to love of God, so the virtue of mercy is added to the desire for righteousness, as it is said: Blessed are the merciful, for God will be merciful to them.

Remember, Christian, the surpassing worth of the wisdom that is yours. Bear in mind the kind of school in which you are to learn your skills, the rewards to which you are called. Mercy itself wishes you to be merciful, righteousness itself wishes you to be righteous, so that the Creator may shine forth in his creature, and the image of God be reflected in the mirror of the human heart as it imitates his qualities. The faith of those who live their faith is a serene faith. What you long for will be given you; what you love will be yours for ever.

Since it is by giving alms that everything is pure for you, you will also receive that blessing which is promised next by the Lord: Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Dear friends, great is the happiness of those for whom such a reward is prepared. Who are the clean of heart if not those who strive for those virtues we have mentioned above? What mind can conceive, what words can express the great happiness of seeing God? Yet human nature will achieve this when it has been transformed so that it sees the Godhead no longer in a mirror or obscurely but face to face – the Godhead that no man has been able to see. In the inexpressible joy of this eternal vision, human nature will possess what eye has not seen or ear heard, what man’s heart has never conceived.

Responsory

What treasures of loving kindness, Lord, do you store up for the men who fear you:

these treasures you give in their fullness to those who put their trust in you.

This no eye has seen, no ear has heard or human heart conceived.

These treasures you give in their fullness to those who put their trust in you.

Hymn

Te Deum

God, we praise you; Lord, we proclaim you!

You, the Father, the eternal –

all the earth venerates you.

All the angels, all the heavens, every power –

The cherubim, the seraphim –

unceasingly, they cry:

“Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts:

heaven and earth are full of the majesty of your glory!”

The glorious choir of Apostles –

The noble ranks of prophets –

The shining army of martyrs –

all praise you.

Throughout the world your holy Church proclaims you.

– Father of immeasurable majesty,

– True Son, only-begotten, worthy of worship,

– Holy Spirit, our Advocate.

You, Christ:

– You are the king of glory.

– You are the Father’s eternal Son.

– You, to free mankind, did not disdain a Virgin’s womb.

– You defeated the sharp spear of Death, and opened the kingdom of heaven to those who believe in you.

– You sit at God’s right hand, in the glory of the Father.

– You will come, so we believe, as our Judge.

And so we ask of you: give help to your servants, whom you set free at the price of your precious blood.

Number them among your chosen ones in eternal glory.

Bring your people to safety, Lord, and bless those who are your inheritance.

Rule them and lift them high for ever.

Day by day we bless you, Lord: we praise you for ever and for ever.

Of your goodness, Lord, keep us without sin for today.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us.

Let your pity, Lord, be upon us, as much as we trust in you.

In you, Lord, I trust: let me never be put to shame.

Let us pray.

Since it is from you, God our Father,

that redemption comes to us, your adopted children,

look with favour on the family you love,

give true freedom to us and to all who believe in Christ,

and bring us all alike to our eternal heritage.

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.