THURSDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

Antiphon

Ps 47 (46): 2

All peoples, clap your hands.

Cry to God with shouts of joy!

Collect

O God, who consecrated

the abundant first fruits of the Roman Church

by the blood of the Martyrs,

grant, we pray, that with firm courage

we may together draw strength from so great a struggle

and ever rejoice at the triumph of faithful love.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Thursday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading

AM 7:10-17

Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam,

king of Israel:

“Amos has conspired against you here within Israel;

the country cannot endure all his words.

For this is what Amos says:

Jeroboam shall die by the sword,

and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.”

To Amos, Amaziah said:

“Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah!

There earn your bread by prophesying,

but never again prophesy in Bethel;

for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet,

nor have I belonged to a company of prophets;

I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.

The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me,

‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Now hear the word of the LORD!”

You say: prophesy not against Israel,

preach not against the house of Isaac.

Now thus says the LORD:

Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city,

and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;

Your land shall be divided by measuring line,

and you yourself shall die in an unclean land;

Israel shall be exiled far from its land.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 19:8, 9, 10, 11

R. The judgments of the Lord are true,

and all of them are just.

The law of the LORD is perfect,

refreshing the soul;

The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,

giving wisdom to the simple.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true,

and all of them are just.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

rejoicing the heart;

The command of the LORD is clear,

enlightening the eye.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true,

and all of them are just.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

enduring forever;

The ordinances of the LORD are true,

all of them just.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true,

and all of them are just.

They are more precious than gold,

than a heap of purest gold;

Sweeter also than syrup

or honey from the comb.

R. The judgments of the Lord are true,

and all of them are just.

Alleluia

2 COR 5:19

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ

and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 9:1-8

After entering a boat, Jesus made the crossing, and came into his own town.

And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,

“Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”

At that, some of the scribes said to themselves,

“This man is blaspheming.”

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said,

“Why do you harbor evil thoughts?

Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’

or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?

But that you may know that the Son of Man

has authority on earth to forgive sins”–

he then said to the paralytic,

“Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

He rose and went home.

When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe

and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

SAINT OF THE DAY

June 30

First Martyrs of the Church of Rome (d. 68)

There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death of Jesus, 

though they were not the converts of the “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 15:20). 

Paul had not yet visited them at the time he wrote his great letter in 57-58 A.D..

There was a large Jewish population in Rome. Probably as a result of controversy between Jews and Jewish Christians, the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49-50 A.D. Suetonius the historian says that the expulsion was due to disturbances in the city “caused by the certain Chrestus” [Christ]. Perhaps many came back after Claudius’s death in 54 A.D. 

Paul’s letter was addressed to a Church with members from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.

In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” 

Peter and Paul were probably among the victims.

Threatened by an army revolt and condemned to death by the senate, 

Nero committed suicide in 68 A.D. at the age of 31.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 23 (24)

Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world and all who live in it.

He himself founded it upon the seas

and set it firm over the waters.

Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.

Who will climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who will stand in his holy place?

The one who is innocent of wrongdoing and pure of heart,

who has not given himself to vanities or sworn falsely.

He will receive the blessing of the Lord

and be justified by God his savior.

This is the way of those who seek him,

seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.

Gates, raise your heads.

Stand up, eternal doors,

and let the king of glory enter.

Who is the king of glory?

The Lord of might and power.

The Lord, strong in battle.

Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.

Gates, raise your heads.

Stand up, eternal doors,

and let the king of glory enter.

Who is the king of glory?

The Lord of hosts

– he is the king of glory.

Come, let us adore the Lord, for he is our God.

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 adore the Lord, for he is our God.

Hymn

Eternal Father, through your Word

You gave new life to Adam’s race,

And call us now to live in light,

New creatures by your saving grace.

To you who stooped to all who sin

We render homage and give praise:

To Father, Son and Spirit blest

Whose loving gift is endless days.

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

Psalm 17 (18)

Thanksgiving

The word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.

