PRAYER OF THE DAY

Prayer to St. Maria Goretti

Oh Saint Maria Goretti who,

strengthened by God's grace,

did not hesitate even at the age of twelve

to shed your blood and sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity,

look graciously on the unhappy human race which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation.

Teach us all, and especially youth,

with what courage and promptitude we should flee for the love of Jesus

anything that could offend Him or stain our souls with sin.

Obtain for us from our Lord victory in temptation,

comfort in the sorrows of life,

and the grace which we earnestly beg of thee (here insert intention),

and may we one day enjoy with thee the imperishable glory of Heaven.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Saturday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

GN 27:1-5, 15-29

When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him,

he called his older son Esau and said to him, “Son!”

“Yes father!” he replied.

Isaac then said, “As you can see, I am so old

that I may now die at any time.

Take your gear, therefore–your quiver and bow–

and go out into the country to hunt some game for me.

With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like,

and bring it to me to eat,

so that I may give you my special blessing before I die.”

Rebekah had been listening

while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau.

So, when Esau went out into the country

to hunt some game for his father,

Rebekah [then] took the best clothes of her older son Esau

that she had in the house,

and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear;

and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands

and the hairless parts of his neck.

Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish

and the bread she had prepared.

Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, “Father!”

“Yes?” replied Isaac. “Which of my sons are you?”

Jacob answered his father: “I am Esau, your first-born.

I did as you told me.

Please sit up and eat some of my game,

so that you may give me your special blessing.”

But Isaac asked, “How did you succeed so quickly, son?”

He answered,

“The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with me.”

Isaac then said to Jacob,

“Come closer, son, that I may feel you,

to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

So Jacob moved up closer to his father.

When Isaac felt him, he said,

“Although the voice is Jacob’s, the hands are Esau’s.”

(He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy,

like those of his brother Esau;

so in the end he gave him his blessing.)

Again he asked Jacob, “Are you really my son Esau?”

“Certainly,” Jacob replied.

Then Isaac said, “Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it

and then give you my blessing.”

Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate;

he brought him wine, and he drank.

Finally his father Isaac said to Jacob,

“Come closer, son, and kiss me.”

As Jacob went up and kissed him,

Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes.

With that, he blessed him saying,

“Ah, the fragrance of my son

is like the fragrance of a field

that the LORD has blessed!

“May God give to you

of the dew of the heavens

And of the fertility of the earth

abundance of grain and wine.

“Let peoples serve you,

and nations pay you homage;

Be master of your brothers,

and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

Cursed be those who curse you,

and blessed be those who bless you.”

Responsorial Psalm

PS 135:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!

or:

R. Alleluia.

Praise the name of the LORD;

Praise, you servants of the LORD

Who stand in the house of the LORD,

in the courts of the house of our God.

R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!

or:

R. Alleluia.

Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;

sing praise to his name, which we love;

For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,

Israel for his own possession.

R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!

or:

R. Alleluia.

For I know that the LORD is great;

our LORD is greater than all gods.

All that the LORD wills he does

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and in all the deeps.

R. Praise the Lord for the Lord is good!

or:

R. Alleluia.

Gospel

MT 9:14-17

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said,

“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,

but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them,

“Can the wedding guests mourn

as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,

and then they will fast.

No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth,

for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.

People do not put new wine into old wineskins.

Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined.

Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

July 6

St. Maria Goretti (1890-1902)

One of the largest crowds ever assembled for a canonization—250,000—

symbolized the reaction of millions touched by the simple story of Maria Goretti.

She was the daughter of a poor Italian tenant farmer, had no chance to go to school, never learned to read or write. When she made her First Communion not long before her death at age 12, 

she was one of the larger and somewhat backward members of the class.

On a hot afternoon in July, Maria was sitting at the top of the stairs of her house, mending a shirt. She was not quite 12 years old, but physically mature. A cart stopped outside, and a neighbor, Alessandro, 18 years old, ran up the stairs. He seized her and pulled her into a bedroom. She struggled and tried to call for help. 