The Lord’s ways are pure;

the words of the Lord are refined in the furnace;

the Lord protects all who hope in him.

For what God is there, but our Lord?

What help, but in the Lord our God?

God, who has wrapped me in his strength

and set me on the perfect path,

who has made my feet like those of the deer,

who has set me firm upon the heights,

who trains my hands for battle,

teaches my arms to bend a bow of bronze.

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 word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.

Psalm 17 (18)

Lord, your right hand upheld me.

You have given me the shield of your salvation;

your right hand holds me up;

by answering me, you give me greatness.

You have stretched the length of my stride,

my feet do not weaken.

I pursue my enemies and surround them;

I do not turn back until they are no more.

I smash them to pieces, they cannot stand,

they fall beneath my feet.

You have wrapped me round with strength for war,

and made my attackers fall under me.

You turned my enemies’ backs on me,

you destroyed those who hated me.

They cried out, but there was no-one to save them;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not hear.

I have ground them up until they are dust in the wind,

trodden them down like the mud of the street.

You have delivered me from the murmurings of the people

and placed me at the head of the nations.

A people I do not even know serves me –

at a mere rumour of my orders, they obey.

The children of strangers beg for my favor;

they hide away and tremble where they hide.

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, your right hand upheld me.

Psalm 17 (18)

Long life to the Lord!

Praised be the God who saves me.

The Lord lives, my blessed Helper.

Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

God, you give me my revenge,

you subject peoples to my rule,

you free me from my enraged enemies.

You raise me up from those who attack me,

you snatch me from the grasp of the violent.

And so I will proclaim you among the nations, Lord,

and sing to your name.

Time and again you save your king,

you show your loving kindness to your anointed,

to David and his descendants forever.

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.

Long life to the Lord!

Praised be the God who saves me.

Uncover my eyes, Lord,

– and I will consider the wonders of your Law.

First Reading

2 Samuel 6:1-23

David again mustered all the picked troops of Israel, thirty thousand men. Setting off with the whole force then with him, David went to Baalah of Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which bears the name of the Lord of Hosts who is seated on the cherubs. They placed the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it from Abinadab’s house which is on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the cart, Uzzah walked alongside the ark of God and Ahio went in front. David and all the House of Israel danced before the Lord with all their might, singing to the accompaniment of lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. When they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah stretched his hand out to the ark of God and steadied it, as the oxen were making it tilt. Then the anger of the Lord blazed out against Uzzah, and for this crime God struck him down on the spot, and he died there beside the ark of God. David was displeased that the Lord had broken out against Uzzah, 

and that place was called Perez-uzzah, as it still is now.

David went in fear of the Lord that day. ‘How ever can the ark of the Lord come to me?’ he said. So David decided not to take the ark into the Citadel of David and took it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom of Gath for three months, 

and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and his whole family.

Word was brought to King David that the Lord had blessed the family of Obed-edom and all that belonged to him on account of the ark of God. David accordingly went and brought the ark of God up from Obed-edom’s house to the Citadel of David with great rejoicing. When the bearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fat sheep. And David danced whirling round before the Lord with all his might, wearing a linen loincloth round him. Thus David and all the House of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with acclaim and the sound of the horn. Now as the ark of the Lord entered the Citadel of David, Michal the daughter of Saul was watching from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. They brought the ark of the Lord in and put it in position inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered holocausts before the Lord, and communion sacrifices. And when David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Hosts. He then distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israelites, men and women, a roll of bread to each, a portion of dates, and a raisin cake. Then they all went away, each to his own house.

As David was coming back to bless his household Michal, the daughter of Saul, went out to meet him. ‘What a fine reputation the king of Israel has won himself today,’ she said ‘displaying himself under the eyes of his servant-maids, as any buffoon might display himself.’ David answered Michal, ‘I was dancing for the Lord, not for them. As the Lord lives, who chose me in preference to your father and his whole House to make me leader of Israel, the Lord’s people, I shall dance before the Lord and demean myself even more. In your eyes I may be base, but by the maids you speak of I shall be held in honor.’ 

And to the day of her death Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no children.

Responsory

℟. Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting-place, you and the ark of your might.

* Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and your saints shout for joy.

℣. O gates, lift high your heads. Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may enter in.

* Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and your saints shout for joy.

Second Reading

St Jerome's homily on Psalm 41 to the newly baptized

I will go up to your glorious dwelling-place

Like a deer that longs for springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. Now just as those deer long for springs of water, so do our deer. Fleeing Egypt – that is, fleeing worldly things – they have killed Pharaoh and drowned all his army in the waters of baptism. Now, after the devil has been killed, 

they long for the springs of the Church: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We can find the Father described as a spring in Jeremiah: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, to dig themselves leaky cisterns that cannot hold water. About the Son we read somewhere: They have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. Finally, of the Holy Spirit: Anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will have a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life. Here the evangelist is saying that the words of the Saviour come from the Holy Spirit. So you see it very clearly confirmed that the springs that water the Church are the mystery of the Trinity.

These are the springs that believers long for. These are the springs that the souls of the baptized seek, saying My soul thirsts for God, the living God. The soul does not just feel like seeing God, it longs for him fervently, it is on fire with thirst for him. Before they received baptism, the catechumens spoke to each other and said, When shall I come and stand before the face of God? What they asked for has now been given them: they have come and stood before the face of God. 

They have come before the altar and been confronted by the mystery of the Savior.

Welcomed into the body of Christ and reborn in the springs of life, they confidently say: I will go up to your glorious dwelling-place and into the house of God. The house of God is the Church, 

the ‘dwelling-place’ where dwells the sound of joy and thanksgiving, the crowds at the festival.

So then, you who have followed our lead and robed yourselves in Christ, let the words of God lift you out of this turbulent age as a net lifts the little fishes out of the water. In us the laws of nature are turned upside down – for fish, taken out of the water, die; but the Apostles have fished us out of the sea that is this world not to kill us but to bring us from death to life. As long as we were in the world, our eyes were peering into the depths and we led our lives in the mud. Now we have been torn from the waves, we begin to see the true light. Moved by overwhelming joy, we say to our souls: Put your hope in the Lord, 

I will praise him still, my savior and my God.

Responsory

℟. One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek:

* that I may be constant in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

℣. One thing I ask:

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple,

* that I may be constant in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

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.

SOLEMNITY OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH

Antiphon

Peter the Apostle, and Paul the teacher of the Gentiles,

these have taught us your law, O Lord.

Collect

Grant, we pray, O Lord our God,

that we may be sustained

by the intercession of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul,

that, as through them you gave your Church

the foundations of her heavenly office,

so through them you may help her to eternal salvation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Reading 1

ACTS 12:1-11

In those days, King Herod laid hands upon some members of the Church to harm them.

He had James, the brother of John, killed by the sword,

and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews

he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

–It was the feast of Unleavened Bread.–

He had him taken into custody and put in prison

under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each.

He intended to bring him before the people after Passover.

Peter thus was being kept in prison,

but prayer by the Church was fervently being made

to God on his behalf.

On the very night before Herod was to bring him to trial,

Peter, secured by double chains,

was sleeping between two soldiers,

while outside the door guards kept watch on the prison.

Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him

and a light shone in the cell.

He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying,

“Get up quickly.”

The chains fell from his wrists.

The angel said to him, “Put on your belt and your sandals.”

He did so.

Then he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.”

So he followed him out,

not realizing that what was happening through the angel was real;

he thought he was seeing a vision.

They passed the first guard, then the second,

and came to the iron gate leading out to the city,

which opened for them by itself.

They emerged and made their way down an alley,

and suddenly the angel left him.

Then Peter recovered his senses and said,

“Now I know for certain

that the Lord sent his angel

and rescued me from the hand of Herod

and from all that the Jewish people had been expecting.”