“No, God does not wish it," she cried out. "It is a sin. You would go to hell for it.” 

Alessandro began striking at her blindly with a long dagger.

She was taken to a hospital. Her last hours were marked by the usual simple compassion of the good—concern about where her mother would sleep, forgiveness of her murderer (she had been in fear of him, but did not say anything lest she cause trouble to his family) and her devout welcoming of Viaticum, her last Holy Communion. 

She died about 24 hours after the attack.

Her murderer was sentenced to 30 years in prison. For a long time he was unrepentant and surly. 

One night he had a dream or vision of Maria, gathering flowers and offering them to him. His life changed. 

When he was released after 27 years, his first act was to go to beg the forgiveness of Maria’s mother.

Devotion to the young martyr grew, miracles were worked, and in less than half a century she was canonized. 

At her beatification in 1947, her mother (then 82), 

two sisters and a brother appeared with Pope Pius XII on the balcony of St. Peter’s. 

Three years later, at her canonization, 

a 66-year-old Alessandro Serenelli knelt among the quarter-million people and cried tears of joy.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open our lips.

And we shall praise your name.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 99 (100)

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness:

come, let us adore him.

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 adore him.

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 adore him.

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 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.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness:

come, let us adore him.

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 130 (131)

Childlike trust in God

Whoever humbles himself like a little child

will be greater in the kingdom of heaven.

Lord, I do not puff myself up or stare about,

or walk among the great or seek wonders beyond me.

Truly calm and quiet I have made my spirit:

quiet as a weaned child in its mother’s arms –

like an infant is my soul.

Let Israel hope in the Lord, now and for all time.

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.

Whoever humbles himself like a little child

will be greater in the kingdom of heaven.

Psalm 131 (132)

God's promise to the house of David

With an honest heart I have offered up all things joyfully,

O my God.

Lord, remember David

and how he served you.

He swore to the Lord,

vowed a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:

“I will not go into my tent, my home,

nor go up to my bed of rest;

I will not let my eyes sleep

or my eyelids grow heavy

until I have found a place for the Lord,

a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

We heard that it was in Ephratha,

we found it in the plains of Jaar.

So let us go into his dwelling-place

and let us worship before his footstool.

Rise up, Lord, and come to your place of rest.

Come with the Ark of your power.

Let your priests be robed in your justice,

and let your chosen ones rejoice.

Remember what David did for you,

and do not turn your face from your Anointed.

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.

With an honest heart I have offered up all things joyfully,

O my God.

Psalm 131 (132)

The Lord swore an oath to David 

and he will not go back on his word;

he made his kingdom firm for ever.

The Lord swore David a true oath,

he will not go back on his word:

“The fruit of your body

I will place on your throne.

If your children keep my covenant and the commands I teach them,

their children’s children will occupy your throne for ever.”

For the Lord has chosen Zion,

taken it for his dwelling-place:

“Here will I take my rest for all time:

here will I live, such is my desire.

I will bless its crops with my blessing,

I will fill its poor with bread.

I will clothe its priests with righteousness.

Its chosen ones will exult with joy.

There will I plant the sign of David,

and prepare a lamp for my anointed one.

I will wrap his enemies in confusion,

but over his head my crown will shine.

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 swore an oath to David 

and he will not go back on his word;

he made his kingdom firm for ever.

Come and see the works of the Lord,

– who has done wonders on the earth.

First Reading

2 Samuel 11:1-17,26-27

At the turn of the year, the time when kings go campaigning,

David sent Joab and with him his own guards and the whole of Israel.

They massacred the Ammonites and laid siege to Rabbah. David, however, remained in Jerusalem.

It happened towards evening when David had risen from his couch and was strolling on the palace roof, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David made inquiries about this.woman and was told, ‘Why, that is Bathsheba, Eliam’s daughter, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.’ Then David sent messengers and had her brought. She came to him, and he slept with her; now she had just purified herself from her courses. 

She then went home again. The woman conceived and sent word to David; 

‘I am with child.’