Responsorial Psalm

PS 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall be ever in my mouth.

Let my soul glory in the LORD;

the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Glorify the LORD with me,

let us together extol his name.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,

and your faces may not blush with shame.

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,

and from all his distress he saved him.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

The angel of the LORD encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Taste and see how good the LORD is;

blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

R. The angel of the Lord will rescue those who fear him.

Reading 2

2 TM 4:6-8, 17-18

I, Paul, am already being poured out like a libation,

and the time of my departure is at hand.

I have competed well; I have finished the race;

I have kept the faith.

From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me,

which the Lord, the just judge,

will award to me on that day, and not only to me,

but to all who have longed for his appearance.

The Lord stood by me and gave me strength,

so that through me the proclamation might be completed

and all the Gentiles might hear it.

And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat

and will bring me safe to his heavenly Kingdom.

To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Alleluia

MT 16:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church,

and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 16:13-19

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi

he asked his disciples,

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied,

“Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,

still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them,

“But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply,

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said to him in reply,

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.

For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter,

and upon this rock I will build my Church,

and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.

Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

SAINT OF THE DAY

June 29

Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul (d. 64 & 67)

Peter (d. 64?). St. Mark ends the first half of his Gospel with a triumphant climax. He has recorded doubt, misunderstanding and the opposition of many to Jesus. Now Peter makes his great confession of faith: "You are the Messiah" (Mark 8:29b). It was one of the many glorious moments in Peter's life, beginning with the day he was called from his nets along the Sea of Galilee to become a fisher of men for Jesus.

The New Testament clearly shows Peter as the leader of the apostles, chosen by Jesus to have a special relationship with him. With James and John he was privileged to witness the Transfiguration, the raising of a dead child to life and the agony in Gethsemane. His mother-in-law was cured by Jesus. He was sent with John to prepare for the last Passover before Jesus' death. 

His name is first on every list of apostles.

And to Peter only did Jesus say, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; 

and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:17b-19).

But the Gospels prove their own trustworthiness by the unflattering details they include about Peter. He clearly had no public relations person. It is a great comfort for ordinary mortals to know that Peter also has his human weakness, even in the presence of Jesus.

He generously gave up all things, yet he can ask in childish self-regard, "What are we going to get for all this?" (see Matthew 19:27). He receives the full force of Christ's anger when he objects to the idea of a suffering Messiah: "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do" (Matthew 16:23b).

Peter is willing to accept Jesus' doctrine of forgiveness, but suggests a limit of seven times. He walks on the water in faith, but sinks in doubt. He refuses to let Jesus wash his feet, then wants his whole body cleansed. He swears at the Last Supper that he will never deny Jesus, and then swears to a servant maid that he has never known the man. He loyally resists the first attempt to arrest Jesus by cutting off Malchus's ear, but in the end he runs away with the others. In the depth of his sorrow, Jesus looks on him and forgives him, and he goes out and sheds bitter tears. 

The Risen Jesus told Peter to feed his lambs and his sheep (John 21:15-17).

Paul (d. 64?). If the most well-known preacher today suddenly began preaching that the United States should adopt Marxism and not rely on the Constitution, the angry reaction would help us understand Paul's life when he started preaching that Christ alone can save us. He had been the most Pharisaic of Pharisees, the most legalistic of Mosaic lawyers. Now he suddenly appears to other Jews as a heretical welcomer of Gentiles, a traitor and apostate.

Paul's central conviction was simple and absolute: Only God can save humanity. No human effort—even the most scrupulous observance of law—can create a human good which we can bring to God as reparation for sin and payment for grace. To be saved from itself, from sin, from the devil and from death, humanity must open itself completely to the saving power of Jesus.

Paul never lost his love for his Jewish family, though he carried on a lifelong debate with them about the uselessness of the Law without Christ. He reminded the Gentiles that they were grafted on the parent stock of the Jews, who were still God's chosen people, the children of the promise.

In light of his preaching and teaching skills, 

Paul's name has surfaced (among others) as a possible patron of the Internet.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 66 (67)

The Lord is the king of apostles; 

come let us adore him.

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.

The Lord is the king of apostles; 

come let us adore him.

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.

The Lord is the king of apostles; 

come let us adore him.

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.

The Lord is the king of apostles; 

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 is the king of apostles; 

come let us adore him.

Hymn

Bright as fire in darkness,

Sharper than a sword,

Lives throughout the ages

God’s eternal word.

Father, Son and Spirit,

Trinity of might,

Compassed in your glory,

Give the world your light.

Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal

Psalm 18 (19)

Praise of God the creator

Simon Peter, if you love me, feed my sheep.

The skies tell the story of the glory of God,

the firmament proclaims the work of his hands;

day pours out the news to day,

night passes to night the knowledge.

Not a speech, not a word,

not a voice goes unheard.

Their sound is spread throughout the earth,

their message to all the corners of the world.

At the ends of the earth he has set up

a dwelling place for the sun.

Like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

it rejoices like an athlete at the race to be run.

It appears at the edge of the sky,

runs its course to the sky’s furthest edge.

Nothing can hide from its heat.

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.

Simon Peter, if you love me, feed my sheep.

Psalm 63 (64)

A prayer against enemies

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain:

I must glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen, O God, to my voice;

keep me safe from fear of the enemy.

Protect me from the alliances of the wicked,

from the crowd of those who do evil.

They have sharpened their tongues like swords,

aimed poisonous words like arrows,

to shoot at the innocent in secret.

They will attack without warning, without fear,

for they are firm in their evil purpose.

They have set out to hide their snares

– for they say, “Who will see us?”

They have thought out plans to commit wicked deeds,

and they carry out what they have planned.

Truly the heart and soul of a man

are bottomless depths.

And God has shot them with his arrow:

in a moment, they are wounded –

their own tongues have brought them low.

All who see them will shake their heads;

all will behold them with fear

and proclaim the workings of God

and understand what he has done.

The just will rejoice and hope in the Lord:

the upright in heart will give him glory.

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.

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain:

I must glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 96 (97)

The glory of God in his judgements

Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you over the waters.

The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice,

let the many islands be glad.

Clouds and dark mist surround him,

his throne is founded on law and justice.

Fire precedes him,

burning up his enemies all around.

His lightnings light up the globe;

the earth sees and trembles.

The mountains flow like wax at the sight of the Lord,

at the sight of the Lord the earth dissolves.

The heavens proclaim his justice

and all peoples see his glory.

Let them be dismayed, who worship carved things,

who take pride in the images they make.

All his angels, worship him.

Zion heard and was glad,

the daughters of Judah rejoiced

because of your judgements, O Lord.

For you are the Lord, the Most High over all the earth,

far above all other gods.

You who love the Lord, hate evil!

The Lord protects the lives of his consecrated ones:

he will free them from the hands of sinners.

A light has arisen for the just,

and gladness for the upright in heart.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord

and proclaim his holiness.

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, if it is you, bid me come to you over the waters.

The word of the Lord endures.

– This is the word that was preached to you.

First Reading

Galatians 1:15-2:10

God, who had specially chosen me while I was still in my mother’s womb, called me through his grace and chose to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach the Good News about him to the pagans. I did not stop to discuss this with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were already apostles before me, but I went off to Arabia at once and later went straight back from there to Damascus. Even when after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days, I did not see any of the other apostles; I only saw James, the brother of the Lord, and I swear before God that what I have just written is the literal truth. After that I went to Syria and Cilicia, and was still not known by sight to the churches of Christ in Judaea, who had heard nothing except that their one-time persecutor was now preaching the faith he had previously tried to destroy; 

and they gave glory to God for me.