Then David sent Joab a message, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite’, whereupon Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came into his presence, David asked after Joab and the army and how the war was going. David then said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house and enjoy yourself. Uriah left the palace, and was followed by a present from the king’s table. 

Uriah however slept by the palace door with his master’s bodyguard and did not go down to his house.

This was reported to David; ‘Uriah’ they said ‘did not go down to his house.’ So David asked Uriah, ‘Have you not just arrived from a journey? Why do you not go to your home?’ But Uriah answered, ‘Are not the ark and the men of Israel and Judah lodged in tents; and my master Joab and the bodyguard of my lord, are they not in the open fields? Am I to go to my house, then, and eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will do no such thing!’ Then David said to Uriah, ‘Stay on here today; tomorrow I shall send you back.’ So Uriah stayed that day in Jerusalem. The next day David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk. 

In the evening Uriah went out and lay on his couch with his master’s bodyguard, 

but he did not go down to his house.

Next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. In the letter he wrote, ‘Station Uriah in the thick of the fight and then fall back behind him so that he may be struck down and die.’ Joab, then besieging the town, posted Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce fighters. The men of the town sallied out and engaged Joab; 

the army suffered casualties, including some of David’s bodyguard; and Uriah the Hittite was killed too.

When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. When the period of mourning was over, David sent to have her brought to his house; she became his wife and bore him a son. 

But what David had done displeased the Lord.

Responsory

You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword,

and have taken his wife to be your own.

Why have you despised the word of the Lord and done what is evil in his sight?

I am the Lord God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

You shall not kill.

You shall not commit adultery.

Why have you despised the word of the Lord and done what is evil in his sight?

Second Reading

From the Instructions to Catechumens

by St Cyril of Jerusalem

Confess your sins at the acceptable time

If anyone here is a slave to sin then let him make himself ready through faith for the new birth into the freedom of God’s adopted children. Let him put aside his wretched servitude of sin and take on the blessed service of the Lord; so that he may be counted as a worthy sharer in the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. Through confession, strip yourself naked of your old human nature, which is being torn apart by deceitful desires, and clothe yourself in the new nature, which is being mended and made whole by knowledge of the One who created you. 

By faith receive the guarantee of the Holy Spirit, so that you will be received into your eternal home. 

Come before the mystical Seal of God’s kingdom so that you may be easily recognised by the Master.

Be counted as part of the holy and spiritual flock of Christ, to be set apart on his right hand and receive the inheritance that has been prepared for you. Those who still wear the rough garment of their sins are on his left hand because they have not come to the grace of God which is given through Christ in the baptism of rebirth. It is not a new physical birth I mean, but a spiritual second birth of the soul. Bodies are born of visible parents but souls are reborn through faith, 

for the Spirit blows where it wills.

If you are found worthy, you will hear the words Well done, good and faithful servant 

– when your conscience has been examined and found to be free of all taint of hypocrisy.

If anyone here thinks of putting God’s grace to the test, he is deceiving himself and ignorant of the power of things. 

Keep your soul sincere and free of hypocrisy because God searches the mind and the heart.

The present time is the time for confession. Confess what you have done, whether by words or by actions, whether by day or by night. If you confess at the acceptable time, you will receive the heavenly treasure on the Day of salvation.

Make yourself pure so that you may be a vessel of more abundant grace. Remission of sins is given equally to everyone but the sharing of the Holy Spirit is given differently to each man, according to the faith of each. If you have expended little labour, you will receive little in the way of reward; if, on the other hand, you have laboured greatly, great will be the reward you receive. It is for your own benefit that you are running this race: run hard, in your own interest.

If you are holding anything against anyone, forget it, let it go. You have come here to receive forgiveness of sins, 

so you must first forgive whoever has sinned against you.

Responsory

He who conceals his faults will not prosper;

he who confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

If we acknowledge our sins,

then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins;

he who confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

Let us pray.

Lord God,

since by the adoption of grace

you have made us children of light,

do not let false doctrine darken our minds,

but grant that your light may shine within us

and we may always live in the brightness of truth.

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.