It was not till fourteen years had passed that I went up to Jerusalem again. I went with Barnabas and took Titus with me. I went there as the result of a revelation, and privately I laid before the leading men the Good News as I proclaim it among the pagans; I did so for fear the course I was adopting or had already adopted would not be allowed. And what happened? Even though Titus who had come with me is a Greek, he was not obliged to be circumcised. The question came up only because some who do not really belong to the brotherhood have furtively crept in to spy on the liberty we enjoy in Christ Jesus, and want to reduce us all to slavery. I was so determined to safeguard for you the true meaning of the Good News, that I refused even out of deference to yield to such people for one moment. As a result, these people who are acknowledged leaders – not that their importance matters to me, since God has no favourites – these leaders, as I say, had nothing to add to the Good News as I preach it. On the contrary, they recognised that I had been commissioned to preach the Good News to the uncircumcised just as Peter had been commissioned to preach it to the circumcised. The same person whose action had made Peter the apostle of the circumcised had given me a similar mission to the pagans. So, James, Cephas and John, these leaders, these pillars, shook hands with Barnabas and me as a sign of partnership: we were to go to the pagans and they to the circumcised. The only thing they insisted on was that we should remember to help the poor, as indeed I was anxious to do.

Responsory

℟. You are Peter,

and it is upon this rock that I shall build my Church,

and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,

* and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

℣. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven,

* and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Second Reading

From a sermon

by Saint Augustine

The martyrs had seen what they proclaimed

This day has been consecrated for us by the martyrdom of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. It is not some obscure martyrs we are talking about. Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. These martyrs had seen what they proclaimed, 

they pursued justice by confessing the truth, by dying for the truth.

The blessed Peter, the first of the Apostles, the ardent lover of Christ, who was found worthy to hear, And I say to you, that you are Peter. He himself, you see, had just said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Christ said to him, And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. Upon this rock I will build the faith you have just confessed. Upon your words, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, I will build my Church; because you are Peter. Peter comes from petra, meaning a rock. Peter, “Rocky,” from “rock”; not “rock” from “Rocky.” Peter comes from the word for a rock in exactly the same way as the name Christian comes from Christ.

Before his passion the Lord Jesus, as you know, chose those disciples of his whom he called apostles. Among these it was only Peter who almost everywhere was given the privilege of representing the whole Church. It was in the person of the whole Church, which he alone represented, that he was privileged to hear, To you will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. After all, it is not just one man that received these keys, but the Church in its unity. So this is the reason for Peter’s acknowledged pre-eminence, that he stood for the Church’s universality and unity, when he was told, To you I am entrusting, what has in fact been entrusted to all. To show you that it is the Church which has received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, listen to what the Lord says in another place to all his apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit; and immediately afterwards, Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven them; whose sins you retain, 

they will be retained.

Quite rightly, too, did the Lord after his resurrection entrust his sheep to Peter to be fed. It is not, you see, that he alone among the disciples was fit to feed the Lord’s sheep; but when Christ speaks to one man, unity is being commended to us. And he first speaks to Peter, because Peter is the first among the apostles. Do not be sad, Apostle. Answer once, answer again, answer a third time. Let confession conquer three times with love, because self-assurance was conquered three times by fear. What you had bound three times must be loosed three times. Loose through love what you had bound through fear. And for all that, the Lord once, and again, and a third time, entrusted his sheep to Peter.

There is one day for the passion of two apostles. But these two also were as one; although they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, Paul followed. We are celebrating a feast day, consecrated for us by the blood of the apostles. Let us love their faith, their lives, 

their labors, their sufferings, their confession of faith, their preaching.

Responsory

℟. O Paul, teacher of truth and apostle of the Gentiles,

* you are truly worthy of honor.

℣. Through you, all nations have known the grace of God:

* you are truly worthy of honor.

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 forever.

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

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.

Lord our God,

may the blessed apostles Peter and Paul support us by their prayers.

Through them you first taught your Church

the Christian faith.

Provide us now, by their intercession,

with help for our eternal salvation.

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.